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Unlock This CourseWith the king and the Assembly both in Paris, the deputies could get on with replacing the ancien régime. They wanted a country run the same way everywhere, where officials were elected and the law treated people equally.
Key terms:
The Assembly had inherited the old government's debts and badly needed money. The Church owned huge estates. On 2 November 1789 the Assembly voted to put all Church land 'at the disposal of the nation'. In return, the state would pay the clergy and take over the Church's work for the poor.
The land was sold off as 'national property'. To raise money quickly, the Assembly issued assignats, which buyers could use to pay for the land. Assignats were soon used as paper money. Most of the land was bought by the bourgeoisie and better-off peasants. This mattered: anyone who had bought Church land now had a strong reason to support the Revolution, because if the old order came back they might lose it.
Since the state now paid the clergy, the deputies felt they had the right to reorganise the Church. The result was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
Many clergy wanted the Church itself to agree to these changes first. The Assembly refused. Instead, in November 1790, it ordered all bishops and parish priests to swear an oath of loyalty to the constitution or lose their posts. Only seven bishops took the oath, along with just over half of the parish priests. In spring 1791 Pope Pius VI condemned the Civil Constitution.
The oath split the Church and the country in two. Refractory priests were removed from their parishes, and millions of ordinary Catholics, especially in the west of France, sided with them. For the first time, large numbers of ordinary people had a reason to oppose the Revolution. Louis XVI, a sincere Catholic, approved the law but felt he had betrayed his faith. It helped to turn him against the Revolution for good.
Old France was a patchwork of provinces with different laws, taxes and privileges, run by officials chosen by the king. In early 1790 the Assembly swept this away. France was divided into 83 departments of roughly equal size, named after rivers, mountains and other natural features. Each department was divided into districts, cantons and communes.
Departments, districts and communes each had an elected council. These councils collected taxes, kept order and looked after roads and poor relief. Power moved away from officials chosen by the king to elected local men, and every part of France was now run in the same way.
The old courts, including the parlements, were abolished. One system of courts now covered all of France, with a justice of the peace in every canton to settle small disputes. Judges were elected. Serious criminal cases were tried before a jury. Torture was banned, lettres de cachet were ended and fewer crimes carried the death penalty. Justice was free and the same for everyone.
Customs barriers inside France were removed in 1790, so goods could move freely. The gabelle and other hated indirect taxes were abolished, and tax farming ended. New direct taxes, chiefly a land tax, were paid by all landowners. In 1791 the guilds, which had controlled who could work in each trade, were abolished. The Le Chapelier Law of June 1791 then banned trade unions and strikes.
Who gained? These reforms suited the bourgeoisie most. Free trade and the end of the guilds helped merchants and employers. The Le Chapelier Law left town workers unable to combine to push for better pay.
In September 1791 the constitution was finally finished and Louis XVI accepted it. France became a constitutional monarchy.
Louis was now 'King of the French', not 'King of France'. He chose the ministers and commanded the army. He could not make laws. He had a suspensive veto, which let him delay a law for up to four years. He needed the Assembly's agreement to declare war.
A single new assembly of 745 deputies, elected every two years, would make the laws and set the taxes. The king could not close it down. Sovereignty lay with the nation, so the Assembly, not the king, was the centre of power.
Who could vote? Not everyone. Only active citizens had the vote: men aged 25 or over who paid direct taxes worth at least three days' wages. About 4.3 million men qualified. Around 3 million poorer men were passive citizens, with equal rights before the law but no vote. No women could vote. Active citizens did not choose deputies directly. They chose electors, who had to pay more tax, and the electors chose the deputies.
Why it mattered: absolute monarchy was over, and France had a written set of rules that even the king had to obey. But the constitution had two weak points. It gave political power to men with property, which angered the poorer people of Paris whose action had saved the Revolution in 1789. It also depended on a king who was willing to work with it. By the time Louis accepted it, few people believed that he was, as you will see in The Flight to Varennes and the Political Clubs.
Explain two effects of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) on France. [8 marks]
One effect was that it split the Catholic Church in France. The law made bishops and priests elected, state-paid officials, and in November 1790 the Assembly ordered all bishops and parish priests to swear an oath of loyalty to the constitution. Only seven bishops and just over half of the parish priests took it, and in spring 1791 Pope Pius VI condemned the law. Because the clergy were forced to choose between the Assembly and the Pope, France now had two rival groups of clergy: those who had sworn the oath and the refractory priests who had lost their parishes.
A second effect was that it created wide opposition to the Revolution. Until then, few ordinary people had any reason to oppose the Revolution. Now millions of Catholics, especially in the west of France, had to choose between their priest and the Assembly, and many backed their refractory priests. Because the law attacked something that mattered deeply in their daily lives, people who had accepted the other reforms now turned against the Assembly. The law therefore gave the enemies of the Revolution popular support for the first time.
What lifts it to the top level: each paragraph names one clear effect, supports it with precise facts, and uses words like 'because' and 'therefore' to show how the law led to that effect.
You must give two effects. One effect alone cannot score more than 4 of the 8 marks, however well you explain it. Do not describe what the Civil Constitution said and stop there. Describe it in one sentence, then spend the rest of each paragraph on what happened because of it.