Daily Life During the French Revolution
Read Daily Life During the French Revolution Online
Authors: James M. Anderson
DAILY LIFE
DURING
THE
FRENCH
REVOLUTION
JAMES M.
ANDERSON
For Viv
welcome
to the world
CONTENTS
Preface
Chronology
Maps
1. The
Setting
2. Economy
3. Travel
4. Life at Versailles
5. Clothes and Fashion
6. Arts and Entertainment
7. Family, Food, and Education
8. Health, Medicine, and
Charity
9. Religion
10. Women
11. Urban Life
12. Rural Life
13. Military Life
14. Law and Order
15. Aftermath
Appendix 1: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
Appendix
2: The Republican Calendar
Glossary
PREFACE
For
everyone in France, from the king to the lowliest peasant, July 1789 was either
exhilarating or ominous. A rare person indeed would have been apathetic or
unruffled by the social turmoil enveloping the country, for the July events and
those that followed laid the foundations of a new society, a new state.
The decisive actions that led to the overthrow of the old
order were staged mostly in Paris, although the provinces, where most of the
population resided, played no small part in an escalating crisis.
The day-to-day life of the people of that time and place
forms the major component of this book. Each chapter adds to a portrait of
France before, during, and after the revolution.
The book begins with a geographical overview, followed by a
description of the country’s diverse political, social, and cultural influences
and of the major historical events that led to the revolution. Subsequent
chapters deal with the economy; courtly, aristocratic, urban, and rural life;
and details about people of all classes—their anxieties, pleasures, living
conditions, health care, ethics, charity, and personal experiences; what they
wore and ate; what they did to entertain themselves; and the influence of the
church, crime, and revolutionary propaganda.
The author owes a debt of gratitude to
Sherry Anderson, whose perseverance, encouragement and plain hard work made
this book possible. Others who contributed in no small measure were Dr. Siwan
Anderson, Dr.
Katherine Connors, Dr. Patrick Francois, Richard Dalon,
Georges Gottlieb of the Bibliothèque National de Paris, Howard Greaves, Dr.
Rodney Roche, Drs. Bernard and Herbie Rochet. Thanks also go to Michael Hermann
of Greenwood Press, who suggested the topic, and Sarah Colwell, assistant
editor, Greenwood Press.
Storming of the Bastille by citizens with guns and
pikes
. The heads of “traitors” were carried on pikes.
CHRONOLOGY
1770 | Marriage of Dauphin to Marie-Antoinette. |
1775 | Coronation of Louis XVI. |
1776 | American Declaration of Independence. |
1786 | Anglo-French commercial treaty. |
1788 | Estates-General convoked for May 1789. |
1789 | |
February | Publication of Sieyès’ |
May 5 | Estates-General convene. |
June 13 | First parish priests break ranks. |
June 17 | National Assembly proclaimed. |
June 27 | Orders unite. |
July 14 | Bastille falls. |
Late July | The Great Fear. |
August 4 | Abolition of feudalism and privileges. |
August 26 | Declaration of Rights of Man and |
October 5–6 | King and National Assembly move to |
November 2 | Church property nationalized. |
December 11 | Assignats introduced. |
1790 | |
February 13 | Monastic vows forbidden. |
May 21 | Paris sections established. |
June 19 | Noble titles abolished. |
July 12 | Civil Constitution of the Clergy. |
July 14 | Feast of Federation. |
August 16 | Parlements abolished. |
August 31 | Mutiny at Nancy. |
November 27 | Oath of the clergy. |
1791 | |
January 2 | Roll-call on clerical oath. |
March 2 | Guilds dissolved. |
April 13 | Pope condemns Civil Constitution. |
June 10 | Royal family’s flight to Varennes. |
July 16 | Reinstatement of Louis XVI. |
September 14 | Annexation of Avignon. Louis XVI accepts |
September 30 | National Assembly dissolved. |
October 1 | Legislative Assembly convenes. |
October 20 | Call for war. |
November 9 | Decree against |
November 12 | Louis XVI vetoes decree against |
November 29 | Decree against refractory priests. |
December 19 | Louis XVI vetoes decree against priests. |
1792 | |
April 20 | War declared on Austria. |
April 25 | First use of guillotine. |
May 27 | New decree against refractory priests. |
June 13 | Prussia declares war. |
June 20 | Sans-culottes invade the Tuileries. |
July 22 | Legislative Assembly declares the |
July 25 | Brunswick Manifesto. |
July 30 | Marseilles |
August 3 | Paris sections demand dethronement of |
August 10 | Storming of the Tuileries; monarchy |
August 19 | Prussians cross frontier. Defection of |
September 2 | Fall of Verdun. |
September 2–6 | September massacres. |
September 20 | Battle of Valmy. |
September 21 | Convention meets. |
September 22 | Republic proclaimed. |
December 3 | Decision to try Louis XVI. |
1793 | |
January 21 | Execution of Louis XVI. |
February 1 | War declared on England and Holland. |
February 21 | Line and volunteer regiments joined. |
February 24 | Decree conscription of 300,000 men. |
February 25–27 | Food riots in Paris. |
March 7 | War declared on Spain. |
March 10 | Revolutionary tribunal created. |
March 11 | Revolt in the Vendée. |
April 5 | Defection of Dumouriez. |
April 6 | Committee of Public Safety created. |
April 11 | Assignats made sole legal tender. |
April 29 | Federalist uprising in Marseilles. |
May 4 | First Maximum decreed. |
May 31 | First anti-Girondin uprising in Paris. |
June 2 | Purge of Girondins from Convention. |
June 7 | Federalist revolt spreads to Bordeaux |
June 9 | Vendeans capture Saumur. |
June 24 | Constitution of 1793 accepted. |
July 13 | Marat assassinated. |
July 17 | Final abolition of feudalism. |
July 26 | Death penalty for hoarding. |
July 27 | Robespierre joins Committee of Public |
August 23 | Decree of |
August 25 | Marseilles recaptured. |
August 27 | Toulon surrenders to the British. |
September 5 | Government by terror begins. |
September 17 | Law of Suspects. |
September 29 | General Maximum introduced. |
October 3 | Girondins sent for trial. |
October 5 | Revolutionary calendar introduced. |
October 9 | Fall of Lyon. |
October 10 | Revolutionary government declared. |
October 16 | Marie-Antoinette executed. |
October 17 | Vendeans defeated at Cholet. |
October 31 | Execution of Girondins. |
November 10 | Festival of Reason at Nôtre Dame. |
November 22 | Parisian churches closed. |
December 4 | Revolutionary government created. |
December 12 | Vendeans defeated at Le Mans. |
December 19 | Fall of Toulon to French. |
1794 | |
February 21 | Price controls revised. |
February 26 | Confiscation of |
March 3 | Distribution of |
March 13 | Arrest and execution |
March 27 | Revolutionary armies |
April 5 | Danton and |
June 8 | Festival of the |
July 5 | Wage controls |
July 28 | Robespierre sent to |
September 18 | State renounces all subsidies to |
November 12 | Jacobin club closed. |
December 8 | Surviving Girondins reinstated. |
December 24 | Maximum abolished; invasion of Holland. |
1795 | |
February 17 | Pacification in the Vendée. |
February 21 | Freedom of worship restored. |
April 1 | Uprising of Germinal (12 Germinal). |
May 20 | Uprising of Prairial (1 Prairial). |
May 31 | Revolutionary tribunal abolished. |
June 8 | Death of Louis XVII. |
June 27 | Royalists land at Quibéron; defeated |
July 22 | Peace concluded with Spain. |
October 1 | Annexation of Belgium. |
October 5 | Uprising of Vendémiaire. |
October 26 | End of Convention. |
November 3 | Directory constituted. |
December 10 | Forced loans from the wealthy. |
1796 | |
February 19 | Withdrawal of assignats. |
March 2 | Napoleon appointed commander in Italy. |
June 12 | Papal territory invaded. |
1797 | |
July 25 | Political clubs closed. |