Constitutional Monarchy

Constitutional Monarchy French Revolution

In 1789, the National Assembly gathered on a tennis court and declared that they would not disband until a constitution for France had been written. What was the National Assembly, why did it meet on a tennis court, and what did this mean for the King, Louis XVI?

The National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath

France was in a dire financial state during the reign of Louis XVI. After his Finance Minister, Brienne, declared bankruptcy in 1788, Louis XVI reluctantly agreed to host the Estates-General in May 1789 to have all orders agree to his financial reforms.

However, the newly politicised Third Estate demanded voting by head rather than voting by order. Voting by order (each estate voting as one) was the traditional way of voting. However, it meant that the other two orders could outvote the Third Estate two to one, even though the Third Estate represented around 98% of the population. In comparison, voting by head meant that each deputy had their own vote, which the Third Estate argued was fairer.

Fig. 1 Jacques-Louis David's depiction of the Tennis Court Oath.

The disagreement over voting caused a stand-off, culminating in the Third Estate declaring themselves a National Assembly on 17 June 1789. The King reluctantly agreed to this, but on 20 June, he shut the chamber where the National Assembly usually met.

Fearing that this meant the King was trying to dissolve the Assembly, the representatives quickly gathered on a nearby indoor tennis court. There they swore never to disband until they had given France a constitution and had limited the King's powers.

The Constituent Assembly

On 9 July 1789, the National Assembly changed its name to the National Constituent Assembly. Its main priority was drafting the new Constitution, but after the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, they effectively became in charge of running the country.

During their period of governance, the Constituent Assembly presided over several attempts at reform and several crises, such as the Champs de Mars and Tuileries Massacres.

Let's first have a look at its reforms:

Eventually, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and replaced with the Legislative Assembly on 1 October 1791.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

On 26 August 1789, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen before creating the French constitution.

Fig. 2 The Declaration of the rights of man.

The idea for a French constitution can be traced directly to Enlightenment notions of equality which framed the American War of Independence. The American Revolution created the independent American Republic in 1776, which declared in its constitution:

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen adopted the concept of 'unalienable rights'. Its first article stated:

This document redefined the monarch's role as one that protected the rights of subjects. This was radical for the time, as governance previously tended to focus on the power and well-being of the monarch rather than the people.

The French Constitution of 1791 Text

The Declaration served as the preamble of the 1791 French constitution. In July 1789, a constitutional committee was established to review and draft the constitution, which included men of very different political convictions. Although there were arguments, finally, a Constitutional text was drafted.

Key ideas from the text included:

• All citizens should be treated equally, have freedom of speech and not fear censorship.
• Citizens would be taxed in proportion to their means.
• The new Legislative Assembly replaced the Constituent Assembly.
• The voting population was limited to men over 25 who paid annual taxes equivalent to a minimum of three days of labour.
• The King's official title was changed from 'King of France' to 'King of the French' to reflect the notion that his power came from the people rather than from any divine right. The law became the highest authority in the land, rather than the King.

Legislative Assembly French Revolution

After the Constitution of 1791 was enacted, the National Constituent Assembly was dissolved and replaced by the Legislative Assembly, beginning the constitutional monarchy period. This assembly took on its role with gusto, introducing several reforms in line with the principles of the Revolution.

Reforms of the Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly was keen to continue extending and enforcing the reforms made by the Constituent Assembly. Here is a brief overview of what they set out to accomplish.

• They looked to clamp down on priests not adhering to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
• The Assembly was also responsible for creating one of the most famous symbols of the Revolution - the guillotine. In 1792, the Assembly approved the guillotine to be used as the primary method of execution in France.
• The Legislative Assembly also implemented new laws concerning families and inheritance rights; divorce was made more easily accessible for both men and women.
• The émigrés (nobles who had fled France at the outbreak of the Revolution) were a particular focus of the Legislative Assembly. They were categorised into three groups with separate punishments of increasing levels of severity.

The Collapse of the Constitutional Monarchy

Despite some promising first steps, the constitutional monarchy could not last. After the war with Austria and Flight to Varennes, it became clear that such a system was not sustainable in France.

The Flight to Varennes

The King was becoming increasingly appalled at the radicalism of the Revolution. Although he publicly supported the new constitution, he found it unacceptably radical and limiting of his power. He decided to flee France for Belgium in an escape attempt that would become known as the 'Flight to Varennes' - which ultimately failed as the King only got as far as the village of Varennes.

Fig. 4 This map shows the route the king and his family took - Varennes was around 250km from Paris.

The Flight to Varennes proved that the king had no intention of sticking with a constitutional monarchy and fully intended to regain his lost powers. Equally, this action undermined any future attempts at progress, such as the Constitution of 1791. This was the death knell for the experiment in a constitutional monarchy.

War with Austria

On 20 April 1792, France declared war on Austria. Although the Assembly could not unanimously agree on a solution for around a year, all realised that the King was becoming a huge liability to the security of the Revolution.

Therefore, the unfortunate conclusion was that the constitutional monarchy could not last in France's present situation. There was no middle ground - either the king would be restored to his full power, or he would have to have all his power stripped from him.

On 21 September 1792, the Legislative Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy.