AP Syllabus focus:
'The revolution’s first phase created a constitutional monarchy, expanded participation, nationalized the Catholic Church, and abolished hereditary privilege.'
In 1789-1791, the French Revolution moved from protest to institutional reform. This liberal phase did not create full democracy, but it dismantled major features of the Old Regime and tried to place political authority under law.
From Absolute Monarchy to Constitutional Monarchy
The revolution’s first phase was led largely by moderates in the National Assembly and later the National Constituent Assembly. Rather than abolish monarchy immediately, these reformers sought to end absolute monarchy and replace it with a system in which the king ruled within limits set by a constitution.
Constitutional monarchy: A system in which a monarch remains head of state, but political authority is limited by a constitution and representative institutions.
This shift mattered because it relocated sovereignty away from the king alone and toward the nation. The Constitution of 1791 preserved Louis XVI as king, but he no longer held unchecked authority.
Revolutionary print depicting the three estates (clergy, nobility, and the Third Estate) “forging” the Constitution of 1791. As a political image, it conveys the Revolution’s claim that legitimate authority now rested in a constitution made in the name of the nation rather than in the king’s personal will. It is useful for connecting the idea of constitutional monarchy to the broader redefinition of sovereignty. Source
Legislative power went to an elected assembly, and the king’s role was restricted by law.
Key changes included:
the end of the monarch’s exclusive control over legislation
a written constitution that defined powers and procedures
a larger role for elected bodies in governing France
The liberal phase therefore tried to preserve order while also making government more accountable. Many revolutionaries hoped a constitutional monarchy would combine liberty with stability and avoid both despotism and social collapse.
Expanding Political Participation
The first phase of the revolution also expanded participation in public life. Under the Old Regime, political influence had been heavily concentrated in the crown, privileged elites, and corporate bodies. Revolutionary reformers widened access to politics, especially for propertied men.
Participation expanded in several ways:
elections were used more systematically for local and national institutions
political debate moved into newspapers, pamphlets, and clubs
citizens became more involved in municipal government and public decision-making
Even so, participation was unequal. The Constitution of 1791 distinguished between active and passive citizens. Only active citizens, generally men who met certain tax-paying requirements, could vote in elections. This was a major break with the Old Regime, but it was still far from universal political equality.
The importance of this reform lies in the new idea that political membership could be tied to citizenship rather than birth alone. The revolution’s liberal phase opened the public sphere, encouraged political discussion, and made representation more central to government, even though women and many poorer men remained excluded.
Nationalizing the Catholic Church
Another major reform was the nationalization of the Catholic Church, one of the most controversial measures of the early revolution. The Church had been a powerful landowner and a central institution in French society. Revolutionaries argued that its wealth and organization should serve the nation.
Church lands were confiscated by the state, helping the government address its financial crisis. Clergy were then brought under state authority through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 1790.
Satirical print of a “patriotic priest” taking the civic oath associated with the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The imagery highlights how clergy were expected to publicly swear loyalty to the new constitutional state, dramatizing the fusion of religious office with political obedience. It supports your discussion of why this reform provoked intense religious and political conflict. Source
Civil Constitution of the Clergy: A revolutionary law that reorganized the French Church, made clergy salaried state officials, and placed the Church under greater control of the nation.
This reform changed both politics and religion:
bishops and priests were to be chosen through new procedures rather than old Church hierarchy alone
dioceses were reorganized to match the new administrative divisions
clergy were expected to swear loyalty to the state
For many revolutionaries, this was a logical extension of national sovereignty. For many Catholics, however, it looked like a dangerous attack on religious tradition and papal authority. Even in this liberal phase, reform created deep tensions when the state attempted to reshape a sacred institution.
Abolishing Hereditary Privilege
The early revolution also attacked the social structure of the Old Regime by abolishing hereditary privilege. In the August Decrees of 1789, the Assembly moved against feudal rights, noble exemptions, and many long-standing legal distinctions based on birth.
Bronze relief commemorating the Night of August 4, 1789, when the Assembly voted to abolish feudal privileges. As a later commemorative image placed in public space, it shows how the end of hereditary privilege became a foundational memory of the Revolution. It pairs well with your list of consequences (ending exemptions, weakening feudal obligations, and promoting legal equality). Source
Hereditary privilege: Special legal or social advantages passed down by birth, especially those enjoyed by the nobility and clergy under the Old Regime.
This was one of the most revolutionary acts of the liberal phase. Reformers did not simply criticize abuse; they challenged the principle that some people should enjoy superior status because of ancestry. Important consequences included:
weakening noble control over rural society
ending many exemptions from taxation
reducing feudal obligations and dues
promoting equality before the law as an ideal
The abolition of privilege particularly benefited the bourgeoisie and many peasants, who resented aristocratic exemptions and feudal burdens. It also reinforced a new social vision in which legal rights derived from citizenship, not estate membership.
Liberal Reform and Its Limits
The liberal phase was transformative because it created a new political and social framework:
monarchy was limited by a constitution
participation widened beyond traditional elites
the Church lost autonomy and property
inherited legal privilege was dismantled
Yet these reforms had clear limits. The monarchy remained in place, voting was restricted, and attempts to reform religion divided the country. Even so, the first phase of the French Revolution marked a decisive break from the Old Regime by making law, representation, and civil equality central principles of public life.
FAQ
Assignats were paper notes issued by the revolutionary government and backed by confiscated Church lands.
They mattered because they linked financial rescue to political reform:
they gave the state a way to raise money
they turned seized Church property into a usable national resource
they tied economic policy to the wider restructuring of the old order
Over time, their overissue contributed to inflation, which made them politically controversial.
Many ordinary parish priests had social backgrounds closer to commoners than to high-ranking bishops, who were often nobles.
Some curés welcomed reform because they:
disliked aristocratic dominance within the Church
supported fairer taxation and representation
believed local religious life would benefit from change
By contrast, many bishops saw the Revolution as a threat to hierarchy, tradition, and ecclesiastical independence.
The October Days in 1789 brought the king and royal family from Versailles to Paris.
This mattered because it changed the balance of politics:
the monarchy came under closer public pressure
Paris became even more central to revolutionary politics
the crown appeared less independent and more exposed to popular action
The event did not end liberal reform, but it made clear that constitutional politics would unfold under the gaze of an active crowd.
When Louis XVI tried to flee in 1791, many people concluded that he did not sincerely accept the new order.
The attempted escape damaged trust because it suggested:
the king preferred foreign help or counter-revolution to compromise
the constitution might rest on a ruler who rejected it
loyalty to the nation and loyalty to the king were no longer easily compatible
After Varennes, it became harder for moderates to present monarchy as a stable partner in reform.
The Revolution replaced many old provincial and seigneurial structures with more uniform administrative units.
This mattered in practical terms:
officials were organised more consistently across the country
local administration became easier to coordinate from the centre
older overlapping privileges and jurisdictions were reduced
For ordinary people, this could affect taxation, legal procedure, and political representation. It also helped create a stronger sense that France was being governed as a single nation rather than as a patchwork of historic privileges.
Practice Questions
Identify ONE way the liberal phase of the French Revolution expanded political participation in France. (2 marks)
1 mark for identifying a valid development, such as wider use of elections, the distinction of active citizenship, greater participation in local government, or expansion of political debate through clubs and pamphlets.
1 mark for explaining how the identified development gave more people a role in politics than under the Old Regime.
Evaluate the extent to which the liberal phase of the French Revolution transformed France between 1789 and 1791. (6 marks)
1 mark for a defensible claim that evaluates the extent of change.
1 mark for explaining the creation of a constitutional monarchy.
1 mark for explaining expanded political participation.
1 mark for explaining the nationalization and reorganization of the Catholic Church.
1 mark for explaining the abolition of hereditary privilege.
1 mark for analysis of limits, such as restricted voting, survival of monarchy, or tensions caused by religious reform.
