Latest News
March 5, 2012
Applications for the NAMUN 2013 Secretariat are now available here.
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February 24, 2012
NAMUN XXVII closes another great year. Thank you to all staff and delegates who participated!
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February 22, 2012
The Wednesday Edition of The Diplomat is now available online! Printed copies will be available in the afternoon.
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February 21, 2012
NAMUN XXVII
University of Toronto
Conference Schedule available here.
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January 31, 2012
Background guides for committees have been posted.
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Characters of Pre-Revolutionary France
Delegates are expected to write a position paper outlining their respective country's or character's position with respect to their committee topics. This should be a minimum 500 word paper (not exceeding 1500 words) outlining the relevance of their country/character in the committee. Delegates must send this paper prior to February 20th to the President of the committee.
Ammar Keshodia, President of the General Assembly: ammar.keshodia@namun.org
Liam Salichuk, President of Special Committees: liam.salichuk@namun.org
Patrick Langille, President of the Historical Council: patrick.langille@namun.org
Following her defeat at the hands of Britain and Prussia during the Seven Years War, France was at a time of crisis. People were poor. People were hungry. People were angry. To deal with these problems, King Louis XVI called the Estates General, a sort of Parliament of France. It had been the first time it had been called in nearly a century. The Estates General was split into three, those who fight, those who pray, and those who work. Will the Estates General hold together in the midst of this crisis, or will France fall to revolution and discord?
Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin
The Keeper of the Seals of France, Charles de Barentin was a prominent member of the French judiciary. He was deeply disliked by the Third Estate, and was one of Louis XVI’s least popular ministers. He considered any reform was dangerous to the stability of the State and was a staunch advocate of the Absolute Monarchy and the strong hand of the Church. He briefly replaced Jacques Necker but this lead to the storming of the Bastile.
Jacques Necker
Necker of chief of King Louis’s finances in the lead-up to the French Revolution. An advocate of moderate reform, Necker advised the King to double the representation of the Third Estate in the Estates General. An earlier rebellion in Dauphine was supported by Necker, with it’s assembly recognized. This is what prompted Necker to advise King Louis to call the Estates General.
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
Abbe Sieyes was a clergyman, but a member of the Third Estate. He is best known for his work “What is the Third Estate?” which contended that the Third Estate was the true French Nation, rather than personified within the King. He also oversaw the development of the Estates General into the National Assembly. In doing so, he advocated that distribution within the Assembly should be based on proportions of the population, rather than status. He considered the privileges of the First and the Second Estates were a deadweight on the French Nation.
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
Mirabeau was a moderate aristocrat. He wanted to reconcile the monarchy with the Revolution. He advocated a constitutional model, similar to that of Great Britain’s. He sat as a member of the Third Estate. Riqueti quickly became a leader of the Third Estate, leading the creation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. His death was considered a turning point in terms of radicalism during the French Revolution.
Jean-Sifrein Maury
Maury was a prominent Counter-Revolutionary. He studied at the Seminary of Avignon, and was a prominent member of the clergy. He served as a Cardinal. He was a vigorous defender of the clergy and its role in the state.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord
Sat with the First Estate despite his radical views. He was a supporter of the Revolutionary cause and was a part of the writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and proposed a civil constitution for the clergy. He would go on to be a prominent diplomat.
Alexandre Angelique de Talleyrand-Perigord
Uncle of the other Talleyrand, was a prominent French abbot and an advisor to the King on ecclesiastical matters. He was a staunch Royalist and eventually followed the Bourbons into exile. He was also opposed to Napoleon's Concordat of 1801.
Marquis de Lafayette
A general in the American Revolution, Lafayette was a supporter of the Revolution. He was an idealistic young man and a staunch supporter of the Enlightenment. An advocate of Constitutional Monarchy, he was a member of the Feuilliant faction of the Estates General. He was however ousted from the Revolution, being blamed for letting the King escape during the Flight to Varennes. He was subsequently imprisoned during the Revolution.
Robespierre
A radical and leader of the Montagnards, Robespierre harbored a personal grudge against King Louis XVI for not appreciating a university aged Robespierre’s Latin poetry recital for him. He advocated an radical overhaul of the entire French state. He would push for greater and greater radicalism over the course of the Revolution, eventually becoming the effective dictator of France.