Chapter 11:
The French Revolution &
Napoleon
Section 1: The French Revolution Begins
•
Background to the Revolution:
– The French Revolution tried to create both a
new political and social order.
– The Three Estates:
• There were 27 million people in France;
society had been based on inequality since
the middle ages; long-term cause of the
revolution
First Estate:
» consisted of clergy; about 130,000
people
» owned 10% of the land
» exempt to taxes (taille)
» higher clergy: members of aristocratic
families; shared interest of nobility
» lower clergy: parish priest; poor; from
lower classes
Second Estate:
» consisted of nobility; about 350,000
people
» owned 25 – 30% of the land
» held leading positions in the
government, military, courts, and church
offices
» exempt from taxes
Third Estate:
» commoners of society; overwhelming
majority of population
» peasants: 75 – 80 % of population;
owned 35 – 40% of land; over half of
peasants have no land; peasants had
obligations to landlords including fees
for the use of village facilities
» City Workers; poor; worked for poor
wages in poor conditions
» Bourgeoisie: middle class; 8% of
population; owned 20 – 25% of land;
were educated and had read the ideas of
the Enlightenment; upset with the
monarchical system resting on privilege
and the old social order
Financial Crisis:
- immediate cause of the French Revolution was the
collapse of government finances.
- bad harvest or two years; a slowdown in
manufacturing; rising prices for food; high
unemployment; by the eve of the revolution onethird of the population was at a crisis point
- The French government continued to spend
enormous amounts of money on court luxuries and
costly wars including the American Revolution
- Therefore, Louis XVI was forced
to call the Estates- General to raise
new taxes.
From Estates-General to National
Assembly
–
Estates-General:
• representatives from all three estates
• third estate wanted to set up a constitutional
government that would abolish tax
exemptions for the first and second estates
• controversy over voting – traditionally each
estate had one vote; first and second estate
all voted together therefore third estate was
always left out; third estate wanted each
member to vote; king was in favor of the
current system
•
•
National Assembly:
third estate reacts by calling a meeting of
themselves to draw up a constitution; the
National Assembly
When they arrived to find their meeting doors
locked; they meet on a tennis court; take
Tennis Court Oath; promise not to disband
until a constitution is written
STORMING OF THE BASTILLE
• July 14, 1789, the common people storm
the Bastille; royal troops helped them;
Louis XVI could no enforce his will
therefore the National Assembly was
saved
Great Fear
• Revolutions break out all over France;
becomes known as the Great Fear;
citizens formed militias and attacked
nobility; many French nobles flee
France
The Destruction of the Old Regime
–
King forces member of the first and second estate to meet
in the National assembly
–
Third Estate made huge progress when they voted to
abolish the rights of landlords and abolish tax exemptions
for the clergy and nobility
–
National Assembly finally adopted
the Declaration of the Rights of Man;
reflected Enlightenment thoughts;
charter of basic liberties; proclaimed
freedom and equal rights for all men;
access to public office based on talent;
all citizens get to take part in making
laws, and freedom of speech and press
were affirmed.
• Olympe de Gouges wrote the Declaration of the
Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen; in it she
insists that women should have the same rights as
men
The King Concedes:
 Louis XVI refused to accept the National
Assembly’s decree; so thousands of women armed
with broomsticks, lances, pitchforks, swords,
pistols, and muskets march to Versailles
 A delegation of the women
meet with Louis XVI and
described how their children
were starving and force the
king to accept the new decrees; they
forces the royal family to return
to Paris with them; the Royal family
become virtual; prisoners in Paris
Church Reforms:
 The Catholic Church was seen as a part of the
old order therefore the National Assembly
reformed it too.
 The Assembly seized and sold Church lands
Civil Constitution of the Clergy was passed; it
made bishops and priest elected by the
people and paid by the state
 Many Catholics become
enemies of the revolution
A New Constitution and New Fears:
•
The Constitution of 1791 set up a limited monarch;
still be a king put the Legislative Assembly would
make the laws; put an end to the old order
•
Legislative Assembly consisted of 745
representatives; only men over 25 who paid a
specific amount of taxes could vote
•
Many opposed the New Order: Catholic priest and
nobles, lower classes hurt by the rise in the cost of
living, and radicals who wanted even more drastic
changes
•
Louis XVI and his family tried to flee France; they
were recognized and brought back to Paris
War with Austria:
•
European rulers began to fear the revolution would
spread to their countries; Austria and Prussia
threatened force to restore Louis XVI to full power
•
Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria;
Marie Antoinette’s brother Joseph II is ruling there
Rise of the Paris Commune
•
Defeats in war and economic shortages in France
led to radical political groups declaring themselves
a commune; they attacked both the royal palace and
the Legislative Assembly
•
Paris Commune took the king captive; forced the
Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarch and
called for a National Convention with full universal
male suffrage to decides the nation’s future form of
government
•
Power passed from the
Legislative Assembly to
the Commune or sans-culottes
sans-culottes
STUDY THE PAINTING BELOW AND CONSTRUCT A 1
PAGE ESSAY: DISCUSS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE THREE ESTATES USING THE NARRATIVE MODE
OF WRITING (5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY)
11.2 Radical Revolution and Reaction
The Move to Radicalism:
- Georges Danton: led Paris Commune; appointed minister
of justice
- sans-culottes sought revenge on those who aided the king
and resisted the popular will; thousands arrested and
massacred
- Jean Paul Marat; published
journal called Friend of the People
The Fate of the King
• National Convention’s first major step was to abolish the monarch and
establish the French Republic
• The Convention split into two factions over the fate of the king.
Girondins represented rural areas; feared the radical mobs; supported
keeping the king alive
 The Mountain; represented the radicals of the cities; supported putting
Louis XVI to death
• The Mountain won; The Convention beheaded Louis XVI on the
guillotine in Jan. 1793
GIRONDINS & MOUNTAIN
Crisis and Response
• The execution of Louis XVI Outraged royalty all over
Europe; Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain,
and the Dutch Republic took arms against the
French
• If the coalition was successful, then the old regime
would be reestablished.
• To meet this crisis, the National Convention created
the Committee of Public Safety; had broad powers;
defend France from threats were to direct the war
effort; was dominated by Maximilian Robespierre,
Georges Danton, and Jean-Paul Marat
Committee of Public Safety
Maximilian Robespierre
Georges Danton
Jean Paul Marat
The Reign of Terror
-
a year period from 1793 – 1794
when the Committee of Public
Safety was in control
-
The Reign of Terror: revolutionary
courts were set up to prosecute
enemies of the republic; close to
40,000 were killed
-
Crushing Rebellion:
Revolutionary armies were to bring
rebellious cities under control
Lyon: 1,880 citizens of the city were
executed by guillotine or grapeshot
Nantes: victims were executed by
being sunk in barges in the
Lorene River
The Republic of Virtue: Committee of Public Safety took
steps to create a democratic republic composed of good
citizens
• titles citizen and citizeness were replaced by mister
and madame
• women wore long dresses
• primary education for all was passed but not widely
implemented
• Slavery was abolished
• Price controls were placed on necessities; not
always enforced by government
• National Convention pursued a policy of
dechristianization; churches were closed; word saint
removed from street signs; priest were encouraged
to marry; a new calendar: years was numbered from
the first day of the French Republic; eliminated
Sundays and worship services; failed to work
because France was overwhelmingly catholic
A Nation in Arms:
- French revolutionary government raised a one million man
army; largest ever seen; pushed the European coalition
back and conquered the Austrian Netherlands
-
created modern nationalism; first time the war was a
peoples war therefore became more destructive
- End of Terror: By 1794, the French had defeated the
European coalition; there was less need for the Reign of
Terror but Robespierre kept up the killing; many began
to fear they would be executed so the National
Convention condemned Robespierre to the Guillotine;
after his death middle class leaders took control and the
Reign of Terror came to an end.
Guillotine
The Directory:
- Constitution of 1795:
• established a bicameral legislative assembly; Council of
500 – initiated legislation and the Council of Elders
• accepted or ejected proposed laws legislators were
chosen by electors – had to own or rent a large amount
of property
• The Directory was an executive committee; consisted of
5 men elected by the legislative assembly
• The Directory had to deal with royalist who wanted to
restore the monarch and continue fighting wars started
by the Committee of Public Safety plus a growing
financial crisis; therefore the Directory depended on the
military to maintain power.
• 1799, Napoleon overthrows the government (coup
d’etat) and seizes power.
11.3: The Age of Napoleon
• The Rise of Napoleon
• - Napoleon Bonaparte dominated
French and European history from
1799 to 1815; brought French
Revolution to an end
• - Early Life:
–
–
–
–
–
born in Corsica; 1769
son of a lawyer; family was Florentine nobility
studied at a military school in France; on scholarship
became lieutenant in the French army; 1785
not liked by his fellow officers because he was short, had Italian
accent, and little money
Military Successes
– rose quickly through the ranks of the French army
– at 24 was made Brigadier general
– at 26 was made commander of the French armies
in Italy; gained confidence of his men
– at 27 given command of the army training to
invade Britain; proposed to invade British Egypt
instead; his army was cut off by the British and
Napoleon abandoned his army
Consul and Emperor:
- at 30 he helped overthrow the government of the
Directory; 1799
– a consulate was proclaimed (new government);
Napoleon made himself first consul and held
absolute power
– at 32 was made consul for life
– at 35 crowned himself emperor
Napoleon’s Domestic Policies
-
Peace with the Church:
–
Napoleon made peace with the oldest enemy of
the revolution, the Catholic Church; Not
because of his own personal faith; he was an
enlightenment believer in reason
–
1801, Napoleon recognized Catholicism as the
religion of the majority ; pope agreed not to ask
for the return of the church lands seized during
the revolution
Codification of the Laws
– Napoleon unified French laws; was 300 separate legal systems
– Most important was the Civil Code or Napoleonic Code; it
recognized equality before the law, the right to chose a profession,
religious toleration, the end of serfdom, protected property rights,
and outlawed unions and strikes
– Napoleon’s Civil Code undid revolutionary changes especially for
women: made it harder for women to divorce, husbands
controlled wife’s property, considered minors in law suits and
their testimony was considered less reliable
A New Bureaucracy
– Napoleon developed a powerful centralized
government; government careers were open to
individuals based on their ability
– Napoleon created a new aristocracy based on
service to the state. More than half were military
officers and from the middle class.
Preserver of the Revolution?
– The Civil Code preserved equality of citizens before the law.
– Opening government careers to talent
– Liberty was replaced by despotism
– Shut down most newspapers
– All books were censored by the government before
published
– Mail was opened by government police
Napoleon’s Empire:
Building the Empire:
–
When Napoleon became consul in 1799, France was still
at war with the European coalition; made peace in 1802,
but in 1803 the war was renewed and by 1807, Napoleon’s
Grand Army defeated Austria, Russia, and Prussia
–
Napoleon could now create a new world order. His Grand
empire had three parts:
1. the French empire (the inner core)
2. the dependent states (kingdoms that Napoleon’s relatives
ruled)
3. the allied states (Napoleon had defeated and forced to join
him in the war against Britain)
Spreading the Principles of the Revolution
– In the inner core and the dependent states,
Napoleon tried to destroy the old order; he urged
rulers to be constitutional kings, nobility and
clergy lost their privileges, opened jobs to talent,
granted equality before the law, and granted
religious toleration – important factor in the
development of liberal traditions in these
countries
The European Response: Two major reasons
Napoleon’s empire collapsed:
•
•
1. Britain’s Survival:
– Largely due to its sea power and island location
– Battle of Trafalgar: Lord Nelson destroyed a
combined French-Spanish fleet; destroyed all
plans to attack militarily
– So Napoleon decides to destroy Britain
economically by using the Continental System;
aim was to stop British goods from being sold in
Europe; failed
Nationalism:
– French aroused nationalism in two ways:
1. showed Europe what nationalism was and what
a nation in arms could do and
2. hatred of French oppressors caused patriotism
to be stirred in opposition to Napoleon
Battle of Trafalgar: Lord Nelson
The Fall of Napoleon:
Disaster in Russia:
– 1812, Napoleon’s downfall begins with his
invasion of Russia
– Russia refused to remain in the Continental
System, therefore Napoleon decided to invade.
– Grand Army entered Russia with 600,000 men;
Russian forces refused to give battle instead
they responded to Napoleon by using a
scorched earth policy; burned villages and
countryside as they retreated
– French won at Borodino; when Napoleon
reached Moscow it was on fire and lacked food
and supplies; Napoleon begins the “Great
Retreat”; only 40,000 of Napoleons Grand Army
returned
– Europeans attacked the crippled French Army
and captured Paris in 1814, Napoleon was exiled
to the island of Elba; The Bourbon monarch was
restored to Louis XVII
Disaster in Russia
The Final Defeat:
– New King had little support; Napoleon slips back into
France; troops were sent to capture him; the troops
came over to his side; Napoleon returns to Paris and
rules for the hundred days
– European powers pledge to defeat Napoleon again;
Napoleon raises another army and attacks in Belgium;
at Waterloo Napoleon was finally
defeated by British and Prussian
troops under the command of the
Duke of Wellington; Napoleon will be
exiled to the island of St. Helena
WATERLOO
IS THIS THE
LAST SLIDE?