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CHAPTER 16 POWER POINT
The French Revolution and Napoleon
(1789-1815)
KEY TERMS
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Tennis Court Oath - Delegates, who represented the Third Estate, proclaimed the end of
absolute monarchy and the beginning of a representative government; delegates decided
not to disband until they wrote a new constitution for France (June 1789)
Bastille Day - July 14, 1789; Mob attacks and seizes the Bastille (French prison); they
killed guards in an effort to steal gunpowder to defend Paris ; event known as “Storming
the Bastille”; symbolic act of the revolution; national holiday
Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen - Document stated that “men are born and
remain free and equal in rights”; guaranteed freedom of speech and religion; natural
rights include liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression; some rights applied
to women; supreme authority rests with nation as a whole, not the monarchy
Civil Constitution of the Clergy – new French government made all members of clergy
were required to take an oath of allegiance in order to perform their functions and receive
their salaries; threatened the independence of the Catholic Church
Sans-culottes – politically active working class during the French Revolution
Jacobins – a radical political organization during the French Revolution; militant radicals
gained strength throughout France (Danton and Marat)
Committee of Public Safety – ruling committee of twelve leaders during the Reign of
Terror; leader was Maximilien Robespierre; they tried and sentenced “enemies of the
Revolution” to be executed by the guillotine
KEY TERMS
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Levee en masses – the French republic called upon all men, women, and children to
serve and protect the nation by performing various duties (soldiers, nurses) to protect the nation
from external enemies
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Thermidorian Reaction – on July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor on the Revolutionary calendar),
the National Convention overthrew Robespierre; he was executed by the guillotine
Directory – the conservative government made up of 5 leaders during the last years of
the French Revolution; they failed to restore peace; Napoleon Bonaparte saved them
from an uprising and was hailed as a war hero
Plebiscite – people could vote to accept or reject the new constitution proposed by
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleonic Code – Napoleon remade France’s legal, financial, and educational systems;
this code enabled him to exact a stronger authoritarian rule; the code did embrace
Enlightenment ideals and was accepted by many progressives, but it did restrict the rights
of women by making them economically dependent on their husbands and prevented
them from divorcing
Continental System – Napoleon’s plan to destroy Britain’s commercial economy by
preventing the importation of British goods into continental Europe by creating a blockade
of naval ships
ANALYZING QUESTION 1
Analyze the roles of France’s aristocracy, bourgeoisie, peasantry, and
urban workers in causing the French Revolution.
Aristocracy (nobility) – they were the rivals of the Louis XVI and they refused to help
the monarchy when France was in economic trouble; they wanted a greater share of
power if they were going offer financial assistance and Louis did not want to relinquish his
authority; the nobles used the economic crisis to assert their independence
 Bourgeoisie (middle class) – many administrators, lawyers, journalists, and intellectuals
within this class were angry because they were successful but failed to gain the same
level of prestige the nobility possessed; Enlightenment ideals spread among this literate
social class; they eventually rebelled against the king because they believed he was a
despot (tyrannical ruler) and questioned his traditional authority; they were disgruntled
over taxes
 Peasantry and Urban Poor – in 1788, France suffered bad harvests and the price of
bread soared and as a result, many peasants were starved; peasants came to the cities
in search of jobs and food; agricultural depression even put artisans and laborers out of
work; in 1789, peasants and urban poor committed acts of violence such as attacking
bakeries in search of grain and flour
 Each of these classes associated France’s suffering and economic hardship with the Old
Regime’s abuse of power and privileged status; there were rumors in July 1789 that the
king was going to use troops to attack citizens as a result, on July 14, 1789, a riotous
crowd attacked the Bastille prison in order to confiscate weapons and ammunition and
release political prisoners
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ANALYZING QUESTION 3
Why do you think the Revolution turned more radical, resulting in the
establishment of a republic and leading to the Reign of Terror?
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Rumors and panic spread throughout France
Attacks by peasants took place all across France
Peasants destroyed legal papers that bound them to feudal system
In October 1789, Parisian women revolted over rising price of bread
They demanded action and forced Louis to return from Versailles to Paris
War broke out in 1792 and France was involved in European conflicts for over 20 years
Louis XVI was executed in January 1793
Reign of Terror lasts from 1793 to 1794
Maximilien Robespierre—Jacobin leader rules France for a year in 1793; became
leader of the Committee for Public Safety and a dictator; Committee imposed his “Reign
of Terror”
Thousands are executed during the Terror, including former allies and Marie Antoinette
85 percent of those who die during the Terror are middle or lower class but no one was
safe from the guillotine
In July 1794, Robespierre was arrested and executed by his fellow revolutionaries
ANALYZING QUESTION 4
How do you explain Napoleon’s rise? Was his rise a logical consequence
of revolutionary events?
 He was a military genius who seized power in France and made himself
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emperor
In 1795, Napoleon defeated royalist rebels attacking National
Convention and was declared a military hero
Napoleon won stunning victories in Italy which gained him popularity
In November 1799, he carried out a coup d’état (seizure of power) and
overthrows the Directory
He took advantage of an unstable government and economy in order to
secure his position of authority; the French people craved powerful, yet
fair leadership
ANALYZING QUESTION 5 (Part 1)
Analyze Napoleon’s accomplishments.
 In 1800, a new constitution is approved through a plebiscite (vote of
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the people)
To fix economy, he sets up national banking system, efficient tax
collection, and a fairer tax code
Establishes government-run public schools to train officials
Signs concordat—agreement—with pope restoring Catholicism in
France
Creates Napoleonic Code—uniform system of laws
Napoleon did not expand freedom of speech for the French
In December 1804, Napoleon crowns himself emperor of France
Napoleon conquers a large portion of Europe by crushing enemy forces
in several brilliant battles
Napoleon forces Austria, Russia, Sweden to sign peace treaties
ANALYZING QUESTION 5 (Part 2)
Do you think Napoleon’s efforts to maintain power were
worth the costs?
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*NOTE – The following events demonstrate Napoleon’s defeats and failures. It is
up to you to decide if his actions were worth the costs.
In June 1812, Napoleon’s Grand Army marches into Russia with 420,000 men
Czar Alexander I used a scorched-earth policy (destroying crops and livestock) so
French would starve
Russians retreat from Moscow after being defeated at Battle of Borodino
Napoleon’s forces move on to Moscow; Alexander burned the city rather than surrender it
to the French
Napoleon eventually retreated after losing thousands of soldiers to Russian raiders,
starvation, and cold weather
Britain, Prussia, Sweden, Russia, Austria join forces against Napoleon
Napoleon raises another army, but meets quick defeat by allied powers
April 1814 - Napoleon finally surrenders and is exiled to island of Elba
Battle of Waterloo - British and Prussian forces led by the Duke of Wellington defeat
Napoleon’s army in June 1815
This defeat ends the Hundred Days which was Napoleon’s last attempt at power
British send Napoleon to the island of St. Helena where he eventually died in 1821