The French Revolution and
Napoleon
1789-1815
FRENCH REVOLUTION BEGINS
Long
Term Cause
 Social
Short
Inequality
Term Cause
 Financial
 Food
Crisis
Shortages
 Unemployment
 Inflation
The Old Regime

Under the ancient regime or old order,
everyone in France belonged to one of
thrre classes:
First estate
 Second estate
 Third estate

First Estate

The Clergy
Higher clergy – aristocrats
 Parish Priests – from common (poor) class

Made up ½ -1% of population
 Enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege
 Owned about 10% of land, collected
tithes, and paid no taxes
 Provided some social services

Second Estate
The Nobility
 Owned land but had little money income
 Hated absolutism
 Feared losing traditional privilege,
especially exemption from taxes
 Owned 25-30% of land

Third Estate
The Bourgeoisie and Peasants
 Peasants were 97% of French
population
 Resented privileges of other estates
 Burdened by taxes
 Earned miserable wages
 Faced hunger and starvation

Third Estate - cont

Peasants
75-80% of population
 Most owned little or no land
 Still burdened by “relics of feudalism”


Bourgeoisie – middle class
8% of population
 Own 20-25% of land
 Unhappy with privilege of nobles

Impact of Louis XIV
Left France in
great debt
 Wars
 General rise in
costs
 Lavish court very
costly

Economic Trouble
1787 & 1788 – bad harvests & slowdown
in manufacturing
 Led to:

food shortages
 inflation
 unemployment


FR govt – kept spending (war & luxuries)

Marie Antoinette – Queen – spent lots!!!
Louis XVI to the rescue?!?!

Calls for meeting of Estates General
This is the FR Parliament
 Has not met in 175 Years!


Why?

Louis want to raise taxes!
The Estates General

Meet @ Versailles May 5, 1789
 Each Estate is represented



1st Estate 300 delegates
2nd Estate 300 delegates
3rd Estate 600 delegates


Mostly lawyers, trying to create a Const. Monarchy
Problem – voting



Each Estate gets 1 vote
1st & 2nd Estates almost always vote together
3rd Estate demanded each rep have a vote
The meeting of the Estates General May 5, 1789
National Assembly
King said NO to new form of voting
 June 17, 1789 – 3rd Estate renames
themselves the National Assembly and
decides to draft a Constitution
 June 20 – Nat’s Assem. find meeting
room door lock, go meet @ tennis court


Tennis Court Oath - vow to meet until a
Constitution is complete
Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to
establish the constitution of the kingdom. . . decrees that all
members of this assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not
to separate. . . until the constitution of the kingdom is established
on firm foundations. . ."
The Meeting of the Estates
General
France’s economic crisis worsened, bread riots
spread, and nobles denounced royal tyranny.
Louis XVI summoned the Estates General.
The Third Estate declared themselves to be the
National Assembly and invited delegates from the
other two estates to help them write a constitution.
When reform-minded clergy and nobles joined
the Assembly, Louis grudgingly accepted it.
Storming of the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, more than 800
Parisians gathered outside the
Bastille, a medieval fortress used as
a prison. They demanded
gunpowder believed to be stored
there. And thought political
prisoners were being held here.
The commander of the Bastille opened fire on the crowd,
and a battle ensued, in which many people were killed.
The storming of the Bastille quickly became a symbol of the
French Revolution, a blow to tyranny. Only 7 prisoners were
found – none political.
Today, the French still celebrate July 14 as Bastille Day.
The Revolution Begins!!
July 14, 1789 – Storming the Bastille
 Start of the French Revolution
 Royal Authority collapsed
 Riots through France – chateau’s raided
 Militia’s form fearing foreign invasion

National Assembly
Moderate phase
1789-1791
National Assembly at Work
Many changes are made
 Aug 2, 1789 – vote to abolish rights of
landlords and financial privileges
 Aug 26 – adopted ‘Declaration of the
Rights of Man’

Inspired by US Declaration of Independence
 Reflected Enlightenment thought

Declaration of Rights of Man

Men are born free and equal in their rights . . These
rights are liberty, property, security and resistance
to oppression.
 The fundamental source of all sovereignty resides
in the nation.
 The law is the expression of the general will. All
citizens have the right to take part personally, or
through representatives, in the making of the law.
 Any citizen can hold public office
 No tax exemptions
 Freedom of speech & press
Olympe de Gouge
Female author
 Fought for the rights of women
 Wrote “Declaration of the Rights of
Women”
 Demanded women have equal rigths
 Ignored by National Assembly

Louis XVI’s Response
Refused to accept
National Assembly
 Ignored the
demands of the
public
 Did nothing to stop
the starvation of the
masses

Marie Antoinette

15 when she was
married
 Became queen at 19
 Legend by 20
 Danced while
people starved
 Gambled, drank,
spent money
extravagantly
 Lived the life of a
queen
Life of a common woman
No voice in
government
 No food for
family

Bread
shortages
 High prices

March to Versailles
Oct 5 – 1000s of Parisian women march
to Versailles – 12 miles
 Their children are starving – no bread
 Stormed the palace, killed guards

Famous misquote




On the eve of the March
to Versailles, Marie
Antoinette said:
“If they have no bread,
let them eat cake”
NOT TRUE!!!!!
Used as propaganda to
keep hated rep of Marie
on the brains of the
French and the rest of
the world!
Demand to Meet the King
Want him to provide flour for bread
 Forced King to accept new decrees
 Royal Family agrees to return with
women to Paris to show support for Nat’l
Assembly
 Also bring flour
 Royals now virtual prisoners in Paris
 (Even the kids)

The women of Paris sang:

“We Have the Baker, the Baker’s Wife,
and the Baker’s Son. We Shall Have
Bread.”

The baker was the king who had ordered
that the royal supply of flour be brought
back to Paris as part of the procession.
Review

How did Louis XVI respond to the demands
of the National Assembly?
 Why did Parisians hate Marie Antoinette?
 Describe the march to Versailles for the
Parisian women
 What happened when the women arrived?
 What was the outcome of the March to
Versailles?
French Revolution Protest signs

Directions:
Make a protest sign that illustrates
something about your topic. Use as few
words as possible! Slogans would be a
good suggestion. Also, include simple
pictures to illustrate your point.
 At least 4 colors – black does not count
 Creativity, not artistic ability, will be graded
 Be mature! Have fun! Be creative!

Choices:







Taxes
Food Shortage (bread)
Unemployment
Equality
One person, One vote
Rising prices
Tennis Court Oath






Foreign Invasion
Monarchial System
Extravagant
spending
Freedom (Individual)
Court Luxuries
Meeting of the
Estates General
You CAN NOT use this example!
No Bread = More Dead!
Changes by the National Assembly

Catholic Church reformed
Church land seized & sold
 Church secularized



Priest & Bishops – elected


Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Paid by govt
Many Catholics began to oppose the Rev
New Constitution
Limited Monarchy
 With Legislative Assembly to make laws
 Elections set up for wealthy to win
 All male citizens equal
 Men 25 years old and older who paid a
tax could vote

By 1791
Old Order destroyed
 New order opposed by:

Catholic priests
 Nobles
 Lowed class hurt by inc prices


June – King & family try to escape

Caught & returned to Paris
Legislative Assembly
Radical phase
1792-1794
Revolution Become Radical

Paris Commune forms – govt of Paris


Forced Leg. Assembly to call Nat’l Convention
National Convention
Led by Georges Danton
 Sans-culottes wanted
revenge for king’s
attempted escape
 1000s arrested &
massacred

FATE OF THE KING?
Sept 1792 – Nat’l Conv opened
 Decided to draft an new Const
 Sept 21 – abolished monarchy
 Est – French Republic
 Split into factions (sides) about king
 Girondins – fear radical, want king alive
 Mountains – radical, want king executed
 won

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
Jan 21, 1793 –
King beheaded
 Creates new
enemies of
Revolution
 Oct 16, 1793 –
Queen
beheaded

CRISIS – Potential Foreign Invasion
 King’s
execution outraged Europe’s
leaders
 AUST, PR, SP, PORT, BR & Dutch
Rep - Ready to invade FR in1793
 FR too weak b/c Nat’l Conv not
supported in all of FR – no unity!
RESPONSE – Committee of Public Safety
• Nat’l Conv forms – Comm of Public Safety
•Committee of 12
•Dominated by Georges Danton,
•Replaced by Maximilien Robespierre
•Solution?
•Reign of Terror
REIGN OF TERROR 1793-94
Acted to defend FR from foreign &
domestic threats
 ‘If you are not with us, you are against us’
 Set up “Revolutionary Courts”


Killed 40,000 (16,000 guillotined)

Many were peasants against Sans-Culottes
Target rebellious cities (Lyon, Nantes)
 Claimed when crisis was over a “Republic
of Virtue” would follow

REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE
Robespierre’s idea
 All people titled “Citizen”
 Inspired by Ancient Rome
 Rejected Christianity
“Reason”

for
New Calendar (no Christian references)
 Notre Dame  “Temple of Reason


Failed – FR very Catholic
A NATION AT WAR
Revolution still going
 Foreign armies invade again
 FR fields 1 million man army (largest ever in Eur)
 Summer 1794 – FR pushed back invaders
 Decreases need for Reign of Terror
 But Robespierre keeps it going
 Obsessed with ridding FR of “corruption”
 Out of control?

END OF THE TERROR
National Convention
decided to act
 Robespierre
sentenced to
guillotine
 Reign of Terror
ended
 Churches reopened

CONSTITUTION OF 1795

Est National Legislative Assembly (2 houses)


The Directory – executive committee





Legislators elected
 Only 30,000 land owners/renters could vote
Ruled w/legislature
Very corrupt
Can’t solve economic problems
Use military force to stay in power
People start to want monarchy back!
BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED
1799 – Coup d’etat
- overthrow of
government
 Led by Napoleon
Bonaparte
 Toppled Directory

Age of Napoleon
1799-1815
SETTING THE SCENE
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica, a Frenchruled island in the Mediterranean. His family were minor nobles,
but had little money. At age nine, he was sent to France to be
trained for a military career. When the revolution broke out, he
was an ambitious 20-year-old lieutenant, eager to make a name
for himself.
MILITARY SUCCESSES
1792 – became a captain
 1794 – made Brigadier General (24 yrs old)
 1796 led FR armies in Italy



Won by using speed, deception & surprise
Returned to FR a hero
Given job of invading BR
 Knows FR isn’t ready
 Hits BR in Egypt

LEADS FRANCE
Led Coup d’etat, overthrowing Directory
 1799 -Created Consulate (A Republic?)
 3 man government
 Nap was 1st Consul,
held absolute power
 1802 – made Consul
for Life

BACK WHERE THEY STARTED

1804 –
Napoleon
crowned
himself
Emperor
DOMESTIC POLICIES
Makes peace with Catholic Church
 Napoleonic Codes

Organized laws onto 7 codes
 Preserved gains of FR Rev


New Bureaucracy


New Aristocracy


Based on ability
Based on merit
Nap ruled as Absolutist
NAPOLEON’S EMPIRES
GRAND EMPIRE
1807-1812 – Nap master of Europe
 3 PARTS
 French Empire – France
 Dependant States – under rule of Nap’s
relatives



Allied States – defeated by Nap & forced to
fight BR


Incl – SP, Holland, IT…
Incl – PR, Aust, RU…
Spread FR culture & ideas (Nationalism)
EUROPE’S RESPONSE TO NAPOLEON

2 Major
Reasons for
collapse of Nap
 Survival of
Britain
 Nationalism
BATTLING BRITAIN
• In 1805, Napoleon tried to invade
England but his fleet was destroyed at
the Battle of
Trafalgar
•Napoleon
needs to find
a non-military
way to defeat
Britain.
CONTINENTAL SYSTEM
Napoleon waged
economic warfare
through the
Continental
System, which
closed European
ports to British
goods
Failed:
1. Allied States resented Nap controlling their trade
2. BR began selling to new markets (Mid East…
NATIONALISM
Nap pushed FR culture
& Rev ideas on areas
he conquered
 Had opposite impact

Conquered areas
began to rally
against Fr
 Inc patriotism of their
own against FR

FALL OF NAPOLEON - RUSSIA

Russia refuse to follow
Continental system
 Nap, afraid others
would follow –
planned to invade RU



RU refused to fight –
retreated
 Strategic
Nap found Moscow on
fire
No food for Nap’s
troops
NAPOLEON’S DEFEAT

Only 40,000 of
Nap’s troops
survived
 Eur sees
opportunity to
attack Fr
 March 1814 –
Paris captured
 Monarchy
restored – Louis
XVIII
 Nap exiled to
Elba
NAPOLEON RETURNS
New King – not well liked
 Nap escaped from Elba, goes back to FR

King sends troops to
capture Nap
 Troops joined Nap

Napoleon & his new
army enter Paris
 King flees

THE FINAL DEFEAT
Nap moves to defeat army that defeated
him – heads to Belgium
 June 18 – Waterloo

Nap defeated by
Duke of
Wellington (BR)
 Nap exiled to
St. Helena
