Section 3: Radical Days of the
Revolution
Chapter 3
The Monarchy is Abolished
– Tensions lead to Violence
• August 10, 1792, a crowd
of Parisians stormed the
royal palace of the Tuileries
and slaughtered the king’s
guards. The royal family
barely escaped before the
mob arrived
• September Massacre
– September 1792 a mob
breaks into a prison
holding nobles and
priests accused of
political crimes and kill
1,200 inmates
The Monarchy is Abolished
– Radicals Take Control and Execute the King
• Radicals took control of the Assembly
• Suffrage, the right to vote, was extended to all male
citizens, not just property owners
• Convention in September 1972 was more radical-it
abolished the monarchy and established a republic-the
French republic
The Monarchy Abolished
• Jacobins, who ran the Convention, wanted to erase all
traces of the old order.
• Seized lands of nobles and abolished titles of nobility
• Put Louis XVI on trial as a traitor to France. He was
found guilty and sentenced to death
• January 1793 he was beheaded in October, Marie
Antoinette was also executed
Terror and Danger Grip France
– France was at war with much of Europe, including
Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia.
– Convention was divided by Jacobins and rival groupGirondins
– The Convention Creates a New Committee:
• Committee of Public Safety:
– 12 member committee had almost absolute power as it battled to
save the revolution
– Prepared France for war
– Levee en masse, mass levy that required all citizens to contribute
to the war effort
– Also in charge of trials and executions
Terror and Danger Grip France
– Robespierre “the
incorruptible”
• Robespierre was in charge
of the Public Safety
Committee
• Promoted religious
tolerance and abolish
slavery
• Believed in order to
achieve a republic they
needed “prompt, severe,
inflexible justice.”
• Felt liberty cannot be
secured “unless criminals
lose their heads.”
Terror and Danger Grip France
– The Guillotine Defines the Reign of Terror
• Robespierre one of the chief architects in the Reign of
Terror (September 1793-July 1794)
• Anyone who resisted the revolution were suspects.
– 300,000 were arrested
– 17,000 were executed
– Many were victims of mistaken identity or falsely accused by
their neighbors.
– Many died while in jail due to the hideous conditions
• Dr. Joseph Guillotin created the Guillotine
– Fast falling blade the cut of the head of the person. Thought
was more humane than the axing of a head.
Terror and Danger Grip France
Terror and Danger Grip France
Terror and Danger Grip France
• Members of the
convention turned on the
Committee of Public
Safety because they
feared for their own life.
• Robespierre was
beheaded.
The Revolution Enters its 3rd Stage
– Third stage began with the Constitution of 1795
• Set up 2 house legislature elected by male citizens of property
• Middle class and professional people of the bourgeoisie were
dominant
• Directory held power from 1795-1799
• They were able to end war with Prussia and Spain but war
continued with Austria and Great Britain
• The Directory failed to deal with pressing problems-instead they
focused on lining their own pockets.
• Supporters of a constitutional monarchy won the majority of sears
in legislature in 1797
• Chaos threatened the Directory so they turned to Napoleon
Bonaparte, a popular military hero who had won a series of
brilliant victories against the Austrians in Italy
Revolution Brings Change
– By 1700, the 10 year old
Revolution changed
France
• No more old social order
• Overthrown the
monarchy
• Brought Catholic Church
under state control
Revolution Brings Change
– Nationalism Spreads:
• Gave people strong sense of national identity
• Nationalism: a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to
one’s country
• Dances and songs on themes of the revolution became
popular
• 1793 troops marched from the port city of Marseilles
singing children of the fatherhood to march against the
bloody banner of tyranny.
– The song, “La Marseillaise” became the French national
anthem
Revolution Brings Change
– Revolutionaries Push for
Social Reform:
• Revolutionaries set up
state schools to replace
religious ones and
organized systems to help
the poor, old soldiers, and
war widows.
• Abolished slavery in
France’s Caribbean
colonies (including Haiti)
Art Revolution
• COMPLETE “THINKING
CRITICALLY” on page 127 for
homework
Section 4: The Age of Napoleon
Chapter 3
Napoleon Rises to Power
• Victories Cloud Losses
• In 1793 Napoleon was a very successful military leader
• Although in 1798 he was unsuccessful in Egypt he hid
his defeats by establishing a network of spies and
censoring the press.
• In 1799 he became a political leader
• Another constitution was created and in 1802
Napoleon named himself consul for life
Napoleon Rises to Power
– Napoleon Crowns Himself Emperor
• Napoleon’s power grew and 2 years later he had
enough power to crown himself emperor
• Napoleon, although an absolute leader held plebiscite,
or popular vote by ballot
• Although the people though they were ruling the
government through vote Napoleon still held absolute
power, this is called democratic despotism.
Napoleon Reforms France
• Restoring economic prosperity:
– Napoleon controlled prices
– Encouraged new industry
– Built roads and canals
– System of public schools under strict government
control
Napoleon Reforms France
• Napoleon made peace with the Catholic
Church
– Allowed state to remain in control of the Church,
but he recognized religious freedom for Catholics.
– Revolutionaries who opposed the Church
denounced the agreement
– Catholics welcomed it
Napoleon Reforms France
• Napoleon won support across class lines:
– Encouraged émigrés to return (provided they took
an oath of loyalty)
– Recognized peasants’ right to lands they had
bought from Church and nobles during the
revolution
– Napoleon also opened jobs based talent
Napoleon Reforms France
• Napoleonic Code
– Embodied
Enlightenment principles
such as equality of all
citizens before the law,
religious toleration, and
the abolition of
feudalism
Napoleon Reforms France
• Napoleonic Code also undid some of the
reforms:
– Women lost most of their newly gained rights and
could not exercise the rights of citizenship
– Male heads of households regained complete
authority over their wives and children
– Napoleon valued order and authority over
individual rights
Napoleon Builds an Empire
• The Map of Europe is Redrawn
• He annexed, or incorporated into his empire, the
Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Italy and Germany
• Controlled Europe through forceful diplomacy
– Placed friends and relatives on the thrones of Europe
– Forced alliances on European powers from Madrid to Moscow
– At various times the rulers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia
reluctantly signed treaties with the “Corsican ogre,” as the
monarchs he overthrew called him
• Napoleon’s successes boosted the spirit of nationalism
Napoleon Builds an Empire
• Napoleon Strikes Britain
• 1805 Napoleon prepared to invade England
– Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the southwest coast of Spain,
British Admiral Horatio Nelson smashed the French fleet
– Napoleon then waged economic warfare through the
Continental System, which closed European ports to British
goods.
» Blockade involves shutting off ports to keep people or
supplies from moving in or out
– Blockade: shutting off ports to keep people or supplies from
moving in or out
– The blockade led to soaring prices
Napoleon’s Empire Faces Challenges
• Nationalism Works
Against Napoleon:
• Many Europeans saw
Napoleon as foreign
oppressors
• Created revolts against
France
• Germany wanted to start
to counter the French
influence
Napoleon’s Empire Faces Challenges
• Spain and Austria Battle the French
– Napoleon ran out of money in Spain
• Napoleon introduced reforms that undermined the Spanish
Catholic Church
• Many Spaniards remained loyal to their former king and
devoted to the Church
• The more the Spaniards resisted the more Napoleon
repressed them and even more Spanish nationalism grew.
• Conducted guerilla warfare, hit and run raids, against the
French.
– Kept French soldiers tied down in Spain while Napoleon needed
them elsewhere
Napoleon’s Empire Faces Challenges
• Spanish resistance encouraged Austria to
resume hostilities against the French.
• Napoleon defeated Austria in their resistance
and received lands populated by more than 3
million subjects, as his settlement.
Napoleon’s Empire Faces Challenges
• The Russian Winter Stops the Grand Army
– Tsar, Alexander I of Russia, agreed to supporting Napoleon in his
Continental System, however after it hurt Russia economically he
rescinded his support
– Napoleon reacted by putting together the Grand Army, an army with
soldiers from 20 nations
– With 600,000 soldiers and 50,000 horses Napoleon invaded Russia.
– Russians retreated burning crops and villages as they went (scorchedearth policy) leaving the French hungry and cold as winter came.
– In October, he turned homeward
• 1,000-mile retreat turned into a battle for survival
– 20,000 soldiers survived
» “General famine and General Winter, rather than Russian bullets, have conquered
the Grand Army.” – Michel Ney (French General)
Napoleon’s Empire Faces Challenges
• Napoleon went home
to raise a new force to
defend France-however,
his reputation had been
shattered.
Napoleon Falls from Power
• Napoleon Abdicates Briefly
– Napoleon abdicated, or stepped down from power
– He was exiled to Elba, an island in the Mediterranean
– Louis XVIII became king of France (brother of Louis
XVI)
– King Louis XVIII agreed to uphold the Napoleonic Code
and honor land settlements but émigrés rushed back
to France bent on revenge.
– The economic depression and fear of a return to the
old regime rekindled loyalty to Napoleon
– In March 1815 Napoleon returned
Napoleon Falls from Power
• Crushed at the Battle of Waterloo
– June 18, 1815 the opposing armies met near the
town of Waterloo in Belgium.
– British forces and Prussian army crushed the
French in a day long battle
– Napoleon was forced the abdicate and go to exile
on St. Helena, a lonely island in the South Atlantic.
Napoleon Falls from Power
• Napoleon’s Legacy
– The Napoleonic Code consolidated many changes
of the revolution.
– Centralized France with a constitution
– More citizens had rights to property and access to
education than under the old regime
– Spread the idea of Revolution
– Created Nationalism across Europe
Leaders Meet at the Congress of
Vienna
• Congress of Vienna
– Diplomats and heads of states sat down to discuss
restoring stability and order to Europe
– Met for 10 months
– Representatives from Austria, Russia, Britain, and
France
Leaders Meet at the Congress of
Vienna
• Congress Strives for Peace
– Meeting needed to create a lasting peace by
establishing a balance of power and protecting the
system of monarchy
– They recreated the European map
– To get things back to how they use to be they used
the principle of legitimacy, restoring hereditary
monarchies
Leaders Meet at the Congress of
Vienna
• Congress Fails to See Traps Ahead:
– To protect the new order Austria, Russia, Prussia, and
Great Britain extended their wartime alliance into the
postwar era-they were called the Quadruple Alliance
– They pledged to act together to maintain the balance
of power and to suppress revolutionary uprisings
– Concert of Europe: Powers met periodically to discuss
any problems affecting the peace of Europe
Leaders Meet at the Congress of
Vienna