Chapter 23 – Section 1
Revolutions Threatens the French King
Economic and Social inequalities help cause the French Revolution
The Old Regime
 Left over from feudal times – divided society into 3 classes (Estates)
 First Estate – Catholic Church Clergy
 Paid 2% of income in taxes
 Second Estate - rich nobles
 Paid almost no taxes
 Third Estate – everyone else
 Bourgeoisie – merchants and artisans
o Some were rich, but lacked privileges of 2nd Est.
 Workers – servants, cooks - lived in cities
o Poorer than bourgeoisie
 Peasants – lived in country
o Poorer than bourgeoisie
o Paid 50% of income in a variety of taxes
Factors Leading to Revolution
 Enlightenment Ideas
 New views on gov’t and a questioning of society
 American Revolution inspired people
 Economic Problems
 Gov’t was in debt from wars
 King and Queen spent lots of money
 Heavy taxation
 Crop failures and rise of prices of bread
 Weak Leader / Absolute Rule
 Louis was indecisive and uninterested – put off solving problem
 Absolute rule/extravagance clashed with Enlightenment mood
Revolution Dawns
King calls the Estates General to approve an increase in taxes to pay for debt
 Estates General
 Each Estate gets one vote
 First and Second Estate always vote together to outvote the
Third Estate 2-1
 Third Estate wants each delegate to have a vote to equal it out
 National Assembly
 Third Estate votes to change the system and renames
themselves the National Assembly
 Louis XVI locks them out of Estates General
 Take Tennis Court Oath – Constitution is written
 Storming the Bastille
 Rumors spread of mercenaries in Paris there to kill Parisians
 Mobs stole weapons – storm Bastille for gunpowder to protect
themselves – They take over the prison
 The Great Fear
 Panic in the country that nobles hired outlaws to kill peasants
 Peasants turned into violent mobs – attacked nobles
 Women march on Versailles to protest rising bread prices
 King and Queen go to Paris as captives
Key Concepts:
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Economic and political gap between the Estates (1st and 2nd vs. 3rd)
Enlightenment ideas take hold in society – people want change
Debt, spending, bad harvests made bad economy – France is bankrupt
Third Estate makes change toward equality – National Assembly
Revolution begins food prices spark women to action
A Graphic View of the Three Estates in
France
2%
0.5%
First Estate
Second Estate
Third Estate
97.5%
Percentage of Taxes Paid by Estate in 1789
Comparison of Estates in France, 1789
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
% of Taxes Paid
% of Land Ow ned
% of People in Estate
First Estate
Second Estate
Third Estate
Graphic View of the Three Estates in
France
Population in Each Estate, 1789
1st - 130,000
2nd - 520,000
3rd – 25,350,000
30,000,000
25,000,000
20,000,000
15,000,000
Population By
Estate
10,000,000
5,000,000
0
First
Estate
Second
Estate
Third
Estate
Number of Votes in the Estates General, 1789
1
1
First Estate
Second Estate
Third Estate
1
Each Estate has one vote
Graphic View of the Three Estates in
France
Percentage of Income Spent On Taxes, By Estate
1789
Third
Estate
Second
Estate
Percent of Income
Paid in Taxes
First Estate
0
20
40
60
Chapter 23 – Section 2
Revolution Brings Reform and Terror
Fear affects all portions of the population and brings reform and terror
The Assembly Reforms France
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is drafted
o Guarantees equal justice, freedom of speech, religion
o Gov’t is to preserve natural rights: liberty, property, security
 “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” becomes slogan of the Revolution
 State takes over Catholic Church lands to help pay debt
o Avoids taxing bourgeoisie further – peasants oppose takeover
Conflicting Goals Cause Division
 With a constitution, France is now a limited constitutional monarchy
 National Assembly hands power to Legislative Assembly – make laws
 Legislative Assembly is split into 3 opposing groups (factions)
Radicals – want sweeping changes
(Sans-culottes)
Moderates – want some change, but not as much as radicals
Conservatives – want few changes
Radicals eventually gain control
War and Extreme Measures
 Foreign monarchs and nobles feared Revolution might spread to their
nations – They supported restoring Louis to the throne
 Leg. Assembly sees this as threat – declares war on Austria
 War goes badly for France in the beginning
Radicals Execute the King
 Mobs control France by summer of 1792
 Natn’l Convention abolishes monarchy - declares France a
Republic
 Louis XVI is tried for treason and executed by guillotine
 France still fighting foreign enemies (Prussia, Austria, Spain, GB)
The Terror Grips France - “The Reign of Terror”
 Robespierre gains control – seek to destroy all remnants of monarchy
o Sought to eliminate “enemies of the Revolution” within France
o “Committee of Public Safety” tried and executed “enemies”
 Revolutionary leaders who challenged Robespierre’s
leadership were targeted, tried and executed
 Soon, even the slightest offense was punished
Over 40,000 people total were killed (85% were peasants)
The End of Terror
 National Convention realizes that nobody is safe from Robespierre
o They turn on him and he is executed by guillotine
 National Convention sets up new gov’t - moderates are now in
control
o The Directory names Napoleon as head general of France’s army
Key Concepts:
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Declaration of the Rights of Man guarantees freedoms
Factions split new government
War with Austria causes panic – radicals take over – king is killed
Robespierre’s “Reign of Terror” becomes arbitrary and out of control
“Terror” ends with Robespierre’s death – middle class controls gov’t
Chapter 23 – Section 3
Napoleon Forges an Empire
Napoleon takes advantage of France’s political turmoil and chaos to gain
control
Napoleon Grasps Power
 Napoleon gains reputation as a military hero
o The Directory was losing control, except for the army
 Napoleon throws a coup – is named consul
Napoleon Rules France
 Desperate for a strong leader, people approve new constitution
o Gave all real power to Napoleon
Napoleon’s Reforms
 Economic
o Sets up a national bank – also gave loans to businesses
o Enacts a fairer tax code
o Stabilized the currency
 Government
o Fired corrupt officials – hired on merit
o Starts lycees – gov’t run schools
o Created Napoleonic Code – system of laws
 Established a uniform set of laws, eliminated some
injustices
 Also limited liberty, favored gov’t over individual
rights
 Women lost rights gained during Revolution
 Freedom of speech and press were restricted
 Restored slavery in Caribbean colonies
 Religious
o Signed concordat with Pope
 Catholic Church is less powerful
 Rejected Church control in national affairs
 Napoleon crowns himself emperor with by vote of the people
Napoleon Creates an Empire
 Reconquering St. Domingue fails – scraps plans for New World
empire
o Sells Louisiana Territory to US – gains money for European wars
 Napoleon has success in conquering most of Europe
 Battle of Trafalgar
o French navy is defeated - Napoleon gives up on invading Britain
The French Empire
 Controlled most of Europe through conquest, alliances and threats
 His control made many aware of their loyalty to their nations
 The empire was large, but unstable – it can not be maintained
Key Concepts:
 Napoleon grabs power because of Government disorder and chaos
 People want stability – allow Napoleon to become dictator then emperor
 Napoleon creates order through reforms to gov’t, religion and economy
 Napoleon controls most of Europe with war, threats and alliances
 While large and powerful, France’s empire was unstable
Chapter 23 – Section 4
Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
Napoleon’s Three Costly Mistakes
 The Continental System
o A blockade to prevent all trade and communication between
Europe and England
 Designed to destroy England’s commerce and economy
 Was supposed to make Europe more self-sufficient
o Reasons for failure
 Blockade was too loose – cargo was smuggled into Europe
 Napoleon’s allies ignored it
 England set up their own blockade, which was effective
 Supplies from other nations did not reach Europe
 This weakened France and territories it controlled
 The Peninsular War
o Napoleon sent troops to Portugal to enforce the Continental
System
 Had to march through Spain to get there
 When Spanish towns rioted, he named his brother king
o Results
 Napoleon lost 300,000 men – weakened French army
 Inspires nationalism in Spain, Italy and Germany
 Parts of his empire were turning against him
 The Invasion of Russia
o Although allies with France, Russia needed commerce with
England – breaks down the alliance
 Napoleon invades, Russians retreat
 Scorched earth policy leaves no resources for Napoleon
 Napoleon marches to Moscow – stays for five weeks
 Caught in the Russian winter while returning to France
 Attacked by Russians during retreat
 Lost 95% of his army
Napoleon’s Downfall
 Napoleon’s enemies join forces to take advantage of his weakened
army
o England, Russia, Prussia, Sweden make up the Fourth Coalition
 Napoleon raises a new army, but it is inexperienced
o He is defeated an Battle of Leipzig
o Exiled to Elba island
Napoleon’s Comeback
 Louis XVIII comes to France to rule as king
o Quickly becomes unpopular
 Suspected of wanting to undo Revolution land reforms
 Napoleon escapes from exile
o Quickly raises and army - thousands of volunteers
o Within days he is emperor again – Louis flees
 Waterloo
o Napoleon attacks British forces at Waterloo
o Defeated by English and Prussian armies in two days
o Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena
 He dies 21 years later
 The door is now open for a new order in Europe
Key Concepts:
 Napoleon makes three costly mistakes that lead to his
downfall
 Returns from exile to regain power – he is defeated
 Chance for a new European order emerges in his
absence
Chapter 22 – Section 5
The Congress of Vienna
After Napoleon, Europe seeks long-lasting peace and stability. The Congress
of Vienna was a meeting of the European powers to do this.
Metternich’s Plan
 He distrusted democracy, and wanted to keep the status quo
 He adopts a three-part plan to do this
Part 1 - Containment of France
 Prevent future French aggression by surrounding it with strong
countries.
o Smaller nations/states were combined
Part 2 - Balance of Power
 Prevent any one country from easily overpowering another.
o Weaken France, but not too much to inspire revenge
o All territory gained by Napoleon was given back
Part 3 - Legitimacy
 Return the rulers Napoleon had deposed to the throne
o These “legitimate” rulers would stabilize their countries and
the political relations among nations
The Congress of Vienna was a success. It created peace, avoided severe
punishment that would cause a revenge war, and created a balance of power.
Concert of Europe
 A series of alliances to ensure nations help each other if war breaks out
 Conservative gov’t takes hold – they do not want change
Legacy
 Nationalism spreads – will fuel more revolution later
 Attitudes about authority and power change permanently