-Key Concepts-
-Ideological Foundation for Political
Liberalism-
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The notion of individual
human rights
A new type of
government in which
the people are sovereign
The importance of a
representative assembly
The importance of a
written constitution
The notion of selfdetermination
Freedom to accumulate
property
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Equality of rights and civil liberties
Equality before the law
No special privileges for the rich
Equality of opportunity
“Careers Open to Talent”
Inherent tension between liberty and equality
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Judeo-Christian and
Greek roots
Enlightenment
Foundation
Locke’s Notion of
the Rights of
Englishmen
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The French Revolution was the inaugural
European revolution
The French Revolution and the Industrial
Revolution together transformed the western
world
This “Dual Revolution” changed everything
politically, socially and economically
Triumph of European states and economies
globally
The Modern Era was inaugurated by the Dual
Revolution
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French Revolution was a part of a whole series
of revolutions which took place during the late
18th century
--Political agitation in England, Ireland,
Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy,
Germany, Hungary, Poland and the American
colonies
One big movement of revolutionary agitation
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“All Men are Created
Equal”
The significance of the
American constitution
The influence of the
American Revolution
The impact of the
American Revolution
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Independence from
Spanish rule
Simon Bolivar, the father
of Latin American
independence
Continued dominance of
the white minority
The abolition of the slave
trade is set in motion
--United States abolished
this trade in 1808
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More fundamental and profound consequences
than the American Revolution
France = most powerful and populous state in
Europe
Massive social revolution
Worldwide impact
Becomes model for future revolutions
“Series of revolutions which became
more radical as leadership cascaded
down through French society.”
Watch for the different revolutions
within the Revolution!
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Began as a revolt of
the aristocracy
Attempt to
capitalize on the
financial woes of the
monarchy
Only solution = tax
reform and a direct
tax on all property
Aristocracy refused
and forces the issue
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Although
people were
starving and
the country
was broke, the
royal family
flaunted their
wealth and
uncaring.
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An old feudal assembly
that had not met since
1614
Three Estates: Clergy,
Nobility, All Others
The significance of the
voting procedure
The miscalculation and
lack of social awareness
of the aristocracy
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Who were they?
Third Estate was
dominated by the
middle class
Blending of aristocratic
and bourgeois classes
by 1789
Middle class = Big
Winners
Revolutionary goals of
the middle class
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Representative
government did not
mean democracy or
“mob rule”
Estates-General
became the National
Assembly in June of
1789 with the power
to frame a
constitution
--Tennis Court Oath
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Who were they?
“Sans-culottes”
(without knee
britches)
Picked up the ideas
and slogans of the
Revolution from the
more educated
leadership of
lawyers and
journalists
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Poverty and Hunger
Low wages and fear of
unemployment
Heightened
expectations and the
exposure to a political
perspective
-- “Cahiers”
Strong dislike for and
distrust of the wealthy
The role of conspiracy
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Events of the night of
July 13, 1789
Reasons for the attack
on the Bastille the next
morning
The stubbornness of the
governor of the fortress
Celebrations on the
night of July 14th
Sparks tremendous
popular revolution all
over France
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Independent
revolutionary agitation
in the countryside
Rumors of Royalist
troops becoming
wandering vandals
Fear breeds fear and
peasants start marching
Within 3 weeks of July
14, the countryside of
France had been
completely changed
Abolition of the
Nobility
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Mounting
unemployment and
hunger in Paris in the
fall of 1789
“October Days”
-- “The point is that we
want bread!”
Women nearly killed
the Queen
The Royal Family
returns to Paris on
October 6, 1789
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Events from October, 1789 through September,
1791
Abolition of the French nobility as a legal order
Constitutional Monarchy established
Economic centralization
Nationalization of the Church
--Stage set for subsequent civil war
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Revolutionary Talk
--More than 500 new
newspapers
--Oath of Loyalty
-- “Liberte, Equalite,
Fraternite!”
Revolutionary Symbols
Revolutionary Clubs
--The Jacobins
Revolutionary Leaders
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Reasons:
--Snowball Effect
--Unsatisfied
Expectations
--Outbreak of War
Results:
--Increasing
Violence
--Change in Political
Leadership
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The Committee of
Public Safety
The Concept of
“Total War”
Maximum price
ceilings on certain
goods
Nationalization of
Small Workshops
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Execution of 40,000
“Enemies of the Nation”
Stress on radical definition
of equality
Wanted a legal maximum
on personal wealth
Wanted a regulation of
commercial profits
End of Robespierre’s
dictatorship on July 28,
1794
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The Directory (17941799)
Napoleon’s Rise to
Power
The Napoleonic Code
Establishment of the
Bank of France
Reconciliation with the
Catholic Church
--Concordat of 1801
Heavy Censorship
Napoleon’s “Art of
War”
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Napoleon Bonaparte dominated European history
from 1799 to 1815.
He never stopped reminding the French that he
preserved what was beneficial in the revolutionary
program.
Napoleon was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean
island of Corsica.
He went to a military school in France on a royal
scholarship.
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Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he
reached power.
First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the
many nations warring with France after the
execution of Louis XVI.
However, in 1803, the war was renewed.
From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand Army
defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian
armies.
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Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he
reached power.
First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the
many nations warring with France after the
execution of Louis XVI.
However, in 1803, the war was renewed.
From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand Army
defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian
armies.
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Britain’s defeat of a combined French-Spanish
fleet at Trafalgar (1805) ended Napoleon’s dream
of invading.
Napoleon tried to use the Continental System to
defeat Britain.
The Continental System was intended to stop
British goods from reaching continental markets.
Allied states resented being told they could not
buy British goods, and this strategy failed as well.
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Napoleon now could create a new world order.
His Grand Empire had three parts: the French
Empire, dependent states, and allied states.
The dependent states were kingdoms that
Napoleon’s relatives ruled, including Spain,
Holland, Italy, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
The allied states were those Napoleon defeated
and forced to join him in war against Britain.
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These included Prussia, Austria, Russia, and
Sweden.
Napoleon sought to spread some of the principles
of the French Revolution, including equality before
the law, religious toleration, and economic
freedom, through his empire.
He urged his rulers to be constitutional kings.
He tried to destroy the feudal, hierarchical order
in the French Empire and his dependent states.
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Napoleon’s fall began with his invasion of Russia,
which had refused to remain in the Continental
System.
In 1812 a Grand Army of over six hundred
thousand men entered Russia.
Napoleon needed to score a quick, decisive
victory.
The Russians would not fight but kept retreating.
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They burned their villages, and even Moscow, as
they wanted to deny the French food and
supplies.
Lacking food, Napoleon left Moscow after two
months to retreat.
He left in October, so his “Great Retreat”
happened under terrible winter conditions.
Only forty thousand men arrived back in Poland.
Other European nations rose up to attack the
crippled French army.
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The European powers and Napoleon, whom they
called the “Enemy and Disturber of the Tranquility
of the World,” fought again.
At Waterloo in Belgium in 1815, Napoleon was
defeated by a combined British and Prussian army
under the Duke of Wellington.
The allies exiled him to St. Helena, a small island
in the south Atlantic.
Napoleon’s power was ended.
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France was ruled by the monarchy until the French Revolution that took
place in the year 1789. After the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte took over the control of the Republic in
the year 1799 and crowned himself the emperor of the first French empire
between the year 1804 and the year 1814.
Napoleon be defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in the year 1815, the
second French republic ended in the year 1852 and Louis-Napoleon
Bonaparte be defeated at the Franco-Prussian war which took place in the
year 1870. The third French republic replaced Louis-Napoleon's regime.
The fourth French republic was established after the Second World War
and within the year 1958, the weakened fourth French republic gave way
to the fifth republic. One of the major characteristics of the fifth republic
was the strengthened presidency. Charles De Gaulle was the president of
the fifth republic of France.
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A revolutionary model
A Mass political
consciousness
Varying interpretations
of the Revolution
--Conservative View:
Edmund Burke
--Liberal View: Thomas
Jefferson
Conflict within the
Liberal Tradition
“Libertarianism” vs.
“Egalitarianism”