The French Revolution
and Napoleon
France in the 1700’s
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Most advanced country in Europe
Center of the Enlightenment
Cultural Center
Large population> 25 million
Prosperous foreign trade
BUT………..
Underlying issues
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Old Regime- 3 Estates
$ division between the “haves” and “havenots”= revolution
Enlightenment ideas- Equality, Liberty,
democracy- American Revolution- “Popular
sovereignty”
Economic problems: High taxes, debt from wars
Weak leader: Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Causes-Social Inequality
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Social Inequality - three
estates
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Three estates
First Estate (upper clergy) 1% of population, taxed
peasants
Second Estate (nobles) - 2-3%
of population, paid no taxes,
taxed peasants
Third Estate (Bourgeoisie,
peasants, workers) - paid up to
1/2 of income in taxes
3rd Estate
3rd Estate- 98% of the population belonged to this
group. This was made up of 3 different groups:
Bourgeoisie-these were merchants and artisans. They
believed in the ideas of the Enlightenment. They paid
high taxes and were not allowed the social recognition of
the 2nd estate.
Workers- these were the cooks, servants, and blue
collar workers. They were paid low wages and often had
to resort to stealing to stay alive
Peasants-this group made up 80% of the population
and this group had over 50% of their income going to
pay for taxes.
This third estate was sick of the status quo and they
wanted to change it.
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Causes-Ideas
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Enlightenment Ideas/ American Rev.
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Belief all men should have liberal freedoms
Right and just to remove unjust gov’t
Equality for all
United States Dec. of Independence and
Constitution-France helped Colonies win their
independence
Causes-Political
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King Louis XVI
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Weak leader
Preferred personal interests, delegated
authority
Incapable of decisive action
Wife- Marie Antoinette-Not well-likedAustrian- Married Louis XVI @ 14 years oldLived luxuriously (diamond necklace affair)
Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette
Causes - Economic
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Economic Crisis
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French economy bankrupt
Wars, Louis XVI lifestyle
Nobles not taxed
Crop failures
Debt - 1/2 budget goes to interest
Bourgeoisie begin questioning King
Revolution Dawns
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Prior to the Estates-General the delegates from
the 1st and 2nd Estates had more weight or value
to the votes their delegates placed. This led for
the 1st and 2nd Estate to always outvote the 3rd
estate even though the 3rd Estate had more
delegates.
Delegates from the 3rd Estate wanted to change
that though-they believed everyone should have
the same value to their vote. Therefore, the 3rd
estate would always out vote the 1st and 2nd
estates.
On June 17, 1789 the third estate voted to
have a National Assembly. This was the
1st move toward revolution.
 The 3rd Estate was immediately locked out
of the Estates General and they broke into
an indoor tennis court where they agreed
to stay until a new constitution was
written.
They called their agreement the Tennis
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Court Oath.
Tennis Court Oath
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National Assembly declared (June 20, 1789)
The Bastille
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Louis realized he needed to do something before
he lost all of France, so he ordered the clergy
and the nobles to join the National Assembly.
He also brought in Swiss guards to protect him
in Paris.
People heard about the Swiss guards and they
immediately began to gather weapons in order
to protect themselves from a possible massacre.
On July 14th an angry group went to the
Bastille, a prison, looking for gunpowder. The
angry crowd overthrew the kings guards and the
people took control of the Bastille. July 14th is
known as a French national holiday.
Bastille
A Great Fear Sweeps France
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People began to panic which led to a period
called the Great Fear. This period occurred
when rebellion spread to the countryside.
Peasants began to attack their feudal lords and
demand their freedom.
A group of 6,000 women protested the rising
cost of bread. “Let them eat cake”
They lashed out the king and the queen and
they demanded they immediately leave
Versailles and return to France. This was the last
time the king was at Versailles.
Revolution Brings Terror
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The National Assembly adopted a
statement of Revolutionary Ideas— A
Declaration on the Rights of Man.—All
men are born and remain free and equal
in rights. It also included equal justice,
freedom of speech, and freedom of
religion.
Olympe de Gouge wrote—a Declaration on
the Rights of Women
State Controlled Church
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The state took cover church lands and
said that priests had to be elected by
property owners and paid as state
officials. The church lost its land and
political power. The church land was sold
off to pay off debt.
This act angered the peasants---why?
Louis escapes, but is caught
Conflicting Goals Cause
Division
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A limited constitutional monarchy was
created—the king would still hold
executive powers but the assemblymen
would make the laws.
1791-the National Assembly closed
because the constitution was complete
and the Legislative Assembly took over.
3 Divisions of the Legislative
Assembly
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Radicals (Liberals)-They sat on the left side of
the hall and were called “left winged” The most
extreme of this group were also called SansCulottes (those without knee breeches) They
wanted extreme changes in the government--common people should hold the power
Moderates—sat in the middle—wanted some
changes, but not as extreme as the radicals.
Conservatives- They sat on the right side of the
hall and they liked the limited monarchy.
Emigres were the most extreme group within
the conservatives.
War and Extreme Measures
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Austria and Prussia demanded that Louis be
brought back to the crown. In response the
Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria.
The French were not prepared to fight Austria
and Prussia who joined in when war was
declared—(why??)
When the Prussians threatened to destroy Paris
if the revolutionaries hurt Louis and his family,
Parisians invaded the Royal Palace and Louis
and his family were kept in a stone tower.
The fighting continues
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As the war went on the Legislative
Assembly decided to get rid of the current
constitution which called for a
constitutional monarchy and therefore get
rid of the king.
The new governing body was the National
Convention.
The Jacobins
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The people in the street had more power than
the National Convention and the most radical
group was called the Jacobins.
Jacobins were middle class people who wanted
to get rid of the king and create a republic.
Jean Paul Marat and George Danton were
leaders of the Jacobins and with their influence
they was able to get enough support to have
France abolish the monarchy and create a
republic.
The death of a king
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Jacobins tried Louis for treason, found him
guilty and sentenced him to death. Louis
was killed by the guillotine in front of
thousands.
Jacobins realized they still had a war to
fight, so they initiated the draft—women
were included in the draft.
Terror Grips France
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A group developed in France that wanted
to create a “republic of virtue”—they
wanted to rid France of all of its past
nobility and monarchy.
This group led by Maximillien Robespierre
changed the calendar to be more
scientific—they divided the calendar into
12 months and 30 days and they closed all
churches in Paris.
Maximilien Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety (?)
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Robespierre became leader of the
Committee of Public Safety, which would
get rid of people that were deemed by
Robespierre to be enemies of the
Republic. People would be tried in the
morning and guillotined in the afternoon.
July 1793-July 1794 Robespierre ruled
France as a dictator and his rule was
called the Reign of Terror— the most
famous victim was….
Marie Antoinette
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On her way to the guillotine she said,
“Monsieur, I beg your pardon. I did not
do it on purpose.”
Guillotine
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George Danton was also a victim of the
Reign.
In the end 3,000 were in killed in Paris
and some speculate 40,000 were killed in
total.
End of Terror
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National Convention turns
on Robespierre in 1794
and they put him to
death by guillotine…The
Reign of Terror ended
with his death.
1795 Moderates drafted a
new constitution which
called for 2 house
legislature and a 5
member executive branch
called the Directory.
Napoleon Forges an Empire
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Great military genius
Took control of France in a coup d’etat
Gains peace agreement w/Britain, Austria
and Russia
France under Napoleon:
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Fairer taxes
Improved schools
Napoleonic Code- some restrictions
Napoleon Creates Empire
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1804- Crowned Emperor
New World Problems Haiti- Defeated by
slaves led by Toussaint L’Ouverture
Sells Louisiana Territory to United States
Turns attention to Europe-Builds empire
Loses Battle of Trafalgar-1805 to British
Only able to control empire from 18071812
Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
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Three big Mistakes:
Continental system- designed to hurt Great
Britain & make Europe more self-sufficientweakened economy of France
 Peninsular War- conflict w/ Spain & Portugalfuels “nationalism”
 Invasion of Russia- scorched earth- Decimates
Napoleon’s army
 April 1814- Surrenders to Coalition Forces
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Hundred Days-March-June,
1815
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Banished to Elba (1814)
New King Louis XVIII (Louis XVI’s
brother)- becomes unpopular- Napoleon
comes back (March 1815)
Defeated at Waterloo 1815 (Hundred Days
ends)
Banished to St. Helena’s –dies 1821
Congress of Vienna
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Lasted 8 months- wanted to create a “Balance
of Power” and peace
Klemens von Metternich-Austria-3 goals:
Limit France’s power
 Restore “balance of power”
 Return monarchs to thrones (Hobbes)
Established peace for nearly 40 years
Some were constitutional monarchies and some
Absolute Monarchies (Enlightened)
Set the seeds for Nationalistic revolutions to come
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