1789-1815. In the 1600s and 1700s, French kings still ruled by “divine right” with absolute...
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The French Revolution 1789-1815
1789-1815. In the 1600s and 1700s, French kings still ruled by “divine right” with absolute power. And they lived more luxuriously than perhaps anyone,
In the 1600s and 1700s, French kings still ruled by divine
right with absolute power. And they lived more luxuriously than
perhaps anyone, anywhere in the history of the world.
Slide 3
Louis XIV, King of France 1643-1715
Slide 4
Palace of Versailles
Slide 5
Hall of Mirrors
Slide 6
Society was divided into 3 social classes called ESTATES: 1 st
2 nd 3 rd Clergy Nobles Commoners The first 2 estates had special
privileges that that 3 rd did not.
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The problem was that the 3 rd Estate made up 98.5% of the
population.
Slide 8
Commoners crushed by the Clergy and Nobility
Slide 9
In the 1600s, French commoners looked on while the Brits
executed Charles I and chased off James II.
Slide 10
In the 1700s, they watched the Americans break away from
England under King George III.
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By the late-1780s, France was in deep financial trouble. At the
same time, a terrible harvest created bread shortages. King Louis
XVI was unsure about how to deal with the crisis.
Slide 12
Louis XVI decided to call a meeting of the Estates-General.
Similar to Parliament, but with 3 houses, one for the reps of each
estate. Each estate got one vote, as a result, the king always
won!
Slide 13
E-G met at Versailles in 1789. 3 rd Estate demanded some rule
changes be made. They wanted each rep to get one vote instead of
each house. Commoners would then have the advantage, 610-589.
Slide 14
Louis XVI locked the 3 rd Estate reps out of their meeting
hall. The Commoners took over one of his tennis courts and declared
themselves National Assembly. They then took the Tennis Court
Oath.
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The Tennis Court Meeting
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Louis XVI paid lip service to the National Assembly. In the
meantime, he called for 30,000 troops to surround Paris. The people
in Paris feared the king was planning to crush the revolution.
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The commoners decided to strike a blow against the Old Regime.
On July 14, 1789, they stormed the Bastille. This was their
declaration of independence from absolute monarchy.
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Storming the Bastille
Slide 19
Bastille commanders head on a pike
Slide 20
Research on your own: 1) The Great Fear. 2) The Declaration of
the Rights of Man. 3) The March on Versailles. 4) The Constitution
of 1791.
Slide 21
Louis XVI (Bourbon family) King of France 1774-1792
Slide 22
Marie Antoinette Queen of France Her family rules Austria. Let
em eat cake
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Louis & Marie were married when he was 15 and she was 14.
Maries brother, Joseph II was the Holy Roman Emperor. Fans of the
Old Regime hoped Joseph II would attack France.
Slide 24
With war threatening, French society was split into three main
groups: Radicals Moderates Reactionarie s LeftRightCenter
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Radicals: - Demand drastic, rapid change. - Want to completely
tear down Old Regime. - Favor a REPUBLIC.
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Moderates: - Want gradual change. - Want to fix the Old Regime
not destroy it. - Favor a LIMITED MONARCHY.
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Reactionaries: - Dislike change. - Want to go back to the way
things used to be. - Favor a return to ABSOLUTE MONARCHY.
Slide 28
1n 1791, the Legislative Assembly was dominated by radicals and
moderates. The radicals wanted war. Louis XVI and the reactionaries
wanted war, too.
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In June 1791, Louis and Marie attempted to flee from Paris.
They were stopped, brought back to Paris and imprisoned. The
radicals thought this meant Austria was going to attack.
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In April 1792, the radicals convinced the Legislative Assembly
to declare war on Austria. Prussia quickly jumped in on Austrias
side.
Slide 31
New elections in France brought more radicals into the
Assembly. In Sept. 1792 the Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy.
This was the beginning of the French Republic.
Slide 32
The radicals changed the name of the assembly to the National
Convention. In Jan. 1793, they tried Louis XVI as an enemy of the
Revolution. He was convicted and sentenced to death by
guillotine.
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The Execution of Louis XVI
Slide 34
Slide 35
The execution of Louis XVI brought Great Britain, Spain &
the Netherlands into the war. War with 5 countries forced the
National Convention to institute a draft.
Slide 36
Opposition to the war and the draft threatened to bring down
the republic. The National Convention created the Committee of
Public Safety to root out opponents of the revolution.
Slide 37
Maximilien Robespierre Leader of the Committee of Public Safety
Do the ends justify the means?
Slide 38
Robespierre felt that saving the Revolution was more important
than protecting individual rights. Opponents of the National
Convention were quickly taken to the guillotine.
Slide 39
From July 1793-July 1794, 40,000 people were executed. 80% of
those killed were members of the 3 rd Estate. Finally the Committee
of Public Safety turned on Robespierre and he, too, was
guillotined.
Slide 40
Constitution of 1795 ended the radical phase of the Revolution.
Council of 500 Council of Ancients Directory Courts Legislative
ExecutiveJudicial Republic Separation of Powers
Slide 41
In Oct. 1795, a mob of Royalists threatened to overthrow the
Directory in Paris. The Directors called on a young general,
Napoleon Bonaparte, to defend them.
Slide 42
Napoleon used cannon fire to disperse the reactionary mob. For
this he was hailed as a hero of the Revolution and given command of
an army in Italy.
Slide 43
Napoleon Bonaparte Born: 1769 on Corsica. Sent to military
school at age 9.
Slide 44
In 1796-97, Napoleon won great victories against Austria &
Prussia and increased his fame. In 1799, Napoleon decided it was
time to take control of the government of France.
Slide 45
Napoleon used his fame and the support of his army to pull off
a coup detat. He created a new 3-man ruling body, The Consulate.
Napoleon named himself First Consul with a 10-year term.
Slide 46
In 1802, Napoleon ordered a plebiscite. Q: Should Napoleon be
named First Consul for Life? Yes No 3,568,885 8,374 99.8% 0.2%
Slide 47
Assassination attempts and talk of returning to a monarchy led
Napoleon to take a new title. On Dec. 1, 1804 he crowned himself:
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French
Slide 48
Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I
Slide 49
By 1804, Napoleons army had successfully conquered virtually
all of Europe. In 1805, Napoleon planned to invade his most hated
enemy, Great Britain.
Slide 50
But at the Battle of Trafalgar, British Admiral Horatio Nelson
destroyed the French fleet. Without a navy Napoleon could not
invade Great Britain.
Slide 51
Trafalgar Square, London Admiral Nelson
Slide 52
After Trafalgar, Napoleon decided to hurt the British by
cutting off their trade. He set up the Continental System, which
said that no country in Europe could trade with the British.
Slide 53
Czar Alexander I of Russia refused to obey Napoleons trade
embargo of Great Britain. Napoleon invaded Russia in June, 1812
with an army of over half a million troops.
Slide 54
Unable to stop the invasion, the Russians retreated and burned
everything in their wake. This scorched earth policy denied
Napoleons troops food and shelter.
Slide 55
The Burning of Moscow, 1812
Slide 56
After finding Moscow in flames, Napoleon decided to retreat
before winter set in. The retreat was a disaster as French troops
starved, froze and got mauled by attacking Russian cavalry called
Cossacks.
Slide 57
Napoleon lost over 400,000 troops in Russia. With G.B., Russia,
Prussia and Austria now allied against him, Napoleon abdicated his
throne. In 1814, he went into exile on the small island of
Elba.
Slide 58
Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, was installed as French
king. After less than a year on Elba, Napoleon made a comeback. He
returned to France, chased off Louis XVIII and gathered together a
new army.
Slide 59
In June 1815, he was defeated by Great Britain and Prussia at
Waterloo, in present day Belgium. Following this final defeat, the
British exiled Napoleon for good to St. Helena off the coast of
Africa.
Slide 60
Napoleon lived out his days under British guard, dying in 1821
at age 51. The French Revolution story ends with Louis XVIII back
in charge of a limited monarchy.