Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The French Revolution and Napoleon
An Overview
Just as the Scientific Revolution paved the way for the Enlightenment …
Paving the way
…Enlightenment ideas paved the way for the French Revolution.
There was already great unrest in France, caused by high prices and high taxes, but there were also disturbing questions about issues of governmentallegitimacy raised by people like Rousseau and Voltaire.
Unrest in France
This statue of Voltaire (1694 – 1778) stands today in the Pantheon in Paris.
Voltaire
Voltaire used satire to attack his opponents.He never stopped fighting for
•tolerance•reason•freedom of religious belief•freedom of speech.
Satire
Jean Jacques Rousseau was passionately committed to individual freedom.
He wrote, “Man is born free, and everywhere he isin chains.”
Chains
Rousseau’s crypt is at the Pantheon in Paris.
Rousseau
Many members of the Third Estate were inspired by these Enlightenment ideas, and they wanted representation ingovernment.They no longer could accept the monarch’s belief in the “divine right.”
No more divine right!
When France was facing bankruptcy, Louis XVI wanted to tax the aristocrats.
The Second Estate forced him to call a meeting of the Estates-General.
The Meeting
Under medieval rules, each estate had one vote.
The First Estate – one voteThe Second Estate – one voteThe Third Estate – one vote
The Three Estates
The Third Estate delegates, with their views
shaped by the Enlightenment, wanted each delegate to have a vote.
They wanted political change!
WeWant
Change!
Change…
Delacroix expressed the revolutionary ideas in hispainting, “Liberte.”
Delacroix
On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate voted to establish the National Assembly. That was the first deliberate
act of revolution.
REVOLUTION!
Locked out of their meeting room, they broke down a doorto an indoor tennis court.
The Tennis Court Oath
Here they pledged to stay until they had drawn upa new constitution.
A New Constitution
Here’s the current appearance of the former Jeu de Paume in Versailles.
The Jeu de Paume
Meanwhile, in Paris, on July 14, 1789, a mob tried to get gunpowder from the Bastille, a prison. Todaythere’s a monument at the location of the former prison.
The Former Bastille
1789 - 1791
The National Assembly tried to make political reform.
The National Assembly
1791:
The Legislative Assembly, split into three general groups,had many problems to solve.
Radicals Moderates Conservatives
Political Factions
The extreme radicals were the sans-culotte.
The extreme conservatives were the emigres.
Political Extremes
The Legislative Assembly eventually gave up the idea offorming a limited monarchy; the new governing body calleditself the National Convention.
The Legislative Assembly
The National Convention abolished themonarchy and declared France a republic.
France is a republic!
September, 1792: A Republic
Sculpture of the National Convention at the Pantheon.
The National Convention
Robespierre won the power struggle; attemptswere made to destroy all traces of the monarchyand nobility.That led to the Reign of Terror.
1793 - 1794
The Reign of Terror
“Revolutions devour their own children.”
July 28, 1794:Robespierre himself became a victimof the guillotine.
End of the Reign of Terror
Moderate leaders drafted a new plan ofgovernment.The power is put in the hands of theDirectory.
1795: The Directory
Though corrupt, the Directory did provideFrance with a period of order.They also found the right general to commandFrance’s armies:
Napoleon Bonaparte
A New General
Crossing the Alps, Napoleon led a seriesof remarkable victories.
A Victorious Leader
Antoine-Jean Gros painted this tribute to Napoleon.
Tribute to Napoleon
BUT,Napoleon wanted even more power.
1799:
He staged a coup d’etat.
The Coup d’Etat
But that wasn’t enough –Napoleon wanted MORE power.
1804:
With the support of the French voters,Napoleon made himself emperor.
More power!
By Jacque Louis David
David was an ardent Bonapartist.
Napoleon’s Coronation
Today David’s painting is at the Louvre in Paris.
David’s Painting
BUT,
Napoleon wanted an empire, too.
His move into Spain outraged the Spanish people.
And – an empire!
Goya’s painting “The Second of May” shows Spanish resistance to the French troops.
Spanish Resistance
Close-up:The Second of May
Goya’s painting “The Third of May” showsthe French response to the Spanish resistance.
The French Response
Goya’s painting is a commemoration of the execution of a group of Madrid citizens.
Goya’s Tribute to the Resistance
This mistake by Napoleon, plus others, wouldlead to his downfall.
Napoleon’s Downfall
1815:
Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo.
His “Waterloo”
POWER changed hands several times
between 1789 – 1815.
POWER!
The French Revolution tried to putpower into the hands of the many.
But, did it?
Was the revolution successful?
Was the revolution successful?
What do you think?
THE END
