World HistoryChapter 11

The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte

Articulate the causes of the French Revolution

Describe the major events along the timeline of the French Revolution

Explain how the French Revolution took a radical turn & its connection to the Enlightenment

Detail how Napoleon rose to powerArticulate the immediate & lasting impact

of Napoleon’s and his Empire

Unit Objectives

1789: The United States of America is reborn under the newly ratified Constitution

1789: The French Revolution beganAttempted to create a new political order

New government based on Enlightenment idealsAttempted to create a new social order

End the inequality of the estates! Also based on Enlightenment ideals

Important Things to Know

Since the Middle Ages (1000-1500 CE) French society had been divided into three estates1st Estate: Clergy2nd Estate: Nobility3rd Estate: commoners

What the heck are estates??

0.5% of the total population (130,000 people)Owned 10% of the landExempt from paying the taille – main tax in

France; main source of revenue for the KingHigher clergy, who were members of wealthy

families, shared interests w/ the nobilityLower clergy, such as local parish priests, were

often from the ranks of the commoners

1st Estate: The Clergy

1.5% of the total population (350,000 people)Owned 25 – 30% of the landHeld most of the top positions in the gov’t,

military, legal system, & high church officesGiven many privileges by the KingAlso exempt from paying the taille

2nd Estate: The Nobility

98% of the population (26,520,000 people)Owned 65% of the landPaid 100% of France’s taxes!Unlike the first two estates, the 3rd Estate was

made up of widely varying groups of peopleOccupationEducationwealth

3rd Estate: Commoners

PeasantsMade up 75-80% of the populationOwned 35-40% of the land

Over half had little or no land of their ownBurdened by relics of feudalism

Obligations of the peasantry (poor people) to the nobility (rich people) from an earlier agePayment of a fee to use the community flour mill &

ovenPayments to the clergy

Divisions of the 3rd Estate I

Skilled craftspeople, shopkeepers, & wage earners in the urban (city) areas

Struggled during the 18th century:Prices on consumer goods increasedWages did not increase at the same pacePlay a vital role in the Revolution

Divisions of the 3rd Estate II

Bourgeoisie: the French middle class (and later in socialist/communist terminology the middle class of all capitalist nations!)

~8% of the population (2.3 million people)Owned ~ 25% of the landMostly educated & drawn to ideas of the

Enlightenment Merchants Bankers Lawyers Doctors Writers Industrialists Professors

Divisions of the 3rd Estate III

Long Range Cause:The unequal social structure of the estates

Immediate Cause:The near collapse of France’s finances!

Two Main Causes of Revolution

PROBLEM 1: Bad harvests in 1787-1788Led to…food shortages, increased price for

food, and rapidly rising unemploymentPROBLEM 2: Spending lots of $$ on war

Aid to the American colonists vs. Great BritainPROBLEM 3: Lavish spending by the King

Personal luxuries Court lifestyle

France’s Financial Crisis

Called by King Louis XVI for the 1st time in 275 yrs.Began meeting on May 5, 1789

It is a meeting of representatives from all 3 estatesClergy & Nobility had ~ 300 delegates each3rd estate had ~ 600 delegates

Many members of the 3rd estate wanted to establish a new, constitutional government in France that would eliminate privilege (mainly exemption from the taille) and promote equality

Calling the Estates General

The tradition of the Estates General gave each estate one vote each This is known as “voting by order”

The 3rd estate demanded that each delegate at the Estates General cast a vote

King Louis XVI ruled that tradition would stay intactThis set the course of the rest of the French

Revolution in motion

A Dispute over Voting

June 17, 1789: 3rd estate declares itself the National Assembly & declares it will draft a constitution

June 20, 1789: Deputies of the 3rd estate find their meeting place at Versailles locked

They moved to an indoor tennis court and swore to continue meeting until they had produced a constitution for FranceThis is known as the Tennis Court Oath

Here we go… Revolution in Motion!

July 14, 1789: a mob of Parisians storm the Bastille, an armory and prison believed to hold political prisoners

They take control of the Bastille & tear it apart

Paris was abandoned to the rebelsRoyal authority totally collapsed – King Louis

XVI could no longer trust the royal troops to enforce his royal authority

THIS IS FRANCE’s INDPENDENCE DAY!!!Bastille Day – July 14

France’s Independence Day

Adopted by the National Assembly on August 26, 1789

Inspired by:Enlightenment Documents

U.S. Declaration of IndependenceU.S. ConstitutionEnglish Bill of Rights

Enlightenment IdealsFreedom & equal rights for all manMerit based system for public officeFreedom of speech & of the pressAll citizens participate in making the laws

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Olympe de Gouges: author of plays & pamphlets

Wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female CitizenEarly statement for the woman’s rights

movementArgued women should have the same rights as

menHer response to the National Assembly’s

Declaration was ignored by the Assembly

What do the women have to say??

The March on Versailles IAll through the

summer and into the fall King Louis XVI had remained at Versailles, refusing to accept the work of the National AssemblyEnd of feudalismDeclaration of the

Rights of Man & Citizen

October 5, 1789: 1000’s of Parisian women marched to Versailles to demand the King accept the orders of the National Assembly due to the children starving from a lack of bread & other nourishment!!

Forced the royal family to return to Paris as a sign of good faithBrought wagonloads of flour with them

Royal family became virtual prisoners in Paris

The March on Versailles II

Church ReformsChurch lands seized and sold b/c of the need

for $$$!Church was secularized: The French

government was now in control of the Catholic Church in France

MANY CATHOLICS BECAME ENEMIES OF THE REVOLUTION

Constitution of 1791Set up a limited monarchy in France

King still in powerLaws made by an elected legislative assembly

Voting requirements:MaleAge 25 or abovePaid a certain amount of taxes

What do the voting requirements tell us about who was able to participate in governing France??

Fear of Revolution Spreads in EuropeOther European monarchs began to fear

Revolution would spread to their countriesAustria & Prussia threatened to use force

against France should they not restore Louis XVI to powerLegislative Assembly declared war on AustriaEarly fighting did NOT go well for FrancePrompted demonstrations against the Legis.

Assembly & the King

The Paris CommuneTook the king hostage & forced the Legislative

Assembly to call a National Convention elected by universal male suffrage to decide France’s future form of gov’t All adult males have the right to vote [Suffrage = right

to vote]Power was passed to the Paris Commune

Sans-culottes: self tagged nickname for many of its members. Literally means “without breeches (knee-length pants worn by the rich)”.

They were the more radical group of the commune that would lead the French Revolution into its more violent stage.

Chapter 11 section 2

Radical Revolution & Reaction

A Move to RadicalismGeorges Danton & the sans-culottes sought

revenge against supporters of the king and those who had resisted the rise of the Paris Commune

1000’s of people were arrested and executed!New revolutionary leaders emerge from the

sans-culottes who led the revolution down a more radical & violent path

The Fate of King Louis XVINearly all members of the newly elected

National Convention distrusted the KingTheir 1st action was to abolish the monarchy

and establish the French RepublicSeptember 21, 1792

Their distrust of the monarch was about the only thing they could agree on….soon the National Convention was split into factionsFactions: dissenting groups (w/ different

opinions)

Factions of the National ConventionThe two most powerful factions were the

Girondins & the MountainSimilarities:

Both were members of the Jacobin club – a large network of political organizations throughout France

Differences:Girondins

Feared the radical mobs in Paris; represented the provinces (rural areas outside of France’s cities)

Leaned towards keeping the king aliveMountain

Represented the interests of the radicals in ParisWanted to kill the king for treason

R.I.P. King Louis XVI January 21, 1793 King

Louis XVI meets his fate at the hands of the National Razor (guillotine!)

Execution of the King made the revolutionaries & France many new enemies & created a new crisis

Domestic Crisis - 1793Members of the Paris Commune put pressure

on the National Convention to adopt more and more radical policies

Peasants in Western France & residents of other French cities refused the authority of the National Convention

A New Foreign Crisis - 1793Executing Louis XVI made the rest of

European monarchs extremely angry at the French Republic

A coalition of nations took arms against FranceAustriaPrussiaSpainPortugalGreat BritainDutch Republic

By the spring of 1793 they were ready to invade!

France’s ResponseThe National Convention created a special 12

man committee & gave it far reaching powersCommittee of Public Safety

Its mission was to defend France from all enemies, foreign & domestic

Dominated social & political life in France 1793-1794Led by George Danton at firstTaken to a whole different level of violence &

radicalism under the direction of Maximilien Robespierre

The Reign of TerrorIn France, the CPS set up revolutionary

courts to prosecute enemies of the RevolutionIn the course of 1 year nearly 40,000 people

were executed; 16,000 under the blade of the guillotine Prominent figures: Marie Antoinette, Olympe de Gouges Peasants & others who opposed the sans-culottes Most executions took place in areas of France that had

openly rebelled against the authority of the National Convention

People from ALL CLASSES of society were executed15% clergy & nobility85% bourgeoisie & peasants

The Republic of VirtueRobespierre’s vision of a democratic republic

full of good citizens reflecting belief in reasonThe titles “citizen” & “citizeness” replaced

the traditional “mister” & “madame”Slavery was abolished in all French coloniesWomen’s role during this time

Remained actively involved in revolutionary action

Observed sessions of the National Convention & made their demands known to its leadership

Formed their own groups to defend the Republic

De-ChristianizationTo create an order that believe in & worshiped reason

the National Convention worked hard to get rid of Christianity & people’s devotion to it

The word “saint” was removed from street namesChurches were pillaged and closedPriests were encouraged to marryA new calendar was put into place

12 months 3 weeks per month 10 days per week Goal was to eliminate Sunday, Sunday church, &

religious holidaysDespite the efforts, France was still Catholic!!

The French Revolutionary Army & the Beginnings of Modern Nationalism To defend against the coalition of foreign

enemies, the Committee of Public Safety ordered universal mobilization of the French people

By September, 1794 the army was more than 1 million members strong

Drove the enemy forces back from the French border

Creation of Modern Nationalism:1st time an army had been created by a

government made up of individual citizens, not a ruling dynasty

The Terror EndsBy the summer of 1794

France had defeated its foreign enemies, but Robespierre’s obsession with purifying France continued

On July 28, 1794 Robespierre met the same fate as the King, Queen, and 16,000 others (after a failed suicide attempt)

After his death more moderate leaders took control of governing France, and the Reign of Terror was over

Changes After the TerrorPower of the CPS dramatically reducedChurches reopened for worshipA new constitution was created reflecting

France’s desire for more stabilityConstitution of 1795Goal was to prevent one group of the

government from gaining too much powerWhich Enlightenment thinker’s idea is this???

The Directory IThe Constitution of 1795 created a bi-cameral

legislature, with an upper and lower houseLower House: Council of 500

Developed and proposed legislationUpper House: Council of Elders

250 members Accepted or rejected the proposed legislation

Chosen by electors: people who meet the qualifications to vote in an election To be eligible to vote for members of the Councils…

You had to own or rent property worth a certain amountLimited the number of potential electors to ~ 30,000

Executive Branch: 5 person panel called the DirectoryCouncil of 500 submitted a list of potential

DirectorsCouncil of Elders elected 5 Directors from the

listFrance was filled w/ corruption under the

DirectoryGov’t was constantly fighting internal

enemies:Royalists who wanted to return to a monarchyRadicals who were unhappy with the moderate

gov’tDirectory couldn’t solve France’s economic

woesStill carrying on wars started by the CPS

The Directory II

The Rise of Napoleon BonaparteThe Directory had to

rely on the military to maintain power

It was overthrown in 1799 by a coup d’etat:A sudden overthrow

of a government in power

It was led by the young military genius and popular general Napoleon Bonaparte

Born in 1769 in Corsica, a French Island in the Mediterranean

Early military careerReceived a commission as Lieutenant in

1785 at age 16Promoted to Captain in 1792Promoted to Brigadier General in 1794, at

age 24Named Commander of French armies in

Italy in 1796

The Rise of Napoleon

Napoleon’s leadership abilitiesenergyquick decision makingintelligenceconfidencewillingness to lead the charge

Returned to France as a hero in 1797

The Italian Campaigns

First conflict with the BritishGiven a command to attack the British in

1797France not ready to invade EnglandStrategy was to take Egypt and threaten India

British Navy was still too strong for the French

Abandoned Egyptian campaign, returned to Paris

Early Military Career

Took part in 1799 coup d’etat that overthrew the Directory

The new government was known as the ConsulateNapoleon had absolute powerControlled the entire government

Appointed all positions Led the military Conducted foreign affairs Influenced the legislature

In 1802 he was named consul for lifeIn 1804 Napoleon crowned HIMSELF emperor

 

Consul and Emperor

Peace with the ChurchNapoleon had no religious faith – believed in

reasonSaw the Catholic Church as a way to

stabilize FranceRecognized Catholicism as the religion of

FrancePope could not ask for land taken during the

revolution to be returnedThose who seized church lands became strong

supporters of Napoleon as Emperor

Napoleon’s Domestic Policies

Napoleon’s most famous domestic achievementBefore the revolution France had almost 300

different legal systemsNapoleon simplified the chaos into 7 codes of law

Codifying the Laws

Civil Code – Napoleonic CodePreserved the gains of the Revolution

Equality of all citizens under the law Right to choose your profession Religious toleration End of serfdom and feudalism Protection of property rights

NOT a positive for women! Hard for women to obtain a divorce Property became their husband’s upon marriage Seen as minors in the courts Women were “ Less Equal” then men

The Civil Code

Created a government of capable officialsPromotion was based on ability, not birth

This was one of the goals of the Revolution!Napoleon also created a new aristocracy – nobility

More then 3,000 new nobles from 1808-14Only 22% came from old nobility60% were from the middle class

A New Bureaucracy

There was a break in European war from 1799-1802

1803 – Renewed war with BritainBritish Alliance

AustriaSwedenRussiaPrussia

Between 1805-1807 Napoleon had great successDefeated the Austrian ArmyPrussian ArmyRussian Army

The French Empire

Napoleon’s Grand EmpireDependent States

Under the rule of Napoleon’s relativesSpainHolland

(Netherlands) ItalySwiss RepublicDuchy of Warsaw

(Poland)Confederation of

the Rhine (Germany)

Allied States Those forced to join

his struggle v. BritainPrussiaAustriaSwedenRussia

Legal equalityReligious tolerationEconomic freedomDestroyed the privileges of nobles & clergyMade offices open to the most deserving – MERIT

Spreading Revolutionary Principles

Napoleons Empire collapsed as quickly as it was builtGreat Britain’s survival

Due primarily to its naval power Ruled the seas Prevented military attack across the channel

Defeated combined French/Spanish navy in 1805

The European Response

Goal was to stop British goods from reaching continental Europe

Napoleon hoped this would hurt their economy and weaken their military ability

BIG FAILURE! Some countries cheated New markets in the Middle East and Latin America gave

Britain new outlets British exports reached record highs!

The Continental System

The unique cultural identity of a people based on common language, religion, and national symbols

Grew out of the French RevolutionWhen Napoleon spread the principles of the Rev. to

his empire, he spread nationalism as well.The French aroused nationalism in 2 ways:

Hated as oppressors Showed what a united country could do

Nationalism

Began with the invasion of Russia in 1812Entered Russia in June with 600,000 troopsPursued Russian Army deep into the countryForced to retreat through the harsh Russian winterOnly 40,000 made it to Poland in January, 1813

Other European states attacked the crippled French ArmyParis captured in March, 1814; Napoleon exiled to

ElbaMonarchy restored in France

Napoleon restored to power in 1815Raised an army to attack allied forces in Belgium

British & Prussian armiesBattle of Waterloo – Decisive loss for FranceAllies led by the Duke of Wellington

 

The Fall of Napoleon