Chapter 21
Section 1
The French Revolution
I. The French Monarchy Faced a Crisis
A. The Old Regime Had Three Estates
1. Estate=social class
2. Old Regime worked well for the First and Second Estate but not for the Third.
3. First Estate was the Roman Catholic Clergymen
a. Catholic Church held 10% of land in France
b. Archbishops, bishops, and abbots were fabulously wealthy
c. French clergy paid no taxes to the monarch but gave a "free gift" of 2% of their income to the kings.
4. The Second Estate were noblemen
a. They were only 2% of the population but owned 20% of the land.
b. They held all of the highest offices in the army, church, government positions and courts of law.
c. They paid no taxes and enjoyed this immensely.
5. The Third Estate was the bourgeoisie, urban lower classes, and peasant farmers.
a. They were 98% of the population and had the least rights!
b. The bourgeoisie had been growing steadily since the Middle Ages. They were lawyers, doctors, bankers, merchants, etc. They were well educated and believed in the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality. They were as rich as the nobles but treated socially as peasants.
c. The urban lower classes were butchers, weavers, brewers, cooks, servants, etc. They were significantly poorer than the bourgeoisie and their clothing showed it! They ate 3 pounds of bread a day and when there was a shortage then they stole what they wanted. There was such a severe shortage in the spring of 1789!!
d. The peasants made up the largest group of people in France. They were about 4/5 of the population. They paid roughly half of their yearly income to France in taxes. They paid feudal dues to the nobles, tithes to the church and royal taxes to the King! No wonder they were peasants!!!!!! They were also required to work the corvee, which was required work on roads, a certain number of days per year!
B. Louis XVI was a Weak Ruler
1. He and his wife, Marie Antoinette, was a fun-loving couple but they spent money that they did not have and made poor decisions for France, which would pave the road for revolution!
2. She was from a royal family in Austria, France's longtime enemy, and the French hated her!
3. He had spent the treasury to help the American Revolution and now needed money to avoid bankruptcy!
4. He tried to tax the nobles but they refused to pay unless he called the Estates General to order, which had not been in session since 1614.
5. May 1, 1789 Louis called them to meet at Versailles and revolution was inevitable!
C. The National Assembly took Power
1. The old rules said that each estate would meet in separate halls, vote on an issue and then each Estate would get one vote. This inevitably put the First and Second Estate with more power than the Third. The Third began to demand that they all meet in one room, and each vote counts as one vote! This would then give them the advantage because they represented more people!
2. One raised up to address the people of the Third Estate and encouraged them to change their name to the National Assembly and pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people.
3. On June 17, 1789, the National Assembly was created and proclaimed and end to absolute monarchs, and the beginning of a representative government. This was the first step to revolution.
D. Parisians Stormed the Bastille
1. Louis XVI tried to appease the National Assembly but at the same time sent for his Swiss guards to march toward Paris.
2. The Bourgeoisie feared that they were marching toward the National Assembly to break it up.
3. The mobs in Paris were rioting over bread and stormed the Bastille. They were looking specifically for gunpowder to defend Paris but it became a symbolic action of revolution! They forced the King to stop the troops that were coming and reduced his power.
4. Ever since July 14, 1789 the French have celebrated the fall of the Bastille as an "independence day" much like our July 4th parties!!!!!!
E. The Great Fear Swept France
1. Rumors swept France that there was a plot against the common people. Nobles were supposedly hiring people to terrorize the peasants.
2. This was known as the Great Fear because many peasants took to hiding out in bands in the woods and caves.
3. When there were no such people coming for them they turned into the kind of people that they feared! They burned, robbed and pillaged nobles' houses and lands. They tore up the paperwork that bound them to pay feudal dues and then burned the manors!
4. A group of women in October 1789, rioted in Paris over the price of bread and stormed Versailles because of the luxury that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were living in. They killed three guards and ransacked three of her apartments. Louis conceded that he and his wife would go to Paris to help with this problem. Little did he know that neither one would ever see Versailles again.
Chapter 21
Section 2
The French Revolution
II. Revolution Brought Reform and Terror
A. The Assembly Adopted Many Reforms
1. The Great Fear was at its height on August 4, 1789 and nobles began to give impassioned speeches declaring their newly found love of equality and freedom.
2. Within a few hours the Old Regime was dead and the new slogan of the Revolution was born: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".
3. The Rights of Man-August 27, 1789- a Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted and declared the rights and freedoms of all men. Other articles guaranteed freedom of speech, religion and equal justice.
4. A limited Monarchy was established in 1791. Much like the British government France now had a constitutional monarchy. The King and his ministers still held executive powers but had NO absolute powers.
5. Departments-83 districts/departments were drawn up and a council of officials elected by the local citizens administered each department. (Much like our states or even counties).
6. A state-controlled Church-The Catholic Church lost its lands and political independence. The government took the lands and the priests were now to be elected by property owners and paid as state officials.
7. Devout French peasants did not like this law and a wedge was driven between the bourgeoisie and the peasants. Peasants often opposed revolution from this point on.
8. Louis tried to escape but was recognized by a postman on the French border and returned to Paris under guard. His attempted escape undermined his newly found enthusiasm for the revolution.
9. In 1791, the National Assembly stepped down from power having completed the new Constitution and allowed the elected officials to take their place. They were known as the Legislative Assembly.
B. France was Split by Factions.
1. The Legislative Assembly took power and quickly divided among themselves over the issues of the people. The people were crying for more liberty, more equality and more bread.
2. Conservatives sat on the right and favored the limited monarchy already in place.
3. Moderates sat in the middle and wanted some continued reforms.
4. Radicals sat on the left and demanded sweeping changes.
5. To this day we classify politicians as right wing, left wing, and centrists because of this division during the French Revolution!!!
6. Outside the government the group of nobles that had fled (émigrés) during the peasant uprisings plotted against the Revolution. They and their radical leaders set up a new city government with representatives from Paris' 48 sections called the Paris Commune. They would become a powerful force during the Revolution.
C. France went to War with Austria
1. Marie Antoinette's brother, Ruler of Austria, threatened France with war.
2. April 20, 1792 the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria and soon Prussia would join Austria against France.
3. By July 25, Prussian soldiers threatened to take the city of Paris if any of the royalty was hurt.
4. This statement angered the mobs of French and they stormed the Palace in Paris and viciously killed the King's Swiss Guard and took Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette into prison in a stone tower.
5. The Legislative Assembly wrote a new Constitution of 1791 and stepped down. The new group that arose was called the National Convention.
6. As this new group took office the French Army was able to defeat Austria and Prussia and their war ended.
D. The Radicals Executed Louis XVI.
1. In the summer of 1792, radical political groups began to form. The most radical was called the Jacobin Club. They loved making violent speeches to remove the King and establish a republic.
2. A leader of the Paris Commune, Georges Danton, spoke frequently for the radical Jacobin Club. He used his speaking ability to win political office.
3. Jean Paul Marat also wished for fame with his scientific research. He edited a newspaper and wrote editorials that called for mass beheadings to rid the nation of those who opposed the Revolution.
4. By August of 1792 Danton and Marat were two of the most powerful political leaders. The Revolution was now in a violent period.
5. The National Convention met in September 1792 and quickly abolished the monarchy, then declared France a republic, but still only gave the right to vote to men.
6. Now Louis XVI was a common prisoner and not a King! The delegates voted to try him for treason, found him guilty and condemned him to death by a single vote!
7. January 21, 1793 the King walked to the Guillotine and was beheaded publicly. Thousands would die b the guillotine during the Revolution.
E. France Created a Citizen Army
1. A coalition had formed against France in 1792. Britain, Spain and Portugal had joined Prussia and Austria against France. They were known as the first coalition.
2. A coalition is a temporary alliance between usual enemies.
3. The Jacobin Club drafted an army in Feb. 1793 of 300,000. By 1794 there were 800,000 men in the army.
4. Women asked for the right to fight but were never granted that freedom.
5. Loyal patriots made up the French army and they won victory after victory because of the officers and soldiers.
F. Robespierre began the Terror
1. The Jacobins faced many enemies within the country. Peasants, priests, and rebellious leaders would pose a serious threat to their rule.
2. Maximilien Robespierre dressed in the old-fashioned powdered wigs and knee breeches and stockings. This immediately drew him apart within the Jacobin Club. He never misused funds or anything of the sort but was a merciless leader. His reign is known as the Reign of Terror.
3. He strove to create a Republic of Virtue and wipe out any notions of the old Kings and nobility.
4. He believed in reason and changed the calendar into 12 months and 30 days and changed the names of the months to more reasonable names. He included no Sundays because he said religion was old-fashioned and dangerous. The Paris Commune closed churches in Paris and soon all French towns followed this pattern.
5. In 1793, he formed the Committee of Public Safety. He often tried many who appeared to be against the republic and tried them in the morning and guillotined them in the afternoon!
6. From July 1793 to July 1794 he governed as a dictator. He even executed the widowed Marie Antoinette because she was a monarch!
7. He was suspicious of the leaders who had helped him set up the republic. He executed most of them so they would not challenge him.
8. In 1794, Danton found himself in danger. (A woman had already stabbed Marat to death.) His former friends were afraid and helped condemn him to death.
9. Many thousands of people were executed on the most trumped up charges that could be found.
10. At least 3000 people were executed in Paris and many, many more were killed throughout the Revolution. 80% of those who died were peasants for whom this whole Revolution had been fought!!!
G. Robespierre Fell From Power
1. In July 1794 a group of the National Convention turned on Robespierre for the simple fact that they were not safe from him.
2. He tried to speak in his defense but the other delegates would not hear him. They cried "Down with the Tyrant!"
3. His sentence put him on the guillotine.
4. His reign ended on July 28, 1794.
H. Moderates Ruled in the Directory
1. In 1795, the moderate leaders of the National Convention wrote a third constitution for France.
2. This put the majority of power in the hands of the bourgeoisie and instituted a two-house system of government.
3. A five man executive branch headed this government and they were called the Directory. They were often corrupt but did give order to the country. They were moderates and less radical than the previous leaders.
4. A new general was employed by the Directory to run the army. He crushed France's foes and won many victories. He was a very talented young general and his name was Napoleon Bonaparte!!!
The Three Stages of the French Revolution are:
1789-1792 The Moderate Stage
1793-1794 Reign of Terror
1794-1799 Reaction against the violent revolution
1799-1815 Napoleon Bonaparte ruled as dictator and emperor-to-be!!!
Chapter 21
Section 3
Napoleon Bonaparte
I. Napoleon Bonaparte
A. He was born in 1769 in Corsica on the Mediterranean Sea.
B. He was sent to military school in Paris when he was 10. The French students snubbed him because he was a foreigner.
C. He focused on military studies and was by all means a military genius.
D. He finished school when he was 16 and joined the army as a lieutenant. During the French Revolution he joined the new government's army!
E. He was given the opportunity to defend the National Convention in October 1795 and was the hero of the hour when he defeated the Royalists!
F. In 1796 he was given command of the army against Austria and Sardinia. Crossing the Alps he won many victories. He marched to Milan and made it the capital of the new French Regime of Italy. He in actuality conquered Italy while trying to liberate it.
II. Napoleon Becomes Dictator
A. Napoleon realized the weakness of authority in France in 1799. The people had lost all faith in the Directory. Several elections passed and the people rejected every leadership candidate that was proposed.
B. As a military leader he was "controlled" by the Directory but in November 1799 he physically took control of one chamber of the legislature. The other chamber immediately voted to end the Directory and Napoleon was given the title of First Consul.
C. There were three Consuls and Napoleon clearly controlled this structure. He had seized power in what is known as a COUP or coup d'etat (stroke of state). He seized power under force.
III. A Second Coalition attacks France
A. The First Coalition ended when Napoleon swept through Italy in 1796-1797. Even though Prussia & Austria made peace the British navy continued attacks on French shipping.
B. In 1799, Britain, Austria and Russia formed the Second Coalition against France. Napoleon led his troops (literally) over the Alpine Mountains into Northern Italy and was victorious. Austria was forced into peace and Russia followed suit. Britain continued the fight but in 1802 they settled a peace treaty with Napoleon. This peace in Europe would last for 10 years.
IV. Napoleon Became Emperor
A. 1800- A new constitution was written and a plebiscite vote (a vote in which all citizens for yes or no) was held. Napoleon was voted almost unanimously to be the First Consul. Only the constitution granted him almost complete power over the other consuls and the people!
B. In 1802 a second plebiscite vote was held Napoleon was again almost unanimously voted to be the First Consul for life.
C. In 1804 Napoleon was voted to be emperor and on December 2, 1804 at the Notre Dame Cathedral the Pope crowned him Emperor. He would become Emperor Napoleon I.
V. Napoleon Restored Order
A. The French Republic was dead with Napoleon's coronation. He kept many of the changes that resulted from the revolution but he was an absolute monarch!
B. He achieved 4 major goals.
1. Economic Order-He set up a national bank and slowed inflation. Bread prices were no longer such an issue!
2. Social Order- The émigrés returned to France by the thousands. He promoted officials by talent and skill rather than by birthright. This greatly pleased the bourgeoisie.
3. Religious Order- a concordant was signed with the Pope that defined the relationship of the church and state. The French government would appoint Bishops but the Bishops could appoint parish priests with no government interference. The Catholic Church was established as the official religion but no one was forced to worship this way. Everyone was free to worship as he/she wished in France.
4. Legal Order- 1801-1804 the Napoleonic Code gave the country a single set of laws. It established equality among all classes but limited liberty. Slavery was restored in the Caribbean colonies, women lost the right to hold property, and Napoleon had more rights than ever before with censorship. Napoleon was the only one who was "above the law!"
C. Napoleon Extended France's Power.
1. He immediately extended his territory of control by invading Italy. He went into Switzerland and set up a foreign "puppet" government and threatened Britain.
2. In 1803, Britain declared war on France. Britain helped form the Third Coalition which included: Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden, & Prussia.
3. Between 1805 and 1807 many battles almost gave Napoleon the control he wanted in order to "modernize" Europe.
a. Battle of Ulm (October 1805)- Napoleon trapped 50,000 Austrians and swept into Vienna (the capitol) victorious!
b. Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805)- He dominated this battle by defeating an Austrian/Russian army of 87,000 soldiers with his 73,000 men. He crushed them all taking 20,000 prisoners, killing 15,000 and forced Austria to surrender completely.
c. Battle of Jena (October 1806)- Advancing on Prussia, Napoleon killed 27,000 took 18,000 prisoners and occupied Berlin (capitol of Prussia).
d. Battle of Friedland (June 1807)- Napoleon rushed into a Prussian partition of Poland and defeated a large Russian Army. Czar Alexander I (Catherine the Great's grandson) met with him and divided Europe among them. Napoleon gave Alexander the freedom to attack the Ottomans and now he had a sizeable ally in Europe!!!
e. Battle of Trafalgar (October 1805)- This was the only battle that Napoleon lost in these two years but the significance outweighs the immediate consequences. Admiral Horatio Nelson of Britain who was killed in the battle defeated him. And the British were able to defeat the French fleet and remain a formidable foe on the opposite coast of the English Channel!!!
D. Napoleon Dominated Europe (1800-1810)
1. He built the largest empire in Europe since the Roman Empire. He dominated in all but a few major European nations. (Britain, Ottomans, Russia and Sweden).
2. He finally extinguished the Holy Roman Empire by forcing the last Emperor to step down. The many countries that made up this empire kept their capitols but were ruled by Napoleon or one of his puppet rulers!
3. Many of the lands that Napoleon controlled were left to keep their name but some were joined to France.
4. At the height of strength, Napoleon's empire only truly lasted for 5 years.
Chapter 21
Section 4
Napoleon Bonaparte
I. Napoleon's Empire Collapsed Because of Three Major Misjudgments
A. Napoleon's love of power will lead to his demise!
B. Napoleon set up the Continental System
1. In 1806, Napoleon cut off all trade with Britain.
2. His navy set up a blockade to stop French citizens from importing any British goods. All ports of Europe were closed to British shipping.
3. He was trying to make Europe more self-sufficient as well as destroy British economy and industry.
4. Smugglers broke his blockade numerous times.
5. The British blockaded ports themselves and taxed ships going to Europe.
6. A small new country was caught in the middle of all of this blockading. The United States was angered at Britain for stopping their ships and declared war on them. This was the War of 1812 and it ended in a draw.
7. This Continental System weakened the economies of France, Germany and Napoleon's other holdings while barely damaging Britain!
C. Guerrillas fought the French in Spain
1. In 1808, Napoleon wanted to make his brother the King of Spain. The nationalistic Spanish were outraged!
2. For 5 years (1808-1813) guerrillas ("little wars") struck at the French in Spain.
3. The British aided the rebels by sending troops to fight Napoleon's.
4. 300,000 men were lost by Napoleon during this Peninsular War and this severely weakened his empire.
5. Germans, Spanish, Italians and other conquered peoples began to look at Napoleon through nationalistic views and hate him as a foreign conqueror. They hated him as much as they had loved him as their liberator from other emperors.
E. Napoleon Invaded Russia
1. In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia because his ally, Czar
Alexander I, would not stop selling grain to Britain.
2. In June 1812, Napoleon took his army of over 400,000 men on the road to Russia. Many of the troops had been drafted from all over Europe and were not all that loyal to Napoleon.
3. The Grand Army was allowed to march into Russia without interference form Czar Alexander I.
4. The Russian Army burned crops and killed livestock to not leave them for the French. (Scorched-earth policy) Because there was no food many soldiers of the Grand Army deserted to find food.
5. By September 14, 1812 Napoleon reached Moscow only to find that the city was in flames thanks to the Czar! He destroyed in rather than lose it to the French.
6. Napoleon stayed there for over a month expecting but never receiving a peace offer. By then it was mid-October and retreating/going forward was probably too dangerous.
7. Napoleon ordered his starving army to retreat and in early November snows began to fall. Russian raiders mercilessly attacked this ragtag army.
8. Horrors befell the Grand Army. Wounds, starvation, temperatures at 35 degrees below zero and shear weariness only allowed 10,000 soldiers fit to fight to cross the Russian border in December.
F. A Coalition Defeated Napoleon
1. The Grand Alliance rose up against Napoleon. (Britain, Russia,
Prussia, Austria and Sweden)
2. In October of 1813 the Grand Alliance met Napoleon in the German city of Leipzig. (Battle of Nations)
3. He lost miserably and his army was cut into many pieces.
4. Russians, Austrians, and Prussians marched through Paris in January of 1814. Napoleon's generals made him stop fighting!
5. In April 1814, Napoleon surrendered his throne!
6. Napoleon was exiled to Elba and the rest of the leaders thought they had finished with him and his troublemaking!
7. On March 1, 1815 Napoleon escaped and returned to France! Many thousands of French welcomed him home!
8. Louis XIII, brother of Louis XVI, was chased from Paris just before Napoleon returned and now he fled to the border in fear of Napoleon and his popularity.
9. Volunteers for Napoleon's army swarmed around him and he quickly became the Emperor of France again.
10. The Grand Alliance again rallied their troops and prepared to meet with Napoleon in Waterloo a town in Belgium. (Battle of Waterloo)
11. June 18, 1815 Napoleon attacked and the British held strong. Later in the day Prussia joined them and drove Napoleon and his army back.
G. Napoleon is exiled for the last time.
1. Britain took no chances this time with Napoleon and exiled him with a strong British guard to the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
2. He lived there for six lonely years and wrote his memoirs.
3. It is recorded in history that he died of a stomach cancer but new evidence has been found that he was more than likely poisoned by arsenic for over a year and died a slow, agonizing death.
4. He was buried on St. Helena but when Louis Philippe came to power he honored Napoleon's last wish and buried him with the French people that he loved so much. He remains there today.
Napoleon goes down in history as one of the most loved and hated military geniuses of all time. "He was as great as a man can be without virtue.
Quotes of Napoleon
"History is a set of lies agreed upon."
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."
"The best way to keep one's word is not to give it."
"Men take only their needs into consideration-never their abilities."
"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
"If there are problems with a government that is too strong, there are many more with a government that is too weak. Things don't work unless you break the law every day."
"Such work as mine is not done twice in a century. I have saved the Revolution as it lay dying. I have cleansed it of its crimes and have held it up to the people shining with fame. I have inspired France and Europe with new ideas that will never be forgotten."
-Napoleon Bonaparte