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Chapter 11/14
 You will be able to identify the events that led to the
French Revolution
 You will be able to explain how Napoleon Bonaparte
came to power and led France through the revolution
 You will describe the nations of the world that are
imperialist and their colonies
 You will describe how the colonies of the world fell to
their imperial nations
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From the Middle Ages to 1789, France was divided
among three groups called “estates”
 First Estate: Clergy, making up .48% of the population,
owners of 10% of the land
 Second Estate: Nobility, making up 1.3% of the
population, owners of 30% of the land
 Third Estate: Peasants and middle class, making up 98%
of the population and owning only 60% of the land
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Members of the 1st and 2nd estates were exempt
from state taxes and fees, such as harvest fees and
grain shipping fees
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The inequality of government already angered the
peasants
In 1787 and 1788, bad crops and the collapse of French
banks nearly caused the country to go bankrupt
Meanwhile, King Louis XVI was enjoying the lavish life
of absolutism (the king has total, absolute power).
Although French support of the American Revolution
had hurt Britain economically, it also depleted France’s
budget.
On May 5, 1789, the leaders of the estates met in
Versailles to discuss the matter with Louis.
The first and second estates each brought 300
representatives, while the third estate was granted
600.
 Despite these numbers, each estate was granted only
1 vote. The third estate was nearly always outvoted,
and they were tired of it.
 The third estate proposed each representative should
have a vote, but Louis refused.
 On June 17, the Third Estate announced to the
conference members that they were the new National
Assembly and left to hold meetings in the nearby
indoor tennis court.
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Word of the break of the third estate got out. On July
14th, 1789, 900 Parisians entered the Bastille fortress
to protest high prices of bread during the crop
shortage.
 The Bastille fortress had been turned into a prison for
anyone who opposed King Louis
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Louis sent members of the French guard to attack the
mob. But the mob already had the high ground. After
4 hours, the rebels won and demolished the prison
Bastille Day, forever celebrated on July 14th, is France’s
Independence day. Demolishing the fortress was the
official beginning of the French Revolution
The peasants knew they had to act fast. Louis’s army
would arrive any minute, and when word reached
other nations the rebels knew the armies would surely
come to his aid.
 In the meantime peasants sacked the castles of the
nobles, took what supplies they could and burned the
rest
 After killing the nobles, some peasants stole the
official seals of the nobles to forge papers saying they
too were of nobility
 On August 26, the National Assembly wrote a bill of
rights called the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen.”
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Used to his role as absolute leader, Louis refused to
accede any power despite being overthrown and
lacking an army.
On October 6th Louis and his family were finally
captured and carried in the back of a wagon to
Paris.
For the time being, the revolutionaries had won.

European nations, including both allies and enemies of
France, were unanimously opposed to the revolution.
 The last thing they wanted was for their own citizens to think
“if we revolt we could win too!”
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In September 1792, the rebel government (called the
“National Convention) met. They had staved off war
and prevented Louis from reclaiming the throne, but
Europe was coming.
Their first act was to abolish the monarchy and
establish a republic (government led through elected
body of citizens)
Their second act: behead King Louis before any
foreign invaders could reinstall him on the throne.
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Meanwhile, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal,
Britain, and the Dutch Republic all formed a
coalition to quash the rebellion.
The National Convention of France panicked.
Throughout France, they went on the “Reign of
Terror” using a guillotine to behead anyone
capable of overthrowing the new government.
Those who were willing escaped death by joining
the newly formed Revolutionary Army
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The French rebellion government had a large army
willing to fight on the borders and a strong police
force to prevent additional rebellions.
Europe backed off. The Revolution had won.
However, the bad harvests and financial problems that
started everything had never gone away.
Questions about how the government would be
organized persisted for five years.
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France experienced the same “start-up” problems as
America
Seeing an opportunity to lead, one general staged a
coup d’etat, using his army to take over the National
Convention
His name: General Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Despite his short stature at 5’7”, Napoleon was politically
savvy, a military genius, and feared throughout Europe
 British parents, when telling children about Napoleon, even
described him as the bogeyman.
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In 1799, pointing out that the new French government had
failed to fix the problems of Louis’s reign, Napoleon
offered to be temporary consul (counselor.)
 This later became “Consul for life.”
 This later became “Emperor.”
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Despite being essentially a monarchy, Napoleon won near
unanimous support of France. How?
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First, Napoleon made peace with the Catholic Church
 He would rename them the official church of France if they would
give up landholdings for the revolution.
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Then, he wrote the Civil Code, which preserved the rights
of the revolutionaries while still giving Napoleon ultimate
power and final say, but only if necessary (of course).
 All citizens equal
 All citizens may choose their own profession
 Religious tolerance
 Abolition of feudalism and serf duties
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Thus, the people saw Napoleon as the revolution’s leader
In 1803, Britain rejoined their coalition with Austria,
Russia, Sweden and Prussia.
 Attacks on France gave Napoleon an excuse to lead his
army into Austria and Prussia, where he promptly won and
took over.
 From 1807 to 1812, Napoleon was undefeated in battle.
His empire reached as far east as Russia and as far north as
Britain.
 As usual, though, Napoleon’s navy was no match for
Britain’s. He could hold them off, but he couldn’t take
over.
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Napoleon not only took over Germany, Spain, Italy,
Poland, Austria and Prussia, but convinced their citizens to
ally with France and boycott Britain’s trade.
At the same time they resisted Napoleon’s attempts to
force these nations to become part of the French nation.
In direct defiance, Russia refused to boycott Britain’s
trade.
Napoleon knew if he allowed Russia to stay defiant, the
nations he had conquered would see they could rise up too
Although knowing it was dangerous, Napoleon was forced
to invade and attack Russia
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In June 1812, 600,000 French soldiers entered Russia.
The Russians, however, simply retreated slowly.
 As they retreated, the Russians took what supplies they could
carry and burned everything else
 France kept invading, moving further and further from any
supplies or relief
Just before France entered Moscow, the Russians
abandoned the town and set the city on fire, burning all
supplies.
 With no food or shelter, Napoleon was forced to retreat
back west
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By then, winter had set in. When they reached the
Russian/Polish border in January, less than 40,000 of the
600,000 soldiers were still alive.
 When word of the defeat spread, the coalition of
European nations reformed and captured Paris. Napoleon
was exiled on the island of Elba, and Louis’s brother Louis
XVIII was placed on the throne.
 In a final fight, Napoleon escaped from Elba and headed
back to France.
 The new king sent soldiers to capture him…the same
soldiers that fought under Napoleon years earlier.
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When the soldiers reached Napoleon, he shouted
“Soldiers, here is your Emperor. Kill if you wish!”
No shots were fired.
Instead, with the French soldiers in tow, Napoleon
reentered Paris.
 The soldiers were shouting “Vive l’emperour!”
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Soldiers rallied throughout France to Napoleon’s
side, and they marched to meet the European
coalition once more.
Napoleon and the French met the Duke of Wellington and
the British at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815,
almost 26 years to the day since Bastille.
 Napoleon was no match for Wellington and was soundly
defeated. He was imprisoned on St. Helena island in the
South Atlantic until his death in 1821
 Although gone, the civil code he instilled and his military
tactics would remain.
 Though in power for only a short period of time, Napoleon
was one of the most influential generals and politicians in
history.
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Imperialism is one nation claiming power over
another nation or territory
 Old Imperialism: Set up trading posts, allow locals to run
the affairs of the colony
 New Imperialism: direct control and satellite
governments running foreign territories
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The new imperialists emerged in the 1800’s. They
now had a tendency toward indenturing, societal
changes, and even violence
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Many reasons existed for the switch but, as usual,
the main motive was money
 The industrial revolutions created a huge demand for
rubber, oil, tin, cotton, etc
 Europeans prided themselves on beating their rival
nations in number and size of colonies
▪ Nations were even seen as lower-class if they could not support
or run at least one colony
 Racism led to Europeans believing they were simply
entitled to these lands more than natives
 Moral responsibility to bring Christianity to the world
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Britain began the new trend.
Wanting to protect their colonies already established
in India AND make trade to China even easier they set
up colonies in Singapore and Burma (now called
Myanmar)
France had already established missionary colonies in
Vietnam and did not like the new British neighbors.
They turned the missionary colonies into political
posts and forced Vietnamese to accept French terms
 The south was ok with this; the north opposed
 This separated the nation of Vietnam into two countries
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Meanwhile, France spread across southeast Asia
and claimed Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and Laos
 These nations were all renamed French Indochina
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The one remaining independent state was Thailand
 The Thai kings at the time united their people under
“western” education and principles in order to win favor
with European nations
 Britain and France, wanting a buffer between their two
colonies, decided to allow Thailand to remain free
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The United States also got on the colonial
bandwagon
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Only 100 years after ending their own colonial
reign, President McKinley spent three years
fighting to claim the Philippines for America
The guerilla military of the Philippines fought hard
but eventually lost to the American army
USA now had a colony and a mid-way point for
trade with China and Japan
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Nearly all colonies resisted at first, but were simply
no match for the European and American forces
Negatives for the colonies
 Imperialists tended to have little respect for local
customs or religions
 Colonists were barely paid, and never enough to make
any profit for themselves
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Positives for the colonies
 To make shipping and transport easier, and to appease
colonists, roads and highways, canals, factories,
hospitals and schools were all built in the colonies
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By 1880 the slave trade in Africa was nearly at zero
During the previous 100 years, Africa turned into a
continent of colonies.
 Only one or two current nations, like Ethiopia were
independent
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Great Britain: Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, South
Africa
France: Saharan Nations
Germany: Togo, Cameroon, Kenya
Dutch: Congo
Portugal: Angola, Mozambique
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In 1805 General Muhammad Ali, established the first free
Egyptian state
During his reign, Ali built Egypt into a reform country with
industry, ship building, and education
In 1854, Egypt was approached by the French about the
possibility of a canal being built to connect the Red Sea
with the Mediterranean
Once the Suez Canal was built in 1869, Britain bought out
Egypt’s land surrounding the canal
By 1914, Egypt was a protectorate of Britain
Today, the Suez canal turns a 4-5 month journey around
the southern tip of Africa into a mere 11 hours.
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Just like in Southeast Asia, Britain moved beyond
Egypt to take over Sudan
 Their primary concern was protecting their interest in
the Suez Canal. Everything else was a buffer
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France, wanting to protect their interests in the
west, colonized Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia
Italy initially attempted to take Ethiopia, but failed.
Humiliated, they did manage to save some face by
claiming Libya
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Dr. David Livingstone initiated interest in Central
Africa when he began a 30-year series of
expeditions charting and exploring the dense
jungles of the Congo
Livingstone was more than a colonial. He also
created maps of the Congo, befriended and
studied the natives, set up missions, and pursued
his personal goal of finding the headwaters of the
Nile River
 Charting the entire Nile would give Europeans an easy
road into Central Africa
In 1865, Livingstone mysteriously disappeared.
Journalist Henry Stanley was hired to continue his
work and, if possible, locate Livingstone.
 Stanley explored the Congo river and charted its
waters all the way to the Atlantic
 In 1871 Stanley received rumors from local tribes that
he was not the first “white man” they had met
 Wanting to investigate the mystery, Stanley
approached the tribe’s home on Lake Tanganyika and
found David Livingstone ill but living peacefully with
the natives
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 He greeted him famously saying “Dr. Livingstone, I
presume?”
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Stanley never could convince Britain of the colonial
possibilities of Central Africa
King Leopold of Belgium, however, was convinced.
Leopold hired Stanley to build Belgian settlements
in the Congo.
Belgium became the 5th colonial power to claim
territory in Africa
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South Africa, especially Cape Town, was occupied
by the Boers (Afrikaners), descendants of the
original Dutch settlers
During the Napoleonic wars, the British claimed
South Africa. But the Boers were still there.
Hating the new British influence, most Boers
moved north away from the coasts
The Boers were intensely racist towards local
indigenous Africans…leading to major tensions
throughout the century
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In the late 19th century, diamonds were discovered
in northern South Africa
The land was currently held by the Boers, who
heavily mistreated the British diamond miners
settling in their new lands
Cecil Rhodes, owner of diamond and gold
companies in Africa, secretly set up a series of raids
to move the Boers out and his settlers into the area
The raid failed to give him any land, but it did set
up a war between the British and the Boers
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The Boer war lasted from 1899 to 1902, fought
mainly by guerilla warfare.
The Boers eventually lost and were forced to grant
total control of their territories to the British.
To appease the Boers, though, the British allowed
the Boers to impose heavy persecutions and unjust
laws against the non-white African citizens
This would set the stage for the apartheid battles
in the late 20th century
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In India, Britain set up a local government called
the British East India Company
The BEIC had military and political ruling power
over the nation
They set up forts throughout India to house their
own military.
They also hired local Indians for the military
 These soldiers were called Sepoys
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In 1857 the Sepoys turned against their generals
and led a revolt
 Rumors swirled that the cartridges were made with pig
and cow fat for grease
 Pigs were untouchable to Muslim sepoys, cows were
untouchable to Hindu sepoys
 When the sepoys refused to use the weapons, they were
charged with mutiny and imprisoned
 The harsh treatment led many Indians to stage a revolt
against the British
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The revolt only lasted a year, but it was only the
start
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Benefits of colonization for India
 Infrastructure (schools, roads, plumbing, etc)
 A set government instead of dozens of separate states
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Costs of Colonization for India
 Profits leave the country for Britain
 Local Indians given small authorities took advantage of
Indians with no authority
 The Caste system was strictly enforced
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The net result of colonialism and the revolt was a
rise in Indian nationalism
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At first the Indian nationalists asked for reform.
When reform came too slowly, they formed a
governing body called the Indian National
Congress
The INC first asked simply for a voice in governing,
not for any real power.
The INC suffered from internal disputes and the
revolution never really got started
Then in 1915, a young lawyer named Mohandas
Gandhi moved back to India to begin the
Independence movement (more on him later)
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By 1800, Britain had been trading with China for
200 years.
China had limited Britain to only a few trading
posts though, and only through Chinese trading
firms—not on the open market
Britain was in a trade deficit with China and looking
to improve their status
When negotiations failed, they decided to
introduce a new export to China: Opium
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Britain introduced small amounts of opium to the
market in China (just enough to get citizens
addicted)
Demand for opium grew on the black market, and
Britain began making a fortune.
To stop the trade, China began a blockade of the
main port of Guangzhou
The British navy overpowered the Chinese and
forced the Qing dynasty to accept peace terms
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The Treaty of Nanjing, 1842
 China would open 5 coastal ports for Britain
 China would lower taxes on British goods
 China would pay for the cost of war
 China would give Britain the island of Hong Kong
 In the British territories, Britain was subject to English
laws, not Chinese
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The concessions in the treaty were eventually
granted to other nations as well, including the
United States. China was open to the west
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In 1850 a peasant Christian convert named Hong
Xiuquan captured the town of Yongan and
declared a new era of great peace (Tai Ping)
Tai Ping appealed to many peasants because of the
call for social reform
In 1853 the rebels seized Nanjing, the second
largest city of China.
After a few years, when it was clear the Qing
dynasty could not stop the rebellion, European
nations offered their aid
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By the end of the civil war, 20 million people had
died.
Besides the typical results of war, the Tai Ping had
one other major impact:
The Qing dynasty had lost foreign control and
internal wars…they had officially lost the mandate
of heaven.
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After the fall of the Qing, Britain and America were
worried they would lose their investments in China
US Secretary of State John Hay wrote a secret
letter to the other major powers (Britain, France,
Germany, Russia, Italy, Japan) proposing that the
nations work together to support the Chinese
economy
 No high tariffs between these nations
 China’s economy would be stable even if the
government wasn’t, which would protect everyone’s
assets
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The nations agreed to the “open door” policy
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In the 1890’s a reformer named Sun Yat-sen began
his three-stage reform process
 1) Military Takeover
 2) Transitional State, preparing for democratic takeover
 3) Establishment of a constitution
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Other reformers of the time agreed with the threestage principle. The mandate was officially
changing hands
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Followers of Sun Yat-sen officially ended the Qing
dynasty in 1911.
Too weak to fully start their own government, and
most of the peasants still suffering, China fell into
civil war.
The new General Yuan Shigai took over for the
rebellion, but failed to win support from the
peasants
Yuan fought his own armies as much as other
rebellions, leaving China in near ruins
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China would’ve collapsed if not for foreign
investments.
Nations had strong economic ties to China and
supported (or plundered) China throughout the
revolution.
The western influence affected China by
 1) introducing modern transportation and
communication
 2) creating an export market
 3) Integrating China into the world economy
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Already in China, European nations also wanted
contact with Japan
In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry of USA
approached Japan asking for economic and
political treaties.
 Perry’s bargaining skills, as well as the cannons on his
ship, convinced Japan to accept certain concessions
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The new leaders of Japan decided to create a
system similar to the Western model.
 Legislative assembly (under imperial rule)
 An executive branch in the form of an emperor
▪ Mainly a figurehead for the imperial
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The overall result was a democratic government in
theory and an authoritarian government in reality.
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Japan learned quickly. They saw the economic
power colonies had brought to western nations
and wanted colonies for themselves.
Japan was a densely packed nation and little
natural resources.
In 1874 Japan made a move on Korea—lands
already held by China and Russia
Japan won Korea from China, but Russia barely
noticed.
 Russia thought little of Japan’s chances
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The US agreed to recognize Japan as the rightful
colonials of Korea in 1910.
In return, Japan recognized the right of the United
States to annex Philippines
Thus, the sphere of influences came full circle.
Every location in the world, with few exceptions,
by 1914 was either the imperialist or the colonist.