Download The French Revolution Begins

The French Revolution Begins
Ch. 18, sec. 1
Causes of the Revolution
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The American Revolution
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Social structure of France was a problem for
many people
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Enlightenment ideas
Absolutism
Society was divided into estates, or social classes
Financial Crisis/Food Shortages
Goal—to create new political and social order
The Three Estates: First Estate
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Clergy
130,000 people
Exempt from taxes (taille —main tax in
France)
Divided between rich and poor clergy
The Three Estates: Second
Estate
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Nobility
350,000 people
Owned 25-30% of land
Main jobs in government, military, law
Exempt from taille and other taxes
Wanted more power for themselves and
less for monarchy
The Three Estates: Third
Estate
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Everyone else
97-98% of population
Divided into 3 groups—peasants, skilled
craftsmen, bourgeoisie
The Third Estate: Peasants
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75-80% of total population of France
Owned 35-40% of land
Over ½ had little or no land
had obligations to landlords (nobles)
Expected to do things because “that’s
the way it had always been done”
The Third Estate: Skilled
Craftsmen, etc.
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Also shopkeepers and wage earners
Had marketable skills
Prices rose steadily, so they didn’t sell
much because people couldn’t afford
the goods
The Third Estate: Bourgeoisie
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Middle class
8% of total population
Owned 20-25% of land
Merchants, bankers, professionals (doctors,
lawyers, etc.)
Didn’t like privileges of nobles
Could buy ranks and become a noble
Supported Enlightenment ideas
Financial Crisis
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French financial problems caused collapse of country
1787-1788—poor harvests
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Food shortages
Rising prices
Unemployment
1/3 of population was poor
Government still spent large amounts of money on
war and luxuries
Louis XVI called meeting of Estates-General
(French parliament) to approve new taxes
Estates-General
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Made up of representatives from all 3 estates
1st and 2nd Estate had 300 representatives
each
3rd Estate had 600 representatives
Meeting opened at Versailles in May 1789
3rd Estate wanted to create constitutional
monarchy and make clergy and nobility pay
taxes
Estates-General (cont’d.)
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Each Estate got one vote
1st and 2nd Estate typically outvoted the 3rd
3rd Estate wanted each individual representative to
get one vote
That way, the 600 representatives of the 3rd Estate
would equal the vote of the others
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Thought they could swing some votes from the other estates
to get a majority
King said no—vote by Estate
3rd Estate declared itself the National Assembly
(June 17, 1789)
Result of Estates-General
Meeting
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3rd Estate declared itself the National
Assembly (June 17, 1789)
Began drafting constitution
June 20, 1789—3rd Estate was locked out of
their meeting place
Went to nearby indoor tennis court to meet
Swore to stay there until they had written the
constitution
Called the Tennis Court Oath
Result of Estates-General
Meeting (cont’d.)
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Louis XVI prepared to use force against the
3rd Estate, but he never got the chance
July 14, 1789—people of Paris rose up in
rebellion
Stormed the Bastille, a French prison and
armory
Royal authority collapsed
People saw they had to take power in their
own hands
Great Fear
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Revolts broke out throughout France
Peasants rose up against the nobles
because of rumors that the nobles were
going to attack the peasants
Summer 1789
Citizens formed militias
Chaos!
Destruction of the Old Regime
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National Assembly shaken by Great
Fear
Aug. 4, 1789—National Assembly voted
to abolish rights of landlords and other
privileges of nobles and clergy
Declaration of the Rights of
Man and Citizen
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Aug. 26, 1789
Inspired by American Declaration of
Independence, Constitution, and
English Bill of Rights
Charter of basic liberties
Reflected Enlightenment thought
Freedom and equal rights for all men
The Parisian Women’s March
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Louis XVI still refused to accept
changes
Oct. 5, 1789—1000s of armed women
marched to Versailles and demanded
bread
King was forced to return to Paris with
the royal family and to accept decrees
of National Assembly
They became virtual prisoners in Paris
Church Reforms
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Church was symbol of old order, so it needed
to change too
National Assembly seized and sold Church
land
Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
Bishops and priests elected by the people and
paid by the state
Government controlled the Church
Catholics became enemies of the revolution
Constitution of 1791
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New constitution created a monarchy with
little power
Legislative Assembly to make laws
Many people didn’t like this new order
Louis attempted to flee in June 1791, but was
captured and forced to return to Paris
Oct. 1791—first meeting of Legislative
Assembly
War with Austria
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Other European leaders were afraid that
the revolution would spread to their
countries
Austria and Prussia threatened to use
force to restore Louis XVI’s power
Legislative Assembly responded by
declaring war on Austria in spring 1792
War went badly for France initially
Rise of the Paris Commune
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New political disturbances in spring
1792
August—radical groups in Paris
organized mob attack on palace and
Legislative Assembly
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Called themselves the Paris Commune
Took king captive
Paris Commune (cont’d.)
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Forced Legislative Assembly to suspend
monarchy and call for National Convention
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Based on universal male suffrage—all men could
vote
Beginning of more radical and violent stage
Power went from Assembly to Paris
Commune
Sans-culottes—ordinary patriots; “without
breeches”
Radical Revolution and
Reaction
Ch. 18, sec. 2
The Move to Radicalism
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Paris Commune dominated before
National Convention met
Led by Georges Danton and Jean-Paul
Marat
Sept. 1792—National Convention began
meeting, voted to get rid of monarchy
created the French Republic
Radicalism (cont’.d)
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Convention split into factions (opposing sides)
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Girondins – wanted to keep king alive
Mountain – wanted to execute the king
Most people were members of the Jacobins,
which was a political club
Jan. 21, 1793—Louis XVI beheaded
Paris Commune wanted things to be more
radical
Foreign countries formed coalition against
France
The Reign of Terror
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Set up courts to prosecute enemies of the
new republic
Convention gave power to Committee of
Public Safety
Goal was to defend France from enemies
abroad and at home
40,000 people killed, including the remaining
members of the royal family
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The guillotine
Committee eventually headed by Robespierre
Crushing Rebellion
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Armies sent to control rebellious cities
Lyon—1,880 people killed
Nantes—people executed by being sunk
and drowned
15% executed were clergy and nobles;
rest were bourgeoisie and peasants
Committee of Public Safety said it was
only temporary
The Republic of Virtue
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Democratic republic w/ good citizens
Everyone called each other “citizen”
Slavery abolished in French colonies
The Republic of Virtue:
Dechristianization
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Wanted to take Church’s influence out
of France
“saint” removed from street names
Churches were closed and priests were
encouraged to marry
Notre Dame renamed the “temple of
reason”
Dechristianization (cont’d.)
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Created new calendar
Years renumbered from beginning of French Republic
(Sept. 22, 1792)
12 months
Each month was 3 weeks of 10 days
No Sundays or church holidays
Months given new names to reflect weather and
harvests
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Floreal=“flower month”
Thermidor=“hot month”
Even with this, French people remained
overwhelmingly Catholic
Levee en Masse
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Aug. 23, 1793—huge mobilization of
entire nation (levée en masse)
Over 1,000,000 people in army in less
than 1 year
Pushed foreign invaders back
Huge step in creation of French
nationalism
End of the Terror
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Summer 1794—foreign enemies mostly
defeated
Less need for Reign of Terror
National Convention had enough of
Robespierre
July 28, 1794—Robespierre executed by
guillotine
Revolutionary feeling began to cool
Moderates took over
The Directory
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Churches allowed to reopen
New constitution—August 1795
2-house legislature
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Council of 500—initiated legislation
Council of Elders—accepted/rejected proposed
laws
5 people chosen by Council of Elders to be
executive committee
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Called the Directory
The Directory (cont’d.)
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Lasted 1795-1799
Very corrupt
Lots of political enemies
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Royalists wanted monarchy back
Radicals didn’t like moderation
Still had to fight wars from Committee of
Public Safety
Relied on military to keep power
1799— coup d’état by Napoleon
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Armed take-over of government
The Age of Napoleon
Ch. 18, sec. 3
Napoleon’s Early Life
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Born 1769 in Corsica (an Italian island
controlled by France)
Father was a lawyer
Went to military school in France
Very successful in military school
Not well liked b/c of his Italian accent
Read works of philosophes
Studied great military leaders of past
Napoleon’s Military Successes
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Quickly rose through the ranks to become a
General
1796—became commander of French armies
in Italy
Great success in Italy
1797—returned to Paris as a hero
1799—failure in Egypt against Britain
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Abandoned troops and returned to France w/o
them
Napoleon: Consul and
Emperor
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1799—helped direct coup d’etat against
Directory
helped create new government—called the
Consulate
became First Consul—basically in charge of
most of the government of France
1802—made First Consul for life
1804—crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I
Napoleon and the Church
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Napoleon wasn’t religious—saw religion as a
convenience
He also wanted to restore stability to France, and
most of France was Catholic
1801—agreement with the pope
Recognized Catholicism as the religion of the majority
of French people
Pope allowed people to keep Church land taken
during the revolution
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Those land owners became huge supporters of Napoleon
Catholic church was no longer an enemy of the
government
Napoleon and the Law
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Created 7 codes of law for France (used to be
300)
Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)
Equality for all citizens
Religious toleration
Abolition of serfdom
Protected property rights
Women’s rights still inferior
Napoleon and the Government
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Powerful, centralized administration
People were promoted in government
based on their ability
New aristocracy based on merit
Napoleon’s Empire
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1803—new war with Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia,
Sweden
Napoleon’s army (Grand Army) defeated all but
Britain
From 1807-1812, Napoleon was the master of Europe
France’s borders were enlarged
some European kingdoms were controlled by
Napoleon’s relatives (ex.—Spain)
Other European countries were forced to join him
(allies)
Grand Empire: French empire, dependent states, and
allied states
European Response to Napoleon
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Britain was able to survive Napoleon’s
conquest—they were almost
invulnerable to attack
1805—British defeated French at
Trafalgar
Continental System —Napoleon
attempted to cut Britain off from rest of
Europe economically
European Response: Nationalism
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Nationalism—unique cultural identity of a
people based on common language, religion,
and national symbols
Napoleon’s conquest helped other countries
to develop nationalism
People joined together because they hated
the French
People also realized the things they had in
common with each other
The Fall of Napoleon: Russia
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Russia didn’t like Continental System
Napoleon decided to invade
June 1812—600,000 Frenchmen invaded Russia
Napoleon needed quick defeat
Russian army lured France deeper and deeper into
Russia
Russian army destroyed everything in their path so
the French couldn’t use it— scorched-earth policy
Russia (cont’d.)
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Grand Army reached Moscow, but the Russians had
set it on fire
Napoleon abandoned Russia in Oct 1812
French troops retreated in harsh winter weather
Less than 40,000 made it out of Russia
March 1814—Paris, France captured
Napoleon was sent to exile in Elba (island in
Mediterranean)
Bourbon family restored to throne of France—Louis
XVIII
The Final Defeat
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Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France
Quickly gathered army of men still loyal to him—
arrived in Paris in March 1815
European countries joined together again to fight him
again
Waterloo—June 18, 1815
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Napoleon’s final defeat by the Duke of Wellington
Exiled to St. Helena (island off west coast of Africa)
Hundred Days —period of time that Napoleon came
back from Elba