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Name:
Hon World History
Date:
Chapter 7 Section 1
Period:
Notes
Revolution Threatens the French King
-In the 1700’s France was considered the most advanced nation in Europe, with
prosperous trade, a large population, and the center on Enlightenment
-The people of France were divided into 3 estates or social classes
-The first estate was made up of the Catholic church and represented less than 1%
of the population
-Paid no taxes, but owned 10% of the land in France
-Provided education and relief services to the poor
-The second estate was made up of rich nobles, who made up 2% of the
population, but controlled 20% of the land in France
-Paid few taxes
-The third estate made up 98% of the population and was broken down into three groups
-The first group was known as the bourgeoisie and was made up mainly of
merchants and artisans
-They were well educated and believed strongly in the Enlightenment
ideas of liberty and equality
-Some were rich, but faced heavy tax burdens and lacked the same
privileges the nobles had
-The second group was made up of cooks, servants, and others
-This group made significantly less than the bourgeoisie and often faced
unemployment
-The third group was made up of peasants and represented 80% of France’s 26
million people
-Half of their income went into taxes paid to the government and the
church
-The radical ideas of the American Revolution and the words of Voltaire and
Rousseau cause many to question the social situation in France
-A struggling economy and poor weather contributed to food shortages in
the late 1780’s
-Louis XVI inherited a large debt and then added to that debt by helping to
finance the American Revolution and widespread spending of his own
-Cared little for the role as a leader
-Wife Marie Antoinette of Austria became known as
Madame Deficit
-Louis was forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General when the country was
on the verge of bankruptcy
-All 3 estates would be represented with the two privileged estates holding
power
-The Third Estate demanded each delegate have an equal vote
-When the king refused this request they formed the National Assembly
and put in place a representative government
-Drew up a new constitution in a pledge called the Tennis Court
Oath
Sect. 1 Cont’d
-Fearing the worst, Louis ordered the clergy and the nobles to join the Third Estate in the
National Assembly
-He stationed mercenary, Swiss guards around the Palace of Versailles; no longer
trusting his own military
-People in Paris took the guards as a foreign army ready to massacre the people
-Armed themselves with weapons and stormed a fort known as the Bastille for
gunpowder
-July 14, the Storming of the Bastille became the symbolic beginning of
the French Revolution
-The Great Fear swept across the countryside as peasants feared that nobles were hiring
armies to terrorize them
-Armed themselves with pitchforks
-A mob of angry women demanding bread stormed the Palace of Versailles and
took the royal family back to Paris
Revolution Brings Reform and Fear
-Out of fear, on the night of August 4, 1789 noblemen declared their loyalty to the
National Assembly giving up the feudal privileges they had enjoyed for centuries
-The Declaration of Rights and Man was a direct reflection of the Enlightenment
and the Declaration of Independence
-Guaranteed equal justice, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and
that men are born free and equal
-The National Assembly then took over the lands held by the church and sold the land as
an effort to pay off economic debt
-Church officials now had to be elected by property owners and paid as state
officials
-Peasants did not support the National Assemblies actions against the church
-They were conservative Catholics and religion was instrumental in their lives
-Drove a wedge between the peasants and bourgeoisie
-Many of the supporters of the king and the old regime began to leave France out of fear
for their lives
-Louis and his family tried to escape and head to the Austrian Netherlands
-They were recognized by a postmaster and detained, increasing their dislike by
many
-In 1791, the National Assembly created a limited monarchy with the king acting as the
executive branch and law making power resting in the hands of the Legislative Assembly
-The Assembly began to split as different factions disagreed with one another
-Emigres were radical nobles and others who fled France in hopes of
restoring the Old Regime
-Sans-Culottes wore long trousers and were made up of small merchants and peasants
-Other monarchies across Europe feared what impact the revolution could have on their
own country
-Organized into a military to fight against the French and end the revolution
-Austria and Prussia were two of the first nations to declare war on France
-Won many quick victories, but then threatened to destroy Paris if they did not to
put the king back on the throne
-Infuriated Parisians who then stormed the royal palace where the family was
being held
-Mob massacred the 900 member Swiss Guard defending the family and
imprisoned the family
-Parisians began to hear rumors that the royalists imprisoned in Paris would take over if
the armies were defeated
-Citizens raided the prisons and murdered over 1,000 royalists, nobles, and
clergymen
-The Legislative Assembly disbanded and formed the National Convention
-Won support when a French army defeated the Prussians and Austrians in a
battle
-Angry mobs began to rule the streets of Paris, the Jacobins were the most radical of them
and used violent speeches to express their view on removing the king and est. a republic
-Paul Murat became one of the leaders of the Jacobins
-Extended the right to vote and hold office to all male citizens
-Tried Louis XVI for treason and sentenced him to die on January 21, 1793 by a
narrow vote: Executed by the guillotine
-The First Coalition was a force of nations made up of Prussia, Austria, Britain, Holland,
and Spain
-The National Convention drafted 300,000 men into the French Army and by
1794 the total number reached 800,000
-Robespierre now assumed control of the National Convention and looked to wipe out
any trace of the previous monarchy
-Developed a new calendar consisting of 12, 30 day months with no Sundays
-Religion was seen as dangerous and old fashioned
-The Committee of Public Safety began to execute citizens based on the argument that
they were enemies of the state
-Time period became known as the Reign of Terror
-Marie Antoinette became a victim of the quick justice
-Committee executed many of the same people who were leaders of the early revolution
-Georges Danton, one of the early leaders, was betrayed by his own friends
-Approx. 40,000 were executed in France, 3,000 in Paris alone
-On July 28, 1794 leaders turned on Robespierre and had him executed
-Moderates formed a new gov’t with a 2 house legislator and a 5 person executive
branch known as a Directory
Napoleon Forges an Empire
-Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica in 1769and attended military
school in France at the age of 16
-When the French Revolution began he joined the new government and became
an artillery lieutenant
-In October 1795, he saved the National Convention from an armed group of Royalists
-He became the hero of the hour and was hailed throughout Paris as the savior of
the French Revolution
-The Directory appointed Napoleon the General of a French Army that had sweeping
victories across the Alps in Italy, Austria, and Sardinia
-Lost to Horatio Nelson in Egypt, but became known as the “General” across
France
-By 1799, the confidence in the Directory and the new government was fading and many
felt that Napoleon should assume leadership
-Staged a coup d’etat, in which the Directory allowed Napoleon to use the
military to remove one chamber of the National Legislature and the other chamber
voted to dissolve the Directory
-The legislature then created a group of three consuls with Napoleon being
one
-He then assumed power and became dictator
-A plebiscite or vote of the people was held in 1800 and the people chose Napoleon as
their leader; they were looking for a strong central government
-He strengthened the government by introducing a more efficient means of
collecting taxes, established a national bank, dismissed corrupt officials, and set up lycees
or public schools for all children
-Signed a concordat with the church recognizing the church, but agreeing the
church would stay out of national affairs
-Established the Napoleonic Code giving the French people a stable body of laws,
while limiting some revolutionary freedoms
-On Dec 2, 1804 he made himself emperor in Notre Dame Cathedral
-Napoleon originally wanted an empire both in Europe and in the Americas
-A revolt in Haiti led by Toussaint L’Oveture proved to be too much for the
French to deal with and offered the US the Louisiana Territory for 15 million
-Believed the US would be a thorn in the side of England
-Napoleon now set his conquest on Europe and quickly swept over the Third Coalition
made up of Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia
-All the countries except Br. reached a peace agreement with Napoleon
-The Battle of Trafalgar saw the French fleet engage the English, led by
Horatio Nelson, off the coast of Spain
-Devastating loss for the French
-Tried a blockade to undo England, but was ineffective as well
Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
-Napoleon divorced his wife Josephine, when she failed to bring him a son
-Married, Marie Louise of the Hapsburgs who did have a son with Napoleon
-Napoleon created the Continental System to set up a blockade of all British goods by the
European continent
-Helped make Europe more self-sufficient and ruined Britain’s economy
-Smugglers and leaders like his own brother who refused to enforce the blockade made
the system ineffective
-Britain established a blockade of it’s own forcing all foreign ships into British
ports; eventually led to the War of 1812 with the US
-When Napoleon sent troops through Spain to attack Portugal, Spanish towns rioted
forcing Napoleon to remove the king and replace him with his brother Joseph
-Began a sense of nationalism amongst Spaniards and led to a 5 year Peninsula
War, Spanish guerillas would kill over 300,000 French troops
-In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia due to Czar Alexander I selling grain to
Britain and suspicions of Russian interest in Poland
-By now Napoleon’s army was made up of many foreign troops and as the army
advanced through Russia, Alexander used a scorched-earth policy to give the
French no food supplies
-Napoleon reached Moscow, in September and waited for 5 weeks in the
burnt out capital for a peace offering from the Czar
-In late October, he tried to retreat and then the Russian army attacked
-Napoleon’s army of 422,000 men would be reduced to 10,000
-A Fourth Coalition made up of Austria, Britain, Sweden, and Prussia would defeat
Napoleon for the last time at the Battle of Leipzig in Germany
-In April of 1814, Napoleon was forced from the throne and exiled to Elba in the
Mediterranean
-Louis XVIII, Louis XVI brother was restore to the throne, but disorder still dominated
France and news of the trouble reached Napoleon
-Napoleon escaped and reformed an army quickly becoming emperor again
-The British led by Duke Wellington and Prussian troops defeated Napoleon at
the Battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon’s Hundred Day’s bid to regain power
-Would die of cancer 6 years later
-The Congress of Vienna was an organized meeting of European states to try and reach a
permanent peace for the continent
-Austrian Prince, Klemens von Metternich soon became the outspoken voice of
the convention
-Believed a balance of power was necessary along with restoring royal
bloodlines to the thrones of Europe
-Louis XVIII rule France as a Constitutional Monarchy and Europe remained at peace til’
1853
-The Concert of Europe was an agreement to aid other nations in case of
revolution