Download The French Revolution

The French
Revolution
Absolutism
• Absolute
monarchs didn’t
share power with a
counsel or
parliament
• “Divine Right of
Kings”
King James I of England
The Seigneurial System
• Feudal method of
land ownership
and organization
• Peasant labor
Receiving a seigneurial grant
Louis XIV
• Ruled from
1643–1715
• Reduced the
power of the
nobility
• Fought four
wars
• Greatly
increased
France’s
national debt
The Seven Years’ War
French and
English
troops fight
at the battle
of Fort St.
Philip on
the island
of Minorca
• Louis XV
• War fought in Europe, India, North America
• France ends up losing some of its colonial
possessions
• Increases French national debt
The Three Estates
• First Estate:
clergy
• Second Estate:
nobility
• Third Estate: the
rest of society
• The Estates
General
Cartoon depicting the three Estates
The Third Estate
• Taxation
• Crop
failures
The Enlightenment
John Locke
• New ideas
about society
and
government
• The social
contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The American
Revolution
• France supported the
colonists against
Great Britain
• Revolutionary ideals
Marquis de Lafayette
Financial Crisis
• Jacques Necker
• Tax on property
• Recommended a
calling of the
Estates General
Finance Minister Jacques Necker
The Estates General
• One vote per
estate
• Clergy and
nobility
usually joined
together to
outvote the
Third Estate
• Met in
Versailles in
May 1789
• Voting
controversy
A meeting of the Estates General
The National
Assembly
• The Third
Estate took
action and
established its
own
government
• On June 17,
1789, the
National
Assembly was
formed
Confrontation With the
King
• Louis XVI
ordered the
Third Estate
locked out of
the National
Assembly’s
meeting hall
• The Tennis
Court Oath agreed to
meet until
constitution
• The king
reverses his
position
Artist Jacques Louis David’s depiction of the Tennis Court Oath
Storming of the
Bastille
• Rioting in
Paris in
early July
• Firing of
Necker
• July 14th: a
mob storms
and takes
the Bastille
The Great Fear
• Rebellion
spreads
• Peasants
destroy the
countryside
• End of feudal
privileges
The Declaration of the Rights
of Man and Citizen
• Adopted by National
Assembly on August 27th
• Enlightenment ideals
• Outlined basic freedoms
held by all
• Asserted the sovereignty of
the people
• “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”
The March of Women
• Lower classes
still unsatisfied
• Thousands of
starving women
and peasants
march on
Versailles
• Louis forced to
return to Paris
Civil Constitution of
the Clergy
Cartoon depicting the confiscation of Church lands
• Financial
crisis
• National
Assembly
confiscates
and sells off
church lands
• Church also
secularized,
reorganized
• Clergy oath
of loyalty
Flight of the King
• Émigrés-French
nobility
• Louis XVI and his
family attempted
to flee France
• They were
arrested at
Varennes
The capture of Louis XVI at Varennes
Reaction from Other
Countries
Illustration
depicting
Prussian King
Frederick
William III,
Austrian
Emperor
Leopold II,
and the Comte
d’Artois,
Louis XVI’s
brother
• Declaration of
PillnitzAustria &
Prussia
Possible
foreign
intervention
New Constitution
• Constitutional
monarchy
• New Legislative
Assembly
• Sans-culottes
Painting depicting the 1791 constitution
War With Austria
Painting of the Battle of Valmy, 1792
• France
declares
war
• War of
the First
Coalition
• Levee en
masse
The Radicals Take Over
Paris crowds storm the Tuileries
• Paris mob
stormed
Tuileries
• Louis and
family seek
aid of
Legislative
Assembly
• Arrested
and
deposed
The National Convention
• First met on
September
21, 1792
• Revolutionary
Calendar
• Monarchy
abolished;
France
officially
becomes a
republic
• Factions:
Jacobins vs.
Girondins
A Jacobin club
Leaders in the
National Convention
Georges Danton
Jean-Paul Marat
Robespierre
• Lawyer
• Radical Jacobin
• Most controversial
figure of the French
Revolution
The Guillotine
• Dr. Joseph
Guillotin
• Intended as a
more humane
method of
execution
• Thousands
guillotined during
the French
Revolution
Execution of the King
• On January 17,
1793, Louis XVI
was convicted of
treason
• He went to the
guillotine four
days later on
January 21, 1793
The Committee of
Public Safety
• Created to
cease an
internal
rebellion in
1793
• Given
dictatorial
power
• Ruled France
for nearly a
year
A citizen petitions the Committee of Public Safety
The Reign of Terror
• July 1793–
July 1794
• Executions
• Death of
Robespierre
because he
was too
radical
The execution of Marie Antoinette
The Thermidorean Reaction
• Robespierre
overthrown on 9
Thermidor
• Committee of Public
Safety dismantled
• Jacobin clubs
disbanded
• New constitution
adopted in August
1795
• Executive branch
known as the
9 Thermidor meeting of the National Convention
Directory
The Directory
• Promoted middle
class interests
• Financial crisis
• Food shortages
• Riots in Paris
• Rise of Napoleon
Cartoon
depicting the
errors and bad
judgment of
the Directory
Napoleon Bonaparte
• Popularity rises
after victories over
the Austrians
• Conflict with Britain
• 1799 Coup d’etat
• The Consulate
Napoleon Becomes
Emperor
1804: Napoleon
crowns himself
emperor
Legacies of the
French Revolution
• End of absolutism
• Power of nobles
ended
• Peasants became
landowners
• Nationalism
• Enlightenment ideals
NapoleoN’s Rise to poweR
a Earlier military career  the Italian Campaigns:
 1796-1797  he conquered most of northern
Italy for France, and had
developed a taste for governing.
 In northern Italy, he moved to suppress religious
orders, end serfdom, and limit age-old noble
privilege.
NapoleoN’s Rise to poweR
a Earlier military career  the Egyptian Campaign:
 1798  he
was defeated by a British navy under
Admiral Horatio Nelson, who destroyed the French
fleet at the Battle of the Nile.
 Abandoning his troops in Egypt, Napoleon returned
to France and received a hero’s welcome!
Europe in 1800
NapoleoN as “FiRst CoNsul”
a With the government in
disarray, Napoleon launched a
successful coup d’ etat on
November 9, 1799.
a He proclaimed himself “First
Consul” [Julius Caesar’s title]
and did away with the
elected Assembly [appointing
a Senate instead].

In 1802, he made himself sole
“Consul for Life.”

Two years later he proclaimed
himself “Emperor.”
The Government of the Consulate
a Council of State


Proposed the laws.
Served as a Cabinet & the
highest court.
a Tribunate

Debated laws, but did not
vote on them.
a Legislature

Voted on laws, but did not discuss or debate them.
a Senate

Had the right to review and veto legislation.
Concordat of 1801
a Napoleon wanted to heal
the divisions within the
Catholic Church that had
developed after the
confiscation of Church
property and the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy.
a But, Napoleon’s clear intent
was to use the clergy to
prop up his regime.
Concordat of 1801 in
Detail
a
Catholicism was declared official religion of France
a
Papal acceptance of church lands lost
during the Revolution.
a
Bishops subservient to the regime.
a
Eventually, Pope Pius VII renounced
the Concordat, and Napoleon had him
brought to France and placed under
house arrest.
Code Napoleon, 1804
a
It divides civil law into:



Personal status.
Property.
The acquisition of
property.
a
Its purpose was to reform the
French legal code to reflect the
principles of the Fr. Revolution.
a
Create one law code for France.
Haitian Independence, 1792-1804
Toussaint L’Ouverture took advantage of a weak
French state and revolted in Haiti.
Louisiana Purchase, 1803
$15,000,000 in 1803 = $200,000,000 today!
Napoleonic Europe
Napoleon’s Major Military
Campaigns
1805:
France 
Sea
Power
 Britain
Trafalgar (Lord Nelson: Fr. Navy lost!)
Napoleon’s Major Military Campaigns
1805: France 
-Danube
-Italy
 Britain
Austria
Russia
(3rd Coalition)
e ULM: France defeated Austria.
e AUSTERLITZ: France defeated
Austria & Russia.
Crowned “King of Italy” on May 6, 1805
Napoleon’s Major Military
Campaigns
1806: France 
Confed.
of the
Rhine
 Prussia
JENA: French Troops in Berlin!
BERLIN DECREES
(“Continental System”)
4th Coalition created
The Continental System
a
GOAL  to isolate Britain and promote Napoleon’s
mastery over Europe.
a
Berlin Decrees (1806)

a
“Order in Council” (1806)

a
Britain proclaimed any ship stopping in Britain
would be seized when it entered the Continent.
Milan Decree (1807)

a
British ships were not allowed in European ports.
Napoleon proclaimed any ship stopping in Britain
would be seized when it entered the Continent.
These edicts eventually led to the United States
declaring war on Britain  WAR OF 1812.
The Continental System
NapoleoN’s MajoR MilitaRy
Campaigns
1806: France 
Poland
 Russia
Grand Duchy of Warsaw
FRIEDLAND: France defeated Russian troops
: France occupied Konigsberg,
capital of East Prussia!
Peninsular Campaign: 1807-1810
1806: France 
Continental
System
 Spain
Portugal
e Portugal did not comply with the Continental
System.
e France wanted Spain’s support to invade Portugal.
e Spain refused, so Napoleon invaded Spain as well!
“the spaNish ulCeR”
a
Napoleon tricked the Spanish
king and prince to come to
France, where he imprisoned
them.
a
He proclaimed his brother,
Joseph, to be the new king of
Spain.
a
He stationed over 100,000 Fr
troops in Madrid.
a
On May 2, 1808 [Dos de
Mayo] the Spanish rose up in
rebellion.
a
Fr troops fired on the crowd
in Madrid the next day [Tres
de Mayo].
“the spaNish ulCeR”
a
Napoleon now poured 500,00
troops into Spain over the next
few years.
a
But, the Fr generals still had
trouble subduing the Spanish
population.
a
The British viewed this uprising
as an opportunity to weaken
Napoleon.

a
They moved an army into
Portugal to protect that country
and to aid the Spanish guerillas.
The Surrender of Madrid
May, 1809
by Goya
After 5 long years of savage fighting, Fr troops were finally
pushed back across the Pyrennes Mountains out of Spain.
NapoleoN’s eMpiRe iN 1810
NapoleoN’s FaMily Rules!
Jerome Bonaparte  King of Westphalia.
Joseph Bonaparte  King of Spain
Louise Bonaparte  King of Holland
Pauline Bonaparte  Princess of Italy
Napoléon Francis Joseph
Charles (son) King of
Rome
e Elisa Bonaparte  Grand
Duchess of Tuscany
e Caroline Bonaparte  Queen
of Naples
e
e
e
e
e
NapoleoN’s FaMily &
Friends/Allies
the “Big BluNdeR” -- Russia
a
The retreat from Spain came
on the heels of Napoleon’s
disastrous Russian Campaign
(1812-1813).
a
In July, 1812 Napoleon led his
Grand Armee of 614,000 men
eastward across central Europe
and into Russia.

The Russians avoided a direct
confrontation with Napoleon.

They retreated to Moscow, drawing the French into the
interior of Russia [hoping that it’s size and the weather would
act as “support” for the Russian cause].

The Russian nobles abandoned their estates and burned their
crops to the ground, leaving the French to operate far from
their supply bases in territory stripped of food.
NapoleoN’s tRoops at the gates oF
Moscow
a
September 14, 1812  Napoleon reached
Moscow, but the city had largely been abandoned.
a
The Russians had set fire to the city.
Russian General Kutuzov
The Russian army defeated the French at Borodino.
NapoleoN’s RetReat
from Moscow (Early 1813)
100,000 French troops retreat—40,000 survive!
The 6th Coalition
1813-1814: France 
Napoléon’s
Defeat
 Britain, Russia.
Spain, Portugal,
Prussia, Austria,
Sweden, smaller
German states
Battle of Dresden
(Aug., 26-27, 1813)
e
Coalition  Russians, Prussians, Austrians.
e
Napoléon’s forces regrouped with Polish
reinforcements.
e
100,000 coalition
casualties;
30,000 French
casualties.
e
French victory.
NapoleoN’s deFeat at
Leipzig
(October 16-17, 1813)
“Battle of the Nations”
Memorial
Napoleon Abdicates!
e
Allied forces occupied Paris on March 31, 1814.
e
Napoléon abdicated on April 6 in favor of his
son, but the Allies insisted on unconditional
surrender.
e
Napoléon abdicated again on April 11.
e
Treaty of Fontainbleau  exiles Napoléon to
Elba with an annual income of 2,000,000
francs.
e
The royalists took control and restored
Louis XVIII to the throne.
NapoleoN’s aBdiCatioN
Napoleon in Exile on
Elba
Louis XVIII (r. 1814-1824)
“the waR oF the 7th CoalitioN”
1815: France 
Napoleon’s
“100 Days”
 Britain, Russia.
Prussia, Austria,
Sweden, smaller
German states
e
Napoléon escaped Elba and landed in France on
March 1, 1815  the beginning of his 100
Days.
e
Marie Louise & his son were in the hands of the
Austrians.
NapoleoN’s deFeat at
Waterloo
(June 18, 1815)
Duke
of
Wellington GB
Prussian
General
Blücher
Napoleon
on His Way
to His
Final Exile
on
St. Helena
NapoleoN’s ResideNCe oN st.
Helena
NapoleoN’s toMB
hitleR Visits NapoleoN’s toMB
June 28, 1940