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The French Revolution
Across the Atlantic
How were the American and French Revolutions connected?
France and the United States were connected from the earliest days of the colonies. France was the first U.S. foreign ally during
the American Revolution, and many of the Enlightenment philosophers who inspired the Founders were French.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who believed that civilization corrupted people and that they were better in a
state of nature. Rousseau argued that individual freedom and expression were important to human development and should
not be restricted by government or religion. He believed that individual freedoms could be safeguarded by a social contract
between the people and the government.
Charles de Montesquieu was another French philosopher. He wrote satirical works criticizing policies of the French government
and wrote examinations of different kinds of governments. Montesquieu argued that not every government type would work
for every group of people. His arguments for balance of power influenced state governments in the United States and the
Constitution. Montesquieu’s satirical works also helped build anti-royal sentiment in the days leading up to the French
Revolution.
Voltaire was the pen name of poet and philosopher François-Marie Arouet. His works argued for religious tolerance and
individual freedom, and his criticisms of the French government and church forced him to leave Paris in 1734.
These writers and philosophers had a powerful influence on the new government built in the wake of the American Revolution.
This, in turn, changed the course of French history.
The Third Estate
How did France’s social structure lead to unrest?
Unlike the American colonies, France had a rigid social and political structure. For taxation purposes, French society was divided
into three groups, called Estates. This social structure developed out of the feudal system in place in Europe during the Middle
Ages. By the late 1700s, Europe mostly had abandoned feudalism, due to the increase in education and the rise of a prosperous
middle class. However, traces of it remained.
The First Estate was the Roman Catholic clergy, and the Second Estate was the nobility. These two Estates made up only 4
percent of the population, but they kept most of France’s wealth to themselves. The Third Estate was the common people,
including peasants and farmers. It also included the middle-class merchants and craftspeople, who were known as the
bourgeoisie. Most of France’s population was part of the Third Estate, but heavy taxes and trade restrictions kept them from
improving their position. Even the wealthy, educated bourgeoisie were subjected to this treatment.
The French royal family, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, were at the top of France’s social order. Louis and Marie
Antoinette held court in the lavish palace of Versailles. The king ruled through divine right of kings, the belief that a higher
power had given him the authority to the French throne. The concept of a divine right was used to justify an absolute
monarchy, meaning kings and queens have no limitations on their power.
In the late 1700s, many residents of France were poor. However, at this time even the non-bourgeoisie common people were
more educated than peasants had been during medieval times. As they became more aware of the inequality of their
treatment, the Third Estate became increasingly dissatisfied with the monarchy. They saw Louis as a weak and ineffective king
and Marie Antoinette as a vain and foolish queen who spent far too much on clothing and jewels. The Third Estate saw both
monarchs as out of touch with the needs of the common people.
By 1788, a combination of debt, crop failures, and population increases brought France to the point of bankruptcy. Louis XVI
was not a strong enough leader to take the necessary steps to solve this problem, and he was easily influenced by nobles whom
he favored at his court. The common people did not have any voice in court.
Storming the Bastille
How did the French Revolution begin?
In response to France’s financial crisis, Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General in 1789. Delegates from each of the
three classes met to express their grievances, or complaints, and propose solutions. This was the first meeting of the EstatesGeneral to be called in 175 years.
Representatives from the three Estates met at Versailles on May 5, 1789. Almost immediately, an argument broke out about
how votes should be counted. On the one hand, if each delegate got one vote, the Third Estate would outnumber the wealthier
First and Second Estates. On the other hand, the First and Second Estates argued that voting power should be based on
property ownership. This arrangement would help them maintain their advantage. The Third Estate was outraged.
When the delegates arrived at Versailles the next morning, they found Louis XVI had ordered the Third Estate be locked out of
the Estates-General. In response, they moved into a nearby tennis court, declared themselves the National Assembly, and
swore an oath to create a new constitution for France. This agreement was called the Tennis Court Oath. In response, Louis XVI
recognized the National Assembly and gave in to the Third Estate’s demands. Meanwhile, he ordered troops to gather in Paris
to help him regain power.
The Great Fear
Word spread about the National Assembly and the royal troops. Rumors emerged that the king and the aristocrats were
plotting to overthrow the Third Estate. Violence broke out throughout Paris, encouraged by the fear that the lower classes
would not have enough food to survive.
On July 14, 1789, a Paris mob attacked the Bastille, a huge, fortress-like prison that it saw as a symbol of royal tyranny, to gain
access to its armory. Meanwhile, in the country, peasants rebelled against their lords and destroyed records of the money they
were supposed to pay to the aristocracy, called feudal dues. The unrest outside Paris was known as the Great Fear. This action
symbolized peasants’ desire to wipe out the last traces of the old feudal structure.
A Limited Monarchy
The National Assembly saw Louis XVI as a weak leader and grew impatient with him for hesitating to grant its requests. On
October 5, a group of citizens made up mostly of women marched on Versailles. They demanded that the king give them bread
and then forced the king and his family to leave the palace. The royal family returned to Paris, where they were kept under
guard in the Tuileries Palace.
Terrified by the violence, Louis XVI agreed to meet with the National Assembly and hear its requests. Over the next two years, a
number of them were granted. These reforms included eliminating feudal dues and tax breaks for the First and Second Estates.
The monarchy eliminated tithes, or taxes, to the church. It seized church lands and sold the lands to the peasants.
Larger political changes also occurred during this period. The king eliminated local taxes and established local assemblies. These
assemblies gave the common people a place where their needs could be addressed and inspired feelings of national loyalty. The
National Assembly drew up a manifesto called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which listed a series of
rights that were guaranteed to all French citizens. It stated that all men were equal.
This document, along with a new constitution the Assembly wrote, removed the king’s divine right to rule. It transformed
France’s absolute monarchy into a limited monarchy that shared political power with a legislature representing the citizens.
Historians believe the Declaration of the Rights of Man was inspired by both the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the
English Bill of Rights. In turn, the Declaration of the Rights of Man would become the model for other European countries
moving from monarchy to democracy.
The Fall of the French Monarchy
Why did the limited monarchy fail?
For a while, it seemed that the revolution was over. The monarchy had been stripped of much of its power, and the reforms
granted to the National Assembly promised to ease much of the Third Estate’s suffering. Many of the inequalities among the
three Estates had been lessened or removed entirely. However, not everyone was satisfied with these reforms.
On June 21, 1791, King Louis XVI attempted to escape across France’s eastern border into Austria. He and his family disguised
themselves as peasants and slipped out late at night. They were recognized and stopped at the town of Varennes near what is
now the German border and forced to return to Paris. This escape attempt destroyed any remaining trust or confidence the
French people had in Louis XVI and in the monarchy in general.
Different groups of French citizens had different interests for the future of their government. The Girondins were members of
the bourgeoisie. Most of them were lawyers, businesspeople, and journalists. The Girondins wanted to get rid of the monarchy
and create a republic like the United States. They were a politically moderate group, which meant they wanted changes to be
smaller and made more gradually. Even after King Louis XVI’s attempted escape, the Girondins were divided in their opinion of
what should happen to him.
The Jacobins also wanted to eliminate the monarchy. They were a more radical group, favoring extreme actions to achieve their
goals. The Jacobins were named after a monastery where they held their meetings. They were originally satisfied with the
limited monarchy, but after Louis XVI’s escape attempt, they rejected the idea of any monarchy. They believed the king should
be put on trial and executed.
Not everyone wanted to abolish the monarchy. Groups that had prospered under the old feudal system wanted to restore the
absolute monarchy. They were known as Royalists. These included the Catholic Church clergy, French nobles, and the monarchs
of nearby European nations. The Catholic Church was wealthy and powerful and feared losing its influence over the common
people. French nobles feared that if the king lost his power, they would be next.
Rise of the National Convention
Foreign monarchs, especially in neighboring Austria and Prussia, feared that the revolutionary spirit would spread to the
common people in their countries. Additionally, the Girondins had been urging war against Austria. In 1792, King Louis XVI,
giving in to pressure from the National Assembly, declared war on Austria. Austria was ruled by the brother of his wife, Marie
Antoinette. Secretly, the king and queen hoped that Austria’s leadership would be able to restore them to full power over
France.
This war did not go well for France. Prussia joined forces with Austria in July 1792, and together they sent their armies across
the border toward Paris. The French revolutionaries in Paris saw this as yet another betrayal from King Louis XVI. They believed
he was conspiring with foreign powers to wipe out the revolution and restore absolute monarchy. This led to more riots in the
streets of Paris. Revolutionary mobs rushed into the Tuileries Palace, where the royal family was living, on August 10, 1792.
On September 20, 1792, the French army stopped the Prussian advance. A new government assembly, called the National
Convention, declared the creation of a French republic. This abolished the French monarchy and began the Reign of Terror.
Blood in the Streets
What was the Reign of Terror?
The First French Republic was born in an age of extreme violence. Angry revolutionaries tried and convicted Louis XVI for
treason. They executed him on January 21, 1793. Nine months later, they executed Marie Antoinette. Both Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette were executed by guillotine. The guillotine was a machine designed to make executions quick and efficient. It was
named after the French doctor who first proposed its use in 1789. The guillotine was a common method of execution during
the French Revolution that provided an equal method of ending the lives of members of all classes.
In the two years that followed, the guillotine was used on more than 16,000 people believed to be enemies of the revolution,
including members of the French nobility and clergy. This era was known as the Reign of Terror. It began on September 5, 1793,
when a Jacobin delegate named Maximilian Robespierre declared terror to be “the order of the day.” He led an organization
called the Committee for Public Safety, which arrested, tried, and executed anyone believed to be a threat to the new Republic,
often with little or no evidence. In total, 40,000 people were killed.
Why did the newly established Republic erupt into violence? One reason was the conflict between the radical Jacobins, led by
Robespierre and supported by other groups like the Montagnards (Mountain Men) and the Sans-Culottes (Without Knee
Breeches, a garment worn by aristocrats), and the more moderate Girondins who opposed them but had lost a great deal of
their influence after the execution of Louis XVI. The conflict led to increased suspicion, violence, and numerous executions on
both sides.
The Jacobin Reforms
When the Jacobins took power, they established a number of radical reforms. Perhaps the largest of these was outlawing the
Catholic Church and replacing it with the Temple of Reason—a new religion based on Enlightenment ideas. They created a new
calendar, called the Republican Calendar, and renamed all the months and days after natural events. They also created a new
system for telling time, with each day divided into 10 hours. Additionally, the Jacobins outlawed slavery in France, although it
was still legal in French colonies.
Not all of these reforms were popular. The new calendar and clock were confusing. Although many French Catholic clergymen
had amassed wealthy and fallen to corruption, religion had been a part of most people’s lives and had provided a certain
amount of comfort. Later, when Napoleon took power, he made peace with the pope in the Concordat of 1801. He restored the
traditional calendar and clock in 1806. These changes made Napoleon popular with the people.
The Thermidorian Reaction
Meanwhile, more European countries joined the invading armies led by Austria and Prussia. In February 1793, Great Britain
joined the war, and Spain joined in March. At first, France suffered a number of defeats, but by June 1794, France rebounded
and was able to recapture much of the land it had lost. These victories made people wonder if the violence of the Reign of
Terror was still necessary to protect the Republic. A group of moderate Girondins, now known as the Thermidorians, overthrew
Robespierre on July 27 and executed him the next day. This counterrevolution was known as the Thermidorian Reaction.
With Robespierre gone, the Thermidorian leaders put many political and economic reforms into place. They disbanded the
National Convention and drew up a new constitution. This new French constitution, together with the war victories, helped
build a sense of national pride. A new three-colored flag was created to represent the new nation. The three colors represented
the ideals of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” that France had adopted as its new motto. France also adopted a new national
anthem called “La Marseillaise” in 1795. This originally was a battle song, sung by the citizens as they marched on Paris in 1792.
With these changes, the Reign of Terror ended.
Counterrevolution and Consulate
How did the Directory lead to the rise of Napoleon?
The new constitution restructured the French government again. It established a legislature and an executive branch. The
legislature had two houses, called the Council of Ancients and the Council of the Five Hundred. It was similar to the U.S.
Congress with its Senate and House of Representatives. The executive branch, or Directory, was made up of five people.
After its formal establishment in October 1795, the Directory government began making reforms. It ended the debtor’s prison
system, which imprisoned people with debts until they could repay them. It also abolished slavery in French colonies, provided
protection against the church or the monarchy taking power, and created a national education system.
The Directory was not a perfect government. It had no way to break a stalemate between the legislative and executive
branches. This led to constant disagreements that kept the government from making effective decisions. Economic problems,
political corruption, and the continuing European war also made the government less effective. It increasingly depended on the
army to maintain order rather than the rule of law.
The Corsican Soldier
One of the key figures in the French army was a soldier from Corsica named Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had joined the
French army in 1793 when Corsica declared independence from France. Impressed by the French revolutionary spirit, he led the
army to victory against the British at Toulon in December 1793.
Napoleon proved valuable to the French government leaders. In October 1795, he stopped a Royalist uprising against the
Directory government in Paris. In March 1796, he launched a successful campaign against the armies of Austria and Sardinia in
northern Italy. This victory provided much-needed land and money for the French government. In 1796, Napoleon conquered
Egypt, freeing it from British control and damaging British trade with Asia. The British admiral Horatio Nelson destroyed
Napoleon’s fleet, but he turned that to his advantage by remaining in Egypt and reforming its feudal government.
The First Consul
Meanwhile, the French people were growing more dissatisfied with the Directory. They saw it as weak and inefficient, and they
had no confidence that it could solve their economic problems or protect them from the foreign invaders. Napoleon learned
about these sentiments and decided to take advantage of them.
In 1799, Napoleon returned to Paris and overthrew the Directory government through a coup d’état, or military takeover. On
November 9, Napoleon established a new government called the Consulate. He eliminated the Directory and named himself the
First Consul.
The Consulate was a much less democratic government than either the First Republic or the Directory. The power to make laws
shifted from the legislature to the Consul. There were three Consuls, but the First Consul held most of the power, while the
other two were mainly figureheads. As First Consul, Napoleon had almost as much power as a king.
The French people welcomed Napoleon’s coup d’état. They saw Napoleon as a strong leader who could protect them and bring
peace and order to France. The French people did not see the increased power of the Consul as a problem.
A Controversial Figure
Was Napoleon an effective leader?
The Consulate government did not last very long. By 1802, Napoleon had changed the laws to make himself First Consul for life.
In 1804, he discarded the Consulate altogether and declared himself Emperor of France.
Emperor Napoleon I
While ruling France, Napoleon continued to win key military and diplomatic victories. In 1800, he crossed the Alps and defeated
the Austrians at Marengo. He then negotiated a European peace treaty and mended French relations with the Catholic Church
in the Concordat of 1801. This agreement returned Catholicism to France. However, it also gave the French government control
over the appointment of church leaders and guaranteed that church lands sold during the revolution would not be returned.
Napoleon won battles against the British navy and against a new alliance of Russian and Austrian forces.
Napoleon’s crowning as emperor took place on December 2, 1804, at the Notre Dame Cathedral. It is said that during the
coronation, he grabbed the crown out of the hands of the pope and placed it on his own head. While historians cannot confirm
this story, it illustrates Napoleon’s power as ruler of France and a return to absolute monarchy. With this action, he declared
himself to be the greatest authority in France—greater even than the Roman Catholic Church.
Napoleon’s military victories continued after his coronation. In 1805, he defeated the Russian and Austrian armies at Austerlitz.
Although the French army was greatly outnumbered, it lost only about 9,000 men, while the Russians and Austrians lost nearly
26,000.
The Napoleonic Code
In addition to his military victories, Napoleon worked to address France’s domestic problems. He put into place a number of
reforms, including simplifying the court system, centralizing the schools, and improving the cities’ sanitation systems. However,
his biggest contribution was the Napoleonic Code.
This code reformed the entire network of French civil laws. Before the revolution, French laws were inconsistent from region to
region. For example, Roman law ruled in the south of France, while feudal Frankish and Germanic laws dominated in France’s
northern provinces. Napoleon worked with a group of French lawmakers to create a new system of laws that was simple and
consistent and protected the liberties for which the citizens had fought.
The Napoleonic Code was put into place in 1804, and combined aspects of the German and Roman laws followed in various
regions in France. It outlawed feudalism and protected freedom of religion. The code upheld the concept of equality for all
men. However, it limited the rights of women. Under the code, a woman was legally inferior to her husband. Women could not
own businesses, and it was easier for a man to divorce his wife than for a woman to divorce her husband. The code also limited
the rights of children. Fathers could prohibit a son from getting married until he was 27 and a daughter until she was 21. A
father could also legally imprison his children.
When Napoleon made a conquest, he applied the code to that country’s legal system. In this way, the code spread throughout
Europe, from Italy and Germany to the Netherlands. Many countries found the code so simple and useful that they kept it even
after Napoleon’s reign ended in 1815. During the 1800s, a number of countries in Europe and Latin America adopted the code,
either as it was or with modifications.
A version of the code is still used in France today, and it also served as a model for law reform throughout Europe. Louisiana is
the only U.S. state to base its laws on the code, which was in place throughout the territory before it became part of the United
States.
Napoleon’s Waterloo
How did the world respond to Napoleon’s rise to power?
For a few years, Napoleon’s empire grew and thrived. He continued to win victories against British, Austrian, and Russian forces.
The empire reached its peak in 1812. However, that year would be the turning point in Napoleon’s reign.
The Russian Campaign
In 1811, Tsar Alexander I of Russia refused to take part in a blockade of the United Kingdom called the Continental System. This
blockade, designed to destroy international British trade, was hurting the Russian economy. Napoleon responded to this by
launching an invasion of Russia.
Many of Napoleon’s advisors told him attacking Russia was a mistake. Napoleon was so confident that he declared he could
conquer Russia in 20 days. On June 24, 1812, Napoleon set off for Russia with more than 600,000 troops. He hoped to defeat
the Russians in a single, decisive battle. However, the long march across Russia, the extremely cold temperatures, and the lack
of food all took their toll. After two months of marching through mostly empty land, Napoleon had only around 150,000
soldiers remaining. When he finally reached Moscow, the Russian army defeated him, and he was forced to retreat.
This defeat united Europe against Napoleon. Although he continued to fight, he constantly lost ground until 1814 when forces
from allied European nations marched into Paris. Napoleon’s army refused to fight for him. On April 12, 1814, Napoleon was
overthrown and exiled to the tiny island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.
A Short-Lived Return
Although Napoleon had been exiled, he did not stop watching and planning. The French people had made Louis XVIII their new
king. Louis XVIII was a weak ruler who had none of Napoleon’s skill or charisma. Under his reign, the Royalists threatened to
undo all of the reforms made during the Revolution. Napoleon followed these developments carefully and began planning his
return.
On February 26, 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba, and with a handful of loyal soldiers, he slipped past the British fleet. He
made his way back to Paris, and many of the French soldiers he encountered on the way cheered for his return. On March 20,
1815, Napoleon retook the French throne. He would hold it for 100 days.
The European allies opposed Napoleon’s return. Nearly all of Europe was united against him. A large group of European nations,
including the United Kingdom, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, began marching toward France.
Napoleon learned of this invading force and moved his army to meet them in Belgium. His initial attack came as a surprise, but
in the end, Napoleon could not overcome such a large force. The British army, led by the Duke of Wellington, defeated him on
June 18, 1815, at Waterloo. On June 22, 1815, Napoleon gave up his throne for the second time. He was exiled to the island of
St. Helena, off the coast of Africa, thousands of miles away. He remained there until his death on May 5, 1821.
The Rise of Nationalism
How did the French Revolution change Europe?
After Napoleon’s initial defeat in 1814, European leaders met in Vienna to discuss restoring the balance of power. This
conference was called the Congress of Vienna. Napoleon’s escape and brief return to power in 1815 briefly interrupted this
conference, but it resumed after his final defeat at Waterloo.
At the Congress of Vienna, leaders broke up Napoleon’s empire and redrew the borders of much of Europe. Among other
changes, France lost the territory it had gained under Napoleon, and Austria regained the land it had lost. Austria, Russia,
Prussia, and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Chaumont, creating a powerful alliance among the four countries for the
purpose of stopping any future uprisings.
At the end of the Congress of Vienna, all the participating nations—except Spain, which objected to one of the decisions—
signed an agreement called the Final Act. This agreement led to a period of European stability and peace that lasted more than
40 years.
The Restoration of the Monarchy
The Congress of Vienna did more than redraw the borders of Europe. The participating nations also restored Louis XVIII to the
throne of France. They believed that returning France to the rule of the Bourbon family would restore stability. It would also
send a strong message to other countries that might be considering revolution.
One of the leaders of the Congress of Vienna was Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich. Metternich disliked the liberal
and nationalistic ideas that spread through Europe during the Napoleonic period. At the Congress of Vienna, he led the charge
to return Europe to the families that ruled it before the French Revolution to prevent future Napoleons. His approach, known as
the Metternich system, included restoring absolute monarchies across Europe and limiting the rights of the common people.
Impacts of the French Revolution
The French Revolution had a powerful impact on both the people of France and Europe as a whole. For the French people, the
revolution created a powerful sense of national identity that replaced the old loyalties of peasant to feudal lord. Individual
rights and freedoms were now seen as valuable and protected by the government. The Napoleonic Code simplified and clarified
the legal system, and additional reforms improved the health and education of the French people.
Across Europe, the French Revolution showed that national pride and the desire for a better life could lead to social reform. It
also demonstrated the Enlightenment ideas that governments existed to support the people, rather than the other way around.
Napoleon’s attempt to unite Europe in a single empire may have failed, but the laws and social reforms he championed
changed the face of Europe as much as his military campaigns.
The effects of the French Revolution were felt globally. Citizens’ ability to rise up against oppressive governments helped lead to
other revolutions around the world, particularly in Latin America.