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Chapter 19
A Revolution in Politics:
The Era of the French Revolution and
Napoleon
Map 19.1: North America, 1763-1783
The American Revolution
Reorganization,
Resistance, and Rebellion
Britain’s victory in the
Seven Years’ War
50% of adult male
population can vote
British raise taxes on
colonists to increase
revenue
Indirect political
representation in England
“No taxation without
representation”
Boston Tea Party
War for Independence
Colonists were initially
divided over revolting
against Britain
Thomas Paine, Common
Sense, 1776
Declaration of
Independence, 1776
Battle of Saratoga, 1777
• Commitment of European
aid
Battle of Yorktown, 1781
• Surrender of Cornwalis
Peace of Paris, 1783
The American Revolution (cont)
French support
Aided colonists with money and troops
French army and navy helped the colonists defeat British General
Cornwallis at Yorktown
Forming a New Nation
Articles of Confederation, 1781-1789
Constitution, 1789
• Bill of Rights, 1791
• Checks and Balances
Impact of the American Revolution on Europe
Concept of freedom
Concept of rights
French army and navy officers brought American political and
moral ideas back to Europe
Possible Test Question
When the American Revolution began,
Almost all of the colonists were united in favor of
independence.
Almost all of the colonists were against independence,
but were soon convinced by the propaganda of a small
elite group.
The colonists feared the kind of blood-bath that had
engulfed France during the French Revolution.
The Loyalists argued in favor of separation from Great
Britain.
The colonials were deeply divided among themselves
about revolting against Britain.
Possible Test Question
The colonists won their war for
independence due to
Generous military and financial aid from
various European states, especially France.
The collapse of the English colonial system.
Apathy of the English military.
Flaws in the English mercantile system.
B and C.
Possible Test Question
A key conduit of “enlightened” American political
and moral ideas back to Europe was formed by
Returning British prisoners of war.
The hundreds of literate and influential French army
and navy officers who had fought on the American side
during the Revolutionary War.
European nobles returning from expeditions to the new
American frontier.
Missionary priests returning from evangelical
campaigns deep in the U.S. back country.
Official proclamations sent to the governments of
Europe by George Washington and other Americans.
Background to the French Rev
Social Structure of the Old Regime
• First and Second Estates dominated society
 First Estate = clergy (130,000)
 Owned 10% of land
 Exempt from France’s chief tax
 Second Estate = nobility (350,000)
 Owned 25-30% of the land
 Exempt from taille or tax
French economy was growing in the 18th century, but
money was not distributed to equal segments of society.
The Third Estate
• Commoners
 Peasants = 75-80% of the population
 Peasants own 35-40% of the land
 Serfdom was over, but peasants still paid to use village
facilities such as flour mill, community oven,
 Paid taxes
• Skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and wage earners
• Bourgeoisie (middle class) (8% or 2.3 million)
 Own 20-25% of the land
 Merchants, industrialists, bankers, lawyers, doctors,
writers
 Similarities between wealthier bourgeoisie and nobility
Possible Test Question
By the eighteenth century, the French
bourgeoisie and nobility were
Growing further apart in social status.
Increasingly less distinguishable from each
other.
Rapidly losing social status to the third estate.
Openly hostile and frequently involved in street
battles.
Almost completely dominated by the clergy of
the First Estate.
The Three Estates
Other Problems Facing the
French Monarchy
Bad Harvests (1787 and 1788)
Food shortages & rising price of food (bread)
Poverty
One-third of the population was poor
Ideas of the Philosophes
Criticism of privileges of the clergy and nobility
Enlightenment writers (especially Rouseau) were influential
Failure to Reform
Obstruction of reform by the French Parlements
Financial Crisis (immediate cause of French Revolution)
Mounting debt
Calonne’s “assembly of notables” (1787) (nobles, prelates,
magistrates)
• Refused to cooperate with the king
Summoning of the Estates General (1789)
• Virtually consenting that public approval was necessary to raise taxes
Possible Test Question
The most immediate cause of the French
Revolution was
The government’s failure to resolve its debts and other
economic problems.
The blocking of attempted reforms by the French
Parlements.
The radical calls of the philosophes for reform.
Louis XVI’s rejection of the cahiers de doleances.
Violent uprisings by the common people who were
demanding political and economic equality.
From Estates-General to a
National Assembly
300 delegates each to the First and Second Estate
Approx. 90 of the nobles were liberal minded (Enlightenment)
600 delegates to the Third Estate
Strong legal and urban presence
Cahiers de doléances (statements of local grievances)
Advocated a regular constitutional government that would abolish
fiscal privileges of the church and nobility
Possible Test Question
In 1789, the Estates-General was
Louis XVI’s parliamentary body often consulted by the
king.
In unanimous agreement that only radical changes
could solve France’s problems.
Dominated by the first estate composed mostly of urban
lawyers.
Unanimously in agreement about the necessity of
immediately creating a “National Assembly.”
Divided over the issue of voting by “orders” or by
“head.”
Possible Test Questions
The cahiers de doleances called for
Abolishing the fiscal privileges of the church
and nobility.
The abolition of the Estates-General.
The royal execution of all rebels in France.
Universal voting privileges for all French
people.
The beheading of Louis XVI.
Estates General meets May 5, 1789
Question of voting by order or head
• Third Estate wanted to vote by head (double the
representatives)
• Third Estate wanted to make a single chamber legislature
Abbé Sieyès “What is the Third Estate? Everything.
What has it been thus far in the political order?
Nothing. What does it demand? To become
something.”
• Sieyes desired the Third Estate to have a voice in the Estates
General
Third Estate
June 17, 1789 – Declares itself a National Assembly and
decides to draw up a constitution
Doors were locked to the meeting place so they met at an indoor
Tennis Court
Tennis Court Oath, June 20
• Would continue to meet until they had a French Constitution
Intervention of the Common People
Attack on the Bastille, July 14 (arsenal & prison)
Peasant rebellions, July 19-August 3
Collapse of Royal Authority – saved the National Assembly
Great Fear - fear of invasion by foreign troops aided by an
aristocratic plot
• Led to formation of more citizen militias
French Revolutionary slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!”
The Tennis Court Oath
Destruction of the Old Regime
Seigneurial (manorialism) rights abolished, August 4, 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
August 26
Listed basic liberties
Called for an end to aristocratic privileges
Gave women increased rights but not political rights
Drew from the American Declaration of Independence
Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the
Female Citizen, 1791
• Wanted equal rights for women in politics
• Was ignored by the men
The Women’s March to Versailles
October 5, 1789
Oct. 6, 1789 Return of the king to Paris
Possible Test Question
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
the Citizen
Was drawn up by the monarchy to limit
freedoms.
Was rejected by those influenced by the
Enlightenment.
Owed much to the ideas of the American
Declaration of Independence.
Allowed for aristocratic privileges to endure in
France.
Was an anti-Lockean document.
Possible Test Question
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the
Female Citizen
Became law by popular vote of the National Assembly.
Was ignored entirely by the males in the National
Assembly who did little to improve the lot of women in
French society.
Caused massive riots in its defense by ordinary men
and women, especially in cities.
Was fully accepted by the crown and its ministers and
then became enforceable law.
Was harshly criticized by Mary Wollstonecraft as not
being sufficiently revolutionary.
Accomplishments of the National
Assembly
Issue the Declaration of the Rights of Man
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Reform of French voting procedures
Abolishment of divine right monarchy
Destruction of the Old Regime (cont)
The Catholic Church
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, July, 1790
• Clergy were to take an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution
• 54% did, creating a religious opposition to the revolution
A New Constitution
Establishment of a constitutional monarchy with real power residing in the
Legislative Assembly
Administrative restructuring
Opposition from Within
Growth of opposition to new order
• Clergy
• Peasants
• Radical political clubs
 Jacobins
Continuing financial pressure
Composition of Legislative Assembly
• Clerics and nobles were gone
• Most members were land owning men and lawyers
Possible Test Question
What type of government was established in
France by 1791?
Dictatorship
Republic
Democracy
Constitutional monarchy
socialist
Opposition from Abroad
Declaration of Pillnitz (1791)
• Austria & Prussia wanted other European nations to
help strengthen Louis XVI’s hold on the monarchy
Declaration of war on Austria, April 20, 1792
• Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria
Early course of the war
• France lost many early battles in the war
• The tide of the war will change with the rise of
nationalism and a young general named Napoleon
The Radical Revolution
National Convention, September 1792
Appointed Georges Danton as minister of justice
Universal male suffrage
Abolition of the monarchy, September 21
Sans-culottes sought revenge on those who had aided the king
Sans-culottes – ordinary patriots without fine clothes (without pants)
Domestic Crisis
Factions of the Jacobins
• Girondins (provinces)
• The Mountain (city of Paris)
Execution of Louis XVI, January 21, 1793
The Commune represented the city’s artisans and shopkeepers
• Stormed the national convention & executed leading Girondins
Counterrevolution
• Peasants of Vendee repudiated the authority of the convention
• The Vendean Rebellion favored the King & the clergy
• Vendee – peasants who revolted against the military draft
Foreign Crisis
Foreign Crisis
Informal coalition of Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, & the Dutch
Republic were against France
Committee of Public Safety
• Given power to curb anarchy & counterrevolution at home
• Led by Danton and Robespierre
Military losses Mounted
A Nation in Arms
Universal mobilization of the nation
Rise of Nationalism
Raised the largest army in European history
The main accomplishment of the National Convention was preserving the
Revolution from being destroyed by foreign enemies
Citizens Enlisting in the New French
Army
Women Patriots
Map 19.2:
The French
Conquests
during the
Revolutionary
Wars
The Reign of Terror & Its
Aftermath
Committee of Public Safety and Reign of Terror
July 1793-July 1794
Vendée – areas of rebellion had the highest death rate
Terror demonstrated no class prejudice
• Majority of the victims were from the peasant and laboring classes
• Went after Royalists, Girondins, Vendee
“Republic of Virtue”
Price controls
• Used goods requisitioned from the country for the cities
Women
• Although women contributed to the revolution, they were still limited
politically
Possible Test Question
During the Reign of Terror, the majority of
the victims were
Nobles.
Clergy.
Middle class.
Peasant and laboring classes.
The bourgeoisie.
Dechristianization and a New Calendar
New calendar
•
•
•
•
Word saint was removed from streets
Renamed months & Days (10 Day week)
Removed Christian holidays
Dechristianization failed because France was still a Catholic country
 Created more enemies than friends
Equality and Slavery
Revolt in Saint Dominigue (Haiti)
• Slave revolt was put down but started up again forming the first
independent state in Latin America – Haiti
• Inspired by the ideals of the Revolution
Decline of the Committee of Public Safety
Execution of Maximilien Robespierre, July 28, 1794
• Opposition grew out of fear that they were not safe while Robespierre
was free to act
• His death brought an end to the radical stage of the French Revolution
Possible Test Question
In regard to religion, the National
Convention
Took measures to strengthen the Roman
Catholic Church.
Issued an edict allowing for total religious
freedom.
Took measures to dechristianize the republic.
Made the republic completely atheistic.
Expelled the Jews from France.
Revolt in Saint Dominique (Haiti)
Reaction and the Directory
Thermidorian Reaction and the Directory
Curtails much of the Terror’s policies
Shut down the Jacobin club and limits the power of the Committee
of Public Safety
Conservative turn of the Revolution
Churches reopened
Laissez-faire policies adopted
Constitution of 1795
Council of Elders (upper house) elects 5 members to act as
executive authority or Directory
Army was used to disperse an insurrection
• Showed that the Directory needed to rely on the military for survival
Age of Napoleon
Rise of Napoleon
Born in Corsica, 1769
Commissioned a lieutenant, 1785
Promoted to brigadier general, 1794
Saved the National Convention from a Parisian mob,
1795
Victory in Italy, 1797
Defeat in Egypt, 1799
Coup d’etat, 1799 (military takeover of government)
Rise of Napoleon
Born as both a child of Enlightenment thought and
of the French Revolution
Initially disliked by fellow officers and soldiers
because he was short and had an Italian accent
Well read in Enlightenment thought and military
history
Married Josephine, the wife of a guillotined
general
Rose quickly in the military ranks by defeating the
armies of France’s enemies
The Republic and the Empire
Republic of France proclaimed, 1799
First Consul – controlled the executive branch
First Consul for life, 1802
Crowned Emperor Napoleon I, 1804
Domestic Policies of Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon and the Catholic Church
•
•
•
•
Concordat of 1801 ended tension with the church
Stabilized Napoleon’s regime
Church land was not returned
Catholicism was not reinstated as the state religion
Possible Test Question
The Concordat
Allowed for reforms in the French military.
Reestablished the Catholic Church and gave the
pope limited authority in France.
Was part of Napoleon’s Civil Code.
Reformed the French civil service.
Established an absolute separation of church
and state in France.
A New Code of Laws
• Code Napoleon (Civil Code)







Equality of all citizens before the law
Right of individuals to choose their professions
Religious toleration
Abolition of serfdom and feudalism
Property rights protected
Outlawed trade unions
Restored fathers control over their families
 Divorce was more difficult to obtain
 Husbands controlled property rights
• Civil Code reaffirmed the ideals of the Revolution
while creating a uniform legal system
The French Bureaucracy
• Centralization of administration
 Prefects appointed by Napoleon supervised local
government
 Taxes were collected by professional collectors
 Tax collection became systematic & efficient
 Everyone paid taxes
 Balanced budget in 1802
• Appointed people in civil or military office based on
demonstrated ability
 Napoleon created nobles from military & civil officers
 22% of Napoleon’s aristocracy came from the nobility of
the old regime & 60% were of Bourgeois origin
Growing despotism (Benevolent Despotism)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He destroyed & preserved aspects of the Revolution
Opened up careers based on talent
Preserved equality
Created a new aristocracy
Strong protection to property rights
Use of conscription for the military
Suspended freedom of press
 Shut down 60 of 73 newspapers
 All manuscripts must be approved by the government
before being published
 Government police opened mail
 Exiled writer Germaine de Stael for her criticism of his
despotic rule
The Coronation of Napoleon
Napoleon’s Empire and the
European Response
Peace of Amiens, 1802 (temporary peace)
Renewal of war, 1803
Military victories, 1805-1807
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
Composed of 3 different parts and united under
Napoleon (French Empire, dependent states, allied
states)
Failure of the Grand Empire
• Problems: Great Britain and Nationalism
 Survival of Britain
 Seapower
 Continental System, 1806-1807 – block British good from
Europe
 Nationalism – spread nationalism to conquered territory,
resulting in uprisings
Possible Test Question
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
Was composed of three different parts but united under
the rule of Napoleon.
Revived the power of the nobility and clergy in all its
states.
Included all of Europe with the defeat of Britain in
1805.
Had no long-standing impact on the conquered
countries.
Was abolished by the Directory in 1799.
Francisco Goya,
The Third of May 1808
Map 19.3: Napoleon’s Grand Empire
The Fall of Napoleon
Invasion of Russia, 1812
Invaded over their refusal to follow the Continental System
600,000 soldiers attacked, 40,000 made it out alive
Defeat of Napoleon, April 1814
Exiled to island of Elba
Island off the coast of Italy
Escape from Elba, 1815
Raised an army
Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815
Exiled to St. Helena
Small island in the South Atlantic (between South America and
Africa)
Napoleon died 6 years later
Possible Test Question
Napoleon met his final defeat at the Battle
of
Leipzig.
Borodino.
Trafalgar.
Austerlitz.
Waterloo.