Download The French Revolution

Chapter 19
A Revolution in Politics:
The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon
North America, 1700-1803
1. The French had successfully expanded beyond their struggling colony of New France due to the efforts of the coureurs de bois (independent
traders) who explored west to present-day North Dakota and Colorado. Notable were the activities of fur trader Louis Jolliet and the Jesuit
missionary Jacques Marquette who traveled the Upper Mississippi and journeyed south to where the Mississippi joins the Arkansas River.
Later, the Sieur de La Salle would travel the entire Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico (1682) thereby establishing the French claim to the
Mississippi basin. This claim was solidified in 1718 with the establishment of New Orleans.
2. In the Peace of Utrecht (1713) that ended the War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War in the North American colonies), the French
recognized the British title to Hudson’s Bay, Newfoundland, Acadia (Nova Scotia), and St. Christopher.
3. Encroachments by other Europeans into lands considered to be Spanish forced Spain to show greater concern about the border region of
Texas. For the most part, Spain ignored Texas while it concentrated on New Mexico. However, when reports arrived in 1689 that the French had
established a colony on the Texas coast (directed by La Salle), Spain ordered expedition. The discovery of the abandoned site confirmed the
Spanish government's worst fears. British activity opposite Florida caused further anxiety. Clearly, Spanish lands were imperiled and they had to
be defended.
4. The peace of 1763 ending the Seven Years' War made Britain a clear winner in North America. From the French it gained all of France's
possessions east of the Mississippi River and from the Spanish it acquired Florida in return for recognizing Spain's acquisition of French claims
west of the Mississippi River.
5. Russia countered Spanish claims in the northwest when it pushed across Siberia into Alaska. Eventually the Russians reached as far south as
northern California in their quest for food and supplies to support their presence in Alaska.
6. The revolutionary victory of the Americans in 1783 brought them the lands east of the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The
American claim to this territory was enhanced by the victories of George Rogers Clark in the Ohio River Valley. By a separate treaty in 1783,
Spain received Florida from the British.
7. Under pressure from Napoleon, Spain ceded back to France in 1800 the vast Louisiana territory. With Napoleon needing cash to resume his
war in Europe, France sold Louisiana in 1803 to the Americans for $15 million. Explorations by Meriweather Lewis and William Clark in 18041805 established the American claim to the northwestern territory.
Questions:
1. How were the French able to make such vast claims on the North American continent?
2. Why did the Spanish begin to show more interest in Texas?
North America, 1700-1803
 Beginnings of the Revolutionary Age: American Revolution
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Reorganization, Resistance, and Rebellion
 Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War
 50% of adult male population can vote
 Indirect political representation in England
 “No taxation without representation”
 Boston Tea Party
War for Independence
 Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
 Declaration of Independence, 1776
 Battle of Saratoga, 1777
 Commitment of European aid
 Battle of Yorktown, 1781
 Peace of Paris, 1783
Toward a New Nation
 Articles of Confederation, 1781-1789
 Constitution, 1789
 Bill of Rights, 1791
 Impact of the American Revolution on Europe
 Concept of freedom
 Concept of rights
 Background to the French Revolution
 Social Structure
 First and Second Estates
 First Estate = clergy (130,000)
 Second Estate = nobility (350,000)
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 Third Estate
 Commoners
 Peasants = 75-80% of the population
 Peasants own 35-40% of the land
 Skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and wage earners
 Bourgeoisie (middle class)
 Own 20-25% of the land
 Middle class without power
Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788
 One-third of the population is poor
 Privileges of the clergy and nobility
 Financial crisis
 Summoning the Estates General
 The French Revolution
 Estates General to a National Assembly
 300 delegates each to the First and Second Estate
 600 delegates to the Third Estate
 Strong legal and urban presence
 Cahiers de doléances
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 Estates General meets May 5, 1789
 Question of voting by order or head
 Abbé Sieyès “What is the Third Estate?”
 National Assembly constituted, June 17
 Tennis Court Oath, June 20
 Urban and rural uprisings
 Attack on the Bastille, July 14
 Peasant rebellions, July 19-August 3
 Great Fear
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Destruction of the Old Regime
 Seigneurial rights abolished, August 4, 1789
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, August 26
 Does this include women?
 Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of
Woman and the Female Citizen, 1791
 The King and the Church
 Women’s March to Versailles, October 5, 1789
 Civil Constitution of the Clergy, July, 1790
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 Constitution of 1791
 Power in the Legislative Assembly
 Self-denying ordinance
 Flight of the king, June 1791
 Opposition from abroad
 Declaration of war on Austria, April 20, 1792
Radical Revolution
 Paris Commune
 Georges Danton (1759-1794)
French Conquests During the Revolutionary Wars
1. France’s war against Europe began on April 20, 1792, when war was declared on Austria. By 1793 an informal coalition against France
consisted of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Russia. The French army was soon on the defensive,
being left by July 1793 with only the area around Paris and the eastern frontier to defend. However, under the guidance of the Committee of
Public Safety, the army was rebuilt to a force of 1,169,000 men, making it the largest in Europe. In 1794 the allies were pushed across the Rhine
and the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) was conquered. This was followed in early 1795 by the fall of Holland and the creation of the Batavian
Republic under French tutelage.
2. The French army of Napoleon in 1797 crushed the Austrians in Lombardy. By the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Austrian Netherlands was
ceded to France, French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine was confirmed, and recognition was given to the newly formed Ligurian
Republic centered on the city of Genoa and the Cisalpine Republic around Milan. In return, Austria had a free hand to absorb Venice into its
empire.
3. After the death of a French general at the hands of a Roman mob, Rome was invaded in 1797. Following this, the Roman Republic under
French rule was created. When Pope Pius VI protested he was made a French prisoner and died while in custody. The situation offered
Ferdinand IV of Naples an opportunity to defend the Church while expropriating papal territory. His armies easily subdued Rome in November
1798 but the following month French troops descended from the north to defeat the Neapolitan army. Chased back to Naples, the army could not
stop the French seizure of the city. The French proclaimed the Parthenopean Republic in January 1799. Under attack from the British navy,
the republic lasted only five months and Ferdinand was returned to his throne.
4. In April of 1798 a French army invaded Switzerland and set up the Helvetic Republic under the protection of France.
5. The Treaty of Luneville in 1801 between France and Austria confirmed the provisions of Campo Formio and legitimized the Batavian,
Helvetic, Cisalpine, and Ligurian Republics. Also reconfirmed as French territory was the left bank of the Rhine from the North Sea to
Switzerland. Finally, Austria agreed to the restructuring of the map of Germany into the French dominated Confederation of the Rhine.
Questions:
1. How did the boundaries of France change between 1792 and 1801?
2. How did France restructure the lands that were conquered?
3. What were the social and economic consequences of France controlling such a large part of Europe?
The French Conquests during the Revolutionary Wars
 National Convention, September 1792
 Universal male suffrage
 Abolish the monarchy, September 21
 Factions
 Girondins
 The Mountain
 Execution of Louis XVI, January 21, 1793
 Counterrevolution
 Military losses
 Mobilization of the nation
 Committee of Public Safety and Reign of Terror, July
1793-July 1794

“Republic of Virtue”
 Price controls
 Women
 Dechristianization
 New calendar
 Execution of Maximilien Robespierre, July 28, 1794
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
1. A combined French and Spanish fleet being moved to Holland in preparation for an invasion of Britain was destroyed in October 1805 at
Trafalgar off the coast of Spain by a British fleet.
2. On land, the forces of Napoleon were repeatedly victorious. At Ulm in October 1805 a large Austrian army was defeated and soon thereafter
Vienna was occupied. In December 1805 Napoleon defeated the combined forces of Austria and Prussia at Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg
resulted in Austria withdrawing from Italy and Napoleon being recognized as the king of Italy. The following year the Prussian army was defeated at
Jena and Auerstadt. Berlin was soon thereafter occupied. In 1807, Napoleon crushed the Russians at Friedland and seized East Prussia.
3. By the Treaty of Tilset (1807), Russia was permitted to take Finland from Sweden (an enemy of France) and France was free to take Portugal (a
British outpost). Out of Prussia's territory was carved the Grand Duchy of Warsaw under French protection. For Russia, there was concern when
in 1809 the territory, on its doorstep, was enlarged.
4. In November 1806 Napoleon issued the Berlin Decrees that prohibited his allies from trading with Britain. The Milan Decree the following year
sought to stop even neutral nations from trading with Britain. This Continental System hurt the European economy more than Britain as Napoleon
failed to comprehend how much the two economies were intertwined. Moreover, Britain declared that any port refusing to receive its goods would
be blockaded. Significantly, Britain had the navy to back up the promise while the French after Trafalgar had virtually no navy to stop them.
5. At the end of 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System prompting Napoleon to act. By June of 1812 Napoleon had amassed an army
of over 600,000 men, though by the time he reached Russia it was down to 422,000. Unwilling to do battle, the Russians retreated, embracing a
scorched earth policy. Only at Borodino, outside Moscow, did they give battle. The Russians inflicted 30,000 casualties on the French but suffering
twice as many for themselves. The French entered Moscow in September 1812 and promptly the city was set afire by the Muscovites. With winter
beginning to set in, Napoleon ordered withdrawal. Begun in October, the retreat turned into a disaster as the ravages of winter and attacking
Russians depleted the withdrawing troops. Only about 10,000 of the original number made it to German soil.
6. With a reconstituted army, Napoleon crushed Austria, Prussia, and Russia at Dresden in 1813 but a few months later he was decisively defeated
at Leipzig. An allied army followed Napoleon to Paris. He abdicated in March 1814. Exiled to Elba off the coast of Italy, Napoleon escaped in
March 1815 and fought one last battle at Waterloo where he was again decisively defeated on June 18, 1815.
Questions:
1. Why was Napoleon such a successful general?
2. Why was the Russian campaign the beginning of the end for Napoleon?
3. Why was Napoleon allowed to go into exile rather than be executed by the victorious allies?
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
 Thermidorian Reaction and the Directory
 Curtails much of the Terror’s policies
 Conservative turn of the Revolution
 Constitution of 1795
 Five person Directory
 Period of stagnation
 Age of Napoleon
 Rise of Napoleon
 Born in Corsica, 1769
 Commissioned a lieutenant, 1785
 Promoted to brigadier general, 1794
 Victory in Italy, 1797
 Defeat in Egypt, 1799
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 Republic of France proclaimed, 1799
 First Consul
 First Consul for life, 1802
 Crowned Emperor Napoleon I, 1804
Domestic Policies of Emperor Napoleon
 Concordat of 1801
 Code Napoleon (Civil Code)
 Centralization of administration
Napoleon’s Empire and the European Response
 Peace of Amiens, 1802
 Renewal of war, 1803
 Military victories, 1805-1807
 Grand Empire, destruction of the old order
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Failure of the Grand Empire
 Survival of Britain
 Seapower
 Continental System, 1806-1807
 Nationalism
 Invasion of Russia, 1812
 Defeat of Napoleon, April 1814
Exiled to Elba
 Escape, 1815
 Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815
 Exile to St. Helena