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The French Revolution Begins
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French Revolution
The Revolution Brings Reform and Terror9/22/2011 6:36:00 AM
The Great Fear had brought fear to: peasants, nobles, and the Church.
- Bands of angry peasants struck out against members of the upper
classes, attacking and destroying manor houses and feudal records.
The Assembly Reforms France
August 4, 1789: noblemen made grand speeches in the National Assembly
declaring their love of equality and liberty
- They were motivated by fear more than idealism
- They joined other members of the National Assembly to sweep away
feudal privileges of the First and Second Estates
- Commoners now became equal to nobles and clergy
- The Old Regime was dead
Three weeks later the National Assembly adopted a statement of
revolutionary ideals, the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen:
- It stated that men are born and remain free and equal in rights
- Rights included: liberty, property, security, and resistance to
oppression
- It also guaranteed rights of citizens of equal justice, freedom of
speech, and freedom of religion
Revolutionary leaders adopted the expression: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”
as their slogan.
- But those rights did not apply to everyone
- Olympe de Gouges, published a declaration of the rights of women
- her ideas were rejected
- 1793: she was declared an enemy of the Revolution; she was
executed
1790: Many of the National Assembly’s early reforms focused on the Church
- The Assembly took over Church lands to use the sale of lands to pay
off the French debt
- The Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
- secularized the Church; put it under the control of the state
- declared Church officials and priests were to be elected and paid
as state officials
- monasteries and convents were closed
- priests had to swear oath of allegiance to the new Church
- those priests who didn’t swear the oath were known as
the refractory clergy (many practiced underground)
- many peasants who were conservative in their religion rejected
the changes
- When the government punished clergy who refused to support the
Civil Constitution, a huge gulf opened up between the revolutionaries
in Paris and the peasantry in the provinces
- they opposed the Assembly’s reforms
Women March on Versailles
October 5, 1789 – 6,000 women marched 13 miles from Paris to Versailles
and demanded to see the king
- Much of their anger was directed at Marie Antoinette:
- Seen as living a life of pleasure and extravagance
- She was compassionate toward the poor, but her lifestyle
negated it
- She was seen as being anti-reform and bored with the French
court
- She retreated to Petit Trianon, a small chateau on the
grounds at Versailles
- Women refused to leave until the king met their demands – to return
to Paris
- The king unhappily agreed
- The royal family moved into the Tuileries Palace in Paris where Louis
and his family were virtual prisoners for three years
Escape to Varennes
Louis pondered his fate as a monarch.
- His advisers warned that he and his family were in danger
- Many supporters left France because they thought it was unsafe, they
were known as the émigrés
- they went to foreign lands to wait out the Revolution and seek
help
June 1791 – The royal family disguised themselves and tried to escape
toward Vienna – called the Flight to Varennes
- They dressed as commoners
- They were recognized in a small town toward the border by a postal
agent
- They were returned to Paris under guard
This event was a crucial mistake for Louis. He now was seen as a traitor to
France. The fact that he was trying to flee his country to Austria caused
people to believe that he might have been trying to bring an outside army
into France to overturn the Revolution.
The Constitution of 1791
For two years the National Assembly argued over a constitution but in
September of 1791 it was completed and Louis reluctantly approved it.
It created a limited, constitutional monarchy which stripped the king of much
authority
It created a new Legislative Assembly which could create laws and reject
declarations of war; the king was still allowed to enforce the laws.
Factions Split France
Food shortages and government debt remained. Because there were
differing opinions on how to address these problems, three different groups
emerged, each sitting in different areas of the hall:
1) Radicals – sat on the left in the hall
- opposed idea of monarchy
- wanted sweeping changes to how government was run
2) Moderates – sat in the center
- wanted some changes in government
3) Conservatives – sat on the right in the hall
- upheld idea of limited monarchy
- wanted few changes
There were factions outside the Assembly who wanted to influence the
direction of France:
1) Emigres
- nobles and others who fled France
- hoped to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime
2) Sans-culottes
- Parisian workers and small shopkeepers
- wanted Revolution to bring more changes
War and Execution
Monarchs around Europe watched changes taking place in France
- They feared similar revolts at home
- Some radicals wanted to spread revolutionary ideas outside of France
Austria and Prussia issued the Declaration of Pilnitz which urged France to
restore Louis as an absolute monarch.
April 1792: The Legislative Assembly responded by declaring war.
- The war began badly for France
- By summer of 1792, Prussian forces were advancing on Paris
- Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if
revolutionaries harmed the royal family – this was known as the
Brunswick Manifesto
August 10, 1792 – Parisians invaded the Tuileries
- Massacred royal guards
- Imprisoned Louis, Marie, and their children
French troops were sent to reinforce the French army in the field.
- Rumors spread that supporters of the king, held in the Paris prisons,
were going to seize control of the city
September Massacres
Citizens took the law into their own hands. For several days in early
September they raided the prisons and murdered over 1,000 prisoner,
mostly nobles, priests, and royalist sympathizers
The Legislative Assembly, under pressure from the radicals, set aside the
Constitution of 1791.
- They deposed the king
- They dissolved the Assembly
- They called for the election of a new legislature
The National Convention took office on September 21, 1792
- They abolished the monarchy
- They declared France a republic
- Adult male citizens were granted the right to vote and hold office
(no women)
The Jacobins Take Control
The Jacobins, a radical political organization, were the ones most involved in
the institution of radical changes.
- One prominent member was Jean-Paul Marat
- He edited a newspaper called L’Amie du Peuple (Friend of the
People)
- He used fiery editorials which called for death of those who
continued to support the king
- Another prominent Jacobin was Georges Danton
- He was one of their most passionate speakers
- He was devoted to rights of the poor
The National Convention reduced Louis XVIs role from that of a king to that
of a common citizen and prisoner.
Guided by the radical Jacobins, the National Convention tried Louis for
treason.
- They found him guilty and by a close vote, sentenced him to death.
- January 21, 1793: Citizen Capet (Louis XVI) was beheaded by a
machine called the guillotine
The National Convention was still contending with the war with Austria and
Prussia.
- As the Convention took office, the French army won a stunning victory
against the Austrians and Prussians at the Battle of Valmy
But early in 1793, Britain, Holland, and Spain joined Prussia and Austria
against France
- The French suffered a string of defeats
- To reinforce the army, Jacobin leaders in the Convention took an
extreme step by issuing the levee en masse
- they drafted 300,000 French citizens age 18-40
- the army grew to 800,000 by 1794
The Terror Grips France
Foreign armies were not the only enemies of the French republic.
- The Jacobins had thousands of enemies within France itself:
- peasants, horrified by the king’s execution
- priests, who would not accept government control of the Church
- rival leaders, who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces
How to contain and control these enemies became a central issue.
Robespierre Assumes Control
In early months of 1793, one Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, slowly
gained power.
- He and his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping
out every trace of France’s past
- They were firm believers in reason
- They changed the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30
days and renaming each month
- The calendar had no Sundays because the radicals considered
religion old-fashioned and dangerous
- They closed all churches in Paris and cities and towns all over France
soon did the same
In July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety.
- The Committee of Public Safety was an emergency government
established to guide the Revolution against its enemies
- Robespierre governed as a virtual dictator
- The period of his rule is known as the Reign of Terror
- Perceived enemies of the Revolution were often tried in the morning
and guillotined in the afternoon
- Robespierre justified his use of terror by suggesting that it enabled
French citizens to remain true to the ideals of the Revolution.
“The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people
by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror.
If the basis of popular government in time of revolution is
both virtue and terror; virtue without which terror is
murderous, terror without virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing
else than swift, severe, indomitable justice; it flows, then, from
virtue.”
The enemies of the revolution who troubled Robespierre the most were
fellow radicals who challenged his leadership.
- In 1793 and 1794, many of those who had led the Revolution
received death sentences – their only crime was that they were
considered less radical than Robespierre
- By early 1794, even Georges Danton found himself in danger
- Danton’s friends in the National Convention, afraid to defend
him, joined in condemning him
- On the scaffold, he told the executioner, “Don’t forget to show
my head to the people. It’s well worth seeing.”
The Terror claimed not only the famous, such as Danton and Marie
Antoinette, but thousands of unknown people who were sent to their deaths,
often on the flimsiest of charges.
- One such example was a 18 year old youth who was guillotined for
cutting down a tree that had been planted as a symbol of liberty.
The terror claimed as many as 40,000 lives. About 85% were peasants or
members of the urban poor or middle class – for whose benefit the
Revolution had been launched.
End of the Terror
In July 1794, fearing for their own safety, some members of the National
Convention turned on Robespierre.
- They demanded his arrest and execution
- The Reign of Terror, the radical phase of the Revolution, ended on
July 28, 1794 with the execution of Robespierre
The Thermidorian Reaction
French public opinion sifted dramatically after Robespierre’s death.
- People of all classes had grown weary of the Terror
- They were also tired of skyrocketing bread prices
In 1795, moderate leaders in the National Convention drafted a new plan of
government, the third since 1789 – the Directory.
- It placed power firmly in the hands of the upper middle class
- It called for a two-house legislature
- It had an executive body of 5 men, known as the Directory
- these five were moderates, not revolutionary idealists
- some of them were corrupt and made themselves rich at the
country’s expense
But the Directory gave France a period of order. They also found the right
general to command France’s armies, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon Forges an Empire
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Even though Napoleon was a short man (5’3”), he cast a long shadow over
the history of modern times.
- He would come to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest military
geniuses, along with Alexander the Great, Hannibal, and Julius Caesar.
- In only four years, from 1795 to 1799, Napoleon rose from a relatively
obscure position as an officer in the French army to become master of
France.
Napoleon Seizes Power
Napoleon was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica
- Sent to military school in France
- 1785: became a lieutenant in the artillery
- When revolution broke out, Napoleon joined the government forces
October 1795:
- Napoleon was ordered to defend the delegates of the National
Convention when royalist rebels marched on them.
- He and his army greeted the thousands of royalists with a
cannonade
- The attackers fled in panic and confusion
- Napoleon was in the right place at the right time and he became the
hero of the hour
- He was hailed throughout Paris as the savior of the French
Republic
1796: The Directory appointed Napoleon to lead an army against Austria
and Sardinia.
- He crossed the Alps and swept into Italy where he won a series of
remarkable victories.
He was then sent on an expedition to Egypt.
- It was an attempt to protect French trade interests and to disrupt
British trade with India.
- But Napoleon was no able to repeat the successes he had achieved in
-
Europe
His army was pinned down in Egypt
British admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon’s naval forces
Napoleon and his troops were cut off in Egypt and spent the time
mapping out the wonders of Egypt
Facing defeat, Napoleon left his army in Egypt and made his way back
to Paris to deflect any appearance of defeat.
Napoleon was able to keep his setback out of the newspapers and
remained a great hero in France.
By 1799, the Directory had lost control of the political situation and the
confidence of the French people.
On Napoleon’s return from Egypt, his friends urged him to seize political
power. One such person was Abbe Sieyes.
- Napoleon took action early in November 1799
- Troops under his command surrounded the national legislature and
drove out most of its members
- The lawmakers who remained then voted to dissolve the Directory
- In its place, they established a group of three consuls – one of whom
was Napoleon.
The Consulate became the new government of France.
- Napoleon quickly took the title of First Consul
- He assumed the powers of a dictator
- He had accomplished a coup d’etat – a sudden seizure of power
In 1799: Britain, Austria, and Russia joined forces to drive Napoleon from
power.
- Napoleon led France’s troops
- As a result of war and diplomacy – all three signed peace agreements
with France
- by 1802 – Europe was at peace for the first time in 10 years and
Napoleon was now focused on restoring order in France.
Napoleon Rules France
At first Napoleon pretended to be the constitutionally chosen leader of a free
republic.
- In 1800 a plebiscite vote was held to approve a new constitution.
- The people were desperate for strong leadership
- They voted in favor of the constitution
- Napoleon held all the power
Restoring Order at Home
Napoleon kept many of the changes that had come with the Revolution. He
supported laws that would strengthen the central government and achieve
some of the goals of the revolution.
His first task was to get the economy on a strong footing:
- He set up an efficient method of tax collection
- He established a national banking system
These actions provided tax money and promoted sound financial
management and better control of the economy.
He also took steps to end corruption and inefficiency in government:
- He dismissed corrupt officials
- He provided well trained officials
- He set up lycees, or government-run public schools
- they were open to male students of all backgrounds
- graduates were appointed to public office based on merit
Religion was the one area Napoleon disregarded changed introduced by the
Revolution.
- Both the clergy and many peasants wanted to restore the position of
the Catholic Church in France
- Napoleon signed a concordat (agreement) with Pope Pius VII
- it established a new relationship between Church and state
- the government recognized the influence of the Church but
rejected Church control in national affairs
- The Concordat gave Napoleon support of the organized Church as well
as the support of the majority of the French people.
The Napoleonic Code
This was the comprehensive set of laws created by Napoleon:
- This was a system of uniform laws
- They eliminated many injustices
- But the Napoleonic Code did limit individual liberty and promoted order
and authority over individual rights
- Freedom of speech and the press were limited under the Code
- The Code also restored slavery in the French colonies of the Caribbean
He believed that this was his greatest work.
In 1804, Napoleon decided that he wanted more power and took steps to
make himself emperor.
- the French people supported his vision by approving it with a plebiscite
vote
- December 2, 1804: the pope was to crown Napoleon in the Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris
-but- Napoleon took the crown from the pope as he began to put it on his
head and crowned himself - - this signaled that he was more powerful
than anyone, including the Church.
Napoleon Creates an Empire
Napoleon wanted control of Europe and to reassert French power in the
Americas.
- His Western Empire was to include: Louisiana, Florida, French Guiana,
and the French West Indies
- The key would be the sugar-producing colony of Saint Domingue
(Haiti) on the island of Hispaniola
- In 1789, when the ideas of the Revolution reached the planters there,
they demanded that the National Assembly give them the same
privileges as the people in France
- eventually the slaves demanded their rights too
- a civil war erupted
- enslaved Africans, under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture,
seized control of the colony
- In 1801, Napoleon decided to take back the colony and restore its
productive sugar industry – but the French forces were decimated by
disease and the rebels proved to be fierce fighters
After the loss in Saint Dominique, Napoleon decided to cut his losses in the
Americas
- He offered to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States
- In 1803, President Jefferson agreed to purchase it for $15 million
- Napoleon saw this as a benefit:
- He would gain money for his operations in Europe
- He would punish the British
Having abandoned his ambitions in the Americas, Napoleon turned his
attention to Europe.
- He had already annexed the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Italy to
France
- He set up a puppet government in Switzerland
But he wanted to expand further.
The British persuaded Russia, Austria, and Sweden to join them against
France.
- Napoleon met their challenge with boldness
- He crushed the coalition forces in stunning battles
- Commanders of the coalition could never predict Napoleon’s next move
as he was a brilliant strategist
- Battle of Austerlitz:
- 100,000 Austrians and Russians were defeated
- 20,000 taken prisoner, including 20 generals
- Austria, Prussia, and Russia had to sign peace treaties with France
Napoleon was able to build the largest European empire since the Romans.
France’s only remaining enemy was Britain.
In his battle for empire, Napoleon lost only one major battle – The Battle of
Trafalgar in 1805.
- This naval defeat was more important than all of Napoleon’s victories
on land
- The battle took place off the coast of Spain
- British commander, Horatio Nelson, split the larger French fleet,
capturing many ships
2 major results of the Battle of Trafalgar:
1) It ensured the supremacy of the British navy for the next 100 years
2) It forced Napoleon to give up his plans of invading Britain – he had to
look for another was to crush Britain
Napoleon’s extravagant efforts to crush Britain would lead to his own
demise.
Napoleon’s Empire
Napoleon’s victories during the first decade of the 1800s had given him the
mastery over most of Europe.
- By 1812, the only areas not under his control in Europe were:
- Britain
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Ottoman Empire
- In addition to lands in his Empire, Napoleon had control of numerous
independent countries:
- Spain
- Grand Duchy of Warsaw
- Germanic kingdoms in central Europe
Rulers of these countries were Napoleon’s puppets; some were
members of his own family
- The powerful countries of Russia, Prussia, and Austria were loosely
attached to Napoleon through alliances
- not totally under Napoleon’s control
- but easily manipulated by threats of military action
The French Empire was large but unstable and Napoleon could only maintain
it for five years – 1807-1812.
- It then fell apart, caused in part by Napoleon’s actions
Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
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Napoleon worried about what would happen to his empire after his death.
- He feared it would fall apart unless he had an heir and the right to
succeed him was unchallenged
- His wife, Josephine did not give him any children
- Napoleon divorced his wife and formed an alliance with the Austrian
royal family by marrying Marie Louis, grandniece of Marie Antoinette
- Marie Louise gave him a son, Napoleon II, in 1811
Napoleon’s Costly Mistakes
Napoleon’s own personality proved to be the greatest danger to the future of
his empire. His desire for power had raised him to great heights, and the
same love of power led him to his doom.
In Napoleon’s efforts to extend the French Empire and crush Great Britain,
Napoleon made three disastrous mistakes:
1) The Continental System
- November 1806: Napoleon set up a blockade to prevent all
trade and communication between Britain and other European
nations – The Continental System
- Goals of the Continental System:
1) Make continental Europe more self-sufficient
2) Destroy Britain’s commercial and industrial economy
- But Napoleon’s blockade was not nearly tight enough
1) Smugglers, aided by the British, were able to bring
cargo from Britain to Europe
2) Allies disregarded the blockade – even Napoleon’s family
defied the policy, including brother, Louis, king of
Holland
- While the blockade weakened British trade, it did not destroy it
- Britain responded with its own blockade – and because they
had a stronger navy, they were better able than the French to
make their blockade work
- to enforce the blockade, the British navy stopped neutral
ships bound for the continent and forced them to sail to a
British port to be searched and taxed
- American ships were among those stopped
- The U.S. Congress declared war on Britain in 1812
2) The Peninsular War
- In 1808, Napoleon sent an invasion force through Spain in an
effort to get Portugal to accept the Continental System
- The Spanish people protested this action
- In response, Napoleon removed the Spanish king and put is
brother, Joseph, on the throne
- this outraged the Spanish people and inflamed their
nationalistic feelings
- Spanish were devoutly Catholic, and they were worried
that Napoleon would attack the Church
- they had seen how the French Revolution had
weakened the Catholic Church in France and they
feared the same thing would happen to the Church
in Spain
- For 6 yrs. bands of Spanish peasant fighters, known as
guerillas, struck at French armies in Spain
- These were not something Napoleon had been used to
fighting, they worked in small groups, ambushed, and
then went into hiding
- The English sent troops to aid the Spanish guerillas
- Napoleon lost about 300,000 men during the Peninsular War
and this not only weakened the French Empire but Napoleon
had to keep forces in Spain which distracted them when they
made their way into Russia
- In Spain and elsewhere, nationalism was becoming a powerful
force against Napoleon
- People who had once welcomed the French as their
liberators now felt abused by a foreign conqueror
- Besides the Spanish, German and Italians and other
conquered peoples turned against the French
3) The Invasion of Russia (1812)
- Napoleon made the fateful decision to invade Russia for the
following reasons:
- Even though Alexander I had been Napoleon’s ally,
the Russian czar refused to stop selling grain to Britain
- The French and Russian rulers suspected each other of
having competing designs on Poland
- June 1812 – Napoleon and his Grand Army of more than
420,000 soldiers marched into Russia
- As Napoleon advanced, Alexander pulled back his troops,
refusing to be lured into an unequal battle
- On this retreat, the Russians practiced a scorched-earth
policy, burning grain fields and slaughtering livestock as
to leave nothing for the enemy to eat
- September 7, 1812 – the two armies finally clashed in the
Battle of Borodino
- After several hours of indecisive fighting, the Russians
fell back, allowing Napoleon to move on Moscow
- When Napoleon entered Moscow seven days later, the city was
in flames – Alexander destroyed it rather than surrendering the
city to Napoleon
- Napoleon stayed in the ruined city until the middle of October
at which point he had a decision to make – should he continue
to follow the Russians or should he make his way back to
France?
- Napoleon decided to turn back to France but the winter began
early in Russia that year
- The snows and temperature fell in early November and
Russian raiders mercilessly attacked Napoleon’s ragged,
retreating army
- Many French soldiers were killed in these clashes or died
from their wounds; still more died from exhaustion,
hunger, and the cold
- Finally by mid-December, the last of the French troops
made their way out of France; the retreat from Moscow
had devastated the Grand Army – only 10,000 soldiers
survived
Napoleon’s Downfall
Napoleon’s enemies were quick to take advantage of his weakness.
- Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Sweden joined forces against him
- Austria also declared war on Napoleon, despite his marriage to Marie
Louise
- All of the major powers of Europe were now at war with France
In only a few months, Napoleon was able to raise another army but most of
his troops were untrained and ill prepared for battle
In October 1813 - He faced the allied armies of the European powers outside
the German city of Leipzig
- The allied forces easily defeated his inexperienced army
- By January of 1814, the allied armies were pushing toward Paris
- March of 1814 – Frederick William III of Prussia and Czar Alexander I
of Russia led their troops in a triumphant parade through the French
capital
- Napoleon wanted to fight on, but his generals refused
April 1814 – Napoleon accepted the terms of surrender and gave up his
throne
- He received a small pension
- He was exiled to Elba, a tiny island off the Italian coast
The Hundred Days
- Louis XVI’s brother assumed the throne as Louis XVIII (the king’s son
Louis XVII, had died in prison in 1795) – but he quickly became
unpopular among the peasants
- but he quickly became unpopular among the peasants
- they suspected him of wanting to undo the Revolution’s land
reforms
- New of Louis’s troubles was all the incentive Napoleon needed to try
and regain power
- he escaped from Elba and landed in France on March 1, 1815
-
- he was welcomed on his march to Paris
Within days of his return, Napoleon was made emperor of France
In response, the European allies quickly marshaled their armies
The British army, led by the Duke of Wellington, prepared for battle
near the village of Waterloo in Belgium
June 18, 1815 – Napoleon attacked
- the British defended its ground all day
- Prussian forces arrived late in the afternoon and the two attacked
- two days later the French troops gave way and the British and
Prussian forces chased them from the field
- The defeat ended Napoleon’s last bid for power, called the Hundred
Days
- Taking no chances this time, the British shipped Napoleon to
St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic
- he lived in lonely exile there for six years writing memoirs
- he died in 1821 of a stomach ailment, perhaps cancer
Without doubt, Napoleon was a military genius and a brilliant administrator.
Yet all of his victories and other achievements must be measured against the
millions of lives that were lost in his wars.
Napoleon’s defeat opened the door for the freed European countries to
establish a new order.
The Congress of Vienna
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European heads of government were looking to establish long-lasting peace
and stability on the continent after the defeat of Napoleon.
- They had a goal of the new European order – one of collective security
and stability for the entire continent
- A series of meetings in Vienna, known as the Congress of Vienna, were
called to set up policies to achieve this goal.
- The Congress was originally scheduled to last for four weeks,
instead it went on for eight months.
Metternich’s Plan for Europe
Most of the decisions made in Vienna during the winter of 1814-1815 were
made in secret among representatives of the five “great powers” – Russia,
Prussia, Austria, Britain, and France.
By far the most influential of the representatives was the foreign minister of
Austria, Prince Klemens von Metternich.
- Metternich distrusted the democratic ideals of the French Revolution
- Like most other European aristocrats, he felt that Napoleon’s behavior
had been a natural outcome of experiments with democracy
- Metternich wanted to keep thing as they were and remarked:
“ The first and greatest concern for the immense majority
of every nation is the stability of laws – never their
change.”
Metternich’s Three Goals for the Congress of Vienna:
1) The Containment of France
The Congress took the following steps to make the weak countries
around France stronger:
a) The former Austrian Netherlands and Dutch Republic were
united to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands
b) A group of 39 German states were loosely joined as the
newly created German Confederation, dominated by Austria
c) Switzerland was recognized as an independent nation
d) The Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy was strengthened by the
addition of Genoa
These changes enabled the countries of Europe to contain France and
prevent it from overpowering weaker nations.
2) Balance of Power
The leaders of Europe wanted to weaken France, but they did not
want to leave it powerless – they didn’t want France to seek revenge.
- If they broke up France, then another country might become so
strong that it would threaten them all.
- So the victorious powers did not exact a great price from the
defeated nation.
- As a result, France remained a major but diminished European
power and no country in Europe could easily overpower another.
3) Legitimacy
The great powers affirmed the principle of legitimacy – agreeing that
as many as possible of the rulers whom Napoleon had driven from
their thrones be restored to power.
- The ruling families of France, Spain, and several states in Italy
and central Europe regained their thrones.
The participants at the Congress of Vienna believed that the return of
the former monarchs would stabilize political relations among the
nations.
The Congress of Vienna was a political triumph in many ways:
- For the first time, the nations of an entire continent had cooperated to
control political affairs.
- They settlements they agreed upon were fair enough that no country
was left bearing a grudge.
- The Congress, therefore, did not leave the seeds of future wars – this
made it more successful than many other peace meetings in history.
- By agreeing to come to one another’s aid on case of threats to peace,
the European nations had temporarily ensured that there would be a
balance of power on the continent.
- The Congress of Vienna created a time of peace in Europe – a lasting
peace – none of the five great powers waged war on one another for
nearly 40 years, when Britain and France fought Russia in the Crimean
War.
Political Changes Beyond Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a victory for conservatives.
- Kings and princes resumed power in country after country, in keeping
with Metternich’s goals.
But there were important differences from one country to another.
- Britain and France now had constitutional monarchies.
- But generally speaking, the governments in Eastern and Central
Europe were more conservative
- The rulers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria were absolute
monarchs.
Conservative Europe
The rulers of Europe were very nervous about the legacy of the French
Revolution.
- They worried that the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity might
encourage revolutions elsewhere.
Late in 1815, Czar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I of Austria, and King
Frederick William III of Prussia signed an agreement called the Holy Alliance.
- Proposed by Alexander I
- In it they pledged to base their relations with other nations on
Christian principles in order to combat the forces of revolution.
Also, a series of alliances devised by Metternich, called the Concert of
Europe, ensured that nations would help one another if any revolutions
broke out.
Across Europe, conservatives held firm control of the governments, but they
could not contain the ideas that had emerged during the French Revolution.
- France after 1815 was deeply divided politically
- Conservatives were happy with the monarchy of Louis XVIII and
were determined to make it last.
- Liberals, however, wanted to king to share more power with the
legislature.
- Similarly, in other countries there was an explosive mixture of ideas
and factions that would contribute directly to revolutions in 1830 and
1848.
Despite their efforts to undo the French Revolution, the leaders of the
Congress of Vienna could not turn back the clock.
- The Revolution had given Europe its first experiment in democratic
government.
- Although the experiment had failed, it had set new political ideas in
motion.
- The major upheavals of the early 1800s and their roots in the French
Revolution.
Revolutions in Latin America
The actions of the Congress of Vienna had consequences far beyond events
in Europe.
When Napoleon deposed the king of Spain during the Peninsular War, liberal
Creoles (colonists born in Spanish America) seized control of many colonies
in the Americas.
- When the Congress of Vienna restored the king to the Spanish throne,
royalist peninsulares (colonists born in Spain) tried to regain control of
these colonial governments.
- The Creoles, however, attempted to retain and expand their power.
- In response, the Spanish king took steps to tighten control over the
American colonies.
This action angered the Mexicans, who rose in revolt and successfully threw
off Spain’s control.
Other Spanish colonies in Latin America also claimed independence.
At the same time, Brazil declared independence from Portugal.
Long-Term Legacy of the Congress of Vienna
The legacy of the Congress of Vienna would influence world politics for the
next 100 years:
- The continent-wide efforts to establish and maintain a balance of
power diminished the size and the power of France.
- At the same time, the power of Britain and Prussia increased.
- Nationalism began to spread in Italy, Germany, Greece and other
areas that the Congress had put under foreign control.
- Eventually, the nationalistic feelings would explode into revolutions
and new nations would be formed.
- European colonies also responded to the power shift as Spanish
colonies took advantage of events in Europe to declare their
independence and break away from Spain.
At the same time, ideas about the basis of power and authority had changed
permanently as a result of the French Revolution. More and more, people
saw democracy as the best way to ensure equality and justice for all. The
French Revolution, then, changed the social attitudes and assumptions that
had dominated Europe for centuries.
A new era had begun.