The French Revolution & Napoleon Section1: On the Eve of Revolution Section 2: Creating a New France Section 3: Radical Days Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins Section 5: The End of and Era

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution Summary: Social unrest, government debt, and food shortages contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution Since the Middle Ages, everyone in France had belonged to one of the three social classes, called Estates The 1 st Estate – Clergy The 2 nd Estate – Nobles The 3 rd Estate – Peasants

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution The 1 st & 2 nd Estates were rich and powerful They had many special privileges For example, they did not have to pay taxes –They made up about 2% of the total population of France

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution Most (98%) of French people belonged to the 3 rd Estate Although they were poor, their tax burden was the heaviest

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution In 1789, France faced several crises For many years the French government had been spending more money than it had earned Bad harvests caused food prices to rise Many peasants did not have enough to eat –In towns and in the countryside, starving people rioted

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution To deal with these problems, King Louis XVI met with the leaders of the 3 Estates Most common people wanted financial relief, but the elected members of the Third Estate wanted government reform

Section 1: On the Eve of Revolution After weeks of meetings, its leaders took a daring step They created a new government called the National Assembly Some reform-minded nobles and clergy joined them

Section1: On the Eve of Revolution The National Assembly promised to write a new constitution for France However, dangerous rumors, increasing food shortages, and an attack on the Bastille (a Parisian political prison) kept the problems from being solved A violent revolution was starting

Section 2: Creating a New France Summary: The National Assembly instituted political and social reforms in the early stages of the revolution

Section 2: Creating a New France In 1789, a terrible famine occurred in France Starving peasants attacked the homes of nobles

Section 2: Creating a New France Revolutionary groups took over Paris and demanded an end to the monarchy Finally Nobles agreed to give up their special privileges

Section 2: Creating a New France The National Assembly began making reforms They agreed to abolish feudalism In 1791, the assembly finished writing a new constitution that used Enlightenment ideas

Section 2: Creating a New France Under this constitution, people had natural rights and the government had to protect those rights The constitution created a limited monarchy The assembly also reformed French laws and supported trade

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

Section 2: Creating a New France But when the assembly took control of the French Catholic Church and sold its lands to pay back the government’s debt, the pope, clergy, and many peasants rejected the revolution

National Assembly

Section 2: Creating a New France Other groups, however, wanted even more changes Violent disagreements soon caused the downfall of the assembly

Section 2: Creating a New France News about the French Revolution spread across Europe While many Europeans supported the revolution, rulers and nobles were afraid that revolutionary ideas would spread to their own countries

Section 2: Creating a New France After the French king and his family made an unsuccessful attempt to flee, the king of Prussia promised he would fight to save the French monarchy

Section 2: Creating a New France In 1792, France declared war on Austria, Prussia, Britain, and several other European states The fighting lasted for over 20 years

Section 3: Radical Days Summary: The French Revolution, driven by leaders determined to preserve and extend the revolution, entered a radical phrase

Section 3: Radical Days The war with other European powers went badly for the French forces People thought the king was helping the enemy Mobs attacked the kings guards and killed nobles

Section 3: Radical Days Radical revolutionaries, supported by Paris crowds, took control of the Assembly in 1792 These radicals ended the monarchy, made France a republic, and wrote another constitution In 1793, they executed, or put to death, the king and queen for treason

Section 3: Radical Days By 1793, France was at war with most of Europe Within France peasants rioted for food, and revolutionary groups fought against each another To restore order, the new government set up the Committee of Public Safety, which had absolute power

Section 3: Radical Days Using a new invention, called the Guillotine, the Committee, led by Maximilien Robespierre, beheaded thousands of people for treason, even supporters of the revolution were sometimes killed to set an example Thousands more people were put in prison This period is called the Reign of Terror

Section 3: Radical Days By 1799, life in France had changed The Monarchy and the old class system were gone The government controlled the church –The French people began to feel proud of France »This feeling of pride is called Nationalism

Section 3: Radical Days The new government continued to make important reforms It set up school for children and organized a system to care for the poor Slavery in the French colonies ended Religious tolerance became the law

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins Summary: Napoleon built a large empire by annexing lands, making alliances, and placing family members on the thrones of Europe

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins When the French Revolution started, Lt. Napoleon Bonaparte began to earn rapid promotions He led the French army in victories over Britain and Austria

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins A general by 1799, Napoleon helped to overthrow the French government He organized a new government and put himself in charge Five years later he took the title Emperor of the French At each step of his rise of power, the French voted their support

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins The policies that Napoleon set up show why he was so popular He strengthen the French government and restored order He improved the economy and encouraged new industry He built roads and canals and supported public education

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins Some of Napoleon’s reforms continued the spirit of the revolution Peasants could legally keep the Church lands they bought Careers were opened to anyone with ability

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins One of his most important reforms was a new set of laws called the Napoleonic Code These laws included many enlightenment ideas but undid some reforms of the revolution

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins From 1804 to 1814, Napoleon defeated the greatest nations of Europe an built an empire He conquered the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Italy and Germany He ended the Holy Roman Empire and divided Prussia

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins Napoleon replaced the monarchs of defeated nations with his friends and family Only Britain remained outside Napoleon’s empire

Section 4: The Age of Napoleon Begins

Section 5: The End of An Era Summary: After suffering defeat, Napoleon was removed from power European leaders restored peace and redrew the map of Europe

Section 5: The End of An Era Under Napoleon, French armies spread the ideas of the French Revolution across Europe The French overthrew European monarchs and set up their own governments They also reduced the power of the Church and ended serfdom

Section 5: The End of An Era Many Europeans welcomed the ideas of the French Revolution However, they did not welcome the French rulers Nationalism caused conquered people to reject French control From Italy to Spain to the Netherlands, people rebelled against the French

Section 5: The End of An Era The end of the empire began in 1812 when Napoleon invaded Russia The invasion was a disaster Many French soldiers died during the long Russian winter

Section 5: The End of An Era The following year, an alliance of Russia, Britain, Austria, and Prussia defeated Napoleon at the town of Leipzig and forced him to live on an island in the Mediterranean

Section 5: The End of An Era After the defeat of Napoleon, European leaders met at the Congress of Vienna They hoped to create peace after 25 years of war One of their goals was to return Europe to the way it was in 1792, before Napoleon

Section 5: The End of An Era To accomplish this goal they gave power back to the monarchs of Europe The leaders of Europe also took steps to create a balance of power To prevent France from going to war again, they strengthened the countries around it To protect the new order, European states formed a peacekeeping organization The peace lasted 100 years

Section 5: The End of An Era GoalAction To prevent France from going to war again Strengthen countries around France To return Europe to the way it was in 1792, before Napoleon Give power back to the monarchs of Europe To protect the new system and maintain peace Create the Concert of Europe, an organization to maintain peace in Europe The Congress of Vienna