-Key Concepts-

-Ideological Foundation for Political Liberalism-

 The notion of individual human rights  A new type of government in which the people are sovereign  The importance of a representative assembly  The importance of a written constitution  The notion of self- determination  Freedom to accumulate property

 Equality of rights and civil liberties  Equality before the law  No special privileges for the rich  Equality of opportunity  “Careers Open to Talent”  Inherent tension between liberty and equality

 Judeo-Christian and Greek roots  Enlightenment Foundation  Locke’s Notion of the Rights of Englishmen

 The French Revolution was the inaugural European revolution  The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution together transformed the western world  This “Dual Revolution” changed everything politically, socially and economically  Triumph of European states and economies globally  The Modern Era was inaugurated by the Dual Revolution

 French Revolution was a part of a whole series of revolutions which took place during the late 18 th century --Political agitation in England, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the American colonies  One big movement of revolutionary agitation

 “All Men are Created Equal”  The significance of the American constitution  The influence of the American Revolution  The impact of the American Revolution

 Independence from Spanish rule  Simon Bolivar, the father of Latin American independence  Continued dominance of the white minority  The abolition of the slave trade is set in motion --United States abolished this trade in 1808

 More fundamental and profound consequences than the American Revolution  France = most powerful and populous state in Europe  Massive social revolution  Worldwide impact  Becomes model for future revolutions

“Series of revolutions which became more radical as leadership cascaded down through French society.”

Watch for the different revolutions within the Revolution!

 Began as a revolt of the aristocracy  Attempt to capitalize on the financial woes of the monarchy  Only solution = tax reform and a direct tax on all property  Aristocracy refused and forces the issue

 Although people were starving and the country was broke, the royal family flaunted their wealth and uncaring.

 An old feudal assembly that had not met since 1614  Three Estates: Clergy, Nobility, All Others  The significance of the voting procedure  The miscalculation and lack of social awareness of the aristocracy

 Who were they?  Third Estate was dominated by the middle class  Blending of aristocratic and bourgeois classes by 1789  Middle class = Big Winners  Revolutionary goals of the middle class

 Representative government did not mean democracy or “mob rule”  Estates-General became the National Assembly in June of 1789 with the power to frame a constitution --Tennis Court Oath

 Who were they?  “Sans-culottes” (without knee britches)  Picked up the ideas and slogans of the Revolution from the more educated leadership of lawyers and journalists

 Poverty and Hunger  Low wages and fear of unemployment  Heightened expectations and the exposure to a political perspective -- “Cahiers”  Strong dislike for and distrust of the wealthy  The role of conspiracy

 Events of the night of July 13, 1789  Reasons for the attack on the Bastille the next morning  The stubbornness of the governor of the fortress  Celebrations on the night of July 14 th  Sparks tremendous popular revolution all over France

 Independent revolutionary agitation in the countryside  Rumors of Royalist troops becoming wandering vandals  Fear breeds fear and peasants start marching  Within 3 weeks of July 14, the countryside of France had been completely changed  Abolition of the Nobility

 Mounting unemployment and hunger in Paris in the fall of 1789  “October Days” -- “The point is that we want bread!”  Women nearly killed the Queen  The Royal Family returns to Paris on October 6, 1789

 Events from October, 1789 through September, 1791  Abolition of the French nobility as a legal order  Constitutional Monarchy established  Economic centralization  Nationalization of the Church --Stage set for subsequent civil war

 Revolutionary Talk --More than 500 new newspapers --Oath of Loyalty -- “Liberte, Equalite, Fraternite!”  Revolutionary Symbols  Revolutionary Clubs --The Jacobins  Revolutionary Leaders

 Reasons: --Snowball Effect --Unsatisfied Expectations --Outbreak of War  Results: --Increasing Violence --Change in Political Leadership

 The Committee of Public Safety  The Concept of “Total War”  Maximum price ceilings on certain goods  Nationalization of Small Workshops

 Execution of 40,000 “Enemies of the Nation”  Stress on radical definition of equality  Wanted a legal maximum on personal wealth  Wanted a regulation of commercial profits  End of Robespierre’s dictatorship on July 28, 1794

 The Directory ( )  Napoleon’s Rise to Power  The Napoleonic Code  Establishment of the Bank of France  Reconciliation with the Catholic Church --Concordat of 1801  Heavy Censorship  Napoleon’s “Art of War”

 Napoleon Bonaparte dominated European history from 1799 to  He never stopped reminding the French that he preserved what was beneficial in the revolutionary program.  Napoleon was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.  He went to a military school in France on a royal scholarship.

 Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he reached power.  First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the many nations warring with France after the execution of Louis XVI.  However, in 1803, the war was renewed.  From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand Army defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies.

 Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he reached power.  First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the many nations warring with France after the execution of Louis XVI.  However, in 1803, the war was renewed.  From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand Army defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies.

 Britain’s defeat of a combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar (1805) ended Napoleon’s dream of invading.  Napoleon tried to use the Continental System to defeat Britain.  The Continental System was intended to stop British goods from reaching continental markets.  Allied states resented being told they could not buy British goods, and this strategy failed as well.

 Napoleon now could create a new world order.  His Grand Empire had three parts: the French Empire, dependent states, and allied states.  The dependent states were kingdoms that Napoleon’s relatives ruled, including Spain, Holland, Italy, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.  The allied states were those Napoleon defeated and forced to join him in war against Britain.

 These included Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden.  Napoleon sought to spread some of the principles of the French Revolution, including equality before the law, religious toleration, and economic freedom, through his empire.  He urged his rulers to be constitutional kings.  He tried to destroy the feudal, hierarchical order in the French Empire and his dependent states.

 Napoleon’s fall began with his invasion of Russia, which had refused to remain in the Continental System.  In 1812 a Grand Army of over six hundred thousand men entered Russia.  Napoleon needed to score a quick, decisive victory.  The Russians would not fight but kept retreating.

 They burned their villages, and even Moscow, as they wanted to deny the French food and supplies.  Lacking food, Napoleon left Moscow after two months to retreat.  He left in October, so his “Great Retreat” happened under terrible winter conditions.  Only forty thousand men arrived back in Poland.  Other European nations rose up to attack the crippled French army.

 The European powers and Napoleon, whom they called the “Enemy and Disturber of the Tranquility of the World,” fought again.  At Waterloo in Belgium in 1815, Napoleon was defeated by a combined British and Prussian army under the Duke of Wellington.  The allies exiled him to St. Helena, a small island in the south Atlantic.  Napoleon’s power was ended.

 France was ruled by the monarchy until the French Revolution that took place in the year After the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte took over the control of the Republic in the year 1799 and crowned himself the emperor of the first French empire between the year 1804 and the year Napoleon be defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in the year 1815, the second French republic ended in the year 1852 and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte be defeated at the Franco-Prussian war which took place in the year The third French republic replaced Louis-Napoleon's regime. The fourth French republic was established after the Second World War and within the year 1958, the weakened fourth French republic gave way to the fifth republic. One of the major characteristics of the fifth republic was the strengthened presidency. Charles De Gaulle was the president of the fifth republic of France.

 A revolutionary model  A Mass political consciousness  Varying interpretations of the Revolution --Conservative View: Edmund Burke --Liberal View: Thomas Jefferson  Conflict within the Liberal Tradition  “Libertarianism” vs. “Egalitarianism”