The French Revolution and Napoléon Section 1: The Roots of Revolution Section 2: The French Revolution Section 3: The French Republic Section 4: The Napoléonic Era Section 5: A Return to Peace

The Roots of Revolution  Objectives: – Describe how the Old Regime was structured. – Analyze why discontent began to grow in the mid-1700s. – Explain why Louis XVI wanted to call the Estates General. – Describe how the meeting of the Estates General pushed France toward revolution.

The Old Regime  The privileged estates – First Estate was clergy Less than 1% – Second Estate was nobility Less than 2%  The Third estate – Bourgeoisie (urban middle class) City workers Artisans Rural peasants Paid heavy taxes Paid a forced tithe to the church –10% of income

Growing Discontent  Increased population and cost of living – The poor blamed the king for letting the cost of living get so high  Bourgeoisie wanted liberty and equality – Resented paying taxes when nobility and clergy did not

The Financial Crisis  Assistance to United States during American Revolution led to France’s increased debts  Louis XVI married Marie-Antoinette – Daughter of Austrian Empress – People resented her Austrian roots and political involvement  Louis XVI tried to raise taxes – Hoped a meeting of all three estates would approve new taxes  Banks refused to loan French government more money

The Meeting of the Estates General  The three estates had previously met separately – They would then come together and get 1 vote per estate  Third Estate wanted representatives to vote as individuals – King refused  Third estate declared themselves the National Assembly and asked the other two to work with them

The French Revolution  Objectives: – Explain why and how the French Revolution spread. – Analyze how a constitution changed French government. – Explain why the monarchy and the Legislative Assembly came to an end.

The Spread of the Revolution  Louis XVI allowed the three estates to meet together, but brought in troops to Paris – People thought he was going to force out the National Assembly so they took action  Capture of Bastille prison led to formation of a new government ( Video ) Video – General Lafayette lead National Guard – New flag of red, white, and blue replaced old French flag  Peasants developed “Great Fear” – Feared what noble might do so they attacked manorial estates Burn records Pillaged supplies

The End of the Old Regime  The Declaration of the Rights of Man – Basic human rights and political powers Similar to the Bill of Rights – Applied to men only  Émigrés and royalists – Émigrés – French word for emigrants Would cause trouble Allowed nobles asylum in England, Germany, and Switzerland – Forced Louis XVI and family to return to Paris  Reforms in government – Divided France in 83 equal districts called departments – Seized land owned by Catholic Church – Pope protested Catholic Church was against revolution

The Constitution of 1791  Limited powers of king – Could not make or block laws on his own  Divided government into three branches: – Executive – king – Legislative – Legislative Assembly If you were part of the National Assembly you could not be a part of this – Judicial  King reluctantly agreed to this – Worked behind scenes with Émigrés to stop revolution – Tried to escape, but was caught – Made people distrust him and want a republic

The Legislative Assembly and War  Executive branch was weak  Legislature was inexperienced – Divided into: Conservatives – thought revolution had gone far enough Radicals – wanted more drastic changes Moderates – no extreme views  Legislative Assembly united to wage war on Austria (video)video – Other European monarch wanted a king on the throne of France – This united the Assembly – They prepared for war with Leopold II of Austria and Frederick William I of Prussia

The End of the Monarchy  Louis XVI plotted with foreign powers to overthrow Constitution of 1791 – Citizens realized this Abolished monarchy Imprisoned royal family Defended Paris against Austrians  Legislative Assembly ended  National Convention drew up new constitution

The French Republic  Objectives: – Explain how the National Convention ruled France. – Describe how the Reign of Terror affected France. – Identify the Directory and explain how it ruled. – Analyze why Napoléon was able to come to power.

The National Convention  Universal manhood suffrage – Every adult male could vote  Three main groups – Girondins Feared domination of France by Paris – Jacobins Wanted Paris to dominate France Lead by Georges-Jacques Danton and Maximilien Robespierre – Delegates who had no definite views  One of the first acts of the national convention was to try and convict Louis XVI of endangering the nation – He was beheaded by the Guillotine (video)video

Exporting the Revolution  Committee of Public Safety – Set up a tribunal to deal with any opponents of the revolution – Adopted the draft Conscription – requiring military service  Opposition – European monarchs formed an alliance against France – Didn’t want their people getting any revolutionary ideas

The Reign of Terror  Evolutionary Tribunal – Tried to suppress all opposition and revolts within France – Robespierre actually turned on Danton and had him executed – He himself was eventually sent to the guillotine

Work of the National Convention  Abolished slavery  Planned public education  Adopted metric system  Created a new calendar – It did not survive

The Directory  Governed by five individuals from the government’s executive branch  Bicameral legislature – Lower house had 500 representatives Created legislation – Upper house had 250 representatives Accepted or rejected legislation  Eliminated universal manhood suffrage  Weak, corrupt rulers – Paved the way for a military dictatorship of France

Napoléon Bonaparte  Personal Bio – Born in 1769 on island of Corsica – Great organizational skills – 5’2” with a strong personality – Married Josephine Beauharnais French societal leader Within weeks of marriage he was in Italy fight Austrians  Rise of Napoléon – Strong military leader – Gained control of all northern Italy for France  Napoléon takes power (video)video – Coup d’état (stroke of state) due to unstable government

The Napoléonic Era  Objectives: – Identify the ways in which Napoléon’s government was successful. – Explain how France became an empire. – Describe how Napoléon reorganized Europe. – Analyze the events that led to Napoléon’s final defeat at Waterloo.

Napoléon as Dictator  1799 – 1814  The Consulate – People accepted Napoléon as dictator – Gave people freedom as long as his orders were displayed – Allowed people to up or down vote his new laws – Napoléon gave himself unlimited power  Accomplishments in government – Napoléonic Code – French Law – Bank of France – National Bank – Public education – included high schools – Concordat - agreement with Pope Recognized that most French citizens were Catholic Still granted religious freedom

Napoléon as Emperor  French people voted to become an empire  Napoléon crowned himself – Took crown from Pope just before it was placed on his head  Defeated Austria and Russia  Blockade of British Isles

The Reorganization of Europe  Dissolved the Holy Roman Empire  Increased nationalism – Napoléon placed members of his own family as monarchs of countries he conquered – Loyalty and patriotism  The Peninsular War – Spanish and Portuguese revolt against French rule – Aided by Britain and Duke of Wellington – Won the revolt and continued the idea of the French revolution

Catastrophe in Russia  The Grand Army – Marched to Russia – Russians retreat using a scorched earth policy Burned and destroyed everything in retreat – Were defeated through lack of proper housing and supplies, Russian winter  Final defeat – Western European countries allied against France Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, and Austria Defeated Napoleon and put Louis XVIII

The Hundred Days  Napoléon led army into France and ruled for one hundred days until Britain, Prussia, and Netherlands were victorious and forced him into exile  Sent to St. Helena – Small island in South Atlantic  Tried to poison himself, but overdosed  Eventually died there  Failures forgotten, became legendary

A Return to Peace  Objectives: – Describe how the Congress of Vienna attempted to restore stability to Europe. – Explain why politicians practiced conservative policies. – Analyze how Metternich influenced conservative politics and stopped revolution.

The Congress of Vienna  Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia and France attended  The principles of the Congress of Vienna – Compensation – pay back countries Napoleon took from – Balance of power – no single nation could control Europe – Legitimacy – all former ruling families should be restored to their thrones  Compensations – Countries were reshuffled

Reactionary Alliances  Restored balance of power  Emphasized conservative view to prevent revolution  Establish the quadruple Alliance – Early form of U.N.

The Age of Metternich  Secret police  Military suppression – Against revolutionary ideals  Underground resistance