1. French Revolution
&
The
Rise of Napoleon

2. Key Terms estates system Estates-General National Assembly
Tennis Court Oath*
Bastille
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Legislative Assembly*
National Convention
Jacobins
Maximilien Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety
Reign of Terror
Directory
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleonic Code
Continental System
Hundred Days*
Waterloo

3. What caused the French Revolution?
unfair social divisions - the three estates (social classes) of the Old Regime
1st Estate – clergy (the church)
2nd Estate – nobles (wealthy landowners)
3rd Estate – bourgeoisie (middle class) and peasants
unequal tax burdens
government debts
economic depression – high prices and high cost of living
ideas of the Enlightenment
many Enlightenment thinkers were from France
American Revolution

4. What do you see? I am the First Estate (The Church).
I am 1% of the population.
I own 25 % of the land.
I pay virtually no taxes.
I am the Second Estate
(Nobles).
I am 2% of the population.
I own 65% of the land.
I pay virtually no taxes.
I am the Third Estate
(Middle Class & Peasants).
I am 97% of the population.
I own 10% of the land.
I pay nearly all of the taxes.

5. Key Events of the French Revolution
July 1776 – American Declaration of Independence excited many people in France.
May 1789 – King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, the first time in 175 years.
June 1789 – The National Assembly was formed by the Third Estate and they take the Tennis Court Oath.
July 14, 1789 – Crowds stormed the Bastille and uprisings spread throughout France.

6. Key Events of the French Revolution
August 26, 1789 – The National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Spring 1791 – The National Assembly declared France a constitutional monarchy. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to flee France but were captured and imprisoned. The king was reinstated in July.

7. Key Events of the French Revolution
Fall 1791 – Louis XVI accepted the constitution and France became a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Legislative Assembly.
March 1792 – The guillotine became the official method of execution in France.
April 1792 – France declared war on Austria. Prussia soon joined Austria in war against France.

8. Key Events of the French Revolution
August 1792 – King Louis XVI and his family were arrested and thrown into prison.
September 1792 – Due to a failing war effort, radicals took over the government, dissolved the Legislative Assembly, formed the National Convention, and declared France a republic.
December 1792 – Louis XVI was put on trial.
January 1793 – Louis XVI was beheaded.

9. Key Events of the French Revolution
April 1793 – To stop rebellion against the Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety was formed.
July 1793 – Radical Jacobin lawyer Maximilien Robespierre joined the Committee of Public Safety.
September 1793 – The Reign of Terror began. During this time, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety executed nearly 40,000 people, including the queen, as enemies of the Revolution.

10. Key Events of the French Revolution
October 16, 1793 – Marie Antoinette, queen of France, was beheaded on the guillotine.
April 1794 – Georges Danton, first president of the Committee of Public Safety and Jacobin revolutionary, was executed for suspected leniency toward the “enemies of the Revolution.”
July 1794 – Robespierre and the other members of the Committee of Public Safety were executed and the Reign of Terror ended.

11. Key Events of the French Revolution
August 22, 1795 – The 1795 Constitution was ratified and the Directory was created.
October 5, 1795 – Napoleon’s “whiff of grapeshot” stopped a riot in Paris. Napoleon gained national popularity as a military hero.
May 1796 – Napoleon began his invasion of Italy.
August 1798 – Napoleon was defeated in Egypt.

12. Key Events of the French Revolution
October 1799 – Napoleon returned to France.
November 1799 – The coup d’état ended the power of the Directory.
December 1799 – The leadership of Napoleon was established under a new government called the Consulate. This government was formed by the Constitution of the Year VIII. The French Revolution ended.

13. Key Events of the French Revolution
December 1799 – May 1804 – Under First Consul Napoleon France underwent many reforms such as:
improvements in education and sanitation
return of the Church to France
improved economics under a central bank and new tax code
new laws – the Napoleonic Code
December 2, 1804 – Napoleon crowns himself emperor of the new French Empire.

14. Key Events of the French Revolution
November 1806 – Napoleon set up a blockade to prevent trade between Great Britain and the rest of Europe. This was called the Continental System.
1808 – The French Army suffered heavy losses during the Peninsular War in which he tried to control Spain.
June 1812 – Napoleon began his march into Russia.

15. Key Events of the French Revolution
September 7, 1812 – The Battle of Borodino was fought.
September 14, 1812 – Napoleon entered Moscow to find it abandoned and in flames.
Winter 1812 – Napoleon retreated from Russia with a devastated army. This loss would be his downfall.
April 1814 – Napoleon surrendered and went into exile on the island of Elba.

16. Key Events of the French Revolution
March 1, 1815 – Napoleon landed in France after escaping from Elba. He was welcomed by his troops and the French people.
June 18, 1815 – Napoleon’s armies were defeated by the English at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena where he would die in 1821.

17. Major Issues Contributing to the French Revolution
struggles between different philosophies
conservatives – saught to keep the monarchy
moderates – shared some conservative and radical ideas, favored Enlightenment ideas
liberals/radicals – embraced the ideas of the Enlightenment and wanted to change the government of France dramatically
beliefs of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” became the rallying cry for the masses
women fought for equal rights but nothing happened
the Catholic church was suppressed but it only alienated the peasants – Napoleon wisely reversed this

18. Immediate Effects of the French Revolution
complete change of the social and political structures in France
France was led to war with many European nations – Napoleon established puppet regimes in other countries
in 1815, the Congress of Vienna returned monarchs to the thrones of Europe following Napoleon’s exile to St. Helena

19. Long Term Effects of the French Revolution
a turn towards conservative leadership across Europe following the Congress of Vienna in an effort to restore the balance of power
nationalist feelings spread across Europe
Enlightenment ideas spread across Europe and the world which led to revolutions across Europe and Latin America