Unit 1: The French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars

1789-1815

What is the role of government?

How do you know if your government is being fair?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

I. The Road to Revolution: 1700s

A. Many questions about the right to rule raised by Enlightenment thinkers (Rousseau, Locke, Voltaire)

B. High debt

1. King Louis XVI & Queen Marie Antoinette had inherited debt and acquired their own

2. France loaned America money in their revolution (1776)– by 1786, bankers refused to lend the government any more money

C. The Old Regime (social/political class system: made up of Three Estates)

What problem(s) do you see?

D. Weak leadership

1. King Louis XVI: poor and indecisive leader—preferred hunting and gambling

2. Rather than cut expenses, he attempted to tax the nobility to decrease the debt Sort of like

American Democrats

want to do!

a. Estates-General (representative assembly from all 3 estates) met to approve the tax in 1789

b. Structure of the Estates General

3 people, 1 vote

30 people, 1 vote

300 people, 1 vote

What problem(s) do you see?

Why might some people see this as “fair”? Why might others disagree?

What makes a government unjust?

What factors (if any) would lead you to take part in a violent revolution?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

II. The Revolution Begins: 1789A. Third Estate revolted at 1789 meeting of the Estates General

1. Created the National Assembly

2. Swore the Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)

a. Pledged to draw up a new representative Constitution

a. First act of revolutionb. end to absolute monarchy and the beginning of

representative government

B. Storming the Bastille

1. Louis XVI began moving Swiss troops into Paris for defense citizens panicked, believed they were being invaded

b. Symbol of the Revolution—national holiday, similar to July 4 in US

2. July 14, 1789: a mob seized control of the Bastille prison in Paris, searching for gunpowder

a. Carried around guards’ heads on pikes

C. The Great Fear

1. Rebellion spread from Paris to countryside

2. October Bread Riotsa. Women broke into the Palace at Versailles, demanded Louis XVI return to Parisb. Beginning of a period of violence and radical reforms

b. Peasants began torturing nobles, burning houses

a. Little real understanding of what was happening—just a sense of fear

Do you believe human nature is inherently good or bad?

What is the best form of government, considering your view of human nature?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

III. Constitutional Monarchy: 1790-92

A. Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

1. Statement of revolutionary ideals2. Similar to the Declaration of Independence

a. “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights”...including, “life, liberty...and resistance to oppression.”b. Guaranteed equality of justice, freedom of speech, freedom of religion

B. Church Reforms

b. Alarming to peasants, who were devout Catholics

1. National Assembly took over Church’s lands

2. This was in line with Enlightenment philosophy: separation of Church and State

a. Economic motives: Sale of lands helped pay for France’s debt

C. The Limited Monarchy

1. 1791 Constitution created a limited constitutional monarchy

a. New legislative body (Legislative Assembly) had the power to create laws and approve or reject the declaration of war—but the King still held executive power

2. Divisions Developa. Problems continued: food shortages, government debt Legislative Assembly was divided on how to address these

i. Incorporated Montesquieu’s ideas about separation of powers

i. Radicals (left): opposed monarchy in any form and wanted major changes

ii. Moderates (middle): wanted some changes in government, but not as many as Radicalsiii. Conservatives (right): upheld the idea of limited monarchy and wanted few changes

b. Resistance outside the Legislative Assembly

i. Emigres: Nobles who had fled France—wanted to return, undo the Revolution, and restore the Old Regime

iii. Other European countries feared similar revolutions

ii. Sans-Culottes: Extreme radicals within Paris- mostly shopkeepers and workers

Imagine the person next to you has a contagious disease. You don’t want to get the disease. What do you do?

What if all of the 9th graders have a contagious disease? How would you prevent it from spreading?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

IV. War & The TerrorA. 1792: Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria & Prussia

1. Both countries had been working to restore Louis XVI to the throne

2. Due to pressure from radicals and wartime losses, the Legislative Assembly created a new Constitution and governing body in September 1792

Round 2!

B. The Jacobins

1. Extreme radicalsa. Dissolved monarchy and declared France a republicb. Right to vote granted to adult male citizens

2. Trial & sentencing of Louis XVIa. Tried for treason (crime against one’s country), beheaded by the guillotine in 1793

3. Implemented a draft to deal with increasing military defeats

a. Now fighting: Great Britain, Holland, Spain, Persia and Austria

Europe, 1792

C. Robespierre

1. Leader of the Jacobins- rose to power in 1793a. Wanted to build a “Republic of Virtue”

i. Wipe out any semblance of France’s past

ii. Hunt down & eliminate enemies of the New Regime

a. Committee of Public Safety: created to protect the Revolution from its enemies

2. The Reign of Terror

b. Tried & executed suspected monarchy sympathizers—often in 1 day

c. Created a new calendari. No Sundays (no religion)ii. Renamed months

i. Often only “crime” was being less radical than Robespierreii. Over 40,000 executed—85% Third Estate

d. Closed churches all over France

3. End of the Terror

i. 1795: met to draft third constitution since 1789

a. July 1794: high-ranking Jacobins turned on Robespierre and executed him b. Major shift in public opinion—away from radicalism

ii. Two-house legislature, 5-man executive board, known as the Directoryiii. Commander of France’s armies: Napoleon Bonaparte

THIRD TIME’S

THE CHARM!

musical interlude!

V. Napoleonic EmpireA. 1799: Napoleon overthrows Directory and seizes power in a coup d’etat

1. Had attained success and respect as a military commander

2. Functioned as a dictator, but without much opposition

B. France under Napoleon

1. Restored economy: established efficient taxation and banking systems

2. Established lycees

a. Government-run public schools. Open to boys of all backgrounds

3. Renewed the presence of the Church by a concordat with Pope Pius VII

4. Napoleonic Codea. Uniform set of laws: eliminated many injustices, but also limited many personal rights established during the Revolution

a. Agreement recognized Church’s influence, but rejected its control

C. Emperor & Empire

1. 1804: crowned himself Emperor

2. Having lost control of French territories in the Americas (Louisiana Purchase: 1803), Napoleon turned to Europe

a. Created largest empire since the Romans: only rival was the British

Height of Napoleon’s Empire

3. Battle of Trafalgar

a. Only major battle Napoleon ever lost

b. Naval battle against Britain

D. Collapse of the Empire

c. Resulted in the destruction of the French fleet

1. 1806: British Blockade & Continental System

a. Attempted to cut Britain off from the rest of Europe/America

b. Failed; only angered everyone involved

2. 1808: The Peninsular (Spanish) War

a. Napoleon removed the Spanish king and put his own brother on the throne

b. Lost 300,000 men through guerrilla warfare

3. 1812: Invasion of Russiaa. Breakdown in Russian-French allianceb. Napoleon invaded; Russian troops retreated using slash and burn techniques

i. As French troops advanced, there was nothing to eat

i. sudden, secret ambushes

c. French forced to retreat through Russian winter—doubling their losses

4. With Napoleon now weakened from 3 major losses, the rest of Europe declared war on France

Pictured: winter in

Russia

a. April 1814: Napoleon surrendered

5. The Hundred Days

a. Napoleon escaped Elba and regained the French throne from new, unpopular king (Louis XVIII)

b. Finally defeated for good at the Battle of Waterloo

b. Exiled to the island of Elba

VI. Legacy of the RevolutionA. Congress of Vienna

1. Big 5: Russia, Prussia, Austria, Great Britain, France2. Priority: preserve the “balance of power”

a. Returned pre-Revolution kings to thronesb. Built a barrier of strong countries around France

B. Fear of revolution

C. Increased nationalism