Transcript French Revolution 2012 power point combined

Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
Introduction
France will reach its height during the
same time as the American Revolution
 French leaders were very rich
 Most of the people of France were not rich-instead, the people had very few rights
 the people of France saw how the
American colonists were able to gain their
independence and yearned for a change in
France

French Society Divided

There were 3 estates (classes) in French
society
 First Estate—Catholic Clergy
○ 1% of the population
 Second Estate—Nobility
○ 2% of the population
○ Served in government positions
 Third Estate—97% of the French People
○ Only estate to pay taxes
○ Included very poor people
○ Also included a wealthy, educated middle class
(bourgeoisie)
Growing Unrest

The 3rd estate was unhappy and wanted
change
 The bourgeoisie wanted more equality

The nobles were upset at the king’s
power
 Wanted to end absolute monarchy
Louis XIV (14) had spent most of
France’s $ before he died
 Louis XV (15) increased France’s debt

1774: Louis XVI (16) took the throne at
the age of 19
 Louis XVI was married to 18-year old
Marie Antoinette
 Louis attempted to fix the $ troubles by
taxing the clergy and nobility
 Problem: clergy and nobility REFUSED
to pay
 1786: French banks REFUSED to loan
$ to the government
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Louis XV (15)
Louis XVI (16)
Marie Antoinette
Calling the Estates-General
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Louis XVI had to call the Estates-General into
session to get $—first time since 1614
Made of representatives from each estate
Louis wanted the Estates to levy new taxes
Each estate had only 1 vote
The 3rd estate believed its vote should count
more since they made up 97% of the people
 Wanted individual votes—each delegate having one
vote instead of each estate having only 1 vote
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Louis did not like the 3rd estate’s idea
Louis kicked the 3rd estate out of the meetings
Meeting of the Estates General
Formation of the National
Assembly
The bourgeoisie of the 3rd estate starting
meeting on their own
 Called themselves the National
Assembly
 Starting gaining lots of support
 Promised to draft a constitution for
France

Louis ordered the 1st and 2nd estates to
join the National Assembly
 They met on tennis courts
 To be a member, had to take the Tennis
Court Oath

People were voicing their unhappiness
in the National Assembly
 3rd estate wanted equality
 Louis was afraid and brought troops to
Versailles for protection
 French people reacted to the troop
movement by attacking the Bastille—
French Prison

Fall of the Bastille
The French people saw the Bastille as a
symbol of the power and unfairness of
the French government
 July 14, 1789: French citizens stormed
the prison to get weapons to defend the
National Assembly from a possible
attack
 Nearly 100 citizens were killed
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News of the attack spread quickly in
France
 Peasants began arming themselves in
the countryside
 The peasants began attacking the
nobles in the country—Great Fear
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 Stealing the nobles’ homes
 Killing the nobles
The nobles in the National Assembly were
refusing to give up their privileges to the 3rd
estate
 The peasant uprisings in the countryside
convinced the nobles they could not stop the
3rd estate reforms
 August 4, 1789: nobles give up their
privileges
 The same day, the N. A. starts passing
massive reforms
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Elimination of feudal dues
Elimination of tithes
Nobles agree to be taxed
Any male citizen could hold public office
Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen
Drafted in late August 1789
 Inspired by the Decl. of Independence
and U. S. Constitution
 Stated:
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 All people are equal in the eyes of the law
 Freedom of speech, press, and religion
 Protection from unlawful arrest and
punishment
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**Who was excluded from the
Declaration?**
Louis XVI refused to accept the
Declaration (Who had real power?)
 Citizens feared Louis would attack the
N. A.
 Citizens wanted Louis to move from
Versailles to Paris
 Oct. 1789: a mob of “women” stormed
the palace at Versailles
 Guards were overrun
 Louis agrees to move to Paris

The N. A. also moved to Paris when
Louis moved
 The N. A. needed money to run France
 N. A. seized Cath. Church lands
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 Resell the lands to get $
 A way to take power away from the Church
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1790: N. A. passed the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy
 Required the clergy to take an oath to the N.
A.
 Church split in France
Constitution of 1791
1791: a Constitution was drafted
 Monarch stayed with limited power
 Unicameral (one house) legislature
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 Elected by males who paid taxes
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Not popular with most people
The End of Louis XVI
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Louis saw much of the violence of the
revolution
June 1791: Louis and his family dressed
as commoners and tried to flee to Austria
(ruled by Marie’s bro.)
Royal family was recognized
Louis was arrested and placed under
house arrest in Paris
Louis forced to accept a limited monarchy
Many in France did not trust Louis
People called for a republic
The revolt against Louis spread in
Europe
 Austria and other nations worried
revolution would spread to them
 Austria tells France to re-instate Louis
 1792: N. A. declared war on Austria
 Austria gets help from other European
nations—especially Prussia
 War with Austria=not good for France

Angry citizens attack Louis at his palace
 Louis fled to the N. A. for help
 N. A. refused to help
 N. A. stripped away ALL of Louis’
power—he was no longer king
 N. A. set out to create a Republic in
France

War with Austria and Prussia was not
good for France
 Prussia had taken the French fort at
Verdun
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 Allowed a direct route to Paris
George Jacques Danton issued a cry
for help to the French people
 Thousands answer the cry
 1 week later, France won a major
victory, and French morale was boosted

Georges Jacques
Danton
As war raged, the N. A. was trying to
form a Republic between 1792 and 1795
 The National Assembly will change its
name to the National Convention
 The N. C. wrote France’s 1st democratic
constitution
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Unicameral legislature
ALL men could vote
Metric system adopted
A new calendar adopted
September 22, 1792 was considered the
starting date of the French Republic
Death of a King
A box of secret letters between Louis
XVI and foreign monarchs was found by
the N. C.
 Dec. 1792: Louis was placed on trial
 He was killed by the guillotine
 The people were happy to see their king
die

Execution of Louis XVI
French Political Parties
Three political parties will develop when
the members of the N. C. start to argue
with each other over the future of the
French Republic
 Mountains
 Girondists
 Plain

Mountains
Radicals
 Rich Paris Citizens
 Extreme Radicals (Jacobians)
 Saw themselves as the defenders of the
people
 Leaders:
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 Maximillien Robespierre
 Georges-Jacques Danton
 Jean-Paul Marat
Robspierre
Jean-Paul Marat
Girondists
Moderates
 Most were from the Southwest of France
 Felt the Revolution had gone far enough
 Wanted to protect the rich middle-class
from radical attacks
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Plain
Sat between the Mountains and Girondists
 Consisted of members who did not want to
choose sides
 the Plain made up the majority in the
Convention
 1793: they will give support to the Mountains
 the Plain will help the Mountains become
even more radical, open to extreme, and
violent change
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Spreading the Revolution
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Europe was watching France and was
worried
European monarchs were worried that
revolution would spread to them
Jan. 1793: Great Britain, Spain,
Netherlands, and Sardinia joined with
Austria and Prussia against France
N. C. in France wanted to end royal power
everywhere in Europe
N. C. ordered French troops into to Europe
to free Europe from royal power
France did not fair well trying to end
monarchies in Europe
 France will surrender in their fight to
spread revolution
 N. C. worried that other nations may try
to invade France
 N. C. created the Committee of Public
Safety
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Committee of Public Safety
Saw need for more French troops
 Instituted conscription (draft)
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 All men between 18 and 45 were called into
the military
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Citizens were to manufacture goods for
the war effort
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the Mountain party will win control over the
National Convention
They will arrest the Girondist members who did
not agree with the Mountain’s policies and ideas
members supporting the Girondists will rebel
against the Mountains
one Girondist supporter--Charlotte Corday-killed a Mountain leader (Marat)
 shortly after, Charlotte was executed by the
guillotine
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other Girondist supporters would also be
executed for not following the Mountains
The Death of Marat by
J. L. David
Charlotte Corday
Reign of Terror
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The Mountains (led by the Jacobins) set
out to crush all of their opposition—Reign
of Terror
Lasted 1 year (July 1793-July 1794)
Suspects received quick, unfair trials
Many innocents were wrongfully accused
Marie Antoinette will die from the Reign of
Terror
17,000 will be executed by the guillotine
Spring 1794: Danton (leader of the
Jacobins) decided to end the Reign of
Terror
 A fellow party member (Robespierre)
disagreed
 Robespierre had Danton killed
 The terror lasted 4 more months
 Robespierre’s followers arrested and
had Robespierre killed
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The Directory
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1795: A new constitution was drafted
 Only men who owned land could vote
 Control given to the wealthy middle class
A council of 5 men called directors was
created
 The council would share power with a 2house legislature
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Directory=not popular
 Forced to put down many uprisings
 On verge of bankruptcy
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The people began to look to the military
to lead France instead of the Directory
French Revolution
Video--Lady Gaga
Napoleon
One military leader was becoming very
popular—Napoleon
 Rose quickly to the rank of general
 1795: helped the Directory put down an
uprising
 1796: married Josephine de
Beauharnais

Napoleon
Josephine de Beauharnais
Led the French army to victory over the
Austrians in Italy
 Became the leading general in France
after defeating Austria
 Fought the British in Egypt
 1799: Comes back to France
 Participates in a coup de’etat and takes
power from the Directory
 He will then set out to create an empire
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Napoleon in Egypt
The Consulate
Napoleon supported the French
constitution when he came to power
 Napoleon will name himself Consul and
take all power for himself
 He will set out to create a dictatorship
that will take rights away from the
people
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Restoring Order
Napoleon’s main objective: Bring Order
to France
 Restructured the government
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 Replaced elected officials with appointed
officials
 Education placed under the control of the
national government
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Changed the financial system of France
 Created the Bank of France
 ALL citizens had to pay taxes
 High prices and inflation were brought under
control
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon rewrote French law
 Placed the state above the individual
 All men equal before the law
 Some rights were limited:
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 Freedom of speech and the press were
limited
 Censorship of books, plays, and pamphlets
 Women had fewer rights
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon and the Church
1801: Concordat of 1801
 Napoleon acknowledged Catholicism as
the official religion of France
 France will tolerate other religions
 Napoleon could appoint bishops as long
as he paid them
 The Pope agreed to all of the terms

Building an Empire
Napoleon wanted to create an empire
for himself
 Napoleon was successful in creating a
peace with many of his enemies before
he will try to create his empire

1804: Napoleon names himself as
emperor of France
 in a grand ceremony, the French people
witnessed the end of the revolution
 Pope Pius VII was called to crown
Napoleon as the emperor of France
 Napoleon took the crown from the pope
and placed it on his own head
 this act illustrated the power that
Napoleon had over the people of
France, and the world

Coronation of Napoleon
Napoleon will send out his army to
obtain his quest for an empire
 Great Britain was Napoleon’s greatest
enemy
 The rest of Europe easily fell to
Napoleon, except Great Britain
 1805: Napoleon attempted to invade
Great Britain, but failed
 Oct. 1805: French navy is defeated at
Trafalgar by British admiral, Lord
Nelson

Lord Nelson
Napoleon tried to use economic warfare
against the British—Continental
System
 All nations controlled by France would
end trade with Great Britain
 No British goods were allowed to enter
Europe through French controlled ports
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Continental System
GB responded saying all ships going
into Europe had to stop at a British port
1st
 This squabble hurt the United States
since we were trading with both nations
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Napoleon’s Continental System FAILED
Napoleonic Europe
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1812: Napoleon controlled nearly ALL of
Europe
Made his brother (Joseph) king of Naples
and Spain
Made his son (Napoleon II) king of Italy
His bro. Louis was made king of Holland
Napoleon got rid of the Holy Roman
Empire
 Turned the HRE into the Federation of the
Rhine (a loose collection of German States)
Many of the nations controlled by
Napoleon did not like sending taxes to
France and fighting in Napoleon’s wars
 Many in Europe started feeling
nationalism
 Nations wanted to rule themselves, not
be under Napoleon’s control
 Many nations under Napoleon’s control
started to rebel
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Trouble Ahead
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Spain will be the 1st nation to rebel against
Napoleon
Spain tries to bring their king back
1812: Spain will overthrow Napoleon,
becoming independent
Spain received some aid from Great Britain
Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington)
led the British troops
Prussia will then revolt against French
control
The Duke of Wellington
Downfall of Napoleon’s Empire
When Russia joined against Napoleon,
the empire was doomed
 Alexander I—leader of Russia
 1811: Alexander Broke the Continental
System by reinstating trade with GB
 Napoleon=angry, decides to invade
Russia
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Alexander I
May 1812: Napoleon led 600,000
soldiers in an invasion of Russia
 Russia will NOT fall to Napoleon
 Russians retreated into the interior of
Russia, burning everything—drawing the
French deeper into Russia
 Sept. 14, 1812: French in sight of
Moscow
 Sept . 16, 1812: Moscow is set ablaze
by the Russians
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The long Russian winter has set in on
the French
 Napoleon ordered a retreat
 As the French retreated, the Russians
attacked the French
 Napoleon was furious at being attacked
on his retreat
 All of Europe began sending troops out
against Napoleon

Napoleon’s 1st Defeat
Oct. 1813: Napoleon is defeat at
Leipzig, Germany
 March 1814: allied European powers
march into Paris
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 Force Napoleon to surrender and step down
as emperor
A king is placed in power in France
(Louis XVIII)
 Napoleon is sent into exile on the island
of Elba (just off the coast of Italy)
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France will be reduced to its 1792 size
 Many in France wanted Napoleon to return
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March1, 1815: Napoleon will return to
France
Troops sent to stop him, join with him
Napoleon’s return is called the Hundred
Days
Napoleon says he is not out to gain new
territory
Nations in Europe still fear his power
Napoleon’s final defeat
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European nations began to ally against
Napoleon again
These nations were led by the British Duke
of Wellington
1815: Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo
Napoleon is arrested
Placed under house arrest on the island of
St. Helena in the Atlantic
1821: Napoleon will die on St. Helena
Waterloo
Napoleon’s legacy
He spread ideas of liberty to Europe
 New constitutions were created in the
areas he conquered
 Last remnants of feudalism were
destroyed in Europe
 His reforms helped to modernize many
nations
 He helped end absolute monarchy in
Europe
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