Transcript French Revolution

French Revolution
Background info…
 French Monarchs (kings) have always
kept tight control on their power.
 They didn’t manage their money very
well though.
 By 1789, France was almost
completely broke!
Background info…
 To raise taxes, King Louis XVI needed
the agreement of the EstatesGeneral~ France’s legislature.
 It was made up of 3 estates or
groups.
Estates-General
 First Estate was the clergy (important
church people).
 Second Estate was the nobility
(nobles were those who owned about
1/3 of the nation’s land and they
were high up in the governmental
ranks)
 Third Estate were the commoners.
 Only the commoners paid taxes!!!!
National Assembly
 May 5, 1789, the Estates-General met
for the 1st time in 175 years.
 Each estate only got 1 vote.
 Naturally, the 3rd Estate wanted every
member’s vote to count separately.
 King Louis XVI realized that if they
voted separately, he may not get his
tax money.
National Assembly
 King Louis refused to let the 3 estates
vote together.
 So, the 3rd Estate renamed itself the
National Assembly and began writing
a constitution.
 King Louis locked them out of the
meeting hall to try to stop the
meeting.
National Assembly
 How did the members of the National
Assembly react to this?
 They met onto the palace tennis court
and had their meeting there.
 They all took what is called the
“Tennis Court Oath.” They swore they
would not disband until they had
written a new constitution.
National Assembly
 Louis began secretly bringing in
troops to drive out the Third Estate.
 They were saved when the people of
Paris started a rebellion.
 On July 14, 1789, a mob destroyed
the Bastille (an old, hated prison, that
was a symbol to the French people of
the power of the government).
 This day is the official beginning of
the French Revolution.
National Assembly
 The National Assembly did away with
privileges of the First and Second
Estates.
 The Assembly approved the
Declaration of the Rights of Man (This
was similar to our Declaration of
Independence and stated the reasons
for the Revolutions)
National Assembly
 In 1791, the National Assembly
adopted a constitution for France.
 The powers of the king/monarchy
were LIMITED!
 Government was divided into 3
branches (executive, legislative,
judicial…sound familiar to anyone?)
National Assembly
 Church property was taken by the
government and sold
 The government controlled the
Catholic Church in France and paid
the salaries of priests.
 The National Assembly eventually
disbanded and a new legislative
assembly was elected.
National Convention
 Other countries were watching the
events unfolding in France.
 They were scared that what was
happening in France would happen in
their nations, so Prussia (Germany)
and Austria attacked France.
 They wanted to defeat France and put
King Louis XVI back in power.
 The people went nuts and mobs
headed to the streets again!
National Convention
 This chaos eventually led to a
National Convention where a new
constitution was written.
 During this time, the monarchy was
abolished and King Louis was tried,
convicted, and beheaded for treason.
The Reign of Terror
 After the monarchy was destroyed, a
group of people called the Jacobins,
took power in 1793.
 They began what is known as the
Reign of Terror. Anyone who opposed
them faced arrest and execution.
 The “Terror” only lasted one year but
thousands died.
1795
 In 1795, a new constitution
established a legislature with 2
houses and an executive branch.
This was called the Directory.
 The Directory governed France from
1795 to 1799.
 During this time, a young military
officer, Napoleon Bonaparte was
winning battles. In 1799, he
overthrew the Directory. Napoleon
became the new ruler of France.
Videos
 Before Napoleon notes
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot
nADq4Y0-A&safe=active (Horrible
Histories)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT
TvKwCylFY&safe=active (Crash
Course)
Napoleon
 Napoleon was a war hero and won
many battles for France.
 He soon agreed to a peace treaty to
end the wars against France.
 France had already won control of a
large part of North America and the
island of Haiti.
Napoleon
 In 1803, France was once again at
war with Great Britain.
 In order to get money, Napoleon
agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory
to the U.S. for $15 million.
 In France, Napoleon restored order
and the economy improved.
 Napoleon set up a centralized
government.
Napoleon
 One of Napoleon’s most important
reforms was the Napoleonic Code.
This was actually 7 law codes that
replaced the many systems of law in
France.
 Napoleon also took more and more
power for himself. He ignored the
freedom of the press and shut down
newspapers that opposed him.
Napoleon
 He was determined to create an
empire in Europe. In 1804, he
declared himself emperor.
 From 1805 until 1813, he led France
into one war after another, including
an invasion of Russia.
 Europe’s rulers joined forces and
went against Napoleon.
Napoleon
 After several defeats (losses), he was
forced to step down in 1813 and he was
sent to the island of Elba in the
Mediterranean.
 He escaped in 1815 and took command of
another French army.
 3 months later, they fought a coalition of
European armies at the Battle of Waterloo.
Again, he lost.
 This time, they sent him to Saint Helena
Island, where he died in 1821.
Video: Napoleon
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8
gC00avITj0&safe=active (Horrible
Histories)