Transcript the french revolution and napoleon

WORLD HISTORY
Section 1 (pages 592-599)
Revised October 8, 2012
 Inequalities in society
 Old order
 King was at the top, followed by three social groups (estates)
 1st Estate—Roman Catholic clergy (1%)
 2nd Estate—Nobles , made up of key positions in gov’t & military (2%)
 3rd Estate—Largest group (97%)
 Bourgeoisie-merchants, factory owners, & professionals
 Sans culottes-artisans & workers
 Peasants-worked hard and had very little
 Enlightenment ideas—rebellion against the king
 Poor leadership from Louis XVI
 Financial crisis—France deeply in debt
 King Louis XVI tried to tax the 2nd Estate, but the Nobles refused
 Widespread hunger & record cold (1788)
 Poor harvest
Reasons:
1. Inequalities in society
2. Ideas of Enlightenment writers
3. Poor leadership from Louis XVI
4. Financial crisis
5. Widespread hunger and record
cold
The Bread Famine and the
Pawnbroker by Le Sueur
brothers, 1700s
 THE OLD ORDER- Inequalities in French society!
 King was at the top- King Louis XVI and Queen Marie
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Antoinette
3 social groups (ESTATES) were under him
1st Estate- Catholic Clergy- 1% of the population
 Several privileges- FEW TAXES
2nd Estate- Nobility- 2% of the population
 Paid few taxes
 Key positions in govt. and military
 Great country manors
3rd Estate- 97% of the population
 Bourgeoisie- Merchants, Factory Owners, Professionals
 Artisans- Skilled Workers
 Peasants
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An assembly made up of all three Estates met to discuss new taxes.
Asked to approve taxes on the Third Estate
Estates General had not met for over 175 years
 Representatives wrote notebooks (cahiers) to document their grievances.
As the notebooks arrived in Paris, it became evident that the people wanted extreme
reforms.
 Voting process threatened reform
 Before, 1st/2nd Estate voted together, thus outvoting the 3rd estate
3rd Estate wanted voting procedures changed
 Refused to follow King’s orders to vote the old way
 King Louis refused to recognize them
 Thus, they formed the National Assembly on June 17, 1789
 Gave themselves the right to make law
 Locked out by the King and met in an indoor tennis court
 Tennis Court Oath—would not leave until they had written a constitution for
France.
 The King relented and allowed each representative to have a vote
 Spring of 1789—no group was happy
 1st/2nd Estates (upper clergy & nobility)
 Resented they had lost power to the monarchy
 3rd Estate
 Wealthy bourgeoisie resented gov’t regulations that
hampered business growth
 Poorer members resented the hunger & unemployment
 Demanded more representation and rights
 A mob stormed the Bastille
 Rumors of retaliation spread
 The King ordered troops to Paris and Versailles in case he
needed to preserve the monarchy by force.
 In response, the Nat’l Assembly armed themselves against any
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action taken by the King.
On July 14, 1789, a mob of Parisians went to the Bastille, an
ancient prison, looking for weapons.
The Bastille was viewed as a symbol of oppression by the
people.
The mob first tried to negotiate for weapons, but when the
Bastille’s commander refused, they stormed into the prison.
The mob killed the commander and put his head on a stick
before parading through the streets of Paris.
 This became a powerful symbol of the French Revolution.
 Some were fearful of punishment from the king.
 Rumors were spread about the king hiring foreign
soldiers to punish the 3rd Estate.
 As a result, a panic swept through France.
 Some stories were true, but most were not.
 As a result of years of abuse by landowners, some
peasants did take revenge.
 Records listing feudal dues and rents were burned, along
with some of the nobles’ homes.
 Yes
 They represented 97% of the people in France.
 1789- NATIONAL
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ASSEMBLY
Eliminated Feudal
dues
Tax the First Estate
Wrote the Declarations
the Rights of Man
“LIBERTY, EQUALITY,
AND FRATERNITY”
Freedom of speech
press and religion
 The violence that marked the beginning of the Revolutions
subsided.
 The Nat’l Assembly began to transform centuries of French
tradition.
 By August 1789
 Nat’l Assembly had eliminated all the feudal dues and
services owed by peasants to landowners
 Eliminated the 1st Estates legal privileges
 Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen
 Liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)
 All men are born equal and remain equal before the law
 Freedom of speech, press, and religion
 US Bill of Rights
 Women not given these rights (Olympe Gouges)
 The Declaration laid out the basic principles of
the French Revolution—“liberty, equality,
fraternity [brotherhood].” Writers of the
Declaration took their inspiration from the
English Bill of Rights, the American Declaration
of Independence, and the writings of
Enlightenment philosophers
1.
2.
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Men are born and remain free and equal in rights
The aim of all political association is the preservation of the …rights of
man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to
oppression
5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to
society….
6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to
participate personally, or through his representative, in its formation. It
must be the same for all…
7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the
cases and according to the forms prescribed by law…
9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared
guilty…
11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most
precious of the rights of man…
12. A common contribution (tax) is essential. This should be equitably
distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
 King Louis again called troops to the palace to protect
his throne.
 This angered the common people
 In October, 7000 women marched through the rain
from Paris to Versailles and demanded bread.
 After breaking into the palace, King Louis agreed to
return to Paris and live in the Tuileries Palace with his
family.
 Revolution’s leaders took bolder steps
 They passed several anticlerical measures
 Seized church lands and sold them to pay off France’s
huge debt
 All religious orders were disbanded
 Also passed an act to turn the clergy into public
employees
 This outraged most members of the clergy and horrified
many peasants.
 Nat’l Assembly finished constitution in 1791
 It created a new legislative body called the Legislative
Assembly.
 Citizens gained broad voting rights.
 But had to be a tax paying male and at least 25
 The monarchy was kept, but severely restricted.
 King Louis and Marie-Antoinette feared for their lives.
 Disguised themselves and fled.
 They were eventually caught and returned to Paris.
 July 1792
 Austria & Prussia issued a warning against harming the
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French monarchs.
Austria sent 50,000 troops to the French border.
In response, the Legislative Assembly declared war.
France’s army was in disarray, and was easily defeated.
The warning had probably been issued to avoid
provoking a war against France, but to no avail.
 A mob marched on the palace and slaughtered the
guards.
 The king and queen, with their children, were thrown
in prison.
 They had been reduced to commoners.
 Faced with mob violence and foreign invasion, the
Legislative Assembly felt powerless.
 It voted itself out of existence and called for the election
of a new legislature.
 This violence put the radical faction in control.
 This National Convention abolished the monarchy and
declared France a republic.
 1791- Legislative
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Assembly
Established broad
voting rights
Restricted the
Monarchy
King and Queen were
arrested while trying
to flee
1792- Legislative
Assembly declared war
on Austria and Prussia
 The End of the Monarchy Extreme
action came on August 10, 1792,
when a mob marched on the
Tuileries Palace and slaughtered the
guards. Louis, Marie-Antoinette,
and the children—now demoted to
commoners— were thrown in
prison.
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Faced with mob violence and
foreign invasion, the Legislative
Assembly felt powerless. It voted
itself out of existence and called for
the election of a new legislature, the
National Convention. The violence
in August helped put the radical
faction, or those who favored
extreme change, in control. Among
the National Convention’s first acts
were abolishing the monarchy and
declaring France a republic.
 1793 Jacques-Louis David painting, the Death of Marat
 When the National Convention convened on September
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20, 1792, the radical representatives were in control.
France would not be a constitutional monarchy, but a
republic.
Tried and executed the king.
Set up Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary
Tribunal.
Closed churches.
Tried to undo old way.
 Montagnards – the most radical
 Jacobin Club
 Lower middle class and poor people
 Supported the Republic- against Monarchy
 Girondins – moderates
 Supported constitutional monarchy
 Resisted extremes on either side
 The Plain
 Swing voters
 Eventually lean Radical
 1792- Establishment of a
new Legislature- THE
NATIONAL CONVENTION
 Radical faction took over
the government
 ABOLISHED THE
MONARCHY
 GOVERNEMNT DIVIDED
INTO THREE FACTIONS
 The Mountain
(Montagnards)—most
radical, support from
lower middle class/poor
 Girondins—moderates
 The Plain—swing voters
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Jean-Paul Marat
Advocate of violence and leader of
Paris sans culottes
 One of the most radical leaders
 Printed radical newspaper
 Had a skin condition which
required daily medicinal baths
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Stabbed to death while taking his
bath
Georges-Jacques Danton
Violent agitator – very popular with
public
 A compromiser
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Maximilien Robespierre
Intense dedication to the
Revolution
 Led the National Convention
during its most blood-thirsty time.
 Initially detested the death penalty
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 The more powerful Montagnards were eager to try &
execute the King.
 Wanted to prevent the return of the Monarchy and
defend the Revolution from its enemies.
 The King was quickly condemned and scheduled to die
on January 21, 1793.
 He tried to give a speech about his innocence, but was
drown out by a drum roll.
 He was placed in the guillotine and his head was cut
off.
 A young guard held his head up after the execution.
 First to be set up was the Committee of Public Safety.
 Managed the country’s military defense against enemies
on France’s borders.
 Created a draft of all able-bodied men between 18-45 for
military service.
 Created a court called the Revolutionary Tribunal.
 This court was set up to root out and eliminate people
who threatened the Revolution from within.
 Leaders wanted to erase all connections to old ways of life,
including religion.
 Many clergy members lost their positions.
 In Paris, the local government closed the churches and
replaced Catholic Churches with “the Cult of the Supreme
Being”.
 A metric system replaced the old system of weights and
measures.
 A new calendar also cut ties to the past.
 This calendar, renamed the months and made each month 3
weeks of 10 days.
 This calendar fell out of use, but the metric system stayed.
 It saw the old government and systems as oppressive
and it wanted to create a better society.
 Middle of 1793
 Many people in and out of France criticized the
Revolution.
 Revolution leaders worried about a counterrevolution.
 A revolution against a gov’t that was established by a
revolution.
 Included Great Britain, Holland, Spain, Austria, and
Prussia who all formed a coalition to make war against
France.
 In response, revolutionary leaders began a series of
accusations, trials, and executions.
 As a result, some of the revolutionary leaders feared
that they would lose control. They decided to take
drastic actions to avoid a possible counterrevolution,
a revolution against a government that was established
by a revolution. The Mountain began a series of
accusations, trials, and executions that became known
as the Reign of Terror, creating a wave of fear
throughout the country.
 The peasants had won their main goal—the end of
feudal dues—they returned to their conservative roots.
 Most remained devoutly Catholic.
 After the institution of the draft, the peasants’ hatred
for the gov’t erupted.
 “They have killed our king; chased away our priests; sold
the goods of our church; eaten everything we have and
now they want to take our bodies . . . No, they shall not
have them.”
 An area of western France, resistance to the gov’t was
so strong that it led to civil war.
 Counterrevolutionary force called the Catholic and
Royal army, fought gov’t forces.
 Gov’t forces ultimately regained control by destroying
everyone and everything it could.
 Committee of Public Safety (summer of 1793)
 M. Robespierre declared the need to use terror to defend
the republic from its many enemies.
 The terror campaign started with the Girondists, who
had favored a constitutional monarchy.
 Soon, anyone who had criticized the Revolution or was
connected to the Old Order, was in danger of being
hauled in for a trial.
 Some were tried because of their counterrevolutionary
activity.
 The accused had few rights and some were even
forbidden to defend themselves.
 Such a death was quick, in contrast to the agonizing methods of
execution used in the past.
 The executioner could execute more than one person per
minute.
 Paris executioner complained that decapitation by sword dulled
the blade.
 Sharpening the sword took time, and their were many to be
executed.
 Sometimes the condemned bribed the executioner to be “on target”
with their swing.
 Dr. Joseph Guillotine, a member of the Nat’l Assembly,
recommended a “decapitation machine” used by other countries.
 Guillotine believed this method was more in line with
Enlightenment ideals.
 The guillotine became a symbol of terror.
 The Reign of Terror did not spare any particular class,
occupation, or gender.
 More peasants and laborers formed the largest group of victims.
 However, nobility and even women were executed.
 Marie-Anoinette—Queen of France
 Olympe de Gouges—wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman
 Nuns who refused to close their convents.
 Robespierre sent G.J. Danton and followers to the guillotine.
 Robespierre himself was executed along with about 100 of his
followers.
 During the 10 months of the Terror, some 300,000 people were
arrested, and about 17,000 were executed.
 France had to start over with a new gov’t
 In 1795, the Nat’l Convention wrote another constitution
 After the new constitution was adopted, voters elected a
governing board called the Directory
 Directory made up of 5 men called Directors
 The Directory did pass some legislation, but was mostly
ineffective
 France’s troubles continued because of the ineffectiveness
and corruption of the Directory
 As a result, there was a power vacuum, with no one really in
control
 High prices, bankruptcy, citizen unrest still continued
 Section 3
 Pages 608-613
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Estates General (Old Order)
 Had not met for 175 years
 Sought changes to voting process/individual votes
Nat’l Assembly (created June 17, 1789)
 Locked out by King (Tennis Court Oath)
 Ended feudalism and privileges of the 1st & 2nd Estates
 Approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
 Seized church lands and made clergy paid employees
 Kept limited monarchy, which reduced the king’s power
Legislative Assembly (first met September, 1791)
 Inexperienced representatives, often deadlocked on domestic issues
 Declared war on Austria in April 1792
 Voted itself out in 1792
 Felt powerless, after royal family was imprisoned
Nat’l Convention (first met September, 1792) Extremely radical
 Abolished the monarchy & declared France a republic
 Tried and executed Louis XVI for treason
 Instituted draft to increase size of army
 In power during the Reign of Terror
 Began codifying laws and creating public education system
 Abolished slavery in French colonies
 Wrote a new constitution, and created the Directory
Directory (first met in 1795)
 Run by an executive branch of five directors
 Weak, corrupt, and inefficient
 Ended in 1799 when Napoleon seized power
 Napoleon showed early signs
of greatness
 1793- Defeated the English at
Toulon
 Napoleon took over for a
wounded captain
 1794- Defeated Austria in Italy
 1795- Defeated the French mob
 1790’s- Napoleon controlled all
French forces- kept France
secure in very difficult times
 1798- Napoleon in Egypt
(pg.609)
 1799 Coup d'état- Directory had
grown weak and ineffective (pg.
609)
 Bonaparte was a ruthlessly ambitious young man
 The turmoil of the French Revolution gave him a prime
opportunity to rise quickly to power
 In just a few short years, he would rise from a mere army
captain to the ruler of France
 1793-forced British out of the port of Toulon
 1794-won victory over Austrian troops in Italy
 1795-faced off against Loyalist in Paris
 Fired into crowd with “grape-shot” and made the mob flee
 For this, he was put in command of the
interior of France
 He was only 26
 1796-Directory placed Napoleon in command of
French forces invading Italy.
 His army was poorly supplied, thus they had to take
their food from the countryside.
 Used this to his advantage and moved swiftly through
battles against Austria & Italy
 Did not have to wait for supply trains
 These victories kept France’s borders
secure and won territory for France.
 He wanted to disrupt the trade between Great Britain
and India
 He took a large army and the French fleet across the
Mediterranean Sea in 1798.
 Napoleon’s forces quickly defeated Egypt’s Ottoman
defenders and won control of Egypt
 The British navy, under the command of Admiral
Horatio Nelson, trapped the French fleet in the Battle
of the Nile
 British destroyed most of the French
fleet
 Napoleon wanted to keep the defeat a secret
 He placed his army under another officer in Egypt and
returned to France
 He kept his defeat out of the press and exaggerated his
successes
 He became a national hero in the process
 Using his hero status, Napoleon decided to seize
political power.
 By this time, the Directory had grown weak and
ineffective.
 Fearful of loyalists and other countries, a group of
conspirators planned to overthrow the French
government and place Napoleon in control.
 Thus, in November of 1799, a group of armed
supporters of Napoleon surrounded the Directory.
 They demanded the members to transfer
France’s power to Napoleon
 This is called a coup d’etat.
 Exhausted by the chaos, death, and warfare of the
revolution, most French embraced the order and
stability Napoleon promised.
 Napoleon also promised to uphold some key
revolutionary reforms.
 The people were willing to give up some freedoms if
Napoleon could bring peace, prosperity, and glory to
France.
 He strengthened control by
submitting a plebiscite to the
French people
 The plebiscite or question was put
up for vote in 1804.
 Did they want to declare France an
empire?
 French voters supported him and
voted yes.
 Napoleon then became Emperor
Napoleon I.
 Pope Pius VII came from Rome to
crown him.
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Napoleon grabbed the crown and
placed it on his own head.
 He then wanted to rule all of Europe
and began a series of wars to do this.
 France had controlled parts of the Americas.
 These territories included: Louisiana, Florida and Saint
Domingo (present day Haiti)
 When a civil war broke out in sugar-rich Saint
Domingo, Napoleon sent an expedition to take back
the colony and restore the profitable sugar industry.
 The expedition failed miserably.
 After the failure, Napoleon sold the Louisiana
Territory to the United States and
turned his focus on Europe.
 These wars were an extension
of the ones fought between
France and other European
nations during the French
Revolution.
 During this period, France
became the dominant power.
 These wars lasted until 1815.
 Keeping France in a
continuous state of war for
more than a decade.
 Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain remained
France’s greatest enemy.
 Britain helped organize a series of coalitions of European
nations against France.
 Britain also funded resistance to Napoleon.
 Napoleon knew that he would have to defeat Britain to
achieve peace in Europe.
 He planned on invading Britain in October, 1805.
 Napoleon was defeated by Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar.
 However, on land, Napoleon had been
successful.
 Defeated Russian and Austrian troops at the
Battle of Austerlitz, near Vienna, Austria.
 Napoleon’s disdain for the British grew as they continued
to defy him.
 He knew this “nation of shopkeepers” relied on oversea trade.
 If he could disrupt this trade, he could make it more difficult for the
British to fund the rebellion in Europe.
 He planned a blockade of trade to Britain.
 This was called the Continental System.
 The British countered with requiring all ships from neutral
countries to stop in Britain ports for permission to trade
with the French.
 These trade restrictions caused more conflicts.
 Peninsular War
 Portugal, part of the Iberian peninsula, was neutral during
the Napoleonic Wars.
 Needed the trade with Britain, thus refused to comply with
the Continental System.
 Napoleon sent troops into Portugal to force out the king.
 He then conquered Spain and placed his brother Joseph in
power.
 Spanish resented a foreign ruler and revolted in 1808.
 Britain then sent troops to support the revolt.
 Napoleon was now fighting two military forces.
 He responded by sending troops from central Europe,
and they quickly won victories over the British and Spanish
forces.
 Spanish people began a guerrilla war.
 They ambushed French troops and raided French
camps.
 To punish the Spanish guerrilla fighters, the French
slaughtered many innocent Spanish civilians.
 This guerrilla war kept the French pinned down, and
eventually Napoleon had to pull his troops out of
Spain.
 In spite of the loss in Spain, Napoleon managed to take
control of most of Europe through treaties, alliances,
and victories in battle.
 The only nations free of his control were Great Britain,
Sweden, Portugal, and the Ottoman Empire.
 Napoleon placed his relatives in power.
 Brothers in Holland, Naples & Sicily (Italy), Westphalia
(Germany)
 Sisters and even his stepson, also held powerful
positions.
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Reform of Church-State Relations
 Agreement with Pope called Concordat
 Recognized most of French were Catholic, but did not have to be Catholic
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Economic Reforms
 Established the Bank of France to regulate the economy
 It also set up a more efficient tax collection system
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Legal and Educational Reforms
 Scholars revised and organized French law and created the Napoleonic Code
 This code made laws uniform across the nation and eliminated many injustices
 However, it also promoted order and authority over individual rights.
 Freedom of press was restricted
 Denied rights for women
 Napoleon established a network of high schools, universities, and technical schools to
educate young men in preparation for jobs
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Napoleon’s legacy
 Ensured that some basic ideas of the Revolution would remain part of the French gov’t
 Democratic ideas included equality before the law and a representative gov’t
 Nationalism spread to peoples that Napoleon had conquered
 Section 4
 Pages 614-619
 Napoleon stationed troops near the western border of
Russia
 Czar Alexander I became nervous and stationed his own
troops there.
 Napoleon noticed these troop movements of the Russians
and decided to turn his troops east and move into Russia.
 Thus, in June 1812, Napoleon and an army of 600,000 men
marched across the Russian border.
 Many of these troops were new recruits from conquered
territories and felt no loyalty for Napoleon.
 Many of the army’s supplies were lost or spoiled along the
way.
 The summer heat made men and horses miserable.
 Thus, many me suffered from disease, desertion, and hunger, which
thinned the ranks.
 Napoleon wanted a quick victory over the Russians.
 The Russian troops withdrew as the French army advanced.
 Peasants, too, moved east after setting fire to their fields
and cities in order to leave nothing behind that the French
could use.
 Scorched earth
 Finally, in August, 1812, the French army clashed with the
Russians.
 They won the battle
 However, they had extremely high casualties
 The Russians retreated, still 90,000 men strong.
 As the remnants of the French army pushed on to Moscow, they
discovered the city in ruins.
 Fires had been set and the city was nearly deserted.
 Napoleon knew he could not support his troops in this ruined city
through the winter.
 In October, he and his army left Moscow.
 The French army was forced to return from the direction they had
come.
 The fields were still scorched and they received isolated attacks from
Russian peasants.
 As the harsh Russian winter set in, starvation and freezing
temperatures killed thousands.
 What was left of the French army staggered home without a leader.
 Napoleon had rushed back to Paris by sleigh, leaving his troops behind.
 In the end, only 94,000 out of the original 600,000 French
troops made it back.
 371,000 killed in action[1]
 800,000 killed by disease, primarily in the disastrous
invasion of Russia[2]
 600,000 civilians[2]
 65,000 French allies (mainly Poles fighting for
independence lost in 1795)[2]
 Total: 1,800,000 French and allies (mostly Germans and
Poles) dead in action, disease and missing[1]
 The Allies had hope after Napoleon’s Russian campaign.
 Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain
 After the Russian campaign, Napoleon raised another army.
 His troops were inexperienced.
 In October 1813, the allies met Napoleon’s new troops near
the German city of Liepzig.
 The battle was a clear defeat for Napoleon.
 In March, 1814, the allies entered Paris in victory.
 As one of the terms of surrender, Napoleon had to give up
his throne.
 He was allowed to keep the title of emperor, but was exiled to
the island of Elba—a tiny patch of land off the coast of Italy.
 He went into exile with a small pension and about 400 guards.
 The allies restored the French monarchy, recognizing
Louis XVIII, as the rightful king of France.
 Brother of executed king
 Also returned the borders of France to 1792 areas.
 The king quickly unpopular.
 Many were fearful of a return to the Old Order.
 The Hundred Days
 Battle of Waterloo
 After about one year, Napoleon hired a ship to take him and many
supporters back to France.
 As rumors spread about his return, Louis XVIII panicked and fled to
Belgium.
 The allies (Prussia, Austria, Russia, Gr. Britain) declared Napoleon an
outlaw.
 The French people, who had been dragged through years of bitter
warfare, were not happy. (over 1 million French killed)
 Thousands of other French citizens were excited to hear of Napoleon’s
return.
 They still adored the leader and the reforms he had made while he was emperor.
 In fact, the troops sent to arrest him, instead pledged their loyalty to him.
 Napoleon arrived in Paris to cheering crowds, thus this began a brief
period of renewed glory for France called the Hundred Days.
 Across Europe, Napoleon’s enemies were gathering their
troops for another showdown with Napoleon.
 After some indecisive battles, the final confrontation took
place on June 18, 1815 at Waterloo, a Belgian village.
 Napoleon led his troops against British (led by the Duke of
Wellington), Belgian, Dutch, and German troops.
 After heavy rain delayed the battle, Napoleon’s army was no
match for the combined strength of the multiple armies.
 There were about 50,000 casualties between France and Great
Britain, a great loss of life.
 The Battle of Waterloo was a crushing defeat for Napoleon
and ended his military career and the
Napoleonic Wars.
 Napoleon evaded capture for a short time, but was
eventually caught.
 This time they exiled him much further away at Saint
Helena, a bleak volcanic island in the South Atlantic,
some 1200 miles from the nearest mainland.
 Napoleon never escaped from his remote prison on
Saint Helena.
 He died just six years later at the age of 51.
 The cause of death is still not known.
 A meeting in 1815 to create a plan to restore order and
stability to Europe after the Napoleonic Wars.
 700 diplomats attended the Congress, only a few played
crucial roles:




Lord Castlereagh of Great Britain
King Fredreick- William III of Prussia
Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria
Charles Tallyrand of France
 METTERNICH HAD A STRONG DISTRUSTOF DEMOCRACY
AND POLITICAL CHANGE (see next slide)
 The congress redrew the map of Europe.
 It also formed the German Confederation
 Took and distributed France’s conquered territories
 Restored some monarchies
 Metternich was the
leader of the Congress of
Vienna.
 Reactionary
 Restore a balance of





power in Europe
Make Europe peaceful
again
Restore old monarchies
Compensate the Allies
Punish France
Stop the Revolutionary
movement
 Saw revolutions as a destabilizing force.
 Wanted to stabilize Europe.
 Those which aided France lost territory
 Those which opposed France won territory
 Revolutionary Legacy Privileged positions (monarchy) were not
secure (fear of Revolution)
 Enlightenment ideas of human dignity,
personal liberties and equality would not go
away. (individual rights)
 The common man could make great
changes.
1789-1800

1789




1791



Louis XVI executed
First coalition formed against France
Reign of Terror begins
1795


Nat’l Convention forms
Monarchy ends
1793




Legislative Assembly forms
France declares war against Austria &
Prussia
1792



Nat’l Assembly forms
Fall of the Bastille
Declaration of the Rights of
Man/Citizen
The Directory forms
1799

Napoleon seizes power
1800-1815
 1805
 French defeat at Trafalgar,
victory @ Austerlitz
 1812
 Disastrous Russian
campaign
 1813
 Napoleon exiled to Elba
 1815
 Napoleon’s Hundred Days
 French defeat at Waterloo
 Napoleon exiled to St.
Helena
 Congress of Vienna