The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

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The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Causes of the Revolution

Long-standing resentments against the monarchy

• Inequalities in society
– Existing social and political structure
– Called the Old Order, or ancient régime
• King at the top and estates under him
– King Louis XVI, shy and indecisive
– Unpopular, self-indulgent queen, Marie-Antoinette
– Rest of French society divided into three classes,
called estates
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The Three Estates
Varied widely in what they contributed in terms of work and taxes

First Estate Second Estate Third Estate

• Roman Catholic clergy • Nobility • Largest group—97% of
the population
• One percent of the • Less than 2 percent of
population the population • Bourgeoisie—city-
dwelling merchants,
• Exempt from taxes • Paid few taxes factory owners, and
• Owned 10 percent of • Controlled much wealth professionals
the land • Sans culottes—
• Held key positions
– Collected rents and artisans and workers
– Government
fees
– Military • Peasants—poor with
– Bishops and other
little hope, paid rents
clergy grew wealthy • Lived on country
and fees
estates
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Further Causes
Enlightenment Ideas
• Inspiring new ideas from
Enlightenment philosophers
• Great Britain’s government
limiting the king’s power
• American colonists rebelled
successfully against British king
• New ideas changed
government and society in
other countries
Section 1
A Financial Crisis
• Severe economic problems
affected much of the country
• France in debt, spending
lavishly, borrowing money, and
facing bankruptcy
• Hailstorm and drought ruined
harvest; harsh winter limited
flour production
• People hungry and angry;
clergy and nobility no help
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The French Revolution and Napoleon
First Events of the Revolution
By 1789, no group happy
• Clergy and nobility lost power to
monarchy
• Bourgeoisie resented
regulations
• Poor worse off
Storming of the Bastille
• King brought in troops
• People of Paris armed
themselves
• Searching for weapons, a mob
stormed the Bastille
Section 1
Estates General meets
• Desire for reforms
• Voting process a problem
• Third Estate proclaimed
themselves National Assembly
• Tennis Court Oath
Great Fear spread
• King to punish the Third Estate
with foreign soldiers
• Rumors of massacres
• Peasants destroyed records
and burned nobles’ houses
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Creating a New Nation
Legislating New Rights
• Feudal dues eliminated
• Declaration laid out “liberty,
equality, fraternity”
• Inspired by the English Bill of
Rights, American Declaration of
Independence, and the writings
of Enlightenment philosophers
• Men are born equal and remain
equal under the law
• The rights did not extend to
women
Section 1
Restrictions on Power
• Louis tried to protect his throne
• Angered the common people
• Prices still high; mob broke into
the palace demanding bread
• Royal family seized; National
Assembly took bolder steps
• Passed laws against the
church, clergy, and public
employees
• Some outraged by actions
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Formation of a New Government
In 1791, the Legislative Assembly is formed. Citizens gained broad
voting rights, but rights were not universal. Constitution restricted
power of king and ended distinctions of birth. King and queen feared
they would be harmed.
Foreign Powers End of Monarchy
• Austria and Prussia warned against • August 10, 1792 royal family
harming monarchs imprisoned by mob
• Austrian army defeats French • Radical faction took charge with
• Financial strain of war, food National Convention
shortages, and high prices • Monarchy abolished; France
• King blamed; action demanded declared a republic

French revolutionary troops won the Battle of Valmy. New French

republic held ground against Europe’s Old Order.
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
A Radical Government
In 1792, the radical representatives were in charge of the National
Convention. The constitutional monarchy came to a violent end, and
France became a republic.

Factions Leaders Executions

• Radical Mountain • Marat • King put to death
by guillotine
• Moderate Girondins – Sansculottes,
advocate of • Europeans reacted
• The Plain (swing violence with horror
voters)
• Danton – Revolution
• No group had savagery
– Compromiser
program or plan of condemned
action • Robespierre
• Personal rivalries – Dedicated radical
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

Tightening Control
• Committee of Public Safety set up to manage military defense
• Drafted all able-bodied men between 18 and 45 for service
• Established the Revolutionary Tribunal to protect the Revolution

Transforming Society
• Leaders wanted to erase connections to old ways of life
• Clergy members lost positions; churches closed in Paris
• Robespierre created the cult of the Supreme Being
• Metric system was introduced
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The Reign of Terror
Course of Revolution
• Revolutionary leaders feared counterrevolution and took drastic actions
with accusations, trials, and executions. This period was known as the Reign
of Terror.

An Outbreak of Civil War

• Peasants, essentially conservative, only wanted an end to feudal dues.
• Remaining devoutly Catholic, the Vendée region opposed the Revolution in a
civil war. The government put down the counterrevolution to regain control.

Accusations and Trials

• Robespierre used the Revolutionary Tribunal to rid the country of dissent.
• It started with the Girondists, but soon anyone who had ever criticized the
Revolution, or who had connections to the Old Order, was in danger.
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
No Escape from the Terror
Death by Guillotine
• Most common sentence - death by guillotine
• Condemned paraded through Paris in open carts
• Mobs watched at scaffold; executions took less than one minute

The Terror’s Victims After the Terror

• No one was spared
• Peasants and laborers affected
• 40,000 executed in 10 months
• “Oh Liberty, what crimes are
committed in your name!”
• France started over with new
constitution in 1795
• Voting limited to property owners
• High prices, bankruptcy, and
citizens’ unrest continued
• Power vacuum developed
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

Summarize
Why was the period of mass
executions called the Reign of
Terror?

Answer(s): It was a period of accusations, trials,

and executions that led to a wave of fear.
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Napoleon’s Rise to Power
Napoleon Bonaparte, ruthlessly ambitious, rose from army captain to
ruler of France in a very short time. He took advantage of the turmoil of
the French Revolution.

Opportunities for Glory Napoleon Seizes Power

• Napoleon, brilliant military leader
• In charge of French interior at 26
• Became national hero
• Directory weak and ineffective
• Fear of royalists and of European
opposition
• November 1799 coup d’état
• France to be led by Consulate
• Napoleon voted first consul, in
effect a dictator

Napoleon promised order and stability, pledging to uphold key reforms.

The French gave up some freedoms for peace and prosperity.
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Emperor Napoleon
Once France under control, Napoleon turned to Europe
• Napoleon crowns himself
– Emperor Napoleon I
• Desire for empire
– Wanted to rule Europe and the Americas
– French expedition to Saint Domingue (Haiti today) failed
– Napoleon sold Louisiana Territory and turned his focus
to Europe
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Quest to Conquer Europe
Napoleonic Wars Begin
• Extension of wars fought during the French Revolution,
would last a decade
• France dominant power in Europe
• French empire grew rapidly, but fell apart more quickly
• Nelson and British navy won Battle of Trafalgar off
coast of Spain
• Napoleon defeated Russian and Austrian troops at
Austerlitz
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Napoleon Dominates Europe
Mastered Most of Europe
• Through treaties, alliances, and victories in battle
• Controlled much of Europe by 1812

Free of Control
• Great Britain remained an enemy
• Sweden, Portugal, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire escaped his grip

Rewarded Relatives
• Relatives put in power; brothers on thrones of Holland, Naples, and Sicily
• Sisters and stepson held powerful positions
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Napoleon’s Policies
Church-State Relations
• Antireligious nature of French
Revolution over
• Became friendly with Catholic
church
Legal and Educational
• Napoleonic Code developed
• Order and authority over
individual rights
• Schools for government and
military positions
Section 1
Economic Reforms
• Established the Bank of France
to regulate economy
• More efficient tax-collection
system
Legacy—Age of Napoleon
• Democratic ideas
• Equality before law,
representative system
• Spread of nationalism
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Disaster and Defeat
Portugal
• Napoleon surprised by inability to control Portugal
• Peninsular campaign was a failure

Russia
• Czar Nicholas I didn’t like French troops on western border

Costly Mistake
• Napoleon turned east in 1812
• Hoped to teach Russia a lesson
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The Russian Campaign
June 1812 French Army
• Napoleon and army of 600,000 • New recruits with no loyalty
troops • Supplies lost or spoiled
• Marched across Russian border • Disease, desertion, and hunger

No One to Fight Retreat Homeward

• Russian troops pulled east • Ruined city, no winter supplies
• French victory at Borodino, but
• Starvation and freezing
Russian army still strong
temperatures decimated army
• Pushed to Moscow but found
city in flames • Only 94,000 men survived
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
Defeat and Exile to Elba
• Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain allied against
France
• Napoleon raised another army, but troops inexperienced
• In October 1813 Napoleon defeated at Battle of the
Nations near Leipzig
• In March 1814, victorious allies entered Paris.
• Terms of surrender—Napoleon gave up throne and went
into exile on tiny island of Elba
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

Identify Cause and Effect

What factors contributed to
Napoleon’s failure in Russia?

Answer(s): soldiers lacked loyalty to Napoleon,

extreme heat, supplies lost or spoiled, disease,
desertion, hunger, Russian troops withdrew, harsh
Russian winter
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The Last Campaigns
The Hundred Days
• French monarchy restored with King Louis XVIII
• King unpopular; Napoleon returns after year in exile
• Louis panicked and fled; Napoleon declared outlaw by
allies
• Paris cheered Napoleon’s return
• Brief period of renewed glory-the Hundred Days
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1
The Last Campaigns

Battle of Waterloo Napoleon’s Final Days

• Duke of Wellington led final • Tried to escape capture, sent

confrontation
• Battle of Waterloo
• British and Prussian armies
• Crushing defeat for
Napoleon
• End of the Napoleonic Wars
to exile in Saint Helena
• Volcanic island in South
Atlantic
• Remained imprisoned for six
years
• Died at 51; cause of death
never determined
The French Revolution and Napoleon Section 1

Draw Conclusions
How was Napoleon able to escape
exile in Elba and return to
command the French army?

Answer(s): hired a ship to return him to France

and won the support of people and the army