THE EVENTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Financial Situation

Debt from WarsDebt from King’s extravaganceInterest payments ½ tax revenue

Tax structure problemsChange necessary soon

Estates General called

Last called in 1614Legislative body in an Absolute Monarchy

Meeting at Versailles’ palaceEach Estate gets one vote

May 5th, 1789

Double the Third

Third Estate won’t cooperate; knows resultMeets in Tennis Court

King offers two votes to Third EstateThird rejects King’s offer

King closes the Estates General to the 3rd EstateJune 17th, 1789

National AssemblyJune 20th, 1789

Three Estates meet Form National Assembly

All Three Estates representedQuestion format of Assembly

Tennis Court Oath

National Assembly vows to make changeVow taken in Tennis Court

Will not disband until Constitution is created

BastilleKing’s Prison in downtown Paris

Symbol of King’s power and controlCrowds of 3rd Estate members attack

Free prisoners and gain weapons

Great FearRumors of violence against peasants

Untrue RumorsViolence caused against Manor houses

Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Old Order is Gone1789

Based off of the American Declaration of Independence

Incorporated ideas from Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau for freedom

No equality for women

Women March on Versailles

King refused to accept reform and the Declaration of Rights

National Assembly moved to ParisOctober 1789, thousands of women march to the

King’s palace in VersaillesKing announces that he will come to Paris to show

support for the National Assembly

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The French Catholic church was under government control turning the clergy in to elected salaried officialsPassed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790

Created a deep disagreement between the Church and the Revolution

Many clergy refused to accept it.It took all church land and sold it to the highest bidder

Pope Pius VI condemns this bill and it creates two churches: one loyal to the state and one to the Pope

New Government

Unicameral Legislature Divided between Royalists and Radicals

National Assembly created a constitution of the people in 1791

Guaranteed the basic rights of the People and limited the monarchy

Middle Class gained powerFirst and Third Estates were unhappy because they were

losing power

EmigresNobles who fled to Austria

The royalty of Austria and other European countries were worried that their rule would be challenged by

the RevolutionHoped to restore Louis XVI to power in stead of the

Revolution

Declare war on Austria

1792Paris crowds attacked king’s palace

King fled to legislators for helpLegislators threw Royals in jail instead of helping them

Mobs of Paris killed Nobles and PriestsNew Constitution written which allowed all men the

right to vote

Section Three: Dawn of a new Era

Battle at ValmyFrench (in flux) went to war against Austria, Prussia

and Silesia (Monarchies)In Sept 1792, French Army won the conflictSoldiers were subjected to poor conditions

Victory boosted their spirits

National Convention and the New Calendar

Met from 1792-1795 and most members were bourgeoisie

Wrote the first Democratic ConstitutionAdopted a new calendar: 9.22.1792 = day one of year

one. Rename the months of the year. Redefine the borders of France for natural boundries

Trial and Execution of the King

Louis was executed in January of 1793Accused of crimes against the liberty of the nationUse a box of letters found to accuse him; the letters were from foreign monarchs. In the letters he pleads for help and badmouths the Revolutionary leaders.

The Crowds rejoice

Committee of Public SafetyNational Convention forms the Committee of Public

Safety to direct the war effortAdopt conscription: Draft all men between 18-45 for

military service (2 million men) Skilled with resources were prized.

Jacobins control the committee led by Maximilien Robespierre and extreme radical

They support the Sans Coulottes

Reign of TerrorJuly 1793- July 1794

40,000 French people are guillotined (111 per day)Enemies of the Revolution were tried and executed

It’s like a witch hunt

Constitution of 1795Universal male suffrage goes away; only property

owners can now vote.Convention writes a new constitution which creates the

Directory (5 directors/bicameral legislature)

The DirectoryInept leadership

Corrupt LeadershipCreated many enemies such as the Sans Culottes

Little effort to fix the close the gap between rich and poor

Section Four: Napoleon’s Empire

Overthrow of the DirectoryNapoleon overthrows the directory in 1799

Forms a dictatorshipMakes a new constitution

ConsulateExecutive branch is made of three consuls

Napoleon names himself as First Consul, a Roman ideaBicameral Legislature

Created Secondary Schools called Lycee, Universal Education

Created the Bank of FranceForced everyone to pay taxes

Crowns Himself EmperorTakes the Crown from the Pope and places it on his

own head, symbolizing his ability to crown himself not needing the church to do it.

1802

Napoleonic CodeHad a new code written

Made the State more important than the individualsBased on Enlightenment Idea: such as equality of all

citizens, religious tolerationLimited freedom of speech and press

Women’s rights were also limitedFrench law was made clear and consistant

Males were given more power in their household over their wives and families

Concordat of 1801Acknowledged Catholicism was the religion of the

majority of French PeopleAffirmed the religious toleration of others

Retained the right to name all bishops who had sworn alliance with the state.

Eliminated the Civil Constitution of the ClergyPope and Napoleon hug

Battle of TrafalgarThe battle happened in October 1805

British Admiral Nelson defeated the French NavyOff the southern coast of Spain

Removed the possibility of the French invasion of Britain

Continental SystemFrance banned trade with Great Britain

Made the countries which they had beaten, not trade with Britain either

Britain said that any ship on it’s way to Europe had to stop in Britain and pay a tax.

British Navy maintained control of the seasNapoleon was trying to destroy the British system

Attack on RussiaRussia begins to trade with Britain and this made

Napoleon angry. He invaded Russia

They retreated and used a “scorched earth” policy to stop the French

The 600,000 soldiers for France were hungry and cold, 400,000 died and 200,000 marched back to France

100 DaysUpon his return from Russia, he was exiled and

replaced by Louis XVIII.He was sent to a small island off the coast of Italy

named ElbaAfter being rescued by the French Army he led them

into battle

Battle of Nations @ Waterloo, Belgium

Great Britain, Netherlands and Prussia meet the French Army in Waterloo, Belgium

June 1815After the battle, Napoleon was placed under house

arrest

St. HelenaHe was placed here under house arrest

Located in the middle of the South Atlantic, Napoleon dies here in 1821

Section Five: Peace in Europe

Congress of ViennaKlemens Von Metternich

The Kings, Princes and Diplomats gather for a Peace Conference in Vienna, Austria

Sept. 1814 to June 1815

RestorationReparation

Balance of PowerRestoration: The action of restoring the Monarchies to

the condition they had been in before the French Revolution

Reparation: compensation for the expenses incurred during the French Revolution

Balance of Power: No country should ever again dominate Continental Europe.

Buffer StatesNeutral territories surrounded the country of FranceThis was to protect the Monarchies from Democratic

reforms of the French people. They didn’t want those ideas in their countries.

Examples of these countries were: Austrian Netherlands, Dutch Netherlands, German

Confederation, Switzerland, Sardinia

Reactionaries vs. Liberalism

Reactionaries: People who opposed change and want to return the Government to the format it was in earlier

times. These were the Nobles.Liberalism: Believe in the ideas of the Enlightenment

and the placed the rights of the individual above those of the State. Approved of the democratic

reforms of the French Revolution. These are the Middle class. They support the ideals of free speech

and press.

AlliancesGreat Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia join the

Quadruple AllianceThe Holy Alliance was Russia and Netherlands,

Austria, Prussia.France joins the Quadruple Alliance

Why: The alliance agreement agreed to discuss the security of Europe.

Metternich SystemThe Meetings of the Alliances were called the Concert

of Europe and helped European countries avoid conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars

Metternich achieved his political goals in opposing Liberalism and Nationalism as well as defending the

Absolute Monarchies of Europe

NationalismThe idea of the people controlling their countries and

not the Kings was not eliminated by the Metternich System

In Germany, students rose up against the governmentIn Spain, the Absolute Monarch was forced to accept a

constitutionIn Greece the people won their independence from

Turkey in 1829The ideas of the French Revolution lived on!