The French Revolution and the Empire of Napoleon: From Crisis to Consolidation

1. The French Revolution and the Empire of Napoleon SSWH14:b-c.

2. Time and Geography

4. Background to the Crisis • Triggered over finances and taxation • Louis XV • Nobles abused their power: corruption and bribery • Middle class professionals were ignored; passed over. • He was not suited to be absolutist monarch • Couldn’t put off tax problems forever • Series of long costly wars meant need for more taxes • Middle class, peasants already paid heavily • Nobles, church paid nearly nothing • Government was on verge of bankruptcy

5. Louis XVI • Unqualified to rule • Financial support of U.S. Revolution a burden • Entire budget was funded with borrowed funds • King reluctantly agreed to calling Estates General, representing all segments of society Louis XVI

6. French Classes - Estates • All society fit in 3 categories: • First Estate: clergy • Second Estate: nobility • Third Estate: everybody else A 13th century French representation of the tripartite social order of the middle ages - Oratores: "those who pray," Bellatores: "those who fight," and Laboratores: "those who work."

7. Interrelationships of the Three Estates pictured Video in notes

8. French Classes - Estates • First and Second Estates - 3% of population • Dominated every aspect of public life • Had every social privilege • Had contempt for common people • Held large share of property • Some were liberal-minded individuals, crucial to success of the Revolution

9. Third Estate and Estates General • Third Estate • Represented mostly by lawyers, minor officials • No representation from masses • Major complaints were legal, social inequalities, lack of representation • Philosophy came straight from Enlightenment

10. Third Estate and Estates General • Estates General met in 1789 at Versailles • Dispute arose over voting: one man, one vote • Louis XVI agreed to demands of commoners • Third Estate renamed themselves National Constituent Assembly The representatives swore not to depart until they had given France a new constitution.

11. Society and Economy

12. POLITICAL

13. National Assembly and Its Constitution • Confrontation was inevitable • Storming of the Bastille • Paris mob played major role • Assembly forced to heed demands of the poor • Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen • Civil Constitution of the Clergy • Constitution of 1791 • Power shared between king and parliament • Ordered election for new Legislative Assembly

14. Jacobin Terror • Counter-revolutionary war changed internal atmosphere – radical element (Jacobins) took over Legislative Assembly • Jacobin goals • Extend the Revolution • Guarantee end of noble privilege and royal absolutism • Give power to common man Seal of the Jacobin Club after the creation of the French Republic, 1792

15. Jacobin Terror • National Convention elected by universal male suffrage • Reign of Terror • First mass purge • 25-40,000 victims executed • Thousands more imprisoned or exiled A guillotine replica

16. Jacobin Rule • Committee of Public Safety • Had executive power • Robespierre was leading member • Height of the Revolution • Novel ideas, techniques of power • Jacobins insisted on 3 points: Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity • Elevated reason and patriotism to new heights • Started conscript army (levee en masse) to defend the Revolution • Was constantly on offensive against conservative coalition • Confiscated all land belonging to nobility and clergy and gave it to peasants

17. REACTION AND CONSOLIDATION • Middle classes and wealthy came back to power • Formed new executive called the Directory, created more conservative assembly • Power struggles, squabbles among executives • Severe inflation, profiteering, peasant discontent, conflict over church/state relations

18. The Bonaparte Era Opens • Napoleon Bonaparte was young, successful general • Took power 1799, elected First Consul • Pretended to obey constitution, but suppressed all political opposition Napoleon Bonaparte

19. The Bonaparte Era Opens • Napoleonic Settlement • Concordat with papacy pacified clergy, peasants • Created administrative, judicial systems • Granted legal title to peasants for land received • Civil Code of 1804: uniform civil, criminal law codes • Single national currency, financial stability • Allowed exiles to return to France • Crushed plots by royalists, Jacobins The Napoleonic Code in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer

21. French Dominion over Europe • Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France • He was great military strategist • Greatest enemy was Britain • 22 years of war, conquered most of western Europe • Never able to invade England Napoleon Bonaparte

22. French Dominion over Europe • Russian Campaign • 1812 attacked Russia to preempt Russian attack • Exposure, starvation decimated his huge army • Finally, defeated at Battle of the Nations, 1813 • Forced to abdicate Napoleon Bonaparte

23. Arguments in Favor of Napoleon • Able administrator, selector of talent • Efficient, able, popular, relatively honest government • He kept promises to peasants and middle class • Law codes provided modern uniform basis for all law • Administrative reforms set up rational centralized system

24. Arguments Against Napoleon • Dictatorship with limited individual liberty • No political parties • Press censorship • Political life had to go underground Napoleon Bonaparte

25. Arguments Against Napoleon • Satellite territories treated harshly • Non-French population exploited • Heavy taxes, draft, limits on trade • He became increasingly indifferent to welfare of the masses Napoleon Bonaparte

27. Vienna Settlement • Hundred Days Campaign • Coalition allies met in Vienna to settle issues • Napoleon fled Elba, returned to France • Campaign ended at Waterloo • Napoleon exiled again, where he died Napoleon leading forces in France.

28. Vienna Settlement • Big Four • Austria, Prussia, Russia, England • Representatives, led by Metternich of Austria • Tried to restore old system (l’ancien régime), but couldn’t Klemens von Mtternich

29. Principles Behind Vienna Settlement • Legitimacy in government • International cooperation to maintain peace • Discouragement of nationalism, liberalism in politics • Balance of power

30. Big Four • Russia • Main force in final military defeat of French • Czar was extremely conservative • Austria • Metternich fought nationalism, popular political participation • Main voice of European conservativism • Stagnated intellectually, scientifically • Prussia • Originally liberal, reformist • Strengthened, expanded after wars • Best educational system in Europe • Great Britain • Leading naval power • Abandoned Quadruple Alliance, retreated into isolation

31. Overall Estimate of Vienna Settlement • Criticized on many grounds • Ignored forces of popular democracy, nationalism • Drew territorial boundaries without consulting peoples involved • Small group of upper class men, contemptuous of needs of ordinary people • But it was extremely successful… • Borders they established lasted 50 years • Not another large-scale war until World War I • Generations of peaceful economic expansion • Cultural, material progress • Accommodated massive social, economic changes

32. REVIEW Video in notes

33. Discussion Questions • Both Louis XV and Louis XVI were ill-suited to be absolute rulers, a factor leading to the French Revolution. What would have been different if their ancestor, Louis XIV, had been in power? Was the French Revolution inevitable? Could it have been deferred? Why or why not? 2. One of the criticisms of Napoleon was his self-proclamation as dictator, a return to the absolute rule of pre-Revolutionary France. On the other hand, he accomplished a great deal to make the Revolution permanent. Could he have accomplished all that if he were not a dictator? What reforms could he have enacted as an elected ruler? Specifically, what problems would he have faced and how could he have overcome them if he had ruled as an elected leader?

34. REVIEW