The French Revolution and Napoleon

1. The French Revolution and Napoleon

2. Focus Questions

3. Focus Questions • What were the causes and effects of the French Revolution? • How did the French Revolution lead to the Napoleonic Era? • How did Enlightenment ideas influence the French Revolution?

4. French Estates

5. French Estates • In 1789, France, like much of Europe, was divided socially • France was divided into three social classes, known as estates

6. French Estates • The First Estate was made up of the clergy (religious leaders) • The Second Estate was made up of the nobility • The Third Estate, mostly workers and peasants, comprised the vast majority of the population

7. The Third Estate

8. The Third Estate • The Third Estate was the most diverse social class • The bourgeoisie (middle class) sat at the top of the Third Estate

9. The Third Estate • The Third Estate resented the privileges of the First and Second Estates • Wages were so low that even the smallest rise in the price of bread would threaten hunger or starvation

10. The Third Estate • All taxes were paid almost exclusively by the Third Estate • Enlightenment ideas led many of the Third Estate to question the inequalities of the Third Estate

11. The Estates-General

12. The Estates-General • France had incurred a large national debt and the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution made it worse • King Louis XVI (r.1774-1792) tried to fix the debt

13. The Estates-General • In order to solve the crisis, the First and Second Estates called on Louis XVI to summon the Estates-General • Estates-General: a legislative body consisting of representatives of the three estates

14. The Estates General • The Estates-General had not been summoned for 175 years • The French kings feared nobles would use it to strengthen their power and weaken the kings

15. The Estates-General • In 1788, bread riots began spreading in France • Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General in 1789

16. The Estates-General • Delegates were to be elected from each estate • Each delegate prepared Cahiers • Cahiers: notebooks; listed grievances

17. The Estates-General • Traditionally, each estate was given one vote • This meant that the First and Second Estates always outvoted the Third Estate

18. The Estates-General • A leader of the Third Estate, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, wrote What is the Third Estate? • In the booklet he asks: What is the Third Estate? “Everything.” What has it been? “Nothing.” What does it hope to become? “Something.”

19. The Estates-General • The Third Estate wanted each person to have a separate vote • Due to the stalemate, the delegates of the Third Estate declared themselves the National Assembly

20. The Estates General • A few days later, the National Assembly was locked out of their meeting hall • They met at an indoor tennis court

21. The Estates-General • The delegates took the Tennis Court Oath • Tennis Court Oath: delegates swore to “never separate…until we have established a just constitution.”

22. The Estates-General • Many reform minded clergy and nobles decided to join the National Assembly • King Louis XVI accepted the National Assembly as a French Legislature

23. Revolution Begins

24. Revolution Begins • 1789 saw the worst recorded famine in French history • Prices were so high that people spent up to 80% of their income on bread • Many peasants began uprising

25. Revolution Begins • On July 14, 1789, more than 800 Parisians gathered outside of the Bastille • The Bastille was a medieval fortress that housed many political prisoners

26. Revolution Begins • The Parisians stormed the Bastille and freed many of the prisoners • Today, France celebrates Bastille Day every July 14, just like we celebrate Independence Day

27. Declaration

28. Declaration • On August 4, the nobles in the National Assembly agreed to give up their special privileges • Also in August, the Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

29. Declaration • The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was modeled in part after the American Declaration of Independence

30. Declaration • French Declaration: • All men are "born and remain free and equal in rights” • “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression”

31. Declaration • FrenchDeclaration: • Governments exist to protect the natural rights of citizens • Allmale citizens have right to hold office • Taxes levied according to ability to pay

32. French Constitution of 1791

33. Constitution • The National Assembly completed a constitution in 1791 • Limitedmonarchy • Legislative Assembly that could make laws, collect taxes, and decided on issues of war and peace • Ended Church interference

34. Radicals Take Over

35. Radicals Take Over • King Louis XVI, fearing for his life, tried to escape France with his wife, Marie Antoinette, and his children • They were caught and sent back to Paris

36. Radicals Take Over • In August 1791, Prussia and Austria, issued the Declaration of Pilnitz • In the document, the two countries threatened intervention in order to protect the French monarch • The French revolutionaries prepared for war

37. Radicals Take Over • The radicals, who had control of the legislature, declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain • The fighting began in 1792 and lasted on and off until 1815

38. Radicals Take Over • France started off by losing many of the early battles • Many revolutionaries thought that the king was working with the enemies

39. Radicals Take Over • Parisians attacked the royal palace on August 10, 1792 and killed all of the kings guards • Louis XVI escaped

40. Radicals Take Over • In September 1792, citizens attacked prisons that held nobles and priests • About 1,200 prisoners were killed, including many ordinary criminals • It became known as the September Massacres

41. Radicals Take Over • The radicals then took over control of the Assembly and established the National Convention • They also demanded suffrage for all male citizens

42. Radicals Take Over • The Convention abolished the monarchy and established France as a republic • They seized the land of nobles and abolished their titles

43. Radicals Take Over • The Convention put King Louis XVI on trial as a traitor to France • He was convicted and sentenced to death • In January 1793, Louis was executed and his wife was executed in October

44. Reign of Terror "Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads." -Maximilien Robespierre

45. Terror • The French army was gaining ground in Europe, led by the young general Napoleon Bonaparte • It overran the Netherlands and invaded Italy, frightening many monarchs • The revolutionaries were also frightening fellow countrymen

46. Terror • The Reign of Terror lasted from September 1793 – July 1794 • Anyone who resisted the revolution could be imprisoned • 300,000 were imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. 17,000 were executed.

47. Terror • Most were executed by the guillotine • On July 27, 1794, many of those in charge of the Reign of Terror were arrested and also faced the guillotine • The Reign of Terror was over and France entered a new stage

49. The Constitution of 1795

50. Constitution of 1795 • Only male citizens that owned property could vote • Led by a 5-man Directory (oligarchy) • Two-house legislature