The French Revolution (1789-1799) Press

SUMMARY

Between 1789 and 1802 France was wracked by a revolution which radically changed the government, administration, military and culture of the nation as well as plunging Europe into a series of wars. France went from a largely feudal state under an absolutist monarch to a republic which executed the king and then to an empire under Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Causes:

1. Social Cause

French society was divided into 3 estates:

1. First EstateClergy2. Second EstateNobility3. Third Nobility Everyone else

2. Economic Cause

The Third Estate had to pay ALL the taxes imposed by the King as the other estates were EXEMPTED from it.

Food prices were rising higher and higher, but wages were not increasing. The poor blamed the king for allowing prices to get so high.

The worsening economic conditions also reinforced the determination of the first two estates to protect their most important privilege: freedom from taxation.

3. Immediate CauseRumors (the “Great Fear”) spread that the king was going to order his troops to attack Paris (as people were revolting) and then 4,000-5,000 people gathered and formed the people’s militia.

July 14, 1789The crowd looted the Bastille prison, a symbol of royal oppression. They looted the prison for weapons, then destroyed it.

How did the events of July 14, 1789, change France?

1.It led to the formation of a new government.

2.It led to the formation of a people’s army.

3.It helped trigger the “Great Fear.”

The Results1. The end of aristocracy (a government or state ruled by an aristocracy, elite, or privileged upper class) and the beginning of the French Republic (a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them).

The Slogan of the French Revolution: “liberty, equality, fraternity”

2. Decreased power of the Church3. It ended the ABSOLUTE MONARCHY in France.4. The killing of King Louis XVI.

5. War between France and Prussia (Germany)6. The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte

Press

The Rise of Napoleon

• Napoleon Bonaparte dominated French and European history from 1799 – 1815.

• A general by the age of 26.• He was only 5 feet 2 inches tall but had

an extremely strong personality.• He was ambitious and energetic. • He was convinced he was the man of

destiny who would save the French people.

Born in Corsica, an island on the Mediterranean in 1769

Educated in French military schools

He was not well liked because he was short, spoke with an Italian accent, and had little money.

He married Josephine de Beauharnais, a leader in French society, in 1796.

Josephine

FRANCE

CorsicaFrench Territory

Military Successes Rose quickly through the ranks1792 became a Captain1794 – Brigadier General 1796- Commander of the French armies in Italy where he used speed, deception, and surprise to win a series of victories1797- returned to France as a conquering hero

Consul and Emperor

• In 1799, back in Paris, Napoleon took part in the coup d'état that took over the government of the Directory

• A new government called a consulate was proclaimed; theoretically it was a republic.

• In fact, Napoleon held absolute power. • 1802 made consul for life. • 1804- he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I

Press

Napoleon’s Domestic Policies • Made peace with the oldest enemy of the revolution, the

Catholic faith. • 1801 signed an agreement with the Pope recognizing the

Catholic faith as the religion of the French people. • Most famous domestic policy was his codification of the

laws. • Most important of these was the civil code, or Napoleonic

Code, which recognized the principle of equality of all citizens before the law, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism.

• Women’s rights gained under the revolution were limited.

Napoleon’s Empire

• When Napoleon became consul, France was at war with a European coalition of Russia, Great Britain, and Austria

• 1807 – 1812 Napoleon was master of Europe

• Sought to spread some principles of the French revolution

European Response • Napoleon hoped his Grand Empire would last for centuries• Collapsed almost as rapidly as it was formed for two major

reasons:• Survival of Great Britain• Force of nationalism (The unique cultural identity of a

people based on a common language, religion, and historical symbol.)

• Nationalism caused hatred of French as oppressors• French example of nationalism and what a nation in arms

could do would not be soon forgotten.

Fall of Napoleon

• Began in 1812 with his invasion of Russia. • June 1812- 600,000 troops entered Russia;

Hope for victory depended on a quick defeat. • Russians refused to fight, and retreated for

hundreds of miles, burning the countryside as they went to keep Napoleon’s men from finding food. (scorched earth policy)

The Great Retreat

• After discovering Moscow ablaze, began the Great Retreat across Russia.

• Terrible winter conditions; less than 40,000 arrived back in Poland in 1813

• Other European states rose up and attacked the crippled French

• Paris was captured in 1814 and Napoleon was exiled on the island of Elba.

• The Bourbon monarchy was restored in the form of Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI.