Ch. 9 The French Revolution and Napoleon

Religious Toleration

policy of allowing people to worship as they choose

The Mountain

French political party during the French Revolution made up of Rural political leaders that wanted the King (Louis XIV) dead during the French Revolution.

Jacobins

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

The Second Estate

The second class of French society made up of the noblility

Paris Commune

The small brief government in Paris hailed as the first government of the working class who wanted to resist the conservative leaders of France.

Council of 500

The upper legislative house in France established by the Constitution of 1795 that drafted the laws.

Coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic

These countries declared war on France after the execution of King Louis XVI, hoping to stop the revolution and restore the monarchy.

Peasants

farmers with small farms

Louis XVIII

French monarch who was restored to the throne by the allies after Napoleon was defeated.

Reign of Terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty". During this period Robespierre ruled and used revolutionary terror to solidify the home front. He tried rebels and they were all judged severely and most were executed.

Exile to Elba

Napoleon exiled here in 1814 after invasion of Russia failed

Bourgeoisie

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people

Separation of Church and State

the situation in which the government may not favor any religion or establish an official religion

Nationalism

the unique cultural identity of a people based on a common language, religion, and national symbols.

Louis XVI

- King of France (1774-1792). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.

Causes of the French Revolution

1) The economic and financial crisis that led to the calling of the Estates General. 2) The political incompetence of Louis XV and XVI. 3) The unfair taxation and social conditions between the three estates 4) ideas of the Enlightenment

The Third Estate

97% of the population (the rest of France) They consisted of the bourgeoisie, the san-culottes and the peasants; they paid high taxes and had no special privileges

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

A document, issued by the National Assembly in July 1790, that broke ties with the Catholic Church and established a national church system in France with a process for the election of regional bishops. The document angered the pope and church officials and turned many French Catholics against the revolutionaries.

Constitutional Monarchy

A form of government in which the king retains his position as head of state, while the authority to tax and make new laws resides in an elected body.

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

Republicanism

A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people. The government is based on consent of the governed.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution

The Girondins

A political party that emerged in revolutionary France after the fall of the monarchy in 1792 when the Jacobins split into two factions. Named for the region in southwestern France where many of their leaders were from. They were members of the professional class (lawyers and merchants) who wanted a constitutional government, opposed the growing influence of Parisian militants, and championed the smaller provinces beyond the city of Paris. They agreed the king was guilty of treason but were reluctant to execute him, arguing for exile or a referendum on his fate. They were first to be targeted as the beginning of the Terror.

High Inflation

A sharp rise in prices

Coup d'etat

A sudden overthrow of the government by a small group

Constitution

A written plan of government

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

Prince Klemens von Metternich

Austrian prince who strongly influenced policy decision-making at the Congress of Vienna

Constitutionalism

Basic principle that government is limited by the constitution and can only do the things that the constitution gives it the power to do.

Execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Both the King and Queen of France were executed in 1793 marking the beginning of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution

Duke of Wellington

British soldier and statesman; he led the British troops against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo

Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)

Code of laws established by Napoleon which preserved many of the ideals of the French Revolution. The articles included equality of all people, freedom of religion, workers were legally subordinate to their employers and unable to strike, workers were required to have small passports, and family was the most important thing besides the state and the individual. It also addressed the legal status of women: women were not equal to men.

Constitution of 1791

Constitution created by the French Revolution that had a limited monarchy. All 3 estates have equal power in government, National Assembly becomes Legislative Assembly, absolute monarchy is abolished, forcing the king to obey.

The Constitution of 1795

Constitution created by the French Revolution that had no monarchy and an executive called the Directory. Established a national legislative assembly consisting of two chambers: the Council of 500 who were to initiate legislation and an upper house of 250 members known as the Council of Elders of people over 40 that were married or widowed. The people that could vote had to own property more than 100 days of unskilled labor. The electors were chosed by all male taxpayers over 21. 2/3rd of new members were to be chosen by their ranks.

Directory

Established after the Reign of Terror / National Convention; a five man group as the executive branch of the country; incompetent and corrupt, only lasted for 4 years.

Committee of Public Safety

Established and led by Robespierre, fixed bread prices and nationalized some businesses. Basically secret police and also controlled the war effort. Instigated the Reign of Terror.

Congress of Vienna

Following Napoleon's exile, this meeting of European rulers in Austria established a system by which the balance of power would be maintained, liberal revolutions would be repressed, as would imperial expansion, and the creation of new countries in Europe.

Estates

France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The calling of the Estates General in 1789 led to the French Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

French Revolution document that outlined what the National Assembly considered to be the natural rights of all people and the rights that they possessed as citizens

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

Georges Danton

French revolutionary leader who stormed the Paris bastille and who supported the execution of Louis XVI but was guillotined by Robespierre for his opposition to the Reign of Terror (1759-1794)

Napoleon's Grand Empire

From 1807-1812 Napoleon's Empire controlled all of Continental Europe. It was divided into 3 parts: the French Empire (enlarged France extending to the Rhine River in the east and including the western half of Italy north of Rome), the dependent states (kingdom's ruled by Napoleon's relatives including Spain, Holland, the kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine, which included all of Germany except Prussia and Austria), and the allied states (Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden).

Sans-Culottes

In the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian wage-earners, and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages. The term is a reference to Parisian workers who wore loose-fitting trousers rather than the tight-fitting breeches worn by aristocratic men.

Napoleon invades Russia

June 1812 Napoleon's Grand army of 600,000 invaded Russia. Almost no fighting. Large battle outside Moscow. Russians withdrew and burned everything as they retreated, so that Napoleon's army would have no supplies. They retreated and Moscow burned to ground. This resulted in Thousands of Napoleon's troops to die from starving and freezing.

National Convention of 1792

Meeting in France that declares France a republic and abolishes the monarchy. France also gets a new calendar, new holidays, and a new way of speaking to 'citizens' and 'citizenesses'.

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)

Exile to St. Helena

Napoleon was exiled to a barren island in the South Atlantic so he could not escape, he was miserable because he could not rule or fight, was depressed, wrote memoirs, died there, followed by an English officer at all times, his health was declining

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

Storming of the Bastille

Paris-July 14, 1789~the medieval fortress and prison known as the Bastille contained only seven prisoners, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution and it subsequently become an icon of the French Republic

The Republic of Virtue

Robespierre's attempt to erase all traces of the monarchy, nobility and the Catholic Church

De-Christianization of France

Robespierre's efforts to create a Republic of Virtue, Revolutionary Calendar (removing Sundays), worship of the Supreme Being. Churches were vandalized and closed.

Great Retreat

The Grand Army's disastrous retreat from Russia in which all but 40,000 of the Grand Army dies from starving and freezing.

The First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

American Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Protected basic rights such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion.

Napoleon's Grand Army

The imperial army commanded by Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1809, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empire to exercise unprecedented control over most of Europe. Widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever assembled, it suffered terrible losses during the disastrous French invasion of Russia. 685,000 men before the invasion of Russia (its greatest height)

Council of Elders

The lower legislative house in France established by the Constitution of 1795 that accepted or rejected proposed laws.

First Consul

The most important of the three consuls established by the French Constitution of 1800; the title, given to Napoleon Bonaparte, was taken from ancient Rome.

Great Fear

The panic and insecurity that struck French peasants in the summer of 1789 and led to their widespread destruction of manor houses and archives.

Legislative Assembly

This legislative body ruled France during the First French Republic, replacing the National Assembly in 1791. The French congress had the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, and was established by the constitution of 1791.

Battle of Waterloo

This was the battle in Belgium on June 18, 1815 that was Napoleon's final defeat by a combined British and Prussian Army after his return from Elba that ended his reign as French ruler.

Emperor Napoleon I

Title taken by Napoleon in 1804

Conservatism

a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, favoring obedience to political authority and organized religion

Liberalism

a political philosophy originally based largely on Enlightenment principles, holding that people should be as free as possible from government restraint and that civil liberties—the basic rights of all people—should be protected

Concert of Europe

a series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century, devised by Prince Klemens von Metternich to prevent the outbreak of revolutions in which Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain met periodically to discuss any problems affecting the peace in Europe.

Battle of Trafalgar

an 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon's forces were defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson.

Taille

an annual direct tax, usually on land or property, that provided a regular source of income for the French monarchy. The Nobles and clergy of the First and Second Estate were exempt.

Electors

an individual qualified to vote in an election

Civil Liberties

basic political freedoms that protect citizens from governmental abuses of power

Society for Revolutionary Republican Women

composed largely of working class women, this Parisian group viewed itself as a "family of sisters" and vowed "to rush o the defense of the Fatherland."

Consulate

government established in France after the overthrow of the Directory in 1799, with Napoleon as first consul in control of the entire government

Principle of Intervention

idea that great powers have the right to send armies into countries where there are revolutions to restore legitimate governments

Maximilien Robespierre

leader of the Committee of Public Safety who enforced Reign of Terror policies