Chapter 19
How did the ideas of the philosophes play a role in the French Revolution?
- Existing privileges as well as social and political institutions were coming under increasing criticism. Although the philosophes did not advocate revolution, their ideas circulated widely among the literate bourgeois and noble elites of France. - The actual influence of the ideas of the philosophes is difficult to prove, but once the Revolution began, the revolutionary leaders frequently quoted Enlightenment writers, especially Rousseau.
Describe the importance of the Battle of Austerlitz
- In 1803, war was renewed with Britain, which was soon joined by Austria and Russia in the Third Coalition. - Napoleon faced a large Russian army under Tsar Alexander I and some Austrian troops at Austerlitz. Their forces outnumbered Napoleon's forces, but the tsar chose poor terrain for the battle, and Napoleon devastated the allied forces. Austria sued for peace, and Tsar Alexander took his remaining forces back to Russia.
What role did censorship play in Napoleon's growing despotism?
- Napoleon shut down sixty of France's seventy-three newspapers and insisted that all manuscripts be subjected to government scrutiny before they were published. Government police even opened the mail. - Napoleon banned Germaine de Staël's books in France and exiled her to the German states, where she continued to write, although not without considerable anguish at being absent from France.
What was the Declaration of Pillnitz? How did the French Legislative Assembly respond?
- On August 27, 1791, Emperor Leopold II of Austria and King Frederick William II of Prussia had issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which invited other European monarchs to take "the most effectual means ... to put the king of France in a state to strengthen, in the most perfect liberty, the bases of a monarchical government equally becoming to the rights of sovereigns and to the well-being of the French Nation." - In January 1791, the Legislative Assembly sent an ultimatum to Austria, demanding that the Holy Roman emperor, Leopold II, expel all French émigrés. The emperor refused, and the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria on April 20, 1792.
Who were France's enemies in the early part of Napoleon's consulate? What did he do early on in his reign at Amiens? How successful was this?
- Russia, Great Britain, and Austria. - he wanted peace, and was achieved at Amiens in March 1802 and left France with new frontiers and a number of client territories from the North Sea to the Adriatic. But the peace did not last because the British and French both regarded it as temporary and had little intention of adhering to its terms.
Who was Gracchus Babeuf? What was his view an early version of? What happened to him?
- Some radicals even went beyond earlier goals, especially Gracchus Babeuf, who was appalled at the misery of the common people, wanted to abolish private property and eliminate private enterprise. His Conspiracy of Equals was crushed in 1796, and he was executed in 1797. - communism
What was the Treaty of Tilsit?
- The Treaties of Tilsit, signed by Napoleon and the rulers of Prussia and Austria at the beginning of July, ended the fighting and gave the French emperor the opportunity to create a new European order.
Explain how the upper bourgeois classes were both similar to, and different from, the nobility
At the upper levels of society, remarkable similarities existed between the wealthier bourgeoisie and the nobility. - still possible for wealthy middle-class individuals to join the ranks of the nobility by obtaining public offices and entering the nobility of the robe. - Viewed in terms of economic function, many members of the bourgeoisie and nobility formed a single class. - excluded from the social and political privileges monopolized by the nobles - Members of both groups shared a common world of liberal political thought
What was the cahiers de doleances?
Directly translated, means "lists of grievances", statements of local grievances, which were drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General, advocated a regular constitutional government that would abolish the fiscal privileges of the church and nobility as the major way to regenerate the country
Brunswick Manifesto
July 25, 1792: Brunswick Manifesto issued by Prussia and Austria and threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed. In response to Brunswick Manifesto, Jacobin-incited mobs seized power in Paris.
Describe the differences between the delegates of the first, second, and third estates at the Estates-General meeting.
Third (commoners) - double representation as 97% of population, 600, two thirds had legal training, three fourths were from towns with more than two thousand inhabitants, giving the Third Estate a particularly strong legal and urban representation Second (nobility) - 300, Of the 282 representatives of the nobility, about 90 were liberal minded, urban oriented, and interested in the enlightened ideas of the century; half of them were under forty years of age Third (clergy) - 300, The activists of the Third Estate and the reform-minded individuals among the First and Second Estates had common ties in their youth, urban background, and hostility to privilege
Explain the situation in Saint-Domingue (Haiti)? Who was Toussaint L'ouverture and what role did he play in the events?
- A club called Friends of the Blacks advocated the abolition of slavery, which was achieved in France in September 1791. - When the National Convention came into power, the issue was revisited, and on February 4, 1794, guided by ideals of equality, the government abolished slavery in the colonies. - In 1791, black slaves in the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue, inspired by the ideals of the revolution occurring in France, revolted against French plantation owners. Slaves attacked, killing plantation owners and their families and burning their buildings. White planters retaliated with equal brutality. - leadership of the revolt was taken over by Toussaint L'Ouverture, a son of African slaves, who seized control of all of Hispaniola by 1801. - On January 1, 1804, the western part of Hispaniola, now called Haiti, announced its freedom and became the first independent state in Latin America. Despite Napoleon's efforts to the contrary, one of the French revolutionary ideals had triumphed abroad.
How well did the Directory function? What were its weaknesses? What is a coup d'etat?
- Battered by the left and right, unable to find a definitive solution to the country's economic problems, and still carrying on the wars left from the Committee of Public Safety, the Directory increasingly relied on the military to maintain its power. - This led to a coup d'etat in 1799 in which the successful and popular general Napoleon Bonaparte was able to seize power.
Describe in detail the impact that the American Revolution had on Europe. What role did Marquis de Lafayette have when he returned to France?
- Books, newspapers, and magazines provided the newly developing reading public with numerous accounts of American events. To many in Europe, it seemed to portend an era of significant changes, including new arrangements in international politics. - it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals. The rights of man, ideas of liberty and equality, popular sovereignty, the separation of powers, and freedom of religion, thought, and press were not utopian ideals. - The premises of the Enlightenment seemed confirmed; a new age and a better world could be achieved - Europeans obtained much of their information about America from returning soldiers, especially the hundreds of French officers who had served in the American war. - One of them, the aristocratic marquis de Lafayette had volunteered for service in America in order to "strike a blow against England," France's old enemy. Lafayette returned to France with ideas of individual liberties and notions of republicanism and popular sovereignty. He became a member of the Society of Thirty, a club composed of people from the Paris salons. These "lovers of liberty" would be influential in the early stages of the French Revolution. - The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen showed unmistakable signs of the influence of the American Declaration of Independence as well as the American state constitutions
What was the biggest problem Napoleon faced with regards to Great Britain? What happened at the Battle of Trafalgar?
- Britain's survival was due primarily to its sea power. As long as Britain ruled the waves, it was almost invulnerable to military attack. - Napoleon collected ships for it, he could not overcome the British navy's decisive defeat of a combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. - Napoleon then turned to his Continental System to defeat Britain. Put into effect between 1806 and 1807, it attempted to prevent British goods from reaching the European continent in order to weaken Britain economically and destroy its capacity to wage war. But the Continental System failed.
Why did the American colonies of Great Britain revolt against the British Empire? What enlightenment ideals inspired this movement?
- British policy makers sought to obtain new revenues from the thirteen American colonies to pay for expenses the British army had incurred in defending the colonists. An attempt to levy new taxes by a stamp act in 1765, however, led to riots and the law's quick repeal. -The British envisioned a single empire with Parliament as the supreme authority throughout. Only Parliament could make laws for all the people in the empire, including the American colonists. The Americans, in contrast, had their own representative assemblies. They believed that neither the king nor Parliament had any right to interfere in their internal affairs and that no tax could be levied without the consent of an assembly whose members actually represented the people.
What were the grievances of various opposition groups in Paris? (by opposition it refers to those groups who opposed how the revolution was being carried out). Which groups were most opposed?
- By mid-1791, the Revolution faced growing opposition from clerics angered by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, lower classes hurt by the rise in the cost of living resulting from the inflation of the assignats, peasants who remained opposed to dues that had still not been abandoned, and political clubs offering more radical solutions to the nation's problems. (greater emphasis on the proliferation of political clubs as a primary source of political instability during the revolution)
How did the most radical stage of the French Revolution (the Reign of Terror) end? What happened to Robespierre?
- By the Law of 14 Frimaire (passed on December 4, 1793), the Committee of Public Safety sought to centralize the administration of France more effectively and to exercise greater control in order to check the excesses of the Reign of Terror. - Finally, in 1794, the Committee of Public Safety turned against its radical Parisian supporters, executed the leaders of the revolutionary Paris Commune, and turned it into a docile tool. - The military successes meant that the Terror no longer served much purpose. - But the Terror continued because Robespierre, now its dominant figure, had become obsessed with purifying the body politic of all the corrupt. Only then could the Republic of Virtue follow. Many deputies in the National Convention, however, feared that they were not safe while Robespierre was free to act. - An anti-Robespierre coalition in the National Convention, eager now to destroy Robespierre before he destroyed them, gathered enough votes to condemn him. Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794, beginning a reaction that brought an end to this radical stage of the French Revolution.
What was the Committee of Public Safety? Who was Maximilien Robespierre?
- Committee of Public Safety was Ann executive committee with broad powers which was dominated initially by Danton. - For the next twelve months, virtually the same twelve members were reelected and gave the country the leadership it needed to weather the domestic and foreign crises of 1793. - Maximilien Robespierre, one of the most important members, was a small-town lawyer who had moved to Paris as a member of the Estates-General. Politics was his life, and he was dedicated to using power to benefit the people, whom he loved in the abstract though not on a one-to-one basis.
What was the financial crisis happening in France? (be specific!)
- France experienced a depression from 1778 to 1787 as a result of a loss of overseas markets and overproduction. - Peasants faced increasing uncertainty as rent prices remained high due to a rapidly growing population. Poor harvests in 1788 and 1789 sent prices of wheat and rye soaring—leaving many desperate. - the government was drastically short of money. Yet French governmental expenditures continued to grow due to costly wars and royal extravagance. The government responded by borrowing. Poor taxation policy contributed to the high debt, with most of the monarchy's funds coming from the peasantry. - Total debt had reached 4 billion livres (roughly $40 billion). Financial lenders, fearful they would never be repaid, were refusing to lend additional amounts. - On the verge of a complete financial collapse, the government was finally forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General, the French parliamentary body that had not met since 1614. By calling the Estates-General, the government was virtually admitting that the consent of the nation was required to raise taxes.
How get Napoleon gain control of France? What did he do while in control?
- In 1797, Napoleon returned to France as a conquering hero and was given command of an army training to invade England. - Believing that the French were unready for such an invasion, he proposed instead to strike indirectly at Britain by taking Egypt and threatening India, a major source of British wealth. But the British controlled the seas and by 1799 had cut off supplies from Napoleon's army in Egypt. - Seeing no future in certain defeat, Napoleon did not hesitate to abandon his army and return to Paris, where he participated in the coup d'état that ultimately led to his virtual dictatorship of France. He was only thirty years old at the time. - With the coup of 1799, a new form of the Republic was proclaimed with a constitution that established a bicameral legislative assembly elected indirectly to reduce the role of elections. Executive power in the new government was vested in the hands of three consuls - As first consul, Napoleon directly controlled the entire executive authority of government. He had overwhelming influence over the legislature, appointed members of the bureaucracy, controlled the army, and conducted foreign affairs. - In 1802, Napoleon was made consul for life, and in 1804 he returned France to monarchy when he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I.
Explain the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy"
- In July 1790, the new Civil Constitution of the Clergy was put into effect. Both bishops and priests of the Catholic Church were to be elected by the people and paid by the state. All clergy were also required to swear an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution. - Since the pope forbade it, only 54 percent of the French parish clergy took the oath, and the majority of bishops refused. - This was a critical development because the Catholic Church, still an important institution in the life of the French people, now became an enemy of the Revolution.
When the new constitution of 1795 was established, how was it different from the preceding one? How was the government to be structured and what was it called?
- In addition, a new constitution, written in August 1795, reflected this more conservative republicanism or a desire for a stability that did not sacrifice the ideals of 1789. - To avoid the dangers of another single legislative assembly, the Constitution of 1795 established a national legislative assembly consisting of two chambers: a lower house, known as the Council of 500, whose function was to initiate legislation, and an upper house of 250 members, the Council of Elders, which would accept or reject the proposed laws. - the 750 members of the two legislative bodies were chosen by electors who had to be owners or renters of property worth between one hundred and two hundred days' labor, a requirement that limited their number to 30,000, an even smaller base than the Constitution of 1791 had provided. - electors chosen by the active citizens, now defined as all male taxpayers over the age of twenty-one. - The executive authority or Directory consisted of five directors elected by the Council of Elders from a list presented by the Council of 500. To ensure some continuity from the old order to the new, the members of the National Convention ruled that two-thirds of the new members of the National Assembly must be chosen from their ranks.
What happened in 1787? Did they revise the Articles of Confederation? What role did the federal government play in the newly formed United States?
- In the summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates attended a convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. The convention's delegates—wealthy, politically experienced, well educated—rejected revision and decided to devise a new constitution. - The proposed constitution created a central government distinct from and superior to the governments of the individual states. The national government was given the power to levy taxes, raise a national army, regulate domestic and foreign trade, and create a national currency. The central or federal government was divided into three branches with some power to check the functioning of the others. A president would serve as the chief executive with the power to execute laws, veto the legislature's acts, supervise foreign affairs, and direct military forces. Legislative power was vested in the second branch of government, a bicameral legislature composed of the Senate, elected by the state legislatures, and the House of Representatives, elected directly by the people. The Supreme Court and other courts "as deemed necessary" by Congress served as the third branch of government. They would enforce the Constitution as the "supreme law of the land."
What was the Great Fear? Who was most responsible for these uprisings?
- It was a popular uprising where peasants took matters into their own hands, From July 19 to August 3, peasant rebellions occurred in five major areas of France. In some places, peasants simply forced their lay and ecclesiastical lords to renounce dues and tithes; elsewhere they burned charters listing their obligations. The peasants were not acting in blind fury; they knew what they were doing. Many also believed that the king supported their actions. - The agrarian revolts served as a backdrop to the Great Fear, a vast panic that spread like wildfire through France between July 20 and August 6. Fear of invasion by foreign troops, aided by a supposed aristocratic plot, encouraged the formation of more citizens' militias and permanent committees.
Did the French win or lose the Battle of Borodino? Be analytical. Did France conquer Russia? What happened?
- June 1812, Napoleon's Grand Army of more than 600,000 men entered Russia. the Russian forces refused to give battle and retreated hundreds of miles while torching their own villages and countryside to prevent Napoleon's army from finding food and forage. Heat and disease also took their toll of the army, and the vast space of Russian territory led many troops to desert. - When the Russians did stop to fight at Borodino, Napoleon's forces won an indecisive and costly victory. Forty-five thousand Russian troops were killed; the French lost 30,000 men, but they had no replacements nearby. - When the remaining troops of the Grand Army arrived in Moscow, they found the city ablaze. Lacking food and supplies, Napoleon abandoned Moscow late in October and made the "Great Retreat" across Russia in terrible winter conditions. Only 40,000 troops managed to straggle back to Poland in January 1813. This military disaster then led to a war of liberation all over Europe, culminating in Napoleon's defeat in April 1814.
What Napoleon go about making peace with the Roman Catholic Church?
- Napoleon himself was devoid of any personal faith; he was an eighteenth-century rationalist who regarded religion at most as a convenience. - In 1800, he had declared "No society can exist without morality; there is no good morality without religion. It is religion alone, therefore, that gives to the State a firm and durable support." Soon after making this statement, Napoleon opened negotiations with Pope Pius VII to reestablish the Catholic Church in France. - Both sides gained from the Concordat that Napoleon arranged with the pope in 1801. — the pope gained the right to depose French bishops, this gave him little real control over the French Catholic Church, since the state retained the right to nominate bishops. The Church was also permitted to hold processions again and reopen the seminaries. - Just by signing the Concordat, the pope acknowledged the accomplishments of the Revolution. the pope agreed not to raise the question of the church lands confiscated during the Revolution. - Catholicism was not reestablished as the state religion; Napoleon was only willing to recognize Catholicism as the religion of a majority of the French people. - The clergy would be paid by the state, but to avoid the appearance of a state church, Protestant ministers were also put on the state payroll.
How did the French bureaucracy become more administratively centralized during Napoleon's rule?
- Napoleon kept the departments but eliminated the locally elected assemblies and instituted new officials, the most important of which were the prefects. As the central government's agents, appointed by the first consul (Napoleon), the prefects were responsible for supervising all aspects of local government. Yet they were not local men, and their careers depended on the central government. - created a new aristocracy based on merit in the state service. Napoleon created 3,263 nobles between 1808 and 1814; nearly 60 percent were military officers, while the remainder came from the upper ranks of the civil service or were other state and local officials. Socially, only 22 percent of Napoleon's aristocracy came from the nobility of the old regime; almost 60 percent were of bourgeois origin.
Explain a little bit about the early background of "Napoleone Buonaparte." How did Napoleon come to be an artillery commander?
- Napoleon was born in the Corsica countryside in 1769, son of an Italian lawyer whose family stemmed from the Florentine nobility - His father's connections in France enabled him to study first at a school in the French town of Autun, where he learned to speak French, and then to obtain a royal scholarship to study at a military school. - Napoleon's military education led to his commission in 1785 as a lieutenant, although he was not well liked by his fellow officers because he was short, spoke with an Italian accent, and had little money. - spent most of his time in the next 7 years reading philosophes, especially Rousseau, and studying. military campaigns of great commanders - In 1792, he became a captain and in the following year performed so well as an artillery commander in the capture of Toulon that he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1794, when he was only twenty-five. In October 1795, he saved the National Convention from the Parisian mob, for which he was promoted to the rank of major general.
Who is Olympe de Gouges? Why is she such a critical figure of the French Revolution?
- Olympe de Gouges was a playwright and pamphleteer who refused to accept the exclusion of women from political rights. - penned a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in which she insisted that women should have the same rights as men - The National Assembly ignored her demands.
Describe the Tennis Court Oath. Why did it happen? What did the Third Estate do at this particular event?
- On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate voted to constitute itself a "National Assembly" and decided to draw up a constitution. - on June 20, the deputies of the Third Estate arrived at their meeting place only to find the doors locked; so they moved to a nearby indoor tennis court and swore that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French constitution. - These actions constituted the first step in the French Revolution, since the Third Estate had no legal right to act as the National Assembly. - This revolution, largely the work of the lawyers of the Third Estate, was soon in jeopardy, however, as the king sided with the First Estate and threatened to dissolve the Estates-General. Louis XVI now prepared to use force.
What was the first order of business of the National Assembly? Why?
- One of the first acts of the National Assembly was to destroy the relics of feudalism or aristocratic privileges. - To some deputies, this measure was necessary to calm the peasants and restore order in the countryside, although many urban bourgeois were willing to abolish feudalism as a matter of principle. - On the night of August 4, 1789, the National Assembly voted to abolish seigneurial rights as well as the fiscal privileges of nobles, clergy, towns, and provinces.
Spielvogel says that the causes of the French Revolution can be attributed to both immediate causes and long term causes. List a few of each. Generally speaking, what kinds of ideas could you say were either long-term versus immediate causes of the French Revolution?
- Revolutions are not necessarily the result of economic collapse and masses of impoverished people hungering for change - in the fifty years before 1789, France had experienced a period of economic growth due to an expansion of foreign trade and an increase in industrial production, although many people, especially the peasants, failed to share in the prosperity. - the causes of the French Revolution must be found in a multifaceted examination of French society and its problems in the late eighteenth century - The long-range causes of the French Revolution must first be sought in the condition of French society. Before the Revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights or the idea of privilege.
What is a guillotine? How many met their fate in this manner? Where did the majority of the losses during the reign of terror come from? Why these places?
- Robespierre forced through the Convention a law that denied suspects sent before the Revolutionary Tribunal all rights to defend themselves. This law increased the pace of executions. - In nine months, 16,000 people were officially killed under the blade of the guillotine, a revolutionary device for the quick and efficient separation of heads from bodies. But the true number of the Terror's victims was probably totaled closer to 250,000 - The bulk of the Terror's executions took place during the Vendée revolt and in cities such as Lyons and Marseilles, places that had been in open rebellion against the authority of the National Convention. - Marseilles fell to a revolutionary army in August. Starving Lyons surrendered early in October after two months of bombardment and resistance. - Forty-two percent of the death sentences during the Terror were passed in territories affected by the Vendée rebellion. - in Nantes, victims were executed by sinking them in barges in the Loire River.
What happens to the Roman Catholic Church in France after the start of the Revolution? How did the role of the clergy change at this time?
- The Catholic Church was viewed as an important pillar of the old order, and it soon also felt the impact of reform. - Because of the need for money, most of the lands of the church were confiscated, and assignats, a form of paper money, were issued based on the collateral of the newly nationalized church property.
What was the Civil Code, aka the Napoleonic Code? How well did it represent the revolutionary ideals the French fought for during the previous decade?
- The Civil Code clearly reflected the revolutionary aspirations for a uniform legal system, legal equality, and protection of property and individuals. - This preserved most of the revolutionary gains by recognizing the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of individuals to choose their professions, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism. Property was carefully protected, while the interests of employers were safeguarded by outlawing trade unions and strikes.
What did the Paris Commune (and Sans-Culottes) end up doing to the Girondins? What effect did this have?
- The Commune favored radical change and put constant pressure on the National Convention, pushing it to ever more radical positions. - At the end of May and the beginning of June 1793, the Commune organized a demonstration, invaded the National Convention, and forced the arrest and execution of the leading Girondins, thereby leaving the Mountain in control of the convention. - this added more cause to anti revolutionaries to keep fighting but also struck fear into the people.
What was the voting discrepancy? Why did the third estate desire to make a chance to the voting rules? How did they want it to work?
- The Estates-General opened at Versailles on May 5, 1789. - question of whether voting should be by order or by head (each delegate having one vote). - The Parlement of Paris, consisting of nobles of the robe, had advocated voting by order according to the form used in 1614. Each order would vote separately; each would have veto power over the other two, thus guaranteeing aristocratic control over reforms. - a group of reformers calling themselves patriots or "lovers of liberty" opposed this. they claimed to represent the nation but consisted primarily of bourgeoisie and nobles. - One group of patriots known as the Society of Thirty drew most of its members from the salons of Paris. - the Third Estate wanted vote by head, First in favor of voting by order
After the start of war, how did the French perform initially? Explain how fears of an invasion stoked some dissent in Paris. What did they have to do in September 1792? Why did this happen?
- The French fared badly in the initial fighting. - A French army invaded the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) but was routed, and Paris now feared invasion. In fact, if the Austrians and Prussians had cooperated, they might have seized Paris in May or June. - Defeats in war coupled with economic shortages in the spring reinvigorated popular groups and led to renewed political demonstrations, especially against the king. - Radical Parisian political groups, declaring themselves an insurrectionary commune, organized a mob attack on the royal palace and Legislative Assembly in August 1792, took the king captive, and forced the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for a national convention, chosen on the basis of universal male suffrage, to decide on the future form of government. - In September 1792, the newly elected National Convention began its sessions. Although it was called to draft a new constitution, it also acted as the sovereign ruling body of France.
How did the Monarchy and the parliaments relationship change in the 18th century? What effect did this have?
- The French parlements often frustrated efforts at reform. - These thirteen law courts, which were responsible for registering royal decrees, could block royal edicts by not registering them. - the parlements had gained new strength in the eighteenth century as they and their noble judges assumed the role of defenders of "liberty" against the arbitrary power of the monarchy. - nAs noble defenders, however, they often pushed their own interests as well, especially by blocking new taxes. - This last point reminds us that one of the fundamental problems facing the monarchy was financial.
Describe the Continental Army established by the Second Continental Congress. Who led it? What main concerns did they have? What role did the French play in this conflict?
- The Second Continental Congress had authorized the formation of a Continental Army under George Washington (political and military experience) - the Continental Army consisted of undisciplined amateurs whose terms of service were usually very brief. - Fought for independence, the Revolutionary War was also a civil war, pitting family members and neighbors against one another. The Loyalists, between 15 and 30 percent of the population, questioned whether British policies justified the rebellion. - The patriots, however, managed to win over many of the uncommitted, either by persuasion or by force. - The French supplied arms and money to the rebels from the beginning of the war, and French officers and soldiers also served in Washington's Continental Army.
The National Convention did not control all of France, what were some places that remained outside of their control?
- The authority of the convention was repudiated in western France, particularly in the department of the Vendée, by peasants who revolted against the new military draft (escalated into a full-blown counterrevolutionary appeal) - Some of France's major provincial cities, including Lyons and Marseilles, also began to break away from the central authority. - these cities favored a decentralized republic to free themselves from the ascendancy of Paris. In no way did they favor breaking up the "indivisible republic."
What was the reaction of the Parisian common people in the days immediately following the establishment of the National Assembly? What was the most major event of this particular period?
- The common people in a series of urban and rural uprisings in July and August 1789, saved the Third Estate from the king's attempt to stop the Revolution. - From now on, the common people would be mobilized by both revolutionary and counterrevolutionary politicians, and used the name of the Third Estate to wage a war on the rich, claiming that the aristocrats were plotting to destroy the Estates-General and retain their privileges. - The most famous of the urban risings was the fall of the Bastille - the king increased the number of troops at the arsenals in Paris and along the roads to Versailles to inflame public opinion, there was increased Parisian mod activity which lead to the formation of the so-called Permanent Committee by Parisian leaders to keep order - they organized a popular force to capture the Invalides, a royal armory, and on July 14 attacked the Bastille, another royal armory (There were few weapons there except those in the hands of the small group of defenders), but it was an imposing fortress, easily defended, but but its commander, the marquis de Launay, was more inclined to negotiate. de Launay refused to open fire with his cannon, and the garrison soon surrendered. In the minds of the Parisians who fought there, the fall of the Bastille was a great victory, and it quickly became a popular symbol of triumph over despotism.
What effect did the Napoleonic Code have on women?
- The control of fathers over their families was restored. - Divorce was still allowed but was made more difficult for women to obtain. A wife caught in adultery could be divorced by her husband and even imprisoned. A husband, however, could only be accused of adultery if he moved his mistress into his home. - When women married, their property came under the control of their husbands. In lawsuits, they were treated as minors, and their testimony was regarded as less reliable than that of men.
What happened when Napoleon was first exiled? Where did he go? What was the "100 Days"? How did it end? Then what happened?
- The defeated emperor of the French was allowed to play ruler on the island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, while the Bourbon monarchy was restored to France in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of the executed king. - the new king had little support, and Napoleon, bored on Elba, slipped back into France. When troops were sent to capture him, the troops went over to his side, and Napoleon entered Paris in triumph on March 20, 1815. - The powers that had defeated him pledged once more to fight this person they called the "Enemy and Disturber of the Tranquillity of the World." Having decided to strike first at his enemies, Napoleon raised yet another army and moved to attack the nearest allied forces stationed in Belgium. At Waterloo on June 18, Napoleon met a combined British and Prussian army under the duke of Wellington and suffered a bloody defeat. This time, the victorious allies exiled him to Saint Helena, a small, forsaken island in the South Atlantic. Only Napoleon's memory would continue to haunt French political life.
Who was Johann Gottlieb Fichte? What made his philosophical ideas significant? How did Napoleon's vision of France influence change in Prussia?
- The philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who had at first welcomed the French Revolution for freeing the human spirit, soon became a proponent of a German national spirit radically different from that of France. Although philosophical voices like Fichte's did little to overthrow the French, they did awaken a dream of German nationalism that would bear fruit later in the nineteenth century. - feeling against Napoleon led to a serious reform of the old order that had been so easily crushed by the French emperor. As one Prussian officer put it, the Prussians must learn from the French example and "place their entire national energies in opposition to the enemy." Under the direction of Baron Heinrich von Stein and later Prince Karl von Hardenberg, Prussia embarked on a series of political and military reforms, including the abolition of serfdom, election of city councils, and creation of a larger standing army.
Describe the social/demographic breakdown of the victims of the Terror? Who was the most affected by it?
- Victims ranged from loyalists to revolutionaries as well. Most victims, however, were either poor or were against the revolution. - the Terror demonstrated little class prejudice. Estimates are that the nobles constituted 8 percent of its victims; the middle classes, 25; the clergy, 6; and the peasant and laboring classes, 60.
What role did women play in the French Rev? Why weren't men of the revolution receptive to female participation?
- Women continued to play an active role in this radical phase of the French Revolution. - women, as spectators at clubs and the convention, women made the members and deputies aware of their demands. - In 1793, two women—an actress and a chocolate manufacturer—founded the 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 to the defense of the Fatherland." - male revolutionaries reacted disdainfully to female participation in political activity. In the radical phase of the Revolution, the Paris Commune outlawed women's clubs and forbade women to be present at its meetings (supposedly contrary to all laws of nature for a woman to want to make herself a man)
What was the original document that established the government of the United States? Was it centralized or decentralized? Why? Did it succeed? Why or why not?
- a fear of concentrated power and concern for their own interests caused the US to have little enthusiasm for establishing a united nation with a strong central government. - The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, did little to provide for a strong central government. A movement for a different form of national government soon arose.
Explain what nationalism is and why it was such a massive obstacle for Napoleon's effective conquering of distant Trafalgar?
- a sense of national consciousness based on awareness of being part of a community—a "nation"—that has common institutions, traditions, language, and customs and that becomes the focus of the individual's primary political loyalty. - in spreading the principles of the French Revolution beyond France, Napoleon inadvertently brought about a spread of nationalism as well. The French aroused nationalism in two ways: by making themselves hated oppressors, and thus arousing the patriotism of others in opposition to French nationalism, and by showing the people of Europe what nationalism was and what a nation in arms could do. - A Spanish uprising against Napoleon's rule, aided by British support, kept a French force of 200,000 pinned down for years.
What was the womens' march to Versailles all about? How did it end? What were their demands? How did Louis XVI respond?
- after marching to the Hôtel de Ville, the city hall, to demand bread, crowds of Parisian women numbering in the thousands set off for Versailles, 12 miles away, to confront the king and the National Assembly - "detachments of women coming up from every direction, armed with broomsticks, lances, pitchforks, swords, pistols and muskets." - After meeting with a delegation of these women, who described how their children were starving for lack of bread, Louis XVI promised them grain supplies for Paris, thinking that this would end the protest. - But the women's action had forced the Paris National Guard under Lafayette to follow their lead and march to Versailles. The crowd now insisted that the royal family return to Paris. - On October 6, the king complied. As a goodwill gesture, he brought along wagonloads of flour from the palace stores. All were escorted by women armed with pikes - The king now accepted the National Assembly's decrees. The king was virtually a prisoner in Paris, and the National Assembly, now meeting in Paris, would also feel the influence of Parisian insurrectionary politics.
Describe the new republican calendar. Why was it established? How did people react to it?
- another manifestation of de-Christianization was the adoption of a new republican calendar on October 5, 1793. - Years would no longer be numbered from the birth of Jesus but from September 22, 1792, the day the French Republic was proclaimed. The calendar contained twelve months; each month consisted of three ten-day weeks called décades with the tenth day of each week a rest day, eliminating Sundays and Sunday worship services - Religious celebrations were to be replaced by revolutionary festivals. Especially important were the five days (six in leap years) left over in the calendar at the end of the year. These days were to form a half-week of festivals to celebrate the revolutionary virtues—Virtue, Intelligence, Labor, Opinion, and Rewards. The sixth extra day in a leap year would be a special festival day when French citizens would "come from.. to celebrate liberty and equality" - Véndemiaire (harvest—the first month of thirty days beginning September 22), Brumaire (mist), Frimaire (frost), Nivose (snow), Pluviôse (rain), Ventose (wind), Germinal (seeding), Floréal (flowering), Prairial (meadows), Messidor (wheat harvest), Thermidor (heat), and Fructidor (ripening). - The new calendar faced intense popular opposition, and the revolutionary government relied primarily on coercion to win its acceptance. Journalists, for example, were commanded to use republican dates in their newspaper articles. But many people refused to give up the old calendar, government officials were ignoring
What did Louis XVI try to do in the midst of all this dissent in June of 1791? What was the result of this?
- he sought to flee France in June 1791 and almost succeeded. Louis XVI, however, stopped for several unplanned rests to have his meals prepared and missed his military escort. Once recognized in Varennes, he could have escaped, but while waiting for a larger military escort, the National Guardsmen and members of the National Assembly arrived instead and brought him back to Paris. - The flight to Varennes shattered the illusion of a loyal king - radicals called for the king to be deposed, but the members of the National Assembly, fearful of the popular forces in Paris calling for a republic, chose to ignore the king's flight and pretended that he had been kidnapped. - In this unsettled situation, with a discredited and seemingly disloyal monarch, the new Legislative Assembly held its first session in October 1791.
Who was Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes? From which estate did he emerge? What role did he play at the start of the Revolution?
- he was a representative of the Third Estate who pushed for voting by head - "What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become something." - Sieyès's sentiment was not representative of the general feeling in 1789. Most delegates still thought that revival or reform did not mean the overthrow of traditional institutions.
What major foreign threat did France face by the start of 1793? How did the National Convention respond to this crisis?
- much of Europe—an informal coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic—was pitted against France. - the French armies began to experience reverses, and by late spring some members of the anti-French coalition were poised for an invasion of France. - the National Convention adopted a program of curbing anarchy and counterrevolution at home while attempting to win the war by a vigorous mobilization of the people.
What was the Paris Commune? Who were the Sans-Culotte? Who was their leader? And how long did it last?
- power passed from the assembly to the new Paris Commune, composed of many who proudly called themselves the sans-culottes (ordinary patriots without fine clothes). - Although it has become customary to equate the more radical sans-culottes with working people or the poor, many were merchants and better-off artisans who were often the elite of their neighborhoods and trades. - sought revenge on those who had aided the king and resisted the popular will. - Georges Danton (newly appointed minister of justice) led them. - Before the National Convention met, the Paris Commune dominated the political scene. - It ended in 1795.
What kind of events comprised the Thermidorian Reaction?
- revolutionary fervor began to give way to the Thermidorean Reaction, named after the month of Thermidor. - curtailed the power of the Committee of Public Safety, shut down the Jacobin club, and attempted to provide better protection for its deputies against the Parisian mobs. Churches were allowed to reopen for public worship, and a decree of February 21, 1795, gave freedom of worship to all cults. Economic regulation was dropped in favor of laissez-faire policies, another clear indication that moderate forces were regaining control of the Revolution.
Who was Josephine Beauharnais? What events defined Napoleon's career from 1795 to 1797?
- she was the widow of a guillotined general, six years older than Napoleon, lived a life of luxury, thanks to gifts from her influential male lovers. Napoleon married her in 1796, and remained committed to her for many years, despite her well-known affairs with other men. - Soon after his marriage, Napoleon was made commander of the French army in Italy, he turned a group of ill-disciplined soldiers into an effective fighting force and in a series of stunning victories defeated the Austrians and dictated peace to them in 1797. - won the confidence of his men by his energy, charm, and ability to comprehend complex issues quickly and make decisions rapidly. He was tough with his officers and drove them relentlessly. - With rank-and-file soldiers, he ate with them, provided good food and clothing, and charmed them with his words. - his intelligence, ease with words, and supreme confidence enabled Napoleon to influence people and win their firm support.
What was the response of foreign monarchs to the French Revolution? In particular, explain the reactions of Leopold II of Austria and King Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia. How well did the two get along?
- some European monarchs had become concerned about the French example and feared that revolution would spread to their countries. - together, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz - European monarchs were too suspicious of each other to undertake such a plan; however, an increasing number of monarchs openly supported the French émigrés,
How did the Committee of Public Safety go about defending Paris, the newly formed republic, and the overall revolutionary effort? What did Spielvogel mean when he called it a "Nation in arms"? In what way have historians described the French revolutionary army as fundamentally different from those that fought in previous wars?
- the Committee of Public Safety decreed a universal mobilization of the nation on August 23, 1793 - The Republic's army—a nation in arms (the people's army raised by universal mobilization to repel the foreign enemies of the French Revolution)—was the largest Europe had ever seen. It now pushed the allies back across the Rhine and even conquered the Austrian Netherlands - By May 1795, the anti-French coalition of 1793 was breaking up. - Previously, wars had been fought between governments or ruling dynasties by relatively small armies of professional soldiers. The new French army, however, was the creation of a "people's" government; its wars were now "people's" wars. The wars of the French revolutionary era opened the door to the total war of the modern world.
What is the "Republic of Virtue"? What kinds of measures did they attempt to put into place? Was it a success or failure? Why?
- the Committee of Public Safety took other steps both to control France and to create a new republican order and new republican citizens. - By spring 1793, the committee was sending "representatives on mission" as agents of the central government to all departments to explain the war emergency measures and to implement the laws dealing with the wartime emergency. - It established a system of requisitioning food supplies for the cities enforced by the forays of revolutionary armies into the countryside. The Law of the General Maximum established price controls on goods declared of first necessity, ranging from food and drink to fuel and clothing. - The controls failed to work very well because the government lacked the machinery to enforce them.
What is the significance of the Declaration of the Rights of man and Citizen? What principles did it suggest?
- the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was a charter of basic liberties that reflected the ideas of the major philosophes of the French Enlightenment and also owed much to the American Declaration of Independence and American state constitutions. - began with "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." went on to affirm the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming an end to exemptions from taxation, freedom and equal rights for all men, and access to public office based on talent. The monarchy was restricted, and all citizens were to have the right to take part in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were coupled with the outlawing of arbitrary arrests.
What 3 parts comprised Napoleon's Grand Empire? How did Napoleon administer such a vast territory? What role did his family play in this?
- the French empire ( the inner core, an enlarged France extending to the Rhine in the east and including the western half of Italy north of Rome), a series of dependent states (Spain, the Netherlands, the kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine), and allied states (those defeated by Napoleon and forced to join his struggle against Britain; they included Prussia, Austria, and Russia) - Within his empire, Napoleon demanded obedience, But as a child of the Enlightenment and the Revolution, Napoleon also sought acceptance everywhere of certain revolutionary principles, including legal equality, religious toleration, and economic freedom. - Napoleon tried to destroy the old order. Nobility and clergy everywhere in these states lost their special privileges. He decreed equality of opportunity with offices open to talent, equality before the law, and religious toleration.
With respect to the fate of Louis XVI, what was the major difference between the Girondins and the Mountain? What ended up happening to the King?
- the Girondins, Representing primarily the provinces, came to fear the radical mobs in Paris and were disposed to keep the king alive as a hedge against future eventualities. - the Mountain represented the interests of the city of Paris, owed much of its strength to the radical and popular elements in the city, and favored the execution of the king - the National Convention found the king guilty of treason by a vote of 387 to 334 and sentenced him to death. On January 21, 1793, the king was executed, and the destruction of the old regime was complete.
What was the National Convention's approach to religion? What policy did they put into place? What was the cathedral of Notre Dame redesignated? What effect did this policy have on the rest of the French population?
- the National Convention also pursued a policy of de-Christianization (creating a secular society by eliminating Christian forms and institutions from French society), The word saint was removed from street names, churches were pillaged and closed by revolutionary armies, and priests were encouraged to marry. - the cathedral of Notre Dame was designated the Temple of Reason (a public ceremony dedicated to the worship of reason was held in the former cathedral) - de-Christianization backfired because France was still overwhelmingly Catholic. In fact, de-Christianization created more enemies than friends.
Describe the "Reign of Terror"? Who were some of the casualties of this movement? What kinds of activities, behaviors, or sentiments were targeted as threats during this time?
- the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety instituted the "Reign of Terror." - Revolutionary courts were organized to protect the Republic from its internal enemies, "who either by their conduct, their contacts, their words or their writings, showed themselves to be supporters of tyranny or enemies of liberty" or "who have not constantly manifested their attachment to the revolution." - Victims of the Terror ranged from royalists, such as Queen Marie Antoinette, to former revolutionary Girondins, including Olympe de Gouges, the chief advocate for political rights for women, and even included thousands of peasants. Many victims were persons who had opposed the radical activities of the sans-culottes.
Who are the Girondins? What did they stand for? Who were the Mountain? Why were they called this? And what did the Girondins and the Mountain have in common?
- the National Convention soon split into factions over the fate of the king. - The two most important were the Girondins (so-called because their leaders came from the department of Gironde, located in southwestern France) and the Mountain (so-called because its members' seats were on the side of the convention hall where the floor slanted upward). - Both were members of the Jacobin club.
When did the National Assembly complete the constitution? What kind of government did it establish and how was it structured? What was the new name of the body that replaced the National Assembly?
- the constitution was completed by 1791 - it established a limited constitutional monarchy. - There was still a monarch (now called "king of the French"), but he enjoyed few powers not subject to review by the new Legislative Assembly. - sovereign power was vested in the assembly, sat for two years and consist of 745 representatives chosen by an indirect system of election that preserved power in the hands of the more affluent members of society. - between active and passive citizens, all had the same civil rights but only active (men over the age of twenty-five paying taxes equivalent in value to three days' unskilled labor) could vote (4.3 million). They did not elect the members of the Legislative Assembly directly but voted for electors (men paying taxes equal in value to ten days' labor). This relatively small group of 50,000 electors chose the deputies. To qualify as a deputy, one had to pay at least a "silver mark" in taxes, an amount equivalent to fifty-four days' labor. - also undertook an administrative restructuring of France. - In 1789, it abolished all the old local and provincial divisions and divided France into eighty-three departments, equal in size and population. - Departments were divided into districts and communes, all supervised by elected councils and officials who oversaw financial, administrative, judicial, and ecclesiastical institutions within their territories. - Although both bourgeois and aristocrats were eligible for offices based on property qualifications, few nobles were elected, leaving local and departmental governments in the hands of the bourgeoisie, especially lawyers of various types.
After the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, what was the brand new legislature called? What was the primary social makeup of this new law-making body? What new form of government did they establish?
- the new legislature was called the National Convention - Dominated by lawyers, professionals, and property owners, it also included for the first time a handful of artisans. Two-thirds of the deputies were under age forty-five, and almost all had had political experience as a result of the Revolution. Almost all were also intensely distrustful of the king and his activities. - the convention's first major step on September 21 was to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic.
The French social order was divided into three orders, or estates (classes). Describe IN DETAIL each of the classes: First Estate: Second Estate: Third Estate: Bourgeoisie: Peasantry: Urban Workers:
First Estate: clergy, 130,000 people, church owned approximately 10 percent of the land, clergy were exempt from the taille (but church had to pay a "voluntary" contribution every five years to the state), church was very wealthy, church annual income totaled half of crown income, clergy radically divided (some from aristocratic families, others were poor commoners and priests) Second Estate: nobility, 350,000 people, owned 25-30 percent of the land, held leading positions in the government, the military, the law courts, and the higher church offices, controlled much heavy industry, nobility also divided (nobility of robe dominated royal law courts vs nobility of sword), sought to expand their privileges at the expense of the monarchy and maintain monopoly, many poor nobles, tended to marry within their own ranks, tax exemptions especially from the taille — the Ségur Law attempted to limit the sale of military officerships to fourth-generation nobles, thus excluding newly enrolled members of the nobility. Third Estate: commoners, overwhelming majority, divided by vast differences in occupation, level of education, and wealth, the peasants were by far the largest segment of the Third Estate (owned about 35 to 40 percent of the land), landless peasants were day labors who migrated to Paris for work, still had obligations to their local landlords that they deeply resented, payment of fees for the use of village facilities, such as the flour mill, community oven, and winepress, as well as tithes to the clergy. The nobility also maintained the right to hunt on peasants' land. Another part was skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and other wage earners in the cities, urban groups experienced a decline in purchasing power due to rising consumer prices, economic discontent (important role in the Revolution) Bourgeoisie: middle class, 2.3 million people, 20-25 percent of land, merchants, industrialists, and bankers who controlled the resources of trade, manufacturing, and finance and benefited from the economic prosperity, lawyers, holders of public offices, doctors, and writers, sought security and status through the purchase of land, excluded from the social and political privileges monopolized by the nobles
Why does Spielvogel say that it might be more accurate to say the French Revolution was actually a liberal movement rather than a democratic revolution? What were the three main principles of the slogan of the French Revolution? What do they mean?
It is more accurate to say the French Revolution was a liberal movement rather than a democratic movement because it sought to extend political rights and power to the bourgeoisie in possession of capital as citizens besides the aristocracy who were literate had become wealthy through capitalist enterprises in trade. The Revolutionary slogan that transformed France and spread to other European countries was "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". The slogan meant that all men in French society should be entitled to the same opportunities and should have a larger opinion in the workings of society no matter what their class. This slogan was mainly an initiative to encourage a changing relationship between the nobility and the middle class of French society.
Who was the king of France at the outset of the Revolution? Describe his qualities and how he responded to the economic crises France faced.
King Louis the 16th was the leader during the outset of the Revolution. He was horribly underprepared and unskilled to handle the mounting economic depression that was plaguing the country. Even when he called the Estates General, he threatened to dissolve it if the 3rd Estate did not stay in its place and listen to him. He never sought to make to create major legislative decisions, and wanted only the consent of the country to raise taxes to pay off the mountain of debt that it had accumulated. The parlements feared that their taxes would be raised, and so declined any legislation to raise taxes. Regardless, as with any country, it was the poor or average people that bared the brunt of the taxes.
What was the Jacobin Club (aka, the Jacobins)? What kinds of people were part of the Jacobins and what was their stance?
They were the radicals of the French Revolution that held the most power and influence and were led by Maximilien Robespierre. They believed in using force and terror to keep the Revolution alive and sought radical social and political changes. The type of people came from elites in their own classes, but also included ordinary individuals.
What was the "assembly of notables"? What was the estates-general? When as the last time it had been called together?
— the assembly of notables was a group of high-ranking nobles, ecclesiastics, and state functionaries convened by the King of France on extraordinary occasions to consult on matters of state - The Estates-General consisted of representatives from the three orders of French society. In the elections for the Estates-General, the government had ruled that the Third Estate should get double representation, nobility has 282, First estate and second had 300 delegates each, commoners had 600 - - the last time it was called was in 1614