French Revolution and Napoleon

When was Napoleon Bonaparte born and where?

in 1769 on the island of Corsica

Georges Danton

leading figure in the early stages of the Revolution and the first president of Committee of Public Safety

After the Thermidorian Reaction, the new Constitution of 1795 established what type of government in France?

liberal republic

Why did many in the 18th century not equate representative government with democracy?

liberal thinkers tended to think of democracy as mob rule, so they envisioned voting for representatives as being restricted to men who owned property

Abbe' Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes

member of the first estate who wrote the famous pamphlet What is the Third Estate?

Bourgeoisie

middle class minority that was wealthy and economically involved; owned the means of production and exploited the working class proletariat

National Convention

new representative body popularly elected to replace the Legislative Assembly in late September 1792, claiming France a republic; declared the societies of women prohibited

Declaration of the Rights of Woman

pamphlet written by Olympe de Gouges and published in September 1791 it echoed its famous predecessor except emphasizing the equality of women

Reign of Terror

period from 1793-1794 during which Robespierre's committee of public safety tried and executed thousands suspected of treason and a new revolutionary culture was imposed

Tennis Court Oath

pledge made by the National Assembly that said they would not disband until they had been recognized as a national assembly and had written a new constitution; made when they nobility pushed them out of their meeting hall

Jacobin Club

political club in revolutionary France whose members were well-educate radical republicans

Who was involved in the March on Versailles, what were their goals, and what were the results?

7,000 Parisian women marched 12 miles to Versailles to demand action from Louis; they wanted to crush the disconnect between Paris and Versailles; very violent and resulted in the king moving to Paris

What were some of the factors which led to Napoleon's rise to power in France?

Members of the legislature were dissatisfied with the Directory's rule, they felt it was a weak dictatorship; ten years of upheaval made a firm ruler more appealing; Napoleon was nationally revered for his heroism and was an ideal figure of authority

How did Napoleon's political status change n 1804?

Napoleon used the wartime atmosphere of the recent defeat of the second coalition in 1801, redrawing of the map of Germany to weaken Austria in 1802, and hopes of invading Britain to claim emperor in 1804

Grand Empire

Napoleon's empire with was made up of France, dependent satellite kingdoms, and independent allied states

Name some ways Napoleon was able to appeal to the left side of the political spectrum.

Napoleonic code; defending the gains in lad and status won by the peasants during the Revolution; recruited revolutionaries to form a network of ministers, perfects, and centrally appointed mayors; held political suspects state prisons

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France and Navarre and Louis XIV's wife; executed later in the year 1793

Describe the various responses of the "non-French" Europeans to Napoleonic takeover and occupation

Various parts of Europe reacted in either one of two ways. Some, in places such as Northern Italy and Western/Northern Germany, joined the army and fought enthusiastically for Napoleon as they felt he liberated him. The places that reacted this way was typically the more modern locations who didn't like medieval Europe. They welcomed Napoleon and welcomed the republic. However, some places who were still medieval, such as Spain, were not compatible with the enlightened principles. For example, Spain was devoutly Catholic and therefore it was impossible to try to implement Dechristianization there. Spain resisted Napoleon and strongly fought against him.

Where did the French Estates General meet in 1789?

Versailles

Concerning voting rights, what is meant by the "stake in society" principle?

Voting is restricted to men who owned property

Continental System

a blockade imposed by Napoleon to halt all trade between continental Europe and Britain, thereby weakening the British economy and military

de-Christinization

a campaign that was an important element of the cultural revolution during the Reign of Terror which aimed to eliminate Catholic symbols and beliefs; Robespierre called for a halt mid-1794 in the effort after fear of the hostility aroused in rural France

Confederation of the Rhine

a union of fifteen German states minus Austria, Prussia, and Saxony that was established by Napoleon after he abolished the Holy Roman Empire; he named himself "protector" of the confederation and firmly controlled western Germany

What event during Napoleon's time in power may have prompted him to sell Louisiana to the United States and why?

abandoned colonies because of slave results

Third Coalition

alliance between Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Britain that formed against France shortly before the Battle of Trafalgar; rulers of Russia and Austria were convinced Napoleon was a threat to European balance of power due to his actions, such as his assumption of the Italian throne

First Coalition

alliance between Spain, Holland, Austria, Prussia, England, and Sardinia that formed to defeat the French forces after the revolution in 1789; waged war against France from 1793-1797

Second Coalition

alliance between conservative rulers of Great Britain, Austria, and Russia that formed in 1789 in hopes of containing the republic of France; Russia pulled out in 1799; Napoleon defeated the Austrians after they rejected his overtures for peace in 1799

Battle of Borodino

battle in 1812 that preceded Napoleon's entry into Moscow; was a draw

Battle of Austerlitz

battle in December 1805 where Napoleon scored a brilliant victory and destroyed the third coalition

Battle of Waterloo

battle on June 18, 1815 where the Duke of Wellington and Prussia's forces crushed Napoleon's, giving the allies a total victory and forcing Napoleon's final abdication

Battle of Trafalgar

battle on October 21, 1805 when Lord Nelson of Great Britain destroyed Napoleon's Mediterranean fleet, crushing Napoleon's hope for invasion of Great Britain and establishing British naval supremacy

Battle of Valmy

battle on September 20,1792 that stopped the Prussians from invading France; took place one day before the republic was proclaimed; allowed French to occupy the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) by November of 1792

Battles of Jena and Auerstadt

battles in October of 1806 where Napoleon attacked Prussia and won brilliant victories, outnumbering the Prussians two to one

Reflection on the Revolution of France

book written by Edmund Burke in 1790 defending inherited privileges, glorifying Britain's unrepresentative Parliament, and predicting that reform like that occurring in France would only lead to chaos and tyranny

A Vindication of the Rights of Man

book written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1790 as a response and attack on Burke's book

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

book written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792 demanding equal rights for women; very radical for its time; founding text of the feminist movement

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

clarion call of the liberal revolutionary ideal issued on August 27, 1789 by the National Assembly that guaranteed equality before the law, representative government for a sovereign people, and individual freedom

What event in June of 1791 led many to believe that further revolutionary action was necessary, despite the creation of a new constitution?

royal family tried to flee France and was arrested; were going to try to organize foreign counterrevolutionary forces from outside France

List four reasons for Napoleon's failure in the Russian military campaign of 1812

scorched earth, winter, troops not fanatically loyal, and casualties from the battle of borodino

Olympe de Gouges

self-taught writer and woman of the people who protest the evils of slavery as well as the injustices done to women; killed in November 1793 during the Reign of Terror when Jacobins attempted to suppress women's participation in political debate; October 30, 1793 National Convention declared the clubs and popular societies of women prohibited

September Massacres

series of massacres that followed the arrest of Louis XVI; feared invasion by Prussians and riled up by rumors the counter-revolutionaries would aid the invaders; kill as many country revolutionaries as you can

Due to the economic crisis in 1780s in France, many called for an end to what "old bargain"?

start taxing nobles

What changed in 1794, taking away the emergency that was fueling the radicals in the French government and therefore the Reign of Terror?

success of French armies against the first coalition

Elba

the island off the coast of Italy the allies granted to Napoleon as his own tiny state in April 1814 after they defeated him the first time in the Battle of Leipzig

Treaty of Tilsit

the treaty in 1807 that ended Napoleon's war with Prussia and Russia; Prussia lost half of its population, while Russia accepted Napoleon's reorganization of western and central Europe and promised to enforce his economic blockade against British goods

What legislative action did the National Assembly take on the night of August 4, 1789?

they responded to peasant demands by abolishing peasant serfdom, exclusive hunting rights, fees for having legal cases judged in the lord's courts, the right to make peasants work on the roads, and other dues; also abolished the tithes paid to the church

Treaty of Chaumont

treaty signed in March 1814 by which Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain pledged allegiance to defeat Napoleon

Mary Wollstonecraft

young writer from London who issued a passionate rebuttal to Burke's writing; she demanded equal rights for women and advocated coeducation

How did the nobles react to the tax proposal in 1789?

Called for an estates General to make the decision

What is the Third Estate?

A pamphlet written by the abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes arguing that the nobility was a tiny, overprivileged minority and that the third estate constituted the true strength of the French nation

Why did Napoleon invade Russia in 1812?

Alexander I openly rejected Napoleon's war of prohibitions against British goods in 1811; looking for a scapegoat to get France out of its failing economy due to the counter blockade by Britain

Civil Code of March 1804

Another name for the Napoleonic Code

What two German powers went to war with France in 1792, and why?

Austria and Prussia because the monarchs felt the arrest of a crowned monarch was unacceptable; delegates of the legislative assembly reacted with patriotic fury

Klemens von Metternich

Austria's foreign minister from 1808-1848 who proposed to Napoleon a France reduced to its historical size

Edmund Burke

British Statesman and conservative leader who was intensely troubled by the outbreak of revolution in France and wrote Reflection on the Revolution of France in 1790

The French Revolution was fueled by the political ideas drive from the Age of ____________.

Enlightenment

The Mountain

French National Convention's radical faction led by Robespierre; seized legislative power in 1793; wanted to put the king to death

Napoleonic Code

French civil code publicized in 1804 that reasserted the 1789 principle of the equality of all male citizens before the law and the absolute security of wealth and private property. It also restricted the rights of women previously established by revolutionary laws.

Maximilien Robespierre

French lawyer and politician who was one of the best known and most influential figures of the French Revolution

Explain the connection between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

French officers were inspired by the American revolution; fueled dissatisfaction with the old monarchial order in France; however, it was different because it was more radical and more complex

Francis II (Francis I of Austria)

Holy Roman Emperor from 1792-1806 until it was dissolved after the defeat of the third coalition; Emperor of Austria from 1804-1835

List some of the ways the new republican government attempted to implement the principals of the Enlightenment

collaborated with the sans-culottes (represented common people); established a planned economy with egalitarian social overtones; put people to work producing armies and munitions; emergency form of socialism; government sponsored revolutionary art and songs as well as a new series of secular festivals to celebrate republican virtue and patriotism; adopted a decimal system for weights and measures; new calendar based on ten day weeks; dedication to national state

Committee of Public Safety

committee formed by the Convention in April 1793 to deal with threats from within and outside France; led by Robespierre the committee held dictatorial power allowing it to use whatever force necessary to defend the Revolution

What type of government resulted as a result of Napoleon's first and second abdication?

constitutional monarchy both times

On paper, what type of government did France have as a result of the completion of the new Constitution of 1791, what name was given to the new French parliamentary body created by the new Constitution?

constitutional monarchy; Legislative Assembly

émigrés

counterrevolutionaries who fled France during the revolution who in 1800 and 1802 Napoleon allowed to come back if they took an oath of loyalty; many of them were able to occupy many high posts in the expanding centralized states

Concordat of 1801

deal between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that gave the French catholics the right to practice their religion freely and Napoleon the power to nominate bishops, pay the clergy, and exert great influence over the church

Declaration of Pillnitz

declaration issued by the monarchs of Austria and Prussia which professed their willingness to intervene in France to restore Louis XVI's rule if necessary; August 1791

Constitutional Charter

document issued by Louis XVIII in 1814 which accepted many of France's revolutionary changes and guaranteed civil liberties; attempt to gain support of people

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

document issued in July 1790 that established a national church with priests chosen by voters; the Catholic clergy was then forced to take an oath of loyalty to the new government

Alexander I

emperor of Russia between 1801 and 1825; formed the third coalition with Austria, Sweden, and Britain against France

Storming of the Bastille

event on July 14,1789 when several hundred Parisian citizens tried to obtain weapons for the city's defense from a royal prison; against the forces who were mobilizing on the command of Louis; also a result of Louis firing his finance minister Jacques Necker

Great Fear

fear of noble retaliation against peasant uprisings that seized the French countryside and led to further revolt; peasant violence; during this time Louis is indecisive and walks the middle ground

National Assembly

first Revolutionary legislature made up primarily of representatives of the third estate, in session from 1789-1791; in an angry response to the Estates General, in June 1789 delegates refused to meet until the king ordered the clergy and nobility to sit with them in a single body, so they formed this on June 17

Directory

five man power granted executive power by the new Assembly in 1795 to prevent a new Robespierre from monopolizing power

guerrilla warfare

form of warfare the rebels in Spain waged against Napoleons forces in a revolt in 1808

Hundred Days

frantic period of time between Napoleon's escape from Elba to become Emperor again to his defeat at Waterloo

What were the results of the first real election held in French history in 1797?

general dissatisfaction with the Directory revealed itself which returned a large number of conservative and even monarchist deputies who favored peace at almost any price

coup d'état

how Napoleon ended the directory and took power after the elections of 1797

St. Helena

island Napoleon was imprisoned on after his defeat at Waterloo; Louis XVIII took the throne of France again

Name some ways Napoleon was able to appeal to the right side of the political spectrum.

kept some leaders of the old nobility; allowed counterrevolutionary emigres to return to France; brought the pope and catholicism back; women lost some rights; reduced free speech and freedom of the press; manipulated voting; established private bank of France

sans-culottes

laboring poor of Paris and petty traders called this because the men wore trousers instead of the knee breeches of the aristocracy and middle class; militant radicals of the city

Estates General

legislative body in pre-Revolutionary France made up of representatives of each of the three classes; called into session in 1789 to discuss Louis XVI's minister's proposal to impose a general tax on all landed property as well as form provincial assemblies to help administer the tax

Girondists

moderate group that fought for control of the French National Convention in 1793; accepted the king as guilty but didn't want to put him to death

Louis XVIII

new monarch restored to the throne by the allies in 1814 after he was forced to abdicate; issued the Constitutional Charter; lacked Napoleon's magnetism; returned to the throne after Napoleons imprisonment on St. Helena

Thermidorian Reaction

reaction to the violence of the Reign of Terror in 1794, resulting in the execution of Robespierre and the loosening of economic controls; right-winged ; moderate policies