AP EURO-Chapter 19: A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

Old Regime Problems

1. Peasant Distress -lost 1/2 of their income on taxes 2.Government Debt 3.Noble Resistance -the first and second estates did not have to pay taxes 4.Royal Weakness -Louis XV was a weak ruler.

What country had emerged as the world's greatest colonial power after the Seven Years' War in 1763?

Great Britain

What happened after the Seven Years' War?

Great Britain sought to obtain new revenues from the 13 colonies in defending the colonists-an attempt to levy new taxes by a stamp act in 1765. This attempt led to riots.

Charles de Calonne

The controller general of finance who called for an "assembly of notables" however his attempts to reform the French tax system were rejected and has resulted in further disaster

Split of the Jacobin Club

the Jacobin club was split into 2 categories: girondins and mountain (which were later called the Jacobins) -they both had contradictory views on everything, which resulted very badly, and was one of the domestic crises

Directory

the new government that the thermidorians had established by abolishing the members of the national convention, committee of public safety, and the paris commune

Who was against and with the king?

the paris commune was with the king. the national convention was without the king (they wanted to limit the king's power).

Vendean Rebellion (the rebellion that happened because of the place of Vendee)

A rebellion led by mostly peasants in western France that rebelled against the new military draft and the revolution

Haiti

A successful slave rebellion against France that led Napoleon to sell Louisiana to the US

Emperor

After gaining power and influence as the first consul, a Consul for Life, Napoleon named himself Emperor Napoleon I

Continental System

An attempt by Napoleon to forbid European states from trading with Great Britain to weaken Britain economically but was unsuccessful

St. Helena

An island in the South Atlantic that was the final exile of Napoleon and the place of his death

Womens' March to Versailles

Crowds of Parisian women marched to Versailles to confront the king and the National Assembly in response to the high bread prices

What did the Directory accomplish?

Domestically, the Directory did little to solve the economic problems still facing the French nation, nor did it solve the ongoing conflict with the Catholic Church.

Taille

France's chief tax, that the church did not have to pay

How did the Europeans obtain much (know what was happening) of their information about America?

From the hundreds of French officers who had served in the American war and from marquis de Lafayette

General Cornwallis

General of the British army, who was forced to surrender to a combined American and French army and the French fleet under Washington at Yorktown in 1781.

Abbé Sieyès

Issued a pamphlet asking What is the third estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become everything. -she advocated for a National Assembly

Coalition of 1793

Led by Austria, Prussia and Great Britain in reaction to the execution of the King; they wanted to invade end France to end the revolution

Bourgeoisie

Middle class; were about 8% or 2.3 million people who owned 20-25% of the land, who were generally excluded from privileges and positions even though they were much like the nobility

Meritocracy

Napoleon established a new aristocracy of positions and promotions based on talent and performance, not by birth

Coup d'Etat

Napoleon gained control of the Directory through military force, where he helped developed a new constitution and new republic called the Consulate

Egypt

Napoleon lead an invasion of Egypt in order to strike the British major source of wealth (indirectly attack Great Britain); however, his campaign was unsuccessful because Egypt was itself doomed

Concordat

Napoleon reestablished the Catholic Church of France, driving the Pope to recognize the revolutionary changes that occurred

Napoleon's Civil Code

Napoleon writes the "Code Napoleon", the rewritten and codified laws of France that modernized the legal system

Naploeon's Grand Empire

Napoleon's empire consisting of an enlarged France, dependent states such as Spain, and Italian Republics, and the allies

Josephine de Beauharnais

Napoleon's first wife, a widow of a guillotined general; she lived a life of luxury thanks to her male lovers

Divisions of the nobility

Nobility of the robe: derived their status from officeholding; dominated the royal law courts and important administrative offices. Nobility of the Sword: claimed to be the descendants of the original medieval nobility; sought to expand their privileges at the expense of the monarchy-to defend Liberty by resisting the arbitrary actions of the monarchy-and to maintain their monopolistic control over positions in the military, church, and government

Second estate

Nobility(about 350,000 people) who owned about 25-30% of the land and who led the most important positions in society; were exempt from the taille

French Parlement

Often blocked reforms and edicts in their 13 law courts because they assumed the role of defenders to the monarchy

Great Fear

Peasants rebellions against centuries of abuse by the nobility that led to widespread uprising and bloodshed in France; the peasants feared that foreign powers would invade France to take territory or support the king

Reign of Terror

Revolutionary courts were organized to protect the Republic from internal enemies such as Marie Antoinette and thousands of other counter-revolutionaries

Cahiers de doléances

Statements of local grievances, who advocated a regular constitutional government that would abolish the fiscal privileges of the church and nobility as a major way to regenerate the country

Tennis Court Oath

The 3rd estate, who had called themselves the National Assembly had tried to meet at their meeting place but they found the doors closed so they moved to a nearby tennis court and swore that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French constitution.

The Britain interpretation of an empire

The British envisioned a single empire with Parliament as the supreme authority throughout, and the Parliament could make laws for all the people in the empire including the American colonists.

Battle of Waterloo

The final battle of Napoleon's army in Belgium that was defeated by a combined British and Prussian army

The fall of Bastille

The king's prison in Paris that was stormed by commoners in reactions to the threat that the king would turn on the National Assembly

Corsica

homeland of Napoleon, an island in the Meditteranean

Declaration of Pillnitz

issued by Emperor Leopold II of Austria and King Frederick William II of Prussia, which invited other European monarchs to help bring Louis XIV back to power

What were the main events of the French Revolution between 1789-1799? What role did each of the following play in the French Revolution: lawyers, peasants, women, the clergy, the Jacobins, the sansculottes, the French Revolutionary army, and the Committee of Public Safety?

- The Estates General meeting in May 1789 : The representives of the Third Estate (the poorest French citizen) took control of the country. They declared themselves a National Assembly during the Tennis Court Oath in June 1789. - The storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789: A mob of supporters of the Revolution stormed the king's prison and destroyed this symbol of Louis XVI absolute power. - The Declaration of the rights of men and citizen on August 26th, 1789: The revolutionaries implemented some of their ideas (liberty, equality and fraternity) and wrote France a constitution. - The end of the Monarchy on September 21st, 1792: France became a Republic. Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21st, 1793. - The Reign of Terror (1793-1794): The Revolution ended in a blood bath. Robespierre, the leader of the Comity of Public Safety, sent every enemy of the Revolution to the Guillotine. - The death of Robespierre in July 1794: His death put the French Revolution to an end

Declaration of Independence

-affirmed the Enlightenment's natural rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and declared the colonies to be "free and independent states absolved from all allegiance to the British crown"

Mountain (later called the Jacobins)

-they took a more radical stance -they wanted a whole centralized government in Paris -they gained the increasing support of the sans-culottes, the group that the girondins were fearful of

Loyalists

15-30% of the population, they questioned whether British policies justified the rebellion -tended to be wealthy, older, and politically moderate.

Bad Harvest

1787-1788; manufacturing depression resulted in food shortages, rising prices for food and other necessities, and unemployment in the cities

What happened in the summer of 1787?

55 delegates attended a convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, but they rejected revision and decided to make a new constitution.

Society of Thirty

A club composed of people from the Paris salons; called "lovers of Liberty" Were very influential in the early stages of the French Revolution.

Estates-General

A gathering of the French people that included the 3 orders of society; 1st and 2nd estate had 300, 600 from 3rd estate -and by calling them the government was admitting that the consent of the nation was required to raise taxes

Society of Thirty

A group of patriots who drew members from the salons of Paris; they favored reforms made in the light of reason and utility

In what ways were the French Revolution, American Revolution, and the seventeenth-century English Revolutions alike? In what ways were they different?

Alike: -all were attempts to topple the unchecked power of monarchy, and establish a better (morally and effectively) system of governance -all were influenced by the emerging of philosophy in Europe separate from religion, called the Age of Enlightenment, which gave importance to liberty and rights for common people -All revolutions were influenced by international diplomatic and military maneuvering of the European powers Different: -America was a colony revolting against its monarch in another part of the world, whereas the French/English revolutions was conducted inside the country -The Glorious Revolution was also an international affair, as the new monarchs were to come from Holland (some even call it a Dutch invasion). It also was based to a large extent on the 17th century Catholic/Protestant rift in Europe -Varying levels of violence, fighting, and social unrest. (the most peaceful was the Glorious revolution of 1688 in England) The American and especially French revolutions initiated prolonged wars. --The American and British revolutions soon resulted in more representative forms of government, whereas the French would have several more decades of autocratic rule ahead of them

The American Colonists' interpretation of an empire

American colonists believed that neither the king nor the 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.

Marquis de Lafayette

Appointed by King Louis XVI as commander of a newly created citizens' militia known as the National Guard

Articles of Confederation

Approved in 1781; did little to provide for a strong central government

Constitution

Approved in 1788; 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 3 branches, each 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. A bill of rights was added to it.

How did the European intellectuals see the American Revolution?

As the embodiment of the Enlightenment's political dreams

Ségur Law

Attempted to limit the sale of military officerships to fourth-generation nobles, thus excluding newly enrolled members of the nobility

Impact on Europeans of the American Revolution

Books, newspapers, and magazines provided the newly developing reading public with numerous accounts of American events.

Patriots

Called themselves "lovers of Liberty" -claimed to represent the nation but they contained the bourgeoisie and nobility

George Washington

Commander in chief of the continental army; as a southerner, he brought balance to an effort that to that point had been led by New Englanders.

Third Estate

Commoners of society, the majority of the population and were divided by differences in occupations, level of education, and wealth. -Peasants (the largest segment of the third estate) were 75-80% of the population who owned 35-40% of the land. •serfdom no longer existed, but peasants still had obligations to their locally landlords -another part of the third estate was the skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and other wage earners in the cities

Bill of rights, that were added to the constitution

Congress proposed 12 amendments to the constitution in March 1789 and ten were approved that are known as the Bill of Rights. -guaranteed freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly, right to bear arms, protection against unreasonable searches and arrests, trial by jury, due process of law, and protection of property rights. *many of theses rights were derived from the natural rights philosophy of the 18th century philosophes, which was popular among the American colonists.

First estate

Consisted of the clergy (about 130,000 people); the church owned 10% of the land and were exempt from the taille, although the church had agreed to pay a "voluntary" contribution every 5 years to the state

What France gave to the colonies (because they wanted their own revenge with the British)

France: supplied arms and money and French officers and soldiers also served in Washington's Continental Army

American Revolution v.s. French Revolution

French Revolution was more complex, more violent, and far more radical in its attempt to construct a new political order and a new social order.

Invasion of Russia

In response to Russia's refusal to follow the Continental System, Napoleon invaded Russia and suffered a huge defeat due to the Russian winter, troops and unreliable allies; Napoleon had to go back to France with only 40,000 soldiers--starting off with 600,000 men

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Recognized the independence of the American colonies and granted the Americans control of the western territory from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River.

Restructuring of France

The National Assembly abolished all the old local and provincial divisions and divided France into 83 departments, departments were then divided into districts and communes, which were all supervised by elected councils and officials who oversaw financial, administrative, judicial and ecclesiastical institutions within their domains.

What happened on July 4, 1776?

The Second Continental Congress approved a declaration of independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.

What happened on June 17, 1789?

The third estate voted to constitute itself a "National Assembly" and decided to draw up a constitution.

The ideas of the philosophes

Their ideas were widely circulated among the literate bourgeois and nobilities of France.

Patriots

Were like the Loyalists-constituted a majority of the population; however, they managed to win over many of the uncommitted, either by persuasion or by force.

New Constitution

Written by the National Assembly by 1791, that had established a limited constitutional monarchy for France in which electors chose deputies to sit in the assembly; France was also restructured -a distinction was drawn between active and passive citizens-although all had the same civil rights, only active citizens (men over the age of 25 paying taxes that were equal in value to 3 days' unskilled labor) could vote.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

a charter of basic liberties that reflected the ideas of the Enlightenment-rights of man, liberty, and equality-that was adopted by the National Assembly -it ended all exemptions from taxation, freedom and equal rights for all men, and access to public office based on talent -however, it raised the question of "does all men include women as well?"

Assignats

a form of paper money that was issued based on the collateral of the confiscated Church lands

Olympe de Gouges

a playwright and pamphleteer who refused to accept this exclusion of women from political rights; she penned a Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen, in which she insisted that women should have all the same rights as men, but the National Assembly ignored her and her demands

"Marseillaise"

a rousing war song that was made the anthem of the revolution after 3 years

Which aspects of the French Revolution did Napoleon preserve, and which did he destroy?

kept: - principle of equality of all citizens before law - abolition of serfdom and feudalism - religious toleration - property rights protected -equality took away: -equality -divorce equal for men and women - liberty -> benevolent despotism - newspapers shut down - manuscripts subjected to government scrutiny before published -mail opened by gov. police

Robespierre

member of the committee of public safety who effectively controlled France, the thermidorians were people were against his ideas and him

sans-culottes

men that were in the Paris Commune; they were led by Georges Danton and wanted revenge on those who aided the king and resisted the popular will. They went to where the king and queen were staying, and they slaughtered 600 guards. The Paris Commune were fed up of them and they forced the National Assembly to call for elections--which led the formation of the National Convention, that was put in order to make a new constitution and limit the constitutional monarchy (limit the king's power).

Georges Danton

minister of justice, who led the sans-culottes who wanted revenge on any who aided the king, this had led to the September Massacre

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

ruled that bishops and priests of the Catholic Church were to be elected by the people and paid by the state; this was an oath that the clergy had to take, except only 54% of the clergy took it

Girondins

they wanted to make a clean break from the absolutist government of the previous decades, while still maintaining the democratic spirit of the revolution -they did not want to centralize all of Paris, just parts of it -they were fearful of the political influence of the sans-culottes -they favored laissez-faire, the idea that the government should not play an active role in regulating the economy

Nation in Arms

this is when France had the biggest army when Lazare Carnot, the head of the military, called for a levee en masse, calling the entire nation to fight for their country

September Massacre

this was when the sans-culottes, under Georges Danton, marched to where the king and queen were staying and slaughtered 600 Swiss guards. This eventually led the Paris Commune forcing the National Assembly to call for elections, and this was how the National Convention (called up for a new constitution and limit the king's power) was formed.

Cult of the Supreme Being

to move people away from what he thought was the corrupting influence of the church, Robespierre established this, turning the cathedral of Notre Dame into a Temple of Reason

War of 1792

After the Declaration of Pillnitz was issued, European monarchs were too suspicious of each other to undertake such a plan and French enthusiasm for war led the Legislative Assembly to declare war on Austria in 1792

French Fleet

Aided the Continental army by blockading the British

War of the Third Coalition

France at war with Britain, Austria and Russia that witnessed two of Napoleon's greatest victories, Battle of Ulm over Austria and the Battle of Austerlitz over Russia

War of the Second Coalition

France at war with Russia, Great Britain and Austria, that resulted in a peace

What was done to administer the government?

to administer the government, the convention gave broad powers to an executive committee known was the Committee of Public Safety, which was first dominated by Danton. One of the most important members of this committee was Maximilien Robespierre.

Slavery

was abolished by the National Convention, but brought back by Napoleon

Thermidorians

were people that opposed Robespierre and his ideas Abolished (after Robespierre was killed): 1. members of the national convention 2. the committee of public safety 3. the paris commune -They produced the Directory as the new government. the New constitution also provided for a two-house legislature, with the Council of Elders and Council of Five Hundred

Republic of Virtue

what the Jacobins were trying to create because this was the way they were going to destroy all traces of the old monarchical regime. They even came up with a new calendar system, with 10 days in one week with one holiday instead a holiday every 7 days.

War for American Independence formally started when?

when the Declaration of Independence was affirmed by the Second Continental Congress

What were the causes and results of the American Revolution, and what impact did it have on Europe?

•1789-beginning of USA, eruption of the French Revolution •immediate aftermath, french happy, english angry •The king of France broke because of military effort in the American Revolution, in aid of the 13 colonies. To deal with this, he had to call the Estates-General (the French version of Parliament) which had not met for nearly 300 years; to ask them for funds. •obtained info from soldiers returning (w/ideas like liberty/republicanism/popular sovereignty) •proved that liberal political ideas of Enlightenment were not utopian and were legit •new age/better world can be achieved • many of the American ideals in the Declaration of Independence and in the U.S.Constitution inspired France to have its own revolution, the French Revolution •elsewhere in europe there was nervousness at the challenge to monarchy

What were the long-range and immediate causes of the French Revolution?

•bad harvests, beginning of manufacturing depression=food shortages, rising prices for foods, unemployment in cities, # of poor people •influence of American Revolution •ideas of philosophes •failure to make reforms (the French Parlement) •financial crisis IMMEDIATE CAUSE and most important. near collapse of gov. finances. de Calonne who was rejected. finally FORCED to call meeting of the Estates General. -interest on debt alone was 1/3 of gov. spending -royal extravagance/costly wars