AP Euro Unit 4
New Constitution for Middle-Class Members of the National Convention
Guaranteed economic position + political supremacy -Many could vote only for electors who would elect the legislators •Established property requirement for electors -Inaugurated bicameral legislative system -Executive power to a 5 man body (Directory) •Napoleon Bonaparte ended Directory in a coup d'état
"What is The Third Estate?"
The abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sièyes, member of the 1st estate, said the nobility was an over-privileged minority + the 3E formed the strength of France
French Revenge Against the British for 7 YW
- Supplied guns + gunpowder to rebels in Americas -marquis of Lafayette became George W's most trusted general -French gov offered a formal alliance to the American ambassador in Paris, Benjamin Franklin -1779-80 the Spanish + Dutch declared war on Britain
Napoleon's Reorganization of German states
-1806 abolished tiny German states + HRE; established the *German Confederation of the Rhine*, a union of 15 German states minus Austria, Prussia, and Saxony •Naming himself the protector of the Confederation, Napoleon controlled W Germany
Roles of French Armies
-Chased princes, abolished feudalism, + were supported by peasants + mid-class -Lived off the land, seizing food/supplies + plundering local treasures •Liberators therefore looked increasingly like foreign invaders + internal tensions mounted -National Convention, at war with Austria + Prussia, declared war on Britain, the Dutch, + Spain
The Grand Empire
-3 Parts: 1: Expanse of French holdings, including Belgium, Netherlands, N Italy, + German territories on the Rhine 2: Dependent satellite kingdoms, on the thrones of which Napoleon put his family 3: Independent but allied states of Austria, Prussia, + Russia -In French/satellite areas, Napoleon abolished feudal dues and serfdom -When the Grand Empire was strongest @ 1810, Britain remained at war with France, helping Spain + Portugal
Voting Tendencies of Estates General
-*Clergy elected parish priests* over church leaders, signifying dissatisfaction with the church hierarchy -*Nobility voted in the majority of the conservatives,* primarily from the provinces, where nobles were less wealthy and more numerous; 1/3 were liberals -*Commoners, 95% of pop, elected primarily lawyers + government officials* to represent them, with few delegates representing business in the port
Liberal Revolutionary Consolidation After Women's March
-*National Assembly abolished nobility*; kings upheld a *constitutional monarchy* -King remained head of state; NA, elected by wealthiest ½ of French men, enforced laws -The *Constitution*, passed in September 1791, was the first in French history •Granted women's rights to divorce, property, + financial support for illegitimate children from fathers; excluded women from political office and voting
Reign of Terror: Government Bringing Revolution into Daily Life
-*Sponsored revolutionary art and songs; secular festivals* celebrated republicanism + patriotism -Attempted to rationalize French daily life by adopting the *decimal system* for weights and measures and the *new calendar* based on 10-day weeks -*Campaign of de-Christianization* aimed to eliminate Catholic symbols and beliefs •Fearful of hostility in rural France, Robespierre halted 1794 de-Christianization
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia
-1/3 of the army was French; nationals of all the satellites + allies were drafted -Planning to winter in the Smolensk, Russia, Napoleon pressed on towards Moscow -Battle of Borodino was a draw; Alexander ordered evacuation of Moscow -After 5 weeks in the city, Napoleon ordered retreat, 1 of the greatest military disasters •The Russian army, the Russian winter, and starvation cut Napoleons army to pieces
Constitutional Convention
-Assembled in 1787 Philadelphia; aimed to end the economic depression, social uncertainty, + weak central gov that followed independence •Granted federal gov the power to regulate domestic/foreign trade, tax, + enforce laws
Battle of Austerlitz
-Austria, Russia, + Sweden joined Britain to form the 3rd Coalition against France before an issued Bill of Rights -Napoleon's assumption of the Italian crown convinced Alexander I of Russia and Francis II of Austria that Napoleon was a threat to the Euro balance of power •Napoleon brilliant victory over them at the Battle of Austerlitz in December 1805 •Austria accepted territorial losses in return for peace as the 3rd Coalition collapsed
Tea Act Terms + Reaction
-Britain let E India Company ship tea from China to colonies rather than through British middlemen •Company secured profitable monopoly on tea trade w colonial merchants excluded •Tea price lowered; Act produced opposition because it granted a monopoly to the EIC -Native-dressed Boston men staged a protest (Tea Party) + threw EIC tea into the harbor
First Continental Congress
-Consulting of colonial delegates who initially sought to resolve conflicts with Britain, met in Philadelphia •More radical members successfully argued against concessions to the English crown •Parliament rejected compromise → Colonial + British troops fight at Lexington + Concord
Bicameral Legislative System in National Convention
-Council of 500 served as the *Lower House* that initiated legislation -*Council of Elders*, composed of 250 members aged 40 years or older, acting as the *Upper House* that approved the new laws
National Convention and Emancipation
-Desperate for war forces, commissioners of the National Convection emancipated those fighting for France •1793 abolished slavery throughout French territories • Merely acknowledged the achievements already won by the slave insurrection itself
Justice Towards Slaves in Saint-Domingue
-Despite brutality, SD slaveholders many slaves, mostly their mixed race children, producing a large POC pop -Code Noir originally granted free POC the same legal status as whites: they could own property, live where they wish, + pursue any education or career they desire -Due to resentment from white pop, colonial administrators annulled rights of free POC + issued discriminatory laws
Abolitionist Movements + Emancipation
-Emancipation laws in Northern states, not in Southern -Discord between pro- + antislavery delegates → Constitutional Convention of 1787 •Result: compromise saying that an enslaved person would count as 3/5 of a person in population numbers for taxation + proportional representation in House of Reps -S states faced ⇈ taxes + rep in Congress, which they used to oppose emancipation
Unresolved tension in N America Between France + Britain
-English invasion into French territory @ Ohio Valley → skirmishes → war • Small #ed French forces achieved victories until 1758 • Both sides relied on Native tribes -Tables turned: British used sea power to destroy French fleets and choke its commerce; 1759 Britain defeated the French @ Quebec
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
-Established a national church w elected priests -Forced Catholic clergy to take an oath of loyalty to new gov •Pope condemned these measures, and only half the priests of France made an oath -Attempt to remake the Cath Church, like the abolition of guilds + workers associations, sharpened conflict between educated classes + commoners
Napoleon Bonaparte as an Authoritative Figure
-Exiled Directory w his conspirers; soldiers later disbanded legislature at bayonet point -Named 1st consul of the republic; constitution consolidating his position approved 1799 •Republican appearances were maintained, but Napoleon became the real ruler of France
Napoleon Bonaparte Background
-Felt he needed to end civil strife to create unity + strengthen his rule •Saw himself as a man of destiny; glory of war + dream of a universal empire was enticing -Born in Corsica 1769 to poor nobles -Command French forces in Italy + won victories •Failed campaign in Egypt + returned to France before the bad news spread
Louis' Indecisive Response to National Assembly
-First made a speech urging reform + ordering the 3 estates to meet together -Later dissolved NA, called army to control delegates, dismissed finance/liberal ministers -Prepared to use violence to restore its control
Hopes of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity in Saint-Domingue
-For slaves, 90% of the pop, news of French abolitionist movements led to hopes that of freedom from France -POC looked to Paris reforms as a means of gaining political empowerment + claiming equal status w whites -Creoles were infuriated by talk of abolition + wanted to protect their way of life •Looked to rev ideals of rep government in order to gain control of their own affairs -Frightened that support for POC would cause slave insurrection + independence, the NA didn't extend French constitutional safeguards to the colonies •Also reaffirmed French monopolies over the colonial trade, angering Creole planters
Napoleon's Escape from Elba
-Fueled by news of *political unrest in France + Viennese diplomatic tensions*; Napoleon marched into Paris with a small band of followers -Louis XVIII fled + Napoleon took command, but allies were united against him -At the end of a frantic period (the Hundred Days) they crossed his forces at Waterloo + imprisoned him on St. Helena •Louis XVIII returned to the throne, Napoleon took revenge in memoirs
Girondist vs. the Mountain Conflict
-Girondists accepted Louis' guilt but did not wish to put him to death -The Mountain's vote led to Louis' execution by guillotine (beheading) -Girondists and the Mountain were determined to continue the war against tyranny •Prussians were stopped at the Battle of Valmy -French armies invaded Savoy + captured Nice, moved into German Rhineland + occupied Austrian Netherlands
Estates General Controversy
-Gov said that each estate should meet and vote separately; *critics demanded a single assembly dominated by the 3rd estate* -Gov conceded that the *3E should have as many delegates as clergy + nobility*; upheld the system by granting *one vote per estate* instead of one vote per person
National Assembly Reorganization of Religious Life
-Granted religious freedom to the small minority of French Protestants and Jews -Nationalized Catholic Church property + abolished monasteries •Used former Church property as collateral to guarantee a new paper currency (assignats), then sold the property in an attempt to put the state's finances on solid footing
Women March from Paris to Versailles
-Invaded the National Assembly -Invaded Royal Apartments, killed some royal bodyguards, + searched for the Queen, Mary Antoinette, who was despised for her frivolous and supposedly immoral behavior -Intervention of Lafayette + National Guard saved the royal family -Only way to calm the disorder was for the king to live near people in Paris, as demanded
Loss of French Loyal Authority
-Kings always had mistresses, who were chosen from the court nobility •Louis XV broke the pattern w Madame de Pompadour, who had great influence and influences royal scandals •King stripped of the aura of God's anointed on earth (sacralization) + seen as immoral -Maneuverings of political factions at court distracted king + prevented decisive gov action
Sans-Culottes
-Laboring poor + petty traders who wore trousers instead of knee breeches of the aristocracy + mid-class -The Mountain, wanting to outmaneuver Girdonsists, joined sans-culottes activists to create an uprising
Terms of + Reactions to Stamp Act
-Levied taxes on *commercial and legal documents*, diplomas, newspapers, almanacs, and playing cards; Stamps glued on tax-paid articles •British thought taxes were reasonable in comparison to theirs -Colonists vigorously protested the Stamp Act by rioting and boycotting British goods
Limits of Classical Liberalism
-Liberty meant individual freedoms, political safeguards, + a rep gov; not democracy -Equality meant equality before the law, not equality of political participation or wealth •Didn't mean equal rights for women, slaves, or indigenous peoples
Radicalization of the Revolution (2nd Revolution)
-Louis's imprisonment followed by September massacres •Fearing Prussian invasion + riled up by rumors that counter revolutionaries would aid invaders, crowds stormed prisons and killed jail priests + aristocrats -National Convention (who were Jacobins) replaced the Legislative Assembly + proclaimed France a republic
French People in the War Effort
-Mainly produced arms + ammunitions -Gov told craftsmen what to produce, nationalized small workshops, + requested raw materials and grain
Revolts Against National Convention Power
-Moderates in provincial cities urged a decentralized gov -Counter-rev forces in the Vendeé faced victories + Republic armies driven back on all fronts -1793 only areas around Paris + on E front were firmly held by the central gov
Political Revolution in America
-New World colonial protests against ⇈ taxes → era of liberal political revolution -13 mainland colonies of British America established a new unified gov -Demanded traditional + liberal rights w/ democratic overtones -Colonists vigorously protested the Stamp Act by rioting and boycotting British goods
18c European Divided Society + Privileges
-Nobles: large landowners, possessed ¼ of agricultural land of France, exempted from taxation, hunted game, had swords + wear gold in clothes -Mid-class (professionals, merchants, guild masters) monopolized economic activity -Peasants + laborers: majority of population, paid taxes, +unprivileged
France Feeling the Consequences of American Revolution
-Officers inspired by the revolution; marquis of Lafayette (aristocrat) left to fight England, France's foe -Intellectuals + publicists analyzed federal Constitution -Dissatisfaction with old monarchial order in France -French Rev was more complex, influential, and controversial than the American Rev •Greatest 18c rev; opened political modern era
Representative Self-Government: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
-Opponents of the Constitution (Anti-federalists) thought it took too much power from the individual states and made the federal government too strong -Federalists promised to spell out basic freedoms once the Constitution was adopted in the Bill of Rights •Freedom of speech, press + religion reflected natural law theory + value of independence
End of Absolutism in France
-Parlement of Paris declared tax plan null + void; Louis' exiling of judges caused protest •Frightened investors refused to advance more loans to the state •Louis XVI bowed to public opinion + called Estates General
Women's Role in the American Revolution
-Participated in boycotts of British goods -Raised funds for Continental Army + tended to homesteads + workshops for men at war -Despite Abigail Adams' plea to her husband, women didn't have voting right in the Constitution
Groups within France Adding to the Turmoil
-Peasants revolted against army drafting; Vendeé was center of revolt -Devout Catholics, royalists, and foreign agents encouraged rebellion -Counter-revolutionaries sent armies to fight for their cause
Napoleon Consolidating His Rule
-Recruited revolutionaries as ministers, prefects, + mayors -Permitted 100k émigrés so long as they return to France + take an oath of loyalty •Members of this returning elite occupied high posts in the expanding centralized state -Created a new imperial nobility in order to reward his most talented generals and officials
Call for Liberty (New Government)
-Reformers believed in sovereignty (authority to make laws limiting freedom of action) •Chosen legislators would represent the people and were accountable to them •Monarchs may retain thrones, but their rule should be constrained by peoples' will
Napoleon's Stubbornness + Downfall
-Refused to reduce France to its historical size, as proposed by Austria's foreign minister, Prince Klemens von Metternich *Austria + Prussia deserted Napoleon + joined Russia and Great Britain in Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814; 4 powers pledged allegiance to defeat the French emperor -Call for liberation against oppression caused him to abdicate; was granted Elba island, kept imperial title, + paid by France
Reign of Terror: Compliance with Republican Beliefs
-Revolutionary courts in the Committee of Public Safety tried enemies of the nation for political crimes -Seen as a needed measure to save the Republic; directed against dissenters of rev gov -As Robespierre put it, "terror is nothing more than prompt, severe justice"
Royal Family's Arrest
-Royal family was arrested + returned to Paris after trying to escape France • Louis wanted foreign support to invade France •Monarchs of Austria and Prussia saw the the arrest of the monarch as unacceptable
Events Leading to Haitian Fight for Independence
-Saint-Domingue initially reaped huge profits through a ruthless system of slave based plantation agriculture -News of French Rev → *contradictory aspirations* among whites, free POC, + slaves -As *human right were debated*, free POC + slaves took matters into their own hands, rising to claim freedom •Slave revolt ended slavery + won independence from France, despite invasion by the British + Spanish and Napoleon's bid to reimpose French control -1804 Haiti became the first nation in history to claim its freedom through slave revolt
Olympe de Gouges
-Self taught writer, protested the evils of slavery + injustice to women -1791 Declaration of the Rights of Women; echoing the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizens, said women are born free + remain equal to man in right
Representative Self-Government
-Senators + congressmen were lawmaking delegates, president of the republic was elected -Montesquieu's framework of checks and balances for C gov; executive, legislative, and judicial branches balanced one another •Power of the federal government would be checked by that of individual states
Slavery in Saint-Domingue
-Slaves performed grueling labor in sugar plantations •Planters used brutal methods (i.e. beating, meaning, + execution) to maintain control -Code Noir set limits of slavery + provided minimal standards of humane treatment; rarely enforced •Masters earned more $ by working slaves ruthlessly + purchasing new ones upon deaths •Stream of African slaves needed for plantation labor
Causes of British N America, France, + Haiti 18c revolutions
-Social and economic changes and political crises that eroded state authority -Enlightenment's political ideas +confidence in reason and progress inspired fight for greater freedom -Financial crises generated by war
Social Tensions in Saint-Domingue
-Social groups resented each other •Euro pop: French colonial officials, plantation owners/merchants, + poor immigrants •Creoles, those of Euro descent born in America, developed their own interests •500k slaves + 40k free Africans/mixed races (free POC) outnumbered the white pop
Santo Domingo
-Supported rebel slaves + brought slave leaders and their soldiers into the Spanish army •Toussaint L'Ouverture, a freed slave who joined the revolt, was named a Spanish officer -British navy blockaded the colony + British troops captured French territory •For Spanish and British, rev chaos → an opportunity to capture a profitable colony
Legislature Plotting Against Directory
-The plotters' dissatisfaction stemmed from the Directory's weak dictatorship -10 years of upheaval made firm will more appealing than liberty + popular politics -Sieyès personified this change in thought: thought the nobility was too privileged + the entire people should rule France; "confidence from below, authority from above"
Jacobin Club
-Thrived among Parisians since start of the Rev; members debated political issues -Reacted with patriotic fury to the Declaration of Pillnitz •If kings initiated war against France, they would incite war of people against kings -Divided into two opposed groups: the Girondists and the Mountain, led by Robespierre and another young lawyer, Georges Jacques Danton
Napoleon's Attempts to Expand Power
-Tried to restrict British trade with all of Europe -Attacked Great Britain; Mediterranean fleet destroyed by Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar •Renewed fighting → 1st consul used wartime atmosphere to become Emperor in 1804 -Put prosperity of France 1st to safeguard his power -More of a tyrant than an enlightened liberator -Sparked patriotic upheavals + encouraged growth of reactive nationalism
Thomas Jefferson
-Wrote in a draft of the American Declaration of Independence that everyone was equal + in pursuit of property; liberals didn't expect success in that pursuit •Great differences in fortune between rich and poor were perfectly acceptable
Montesquieu
1 of the most important 18c Enlightenment references -Inspired by English constitutional history + Glorious Revolution, which placed sovereignty in Parliament •Intermediary groups" (i.e. judicial nobility) offered best defense against despotism
State's Reaction to Boston Tea Party
1774 Coercive Acts: Closed the port of Boston, curtailed local elections, and expanded royal governor's power
National Assembly Replaced Provinces with
83 equally-sized departments, moving towards rational and systematic methods of administration -Guilds and internal customs fees were abolished in the name of economic liberty
Republic
A nation in which the people, not the monarch, held sovereign power
Napoleon and the French Catholic Church
Applied his diplomatic skills to *heal the Cath Church* so that it could maintain social stability -Napoleon + Pope Pius VI signed the *Concordat of 1801* •Pope had the right for French Caths to practice their religion freely, + Napoleon's gov could nominate bishops, paid clergy, exerted influence over church
Saint-Domingue Revolts
Began on few plantations; spread through N plane + creating slave army -10k people divided into 3 armies; some on horses + well-armed -Enslaved combatants attacked + destroyed hundreds of sugar and coffee plantations
Aspirations that Sparked Revolution
Calls for *equality + liberty* among social elite -Included political rights for women and free POC, the emancipation of slaves, and government regulations to reduce economic inequality
Napoleon's Domestic Reforms
Commenced authoritarian rule -Women, under the Napoleonic code, were dependents of their fathers or husbands + they could not make contracts or possess personal bank accounts -Favored family monarchy; power of male over the wife + the children -Curtailed free speech + freedom of the press + manipulated voting in occasional elections -Political suspects were held in state prisons
French Army's Success Impact on Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety relaxed emergency economic controls, but extended the Reign of Terror -Sent collaborators whom suspected of disoyalty, including Danton, to the guillotine -A group of radicals and NC moderators, knowing they may be next, planned a conspiracy •Seized Robespierre + beheaded him
American Revolution's Liberal Program Secured by
Constitution, BoR, + making of a national republic
18c Representative gov ≠
Democracy (liberal thinkers equated with mob rule)
Belief that Representative Institutions Could Defend Liberty + Interest Attracted
Educated mid-classes
Vincent Ogé
Free POC, returned to Saint-Domingue from Paris to win rights for his people -Raised an army + sent letters to Provincial Assembly demanding political rights for free citizens •Turned to armed insurrection upon rejection; defeated + executed by colonial officials -Revolutionary leaders were more sympathetic to Ogé's cause •NA granted political rights to free POC born to free, propertied parents
Call for Liberty (Individual Human Rights)
Fueled Atlantic Revolutions -Liberals demanded religious freedom, end of censorship, and freedom from tyrannical laws and judges who obeyed government orders
France Rejected Efforts of Tax Reform →
Gov forced to finance cost of American war w loans -National debt ⇈; Louis XVI's finance minister said France was on verge of bankruptcy -50% of France's annual budget went to interest payments, 25% to military, 6% to royal family + court at Versailles, <20% to productive functions of the state
French Revolution Immediate Origins
Government's financial difficulties -King Louis XV's ministers' efforts to ⇈ taxes for the WoAS + 7YW were foiled by high courts (parlements) •Noble judges feared threats to exemption from taxation + decried gov's despotic actions
Liberal ideas on Individual Rights and Political Freedom Appealed to
Hereditary nobles
Constitutional Charter
Issued by Louis XVIII, which accepted many of France's revolutionary changes + guaranteed civil liberties
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Issued by National Assembly Preached equality before the law, representative government for sovereign people, + individual freedom
Most Decisive Element in France's victory over 1st Coalition
Its ability to draw on the power of dedication to a national state + mission (part of modern nationalism) -Common language + tradition reinforced by ideas of popular sovereignty and democracy stirred up lFrench people about common loyalty •Developed an emotional commitment to the defense of the nation
Second Continental Congress
July 4th 1776 adopted the Declaration of Independence -Written by Thomas Jefferson + others; listed tyrannical acts of George III and proclaimed the natural rights of mankind and sovereignty of American states -Universalized traditional rights of Englishmen + made them rights of all mankind
Thermidorian Reaction
Middle-class lawyers and professionals reimposed authority after Robespierre's death -Mid-class rejected radicalism of sans-culottes in favor of modern policies that favored property owners -NC abolished many economic controls, let prices rise sharply, + restricted the local political organizations through which the s-c's exerted their strength
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
Mobilized public opinion in favor of independence •Ridiculed the idea of a small island ruling a great continent; calls for republican government expressed America's sense of separateness + moral superiority
7 Years War
Most important factor in evoking revolutionary action -In C Euro, India, + N America -New alliances of England + Prussia vs. France + Austria -Origins in tension of War of Austrian Succession -Maria Theresa's vow to get Silesia back + crush Prussia → Habsburg leadership in German affairs; no success for Maria
First Great Revolt Under Napoleon
Occurred in Spain -Coalition of Catholics, monarchists, + patriots rebelled against Napoleon's attempts to make Spain a French satellite -French armies occupied Madrid; foes of Napoleon fled for hills + waged guerrilla warfare (small vs. big troops)
National Assembly Reforms
Old noble privileges—serfdom, hunting rights, fees for legal cases in the lord's court, right to make peasants work on roads— abolished along with the taxes paid to the church
League of Armed Neutrality
Organized by Catherine the Great of Russia; protected neutral shipping rights and hampered Britain's naval power
Voting for Representatives Restricted to Men who
Owned property (with stake in society)
Civil Wars After Declaration of Independence
Patriots against Loyalists (those loyal to the crown) -Loyalists numbered 20% of the white pop + were wealthy and politically moderate •Small in # in New England + Virginia; more common in Deep South + W Frontiers -Brit commanders enlisted Loyalists by assuring freedom to slaves that fought for England -Wealthy patriot coalitions harassed Loyalists + confiscated their property for war funds
Treaties of Tilsit
Prussia lost ½ its pop; Russia accepted Napoleon's restructuring of W+C Europe + enforced his economic blockade against British goods -Result of wars with Prussia and France, later joined by Russia -Alexander I of Russia wanted to negotiate for peace
Treaty of Paris of 1783
Recognized independence of 13 colonies + ceded Britain's territory between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River to the Americans
Stage 2 of Saint-Domingue Revolution
Resulted from decisive action from below -Slaves witnessing fights between free POC + whites took events into their own hands •Held night-time meetings to plan a mass insurrection •Drew on military experience from African wars+ civil wars in the kingdom of Congo •Traditions of resistance: work slowdowns, running away, + religious rituals (voodoo)
Napoleon as a Great Military Man
Sent peace feelers to Austria and Great Britain, the 2 remaining members of the 2nd Coalition against France -When they rejected his offers, Napoleon's armies decisively defeated the Austrians •Treaty of Lunèville: Austria accepted the loss of almost all its Italian possessions, + W Rhine German territory incorporated into France -The British agreed to the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, allowing France to control the Dutch Republic, Austrian Netherlands, W bank of the Rhine, and most of the Italian peninsula
Educated Elite and Status Quo
Some satisfied w the status quo, or too intimidated to challenge it; political, economic, and military events evoked action
Fuel of American Resistance
The independence that they had long enjoyed -Had powerful church + had religious freedom -Colonial assemblies made important laws; rarely overturned by British gov -More widespread voting rights than in England -No hereditary nobility w privileges; independent farmers dominated colonial society
England Contrasting France
Unlike England, w larger national debt relative to pop, France had no C bank or paper currency -⇊ economy + public confidence → difficulty obtaining loans, couldn't print $, ⇈ taxes -Unfair, outmoded French tax system meant ⇈ revenues were only possible through reform
Napoleon's Domestic Policy
Used his popularity and charisma to maintain order and end civil strife -Appeased powerful groups in France by according them *favors in return for loyal service* -Bargain w the mid-class solidified in the Civil Code of March 1804 *(Napoleonic Code)*, which reasserted equality of male citizens + security of wealth and private property -Established *Bank of France* w Parisian bankers; served state + financial oligarchy interests -*Won over peasants* by defending their gains in land + status from the Revolution
Advancements of Committee of Public Safety
Wanted to impose Republican unity across the nation -Collaborated with the sans-culottes, who *pressed the cause for fair prices* -Created an *economy w egalitarian social overtones* •Rather than let supply + demand determined price, the *gov set max prices* •State was too weak to enforce all price regulations; fixed fair bread prices in Paris
France's Crusade Against Tyranny
Went poorly at first; -Prussia + Austria (1C) fought the French, who fled -Legislative Assembly declared a country in danger, + volunteers rallied to the capital •Rumors of treason by king and queen spread in Paris -Revolutionary crowd attacked the royal palace at the Tuileries + royal family fled to the legislative assembly •Assembly suspended king from all functions, imprisoned him, + called for constitutional assembly elected by male suffrage
Upon Louis XVI's acceptance of the NA's constitution,
Young provincial lawyer + delegate, Maximilian Robespierre, concluded that the revolution is over -Constructive and lasting reforms were in place, but a more radical stage lay ahead, bringing war with foreign powers, national terror, + a transformed French gov
⇊ distinctions between landed aristocrats + wealthy commoners →
⇊ opposition on political issues; poor had little time to reform while facing the challenge of earning bread