Unit 5
Phases of the French Revolution
1) Preliminary (Bourbons) 2) Moderate (National Assembly) 3) Radical (National Convention) 4) Directory (Directory) 5) Napoleonic (Napoleon Bonaparte)
Battle of Waterloo
A battle that occurred on June 18 after Napoleon decided to strike first at his enemies so he raised an army and moved to attack the nearest allied forces stationed in Belgium. Here, he met a combined British and Prussian army under the command of the duke of Wellington. Napoleon faced a bloody defeat. He was exiled to Saint Helena, a small forsaken island in the South Atlantic. After this battle, Napoleon would never again contribute to French politics.
Segur
A law created in 1781 that was in reaction to the ambitions of aristocrats newly arrived from the bourgeoisie an that attempted to limit the sale of military officer ships to fourth-generation nobles, therefore excluding the newly enrolled members of nobility.
Friends of the Blacks
A French club that was influenced by the revolutionary ideal of equality and that advocated for the abolition of slavery, which was achieved in France in September 1791.
Marquis de Lafayette
A French officer who served in the American war. He volunteered for service in America in order to "strike a blow against England," France's old enemy. He was closely associated with George Washington and 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 made of people from the Paris salons who believed firmly in liberty and were influential in early stages of the French Revolution.
Battle of Austerlitz
A battle that occurred after Napoleon proceeded eastward from Ulm. He faced a large Russian army under Tsar Alexander I and some Austrian troops. The combined allied 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.
National Guard
A citizens' militia that was created by Louis XVI after he found the royal troops to be unreliable after the fall of Bastille. It was led by the marquis de Lafayette. It participated in the women's march to Versailles as Lafayette and his men marched to Versailles to gain the king's return to Paris as well as grain.
Coup d'état of Fructidor
A coup that occurred when the Directory felt like it was losing favor with the country. It called for Napoleon to send a general to command troops to guard the legislature at the Tuileries palace. Pierre-Francois-Charles-Augereau commanded the troops and took out many royalists and counterrevolutionaries. The coup further confirmed the power of the army and was very effective in preparing the way for Napoleon's military despotism.
Coup d'état of Brumaire
A coup that overthrew the Directory for the Consulate that started the despotism of Napoleon, who became the First Consul. It is often seen as the effective end of the French Revolution. Sieyes helped plan this coup with Napoleon after Napoleon returned from a military loss in Egypt. Napoleon was only 30 years old at the time of this coup.
Coup d'état in 1799
A coup that was preceded by the Directory which used military to maintain power as it was battered by political opponents, financial problems, and wars from the Committee of Public Safety. This coup was when Napoleon Bonaparte, already a successful and popular general, seized power.
Declaration of Pillnitz
A declaration issued by Emperor Leopold II of Austria and King Frederick William II of Prussia on August 27, 1791 that invited other European monarchs to take "the mos 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." However, European monarchs were too suspicious of each other to undertake such a plan. The French enthusiasm for war led the Legislative Assembly to declare war on Austria on April 20, 1792.
Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen
A document adopted on August 26 that was a charter of basic liberties and 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. It started with an affirmation of "the natural and imperceptible rights of man" to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." It affirmed 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 couples with the outlawing of arbitrary arrests. It raised the question of women's rights and many believed that it included them, although ultimately the National Assembly disagreed.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
A document put into effect in July 1790 that stated that bishops and priests of the Catholic church were to be elected by the people and paid by the state. All clergy had to swear an oath of allegiance to this document. However, the pope forbade it so only 54% of parish clergy took the oath, and most bishops refused.
The Girondins
A faction of the National Convention of which the leaders were from the department of Gironde in southwestern France and were members of the Jacobin club. They were represented primarily in the provinces and feared radical mobs in Paris. They wanted to keep the king alive to limit future unfavorable outcomes. They were ultimately beat out by the Mountain.
The Mountain (Montagnards)
A faction of the National Convention of which the members' seats were located on the side of the convention hall with seats slanted upwards and were members of the Jacobin club. They represented the interests of the cit of Paris and owed much of its strength to the radical and popular elements in the cities. Many of the members of this group were middle class. They wanted to execute the king and were successful when the National Convention found Louis guilty of treason and sentenced him to death, fully destroying the ancien regime.
Assignats
A form of paper money that were issued based on the collateral of the newly nationalized church property during the French revolution.
Conspiracy of Equals
A group created by Gracchus Babeuf that sought to abolish private property and eliminate private enterprise. This group was crushed in 1796.
Legislative Assembly
A group created by the National Assembly under the constitution of 1791 that was able to review the powers of the king. Sovereign power was vested in this group who was to sit for 2 years and have 745 representatives. The representatives were chosen by an indirect system of election that kept power in the hands of affluent members of society. Both active and passive citizens had the same civil rights, but only active citizens who were men over 25 years old who paid taxes equal to 3 days' unskilled labor were allowed to vote. There were about 4.3 million in 1790. They voted for electors who had to pay taxes equal to 10 days' labor. This group of around 50,000 electors then voted for deputies, who paid a silver mark in taxes equal to 54 days' labor. Its first session was in October 1791 after he king tried to flee France and was then taken back to Paris. This group was mostly men of property, especially lawyers. They had experience in revolutionary politics through the National Guard, Jacobin clubs, and many new elective offices. This group declared war on Austria on April 20, 1792. Reactionaries wanted preoccupation with war to cool down the Revolution, Leftists wanted war to spread the Revolution and strengthen it in France. This group, after the French were losing and facing possible invasion, called for 20,000 National Guardsmen from the provinces to defend Paris. However, the insurrectionary commune organized a mob attack on the royal palace and this group which in August 1792. They took the king prisoner and forced the group to suspend the monarchy and call for a national convention chosen by universal male suffrage. Power was passed to the new Paris Commune.
National Assembly
A group created on June 17, 1789 made up of members of the Third Estate who wanted to respond to the First Estate's plan to vote by order in the Estates-General. They decided to draw up a constitution and made the Tennis Court Oath in which they swore to meet until they finished it. This group had to legal right to assemble but the Third Estate members, mostly those with legal representation. One of the first acts of the group was to destroy relics of feudalism and aristocratic privileges. To some deputies, this act was to cam peasants and restore order in the countryside but to others they wanted to abolish feudalism as a matter of principle. On August 4, 1789, this group voted to abolish seigneurial rights and fiscal privileges of nobles, clergy, towns, and provinces. The group then adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This was a charter of basic liberties that reflected Revolutionary ideals and gave many rights such as the rights to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. The group, however, ignored the demands from Olympe de Gouges calling for rights for women as well. When the fish women marched to Paris, the king was forced to accept this group's decrees about the abolition of feudalism and the declaration of rights. They then created the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in which bishops and priests of the Catholic Church wee elected by the state and they had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution. However, this was a mistake because it gave a base of opposition against the group. By 1791, a new constitution was complete that created a limited constitutional monarchy. This resulted in a legislative assembly that would review the king's powers. They also created 83 departments in France who were supervised by elected councils and officials who were mostly made up of the bourgeoisie, especially lawyers.
Toussaint L'Ouverture
A leader of the slave revolt in Saint-Domingue who was the son of African slaves. He seized control of all of Hispaniola by 1801. Napoleon accepted the revolutionary idea of equality but did not deny the reports of white planters on the savage nature of blacks. He reinstated slavery in 1802 in the French West Indian colonies and sent an army that captured the leader who died in a French dungeon within a year. The French soldiers were weak with disease and lost to slave forces, leading to the west part of Hispaniola, or Haiti, announce its freedom and become the first independent state in Latin America, resulting in revolutionary ideals being triumphant abroad.
Reign of Terror
A movement established by the National Convention and Committee of Public Safety as well as Robespierre in which Revolutionary courts were organized to protect the Republic from its internal enemies. Victims of this movement were from all classes and included royalists such as Queen Marie Antoinette as well as former revolutionary Girondins such as Olympe de Gouges. Most victims were those who opposed the radical activities of the sans-culottes. In 9 months, 16,000 people were killed by the guillotine, although the number of victims was closer o 50,000. Most executions occurred in the Vendee and in cities like Lyons and Marseilles that were in open rebellion against the National Convention's authority. Military force in the form of revolutionary armies brought rebel cities and districts back under control. Marseilles fell to the army in August and Lyons starved and surrendered early in October after 2 months of resistance. 1,880 citizens of Lyons were killed by cannon fire when the guillotine was slow due to it being France's 2nd city after Paris but still rebelling. In the Vendee, armies killed many, even women and children. It was most destructive there and 42% of death sentences were in territories affected by the Vendee Rebellion. 8 % of victims were nobles, 25% were middle class, 6% were clergy, and 60% were peasants. It was believed that this bloodletting was just temporary until order was restores and it was ended with the Thermidorian reaction after Maximilian Robespierre, a leader of the movement, was killed.
Napoleonic Code-Civil Code (roles of family members, women, etc)
A new code of laws created by Napoleon that preserved many of the Revolutionary gains by recognizing the equality of all citizens before the law, giving individual the right to choose their own professions, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism. Property rights were carefully protected and the interest of employers was guarded by outlawing trade unions and strikes. However, the Revolution made divorce an easy process for husbands and wives, restricted rights of fathers over children, and allowed all children (including daughters) to inherit property equally. This code of laws made it so divorce was allowed but difficult for women to obtain, fathers regained control over their children, women's property went under the control of the husband upon marriage, and women were treated as minors in lawsuits.
Constitution of 1791
A new constitution that established a limited constitutional monarchy. There was still a monarch, called the "king of the French" but he had few powers not subject to review by the new Legislative Assembly. This assembly had sovereign power and was to sit for 2 years and was made up of 745 representatives. Active and passive systems were distinguished with as indirect election went into effect. Only active citizens who were over the age of 25 and payed taxed equal to 3 days of unskilled labor could vote. They voted for electors who payed 10 days of labor in taxes. These electors chose deputies who payed 54 days in taxes. The National assembly also divided France into 83 departments that were then divided into districts and communes that were supervised by elected councils and officials who oversaw financial, administrative, judicial, and ecclesiastical institutions within their domains. Bourgeois and aristocrats were eligible for office based on property qualifications but few nobles were elected, leaving the bourgeoisie, especially lawyers, to hold local and departmental government positions.
Constitution of 1795
A new constitution that was written after the Thermidorian reaction. It reflected a more conservative republicanism or a desire for a stability that did not sacrifice the ideals of 1789. It established a two-chambered national legislative assembly in hopes of avoiding the dangers of another single legislative assembly. It also established the Directory.
Continental System
A new system put into effect by Napoleon between 1806 and 1807 that attempted to prevent British good from reaching the European continent in order to weaken the British economically and destroy its capacity to wage war. It failed and the allied states began to further resent the ever-tightening French economic hegemony. Some cheated and others resisted which opened the door to British collaboration. New markets in the eastern Mediterranean and in Latin America also provided compensation for the British, and by 1810, British overseas exports were approaching record heights, resulting in the system backfiring on Napoleon and France.
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
A philosopher who at first welcomed the French Revolution for freeing the human spirit but soon became a proponent of a German national spirit radically different from that of France. His philosophical voice did little to overthrow he French but it did awaken a dream of German nationalism that would bear fruit later in the 19th century.
Olympe de Gouges
A playwright and pamphleteer who refused to accept the exclusion of women from political rights as said in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. She echoed the words of the official declaration in her 'Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen' in which she insisted that women should have all the same rights as men, although the National Assembly ignored her demands.
Nationalism
A political creed that arose during the French Revolution with the French people's emphasis on brotherhood and solidarity against other peoples. It involved the unique cultural identity of a people based on a common language, religion, and national symbols. This spirit made mas armies possibly during the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.
Germaine de Stael
A prominent writer who refused to accept Napoleon's rowing despotism. She was educated in Enlightenment ideas and she set up a salon that became a prominent intellectual center in Paris by 1800. She wrote novels and political works that denounced Napoleon's rule as tyrannical. He banned her books in France and exiled her to the German states where she continued to write, anguished by the fact that she was absent from France. After the overthrow of Napoleon, she returned to her beloved Paris where she died two years later.
Sans-culottes
A radical group who made up a large part of the new Paris commune. They were ordinary patriots without fine clothes. They are usually associated with working people or the poor but many were merchants and better-off artisans who were the elite of their neighborhoods and trades.
Gracchus Babeuf
A radical in the directory who was appalled at the misery of the common people and who wanted to abolish private property and eliminate private enterprise. He created the Conspiracy of Equals which was crushed in 1796 and was executed in 1797.
Abbe Sieyes
A representative of the National Assembly who issued a pamphlet in which he asked, "What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become something." This insight did not represent the general feeling at the time.
Taille
A tax that was levied by the king on his subjects or on lands held under him and that became solely a royal tax. The nobility and clergy were often exempt from paying this tax and this exemption became an outrage of the Third Estate and was taken away with National Assembly's taking away of feudal privileges.
Treaty of Campo Formio
A treaty created after war between Napoleon and the First Coalition that was between Austria and France. The treaty called for Austria to cede the Austrian Netherlands to France and to recognize the newly created Ligurian (formerly Republic of Genoa) and Cisalpine Republics as independent states. Austria had to accept French possession of the Ionian Islands including Corfu and to cede Lombardy to the Cisalpine Republic. In return Austria received the Italian lands east of the Adige River which included Venice, Friuli, Istria, and Dalmatia. Finally, a secret clause in the treaty stated that Austria agreed to the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine River. This treaty ended the Napoleon's Italian Campaign and it gave Napoleon the credit for being the man who brought peace to Europe.
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 foreign troops, aided by a supposed aristocratic plot, encouraged the formation of more citizens' militias and permanent committee. There were many agrarian revolts occurring at the same time as this panic. The greatest impact of this panic was on the National Assembly meeting in Versailles, which then attempted to reform France.
Coronation of Napoleon
After being named Consul for life, Napoleon wanted more power so in 1804, he returned France to monarchy when he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I. He grabbed the crown out of the pope's hands and placed it on his own head, showing his arrogance and ignorance.
Battle against Russia
After the Russian's defected from the Continental System, Napoleon decided to invade them in 1812. He knew the risks but also knew that if the Russians could challenge the continental system unopposed, others would follow. In June 1812, Napoleon's grand army of over 600,000 men entered Russia, hoping to quickly meet and defeat the Russian armies. The Russians refused to give battle and they retreated hundreds of miles while torching their own villages and countryside to prevent Napoleon's army from finding food and forage. Heat and disease took their toll as well, and the vast Russian territory led many of them into desert. When the Russians finally stopped to fight at Borodino, Napoleon's forces won an indecisive victory. 45,000 Russian troops were killed and 30,000 French were killed with no reinforcements. When the remaining troops of the Grand Army returned to Moscow, the city was ablaze. They lacked food and supplies, resulting in Napoleon abandoning Moscow in late October when he made the "Great Retreat" across Russia in terrible winter conditions. Only 40,000 troops made it back to Poland in January 1813 and this military disaster soon led to a war of liberation all over Europe, later resulting in Napoleon's defeat in April 1814.
Treaties of Tilsit
Agreements made by France with Prussia and Russia after Napoleon's victories at Jena and Auerstadt. France and Russia became allies and divided Europe between them, reducing Austria and Prussia to small powers. Alexander I of Russia accepted the reduction of Prussia. Out of the Polish provinces that were detached from Prussia came a new Grand Duchy of Warsaw for the king of Saxony who was allied with Napoleon. The Kingdom of Westphalia in northern Germany was also created. Westphalia was also partly made of former Prussian lands. Napoleon's hegemony in western and central Europe was established. Many countries, including Russia and Prussia, were made to join the Continental System against Britain and the alliance between Russia and France made from this agreement was kept until Russia decided to ignore the Continental System.
Committee of Public Safety
An executive committee created by the National Convention that was initially dominated by Danton. For the first year, the same 12 members were reelected and gave the country leadership that it needed to deal with domestic and foreign crises of 1793. One of the most important members was Maximilien Robespierre. It decreed a universal mobilization of the nation to meet foreign crises which led to the creation of the Republic's army. With the National Convention, this group established the Reign of Terror. It executed many people, including many people in Lyons after they rebelled. It believed that it was temporary until the Republic of Virtue would occur. It established some economic controls such as the Law of General Maximum and the requisition of food supplies for cities. The Law of 14 Frimaire was when this committee sought to centralize the administration of France and to exercise greater control to check the excesses of the Reign of Terror. In 1794, this committee turned against its radical Parisian supporters and executed the leaders of the revolutionary Paris commune. However, this alienated an important group of supporters. An anti-Robespierre coalition ended up guillotining Robespierre which led to the decline of this committee.
Old regime, ancien regime
The old political structure of France with a monarch and the three Estates. The goal of the French Revolution was to overthrow this and replace it with a republic. This structure was challenged by ideas of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, its inability to make reforms, and financial crises due to royal extravagance and unnecessary wars.
Napoleon's military career -Egyptian campaign, Italian campaign
Egyptian campaign: Napoleon wanted to invade England but did not think that the French could handle that invasion, he proposed to do an indirect strike by taking Egypt and threatening India, a major source of British wealth. However, the British controlled the seas and cut off supplies from Napoleon's army in Egypt. He did not see success in his future so he abandoned his army and returned to Paris, where he participated in the coup d'etat of Brumaire that ended up leading to his gaining of power. Italian Campaign: Napoleon became the commander of the French army in Italy shortly after his marriage. There, he took some poorly disciplined soldiers and turned them into an efficient fighting force. He had many victories and defeated the Austrians and gained peace in 1797. He won the confidence of his men through his charm, energy, and ability to understand complex issues quickly. He was tough with officers but king to soldiers and this allowed him to influence people and win their support. He believed himself to be a military genius who had a "touch for leading, which could not be learned from books, nor by practice."
Refractory priests
Members of the clergy who refused to take the oaths required by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and who attempted to flee. As punishment, they were often banished, imprisoned, or executed.
September Massacres
Mass killing of prisoners that took place in Paris from September 2 to September 6 1792. It was sometimes called the "First Terror" of the French Revolution. The people believed that political prisoners were planning to rise up in their jails to join a counterrevolutionary plot. In all, about 1,200 prisoners were killed, most after a summary trial by a quickly done popular tribunal. Of these, more than 220 were priests held for refusing to accept the Revolutionary church reorganization. They made a profound impression abroad, where they were publicized as proof of the horrors of revolution. The responsibility for the massacres became a political issue in party struggles in the ruling National Convention, where the moderate Girondins blamed their more radical enemies.
His domestic policies-bureaucratic changes
Napoleon developed a powerful centralized administrative machine. He kept the 83 departments of France but eliminated locally elected assemblies and replaced them with new officials like prefects, who supervised local government. He made tax collection more systematic and efficient so that professional collectors employed by the state dealt with each individual taxpayers. Tax exemptions were not given, even due to birth, status, or special arrangement. This allowed for a balanced budget. Napoleon tried to develop capable officials based on demonstrated abilities. This led to an aristocracy based on merit in state service which allowed for 3,263 new nobles from 1808-1814. Almost 60% were military officers and the rest were from upper ranks of the civil service or were other state and local officials. Only 22% were from nobility of the Ancien Regime and almost 60% were of the bourgeoisie.
His policies with Catholic Church-Concordat of 1801
Napoleon knew that he would have to come to terms with the Catholic Church in order to stabilize his reign. He negotiated with Pope Pius VII to create the Concordat of 1801. The pope gained the right to depose French bishops but the state kept the right to nominate bishops. The Catholic Church could hold processions again and could reopen the seminaries. However, just by signing the Concordat, the pope acknowledged the accomplishments of the Revolution and agreed not to raise the question of the church lands confiscated during the Revolution. Napoleon recognized Catholicism as the religion of a majority of 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 state payroll. The Catholic Church was no longer an enemy of the French government. The agreement also reassured those who got church lands during the Revolution that they would not be stripped of them that made them supporters of the Napoleonic regime.
Prefects
New officials created by Napoleon who acted as the central government's agents and were appointed by the first consul (Napoleon). They were responsible for supervising all aspects of local government, however they were not local men and their careers depended on the central government.
Nantes
Occurred during the Terror in which the most notorious acts of violence occurred. Victims were killed by sinking them in barges in the Loire River.
Tennis Court Oath
Occurred on June 20, 1789 when deputies in the Estates-General of the Third Estate met after voting to constitute itself a "National Assembly" and decided to draw up a constitution. They arrived at their meeting spot but found doors locked and decided to move to a nearby indoor tennis court in which they swore to continue to meet until they produced a French Constitution. This was the first step in the French Revolution since the Third Estate had no legal right to act as the National Assembly.
Women's March onto Versailles
On October 5, after marching to the Hotel de Ville, or city hall, to demand bread, thousands of Parisian women went to Versailles, which was 12 miles away, to confront the king and National Assembly. They were armed with broomsticks, lances, pitchforks, swords, pistols, and muskets and were called the fish women. Louis XVI met with a delegation of the women, who tearfully described their starving children, and promised them grain supplies for Paris which he thought would solve the problem. The women's action forced the National Guard under Lafayette to follow and march to Versailles. They now insisted that the royal family return to Paris. On October 6, the king went to Paris and brought along wagon loads of flour from palace stores, all of which were escorted by women armed with pikes singing, "We are bringing back the baker, the baker's wife, and the baker's boy." The king accepted the National Assembly's decrees and became a prisoner of Paris.
Maximilien Robespierre
One of the most important members of the Committee of Public Safety who 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 who he loved in the abstract though not on a one-on-one basis. He started the Reign of Terror as an attempt to strengthen the revolution but was executed by the same people who supported him at the start as the violence of the revolution started to die down.
Directory- Council of Elders
One of the two chambers of the national legislative assembly that was the upper house of 250 members. It was composed of married or widowed members who were over 40 years old and its job was to accept or reject proposed laws. It also voted on the five directors based on a list given to them by the Council of 500.
Louis Saint-Just
One of the younger members of the Committee of Public Safety who rationalized the twelve man government of the Terror by saying that "Since the French people has manifested its will, everything opposed to it is outside the sovereign. Whatever is outside the sovereign is an enemy." He was referring to Rousseau's concept of general will but it is apparent that these twelve men, in the name of a Republic, took it upon themselves the right to ascertain the sovereign will of the French people and to kill their enemies as "outside the sovereign."
Cahiers
Statements of local grievances that were drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General and advocated a regular constitutional government that would abolish the fiscal privileges of the church and nobility as the major way to rehabilitate the country. They were drafted mainly by the bourgeoisie.
Grand Empire
The French empire under Napoleon that had three major parts. The first was the French empire that was the inner core and consisted of an enlarged France extending to the Rhine in the east and including the western half of Italy north of Rome. The second was dependent states including Spain, the Netherlands, the kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation of the Rhine (a union of all German states except Austria and Prussia). The third was allied states that were defeated by Napoleon and forced to join his fight against Britain including Prussia, Austria, and Russia. The internal structure of the empire varied outside its inner core, Napoleon believed himself the leader of the whole. Within the empire, Napoleon demanded obedience because he needed a united front against the British and because his growing egotism required obedience to his will. He also sought acceptance everywhere of some revolutionary privileges. In the inner core and dependent states of his empire, Napoleon tried to destroy the old order. Nobility and clergy lost special privileges, equality and equal opportunity with offices open to talent were introduced, equality before law was put into effect, and religious toleration was implemented.
Execution of king and queen
The National Convention found the king guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. He was killed on January 21, 1793 which marked the destruction of the Ancien Regime. There was no turning back after his death. The queen was killed during the Terror for posing a threat to the Revolution along with many other people from all social classes.
National Convention's role in Saint-Domingue
The National Convention, after coming into power, was guided by the ideal of equality and, on February 4, 1794, abolished slavery in the colonies. However, after the slave rebellion, Napoleon reinstated slavery in 1802 and he sent an army to capture L'Ouverture. The French lost and slavery was abolished as western Hispaniola became the first independent state in Latin America.
Temple of Reason
The Parisian temple of Notre-Dame that changed names with de-Christianization. In November 1793, a public ceremony dedicated to the worship of reason was held in this former cathedral. Patriotic maidens in white dresses paraded before the temple where the high altar once stood. At the end of this ceremony, a female figure personifying Liberty rose out of the temple, although de-Christianization ended up backfiring because Catholic was largely Catholic.
Nation in arms
The Republic's army created after the universal mobilization was decreed by the Committee of Public Safety in order to meet the foreign crisis and save the Republic from its foreign enemies. In less than a year, it was made of 650,000 men and by September 1794 it consisted of 1,169,000 men. It was the largest ever seen in European history and 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 due to the army. All of France united under the Revolutionary cause and helped to create a people's war as well as a people's army.
Battle of Leipzig/Battle of the Nations
The biggest battle of the Napoleonic wars. It was decisive defeat against Napoleon, resulting in the destruction of what was left of French power in Germany and Poland. The battle was fought at Leipzig, in Saxony, between approximately 185,000 French and other troops under Napoleon, and approximately 320,000 allied troops, including Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and Swedish forces.e. After his retreat from Russia in 1812, Napoleon mounted a new offensive in Germany in 1813. His armies failed to take Berlin, however, and were forced to withdraw. On October 19, Napoleon began the retreat westward over the single bridge across the Elster River. A frightened corporal blew up the bridge while it was still crowded with retreating French troops and in no danger of allied attack. The demolition left 30,000 rear guard and injured French troops trapped in Leipzig, to be taken prisoner the next day. The French also lost 38,000 men killed and wounded. Allied losses totaled 55,000 men. This battle, one of the most severe of the Napoleonic Wars, marked the end of the French Empire east of the Rhine.
August 4th
The date in 1789 when the National Assembly voted, in an astonishing session, to abolish seigneurial rights as well as the fiscal privileges of nobles, clergy, towns, and provinces.
Prince Karl von Hardenberg
The director of he Prussian army after Baron Heinrich von Stein who allowed Prussia to embark on a series of political and military reforms, including the abolition of serfdom, election of city councils, and creation of a larger standing army. Prussia's reform, instituted as a response to Napoleon, allowed it to again play an important role in European affairs.
Henrich von Stein
The director of he Prussian army before Prince Karl von Hardenberg who allowed Prussia to embark on a series of political and military reforms, including the abolition of serfdom, election of city councils, and creation of a larger standing army. Prussia's reform, instituted as a response to Napoleon, allowed it to again play an important role in European affairs.
First Consul
The executive power of the new government that was a bicameral legislative assembly elected indirectly to reduce the role of elections. There were 3 consuls that held this executive power, but as Article 42 in the Constitution states, "the decision of the _____ shall suffice." Napoleon took this position and had overwhelming influence over the legislature, appointed members of the bureaucracy, controlled the army, and conducted foreign affairs. In 1802, Napoleon was given this position for life and by 1804, he crowned himself Emperor.
Estates-General
The governmental assembly during the Ancien Regime that consisted of representatives from the three orders of French society. In the elections, the government ruled that the Third Estate should get double representation. The First and Second Estates had about 300 delegates each while the commoners had almost 600. 2/3 of the Third Estate representatives had legal training and 3/4 were from towns with over 2,000 inhabitants, leaving the representatives of legal and urban representation. Of the 282 nobility, about 90 were liberal minded, urban oriented, and interested in enlightenment ideals. Half of them were under 40 years old. The activists of the Third Estate and the reform-minded individuals were all young, had an urban background, and were hostile to privilege. This assembly opened at Versailles on May 5, 1789. It was divided over whether they should vote by order or head. Parlement decided that each order would vote separately and each would have veto power over the others, guaranteeing autocratic control. However, the patriots or "lovers of liberty" who opposed this created the Society of Thirty and split off into the National Assembly which led to the end of this establishment and the start of the French Revolution.
National Convention
The group established after the Paris Commune that started its sessions in September 1792. It was called to draft a new constitution and also acted as the sovereign ruling body of France. It was composed of lawyers, professionals, and property owners and included a few artisans. 2/3 of deputies were under age 45 and almost all had revolutionary political experience. Almost all were distrustful of the king and his activities. There were factions inside the group such as the Girondins and Mountains. Eventually, the Mountain won which led to the execution of the king. In western France, especially in the Vendee and in Lyons and Marseilles, the authority of this group was threatened. They created the Committee of Public Safety to administer the government. To meet domestic crises, this group with the Committee of Public Safety established the Reign of Terror. Anyone in rebellion against the authority of the National Convention or of the Revolution was executed. In 1793, a group of women asked for lower bread prices who adjourned until a later date. The women then created the Society for Revolutionary Republican Women. This group also pursued its policy of de-Christianization. The word saint was removed from street names, churches were pillaged and clothes, and priests were encouraged to marry. Notre-Dame became the Temple of Reason. The republican calendar was also created to celebrate the Revolution over religion. On February 4, 1794, this group abolished slavery in the colonies. An anti-Robespierre coalition in this group ended up executing him which ended the Terror. They then curtailed the power of the Committee of Public Safety, shut down the Jacobin club, and tried to better protect the deputies against Parisian mobs. A rule was made that 2/3 of the National Assembly had to come from this group which allowed it to live on through the Directory.
Paris Commune
The group that dominated politics before the National Convention at the start of the radical phase of the Revolution. It was led by the newly appointed minister of justice, Georges Danton, and was made up of many sans-culottes who were ordinary patriots without fine clothes. The sans-culottes wanted revenge on those who helped the king and ignored popular will. During the radical phase, this group outlawed women's clubs and forbade women from being present at its meetings. In 1794, the Committee of Public Safety ended up turning against the radical Parisian supporters and the executed many leaders of this Revolutionary group which turned it into a submissive tool.
Georges Danton
The leader of the sans-culottes and a newly appointed minister of justice who sought led the sans-culottes to seek revenge on those who aided the king and resisted popular will.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The man who dominated French and European history from 1799 to 1815. He brought the Revolution to its end but was also its child and was called the Son of the Revolution. He once said on of an Italian lawyer who was of Florentine nobility. He was disciplined, thrifty, and loyal. He went to school in France due to his father's connections and learned to speak French and later went to military school. He was influenced by Rousseau, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and Frederick the Great. In the military, he quickly rose through the ranks and became a major general. He was married to Josephine de Beauharnais. He became the First Consul after establishing a consulate in France and he controlled the entire executive authority of the government. He later named himself consul for life and finally crowned himself Emperor. This satisfied his ego and stabilized the regime and was fully permanent. This led to a more dictatorial regime than the prior one. He made peace with the Catholic Church with the Concordat of 1801. He also established the Civil Code which gave rights and equality to all people but took many rights away from women. He also developed a centralized administrative machine as he created new government officials such as prefects. The prefects supervised local governments. He created a systematic tax collection system and created an aristocracy based on merit. The Grand Empire was created made up of the French Empire, dependent states, and allied states. He tried to combat Great Britain with his Continental system, which failed. He used nationalism to grow his army and spread the French ideals throughout Europe. His downfall was when he tried to invade Russia after they ignored the Continental System and ended up getting stuck there in the winter, where he was forced to make the Great Retreat. He ended up getting exiled to Elba and, after he attempted to return to France, he was permanently exiled to Saint Helena where he lived out the rest of his days.
Jacobins
The most famous radical political club that emerged as a gathering of radical deputies at the start of the Revolution. They formed in Paris as well as in the provinces where they were mainly discussion groups. Examples of members of this club were the Girondins and the Mountain. It was eventually shut down after the Terror by the National Convention.
Storming of the Bastille
The most famous urban rising that occurred when the king attempted to take defensive measures by increasing the number of troops at arsenals in Paris and along roads to Versailles, which ended up inflaming public opinion. More mob activity in Paris led Parisian leaders to form the Permanent Committee to keep order. They needed arms and organized a popular force to capture the Invalides, a royal army. They then attacked another royal armory. This armory was also a state prison but only held seven prisoners. There were not many weapons inside except for those held by a small group of defenders. It was a large fortress with eight towers connected by nine-foot-thick walls. It should have been easily protected, but its commander, the marquis de Launay, wanted to negotiate. Fighting erupted but de Launay refused to open fire with his cannon and the garrison soon surrendered. The fall of this fortress was seen as a great victory and it became a popular symbol of triumph over despotism.
Thermidorian Reaction
The parliamentary revolt initiated on 9 Thermidor, year II (July 27, 1794), which resulted in the fall of Maximilian Robespierre and the collapse of revolutionary fervor and the Reign of Terror in France.France became weary of the growing number of executions with the Terror and Paris was alive with conspiracies against Robespierre. Robespierre was executed and the French people tried to purge Jacobin clubs from Paris. The coup was primarily a reassertion of the rights of the National Convention against the Committee of Public Safety and of the nation against the Paris Commune. It was followed by the disarming of the committee, the emptying of the prisons, and the purging of Jacobin clubs.
Amiens
The peace that Napoleon achieved in March 1802 that left France with new frontiers and a number of client territories from the North Sea to the Adriatic. The peace did not last because the British and French both regarded it as temporary and had little intention of adhering to its terms. It was achieved after the Second Coalition against Russia, Great Britain, and Austria.
De-christianization
The policy pursued by the National Convention in creating a new order. In this new movement, the word 'saint' was removed from street names, churches were pillaged and closed by revolutionary armies, and priests were encouraged to marry.
New calendar
The republican calendar that was adopted on October 5, 1793. Years were to be numbered from September 22, 1792, when the French republic was proclaimed, which meant that it was already year II when it was adopted. It had 12 months, each of which had 3 10 day weeks called decades. The 10th day was a rest day called decadi. It eliminated Sundays and Sunday worships and de-emphasized Sundays, saints' days, and church holidays and festivals. Religious celebrations were to be replaced with revolutionary festivals. The 5 days left at the end of the year formed a 1/2 week of festivals that celebrated Virtue, Intelligence, Labor, Opinion, and Rewards. In leap years, the sixth celebrated liberty, equality, and fraternity. Eliminating church holidays brought nonworking holidays from 56 to 32 days. They also renamed months in the year to evoke seasons, temperature, or state of vegetation. (Veendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivose, Pluviose, Ventose, Germinal, Floreal, Prairial, Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor). The calendar had lots of opposition though and the government relied on coersion to gain its acceptance. Journalists had to use republican dates in newspapers, although peasants still did not use the calendar and even government officials ignored it. It was abandoned by Napoleon on January 1, 1806.
Republic of Virtue
The state of France after the war and domestic turmoil of the Terror in which the Committee of Public Safety took steps to control France and create a republican order with republican citizens. The committee was sending representatives on a mission as agents of the central government to all departments that would explain the war emergency members and to implement laws dealing with wartime emergency. It also tried to apply some economic controls by making a system of requisitioning food supplies for cities that was enforced by revolutionary armies in the country. The Law of General Maximum was created that had price controls on goods that were of 1st necessity. It ranged from food and drink to fuel and clothing. These controls failed, however, because the government did not have the power to enforce them. This was an idealistic view of France.
Saint-Domingue (Hispaniola)
The western third of the island of Hispaniola that was a French sugar colony. In 1791, black slaves there rebelled against French plantation owners, inspired by the ideals of the Revolution in France. They attacked, killing plantation owners and their families and burning their buildings. White planters retaliated with equal brutality. The revolt was lead by Toussaint L'Ouverture and was eventually won by the slaves. On January 1, 1804, the western part of Hispaniola, now called Haiti, announced its freedom and became the first independent state in Latin America.
Battle of Jena and Auerstadt
Two battles in which Napoleon decisively defeated the Prussian forces in October 1806. The Prussians had initially refused to join the Third Coalition but once Napoleon started to reorganize German states, they reversed course which led to these battles.
Vendee, Marseilles, Lyon's reactions
Vendee: A department in France where peasants revolted against the new military draft. It soon became a full-on counterrevolutionary appeal as some people said "long live the king and our good priests. We want our king, our priests, and the old regime." Marseilles: Favored a decentralized republic to free themselves from the ascendancy of Paris. They said that "it is time for the anarchy of a few men of blood to stop". They did not favor breaking up the indivisible republic. Had to surrender during the terror. Lyons: Broke away from the central authority of Paris and wanted a decentralized republic. They did not want to break up the indivisible republic. Ultimately starved out and surrendered during the Terror and many citizens were executed.