Chapter 21
Confederation of the Rhine
A federation of German states organized under Napoleon I in July 1806. Formerly under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, which was dissolved the same year, the new federation placed itself under the "protection" of Napoleon and was governed by one of his close allies. It quickly fell apart after Napoleon's defeat outside Leipzig in 1813 as member states abandoned the French and joined the German nationalist "war of liberation."
Joseph Fouche
Earned a reputation as an incredibly ruthless man during the reign of terror he served as Napoleons minister of police. He set up a large intelligence system to gather information on people who he thought might be plotting against Napoleon. He set up a system by which he could put people under surveillance twenty-four hours a day.
Abbe Sieyes
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès was a French Roman Catholic abbé, clergyman and political writer. He was one of the chief political theorists of the French Revolution, and also played a prominent role in the French Consulate and First French Empire. His 1789 pamphlet What is the Third Estate? became the manifesto of the Revolution, helping to transform the Estates-General into the National Assembly in June 1789. In 1799, he was the instigator of the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (9 November), which brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power. He also coined the term "sociologie" in an unpublished manuscript, and made significant theoretical contributions to the nascent social sciences.[2]
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide.
Estates General
France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The calling of the Estates General in 1789 led to the French Revolution. (p. 585)
Seven Years' War
Known in America as French and Indian war. It was the war between the French and their Indian allies and the English that proved the English to be the more dominant force of what was to be the United States both commercially and in terms of controlled regions.
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (6 May 1758 - 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer, politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club, he advocated against the death penalty and for the abolition of slavery, while supporting equality of rights, universal suffrage and the establishment of a republic. He opposed war with Austria and the possibility of a coup by La Fayette. As a member of the Committee of Public Safety, he was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended a few months after his arrest and execution in July 1794. Influenced by 18th-century Enlightenment philosophes such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu, he was a capable articulator of the beliefs of the left-wing bourgeoisie. He was described as being physically unimposing and immaculate in attire and personal manners.[citation needed] His supporters called him "The Incorruptible", while his adversaries called him dictateur sanguinaire (bloodthirsty dictator).
First Consul
Napoleon Bonaparte; became the First Consul of the Republic after disbanding the Legislative assembly; New constitution approved his position in December, 1799.
continental system
Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.
Great Fear
The "Great Fear" (French: la Grande Peur) occurred from 17 July to 5 August 1789 in France at the start of the French Revolution. Rural unrest had been present in France since the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and the grain supplies were now guarded by local militias due to rumors that bands of armed men were roaming the countryside. In response to rumors, fearful peasants armed themselves in self-defense and, in some areas, attacked manor houses. The content of the rumors differed from region to region -- in some areas it was believed that a foreign force were burning the crops in the fields while in other areas it was believed that bandits were burning buildings. Fear of the peasant revolt was a deciding factor in the decision to abolish feudalism.
[Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790)]
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (French: "Constitution civile du clergé") was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. It is often stated this law confiscated the Church's French land holdings or banned monastic vows: that had already been accomplished by earlier legislation. It did, however, complete the destruction of the monastic orders, legislating out of existence "all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships, both regular and in commendam, for either sex", etc. It also sought to settle the chaos caused by the earlier confiscation of Church lands and the abolition of the tithe.[1] Some of the support from this came from figures within the Church, such as the priest and parliamentarian Pierre Claude François Daunou, and, above all, the revolutionary priest Henri Grégoire. The measure was opposed, but ultimately acquiesced to, by King Louis XVI.
Girondists & Mountain "Plain"
The Plain (La Plaine), sometimes called the Marsh (Le Marais), was the name given to the Moderate party, in the French National Convention during the French Revolution. They sat between the Girondists on the Right and, The Mountain or Jacobin party on the left. (Our modern usage of Right/Conservative and Left/Liberal stems from this seating arrangement). None of these three groups was an organized party as is known today. The Mountain and the Girondists did consist of individuals with similar views and agendas who socialized together and often coordinated political plans. The Plain, however, consisted of delegates that did not belong to either of these two groups and as such was even more amorphous The plain constituted the majority of delegates to the Convention and would vote with either the Girondists or Mountain depending on the issue at hand, the current circumstances and mood of the Convention. Initially they sided with the Girondists, but latter backed the Mountain in executing Louis XVI and inaugurating the Terror. Later they abandoned the Mountain inaugurating the Thermidorian Reaction.
Quadruple Alliance
The Quadruple Alliance was signed by Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia in 1815. The Holy Alliance signed by all European rulers except the Pope, the king of England, and the sultan of Turkey. It was meant to unite Europe, preserve peace, and spread Christianity.
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (5 September 1793 - 28 July 1794),[1] also known simply as The Terror (French: la Terreur), was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris),[2] and another 25,000 in summary executions across France.[3] The guillotine (called the "National Razor") became the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions: King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Girondins, Philippe Égalité (Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans), and Madame Roland, as well as many others, such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lost their lives under its blade. During 1794, revolutionary France was beset with conspiracies by internal and foreign enemies. Within France, the revolution was opposed by the French nobility, which had lost its inherited privileges. The Roman Catholic Church was generally against the Revolution, which had turned the clergy into employees of the state and required they take an oath of loyalty to the nation (through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy). In addition, the First French Republic was engaged in a series of wars with neighboring powers intent on crushing the revolution to prevent its spread. The extension of civil war and the advance of foreign armies on national territory produced a political crisis and increased the rivalry between the Girondins and the more radical Jacobins. The latter were eventually grouped in the parliamentary faction called the Mountain, and they had the support of the Parisian population. The French government established the Committee of Public Safety, which took its final form on 6 September 1793 in order to suppress internal counter-revolutionary activities and raise additional French military forces. Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror's leaders exercised broad dictatorial powers and used them to instigate mass executions and political purges. The repression accelerated in June and July 1794, a period called la Grande Terreur (the Great Terror), and ended in the coup of 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), leading to the Thermidorian Reaction, in which several protagonists of the Reign of Terror were executed, including Saint-Just and Robespierre.
September Massacres (1792)
The September Massacres[1] were a wave of mob violence which overtook Paris in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution. By the time it had subsided, half the prison population of Paris had been executed: some 1,200 trapped prisoners, including many women and young boys. Sporadic violence, in particular against the Roman Catholic Church, would continue throughout France for nearly a decade to come.
Oath of the Tennis Court
The Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du jeu de paume) was a pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789. The only person who did not sign was Joseph Martin-Dauch, a politician who would not execute decisions not sanctioned by the king. They made a makeshift conference room inside a tennis court located in the Saint-Louis district of the city of Versailles, near the Palace of Versailles.
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against perceived excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the National Convention to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, and several other leading members of the Terror. This ended the most radical phase of the French Revolution. The name Thermidorian refers to 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), the date according to the French Revolutionary Calendar when Robespierre and other radical revolutionaries came under concerted attack in the National Convention. Thermidorian Reaction also refers to the remaining period until the National Convention was superseded by the Directory; this is also sometimes called the era of the Thermidorian Convention. Prominent figures of Thermidor include Paul Barras, Jean-Lambert Tallien, and Joseph Fouché.
Committee of Public Safety
The leaders under Robespierre who organized the defenses of France, conducted foreign policy, and centralized authority during the period 1792-1795.
second estate
The second class of French society made up of the noblility
Concordat of 1801
This is the agreement between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that healed the religious division in France by giving the French Catholics free practice of their religion and Napoleon political power
Battle of Austerlitz (1805)
This massive victory in 1805 by the French caused Russia and the Austrians to suspend their support against France, battle that took place in the heart of Europe, Napoleon defeated a combined force of Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary making him the master of Europe
Battle of Waterloo (1815)
This was the battle that Napoleon lost after his return from exile that ended his reign as French ruler
planned economy
economy that relies on a centralized government to control all or most factors of production and to make all or most production and allocation decisions
liberty
immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence
nationalism
the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other
Hundred Days
when napoleon came back from exile and tried to defeat Britain and Prussia. It was his last bid for power (hundred days)
Napoleon Bonaparte
Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Reflections on the Revolution in France is a 1790 book by Edmund Burke and one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the French Revolution. The central claim of the book was that not only must revolutionary France be defeated militarily but, in a break with other British politicians who did not support the revolution, that the ancien regime must be reinstated as well.[1] The tract has been used as a defining piece of modern conservatism as well as an important contribution to international theory. Above all else, it has been one of the defining efforts of Edmund Burke's transformation of "traditionalism into a self-conscious and fully conceived political philosophy of conservatism.".[2] The pamphlet has not been easy to classify. Academics have had no trouble identifying whether Burke, or his tract, can best be understood as "a realist or an idealist, Rationalist or a Revolutionist."[3] The current academic consensus is that the tract is a "classic text in political theory".[4] Thanks to thoroughness, rhetorical skill and literary power, it has become one of the most widely known of Burke's writings. For this reason many writers have attempted to recruit Burke for their own political viewpoints. In the twentieth century, it greatly influenced conservative and classical liberal intellectuals, who recast Burke's Whig arguments as a critique of Communism and Socialist revolutionary programmes.
Battle of Valmy (1792)
The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris. Generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. In this early part of the Revolutionary Wars—known as the War of the First Coalition—the new French government was in most every way unproven, and thus the small, localized victory at Valmy became a huge psychological victory for the Revolution at large.[1] The battle was considered a "miraculous" event and a "decisive defeat" for the vaunted Prussian army.[2] After the battle, the newly-assembled National Convention was emboldened enough to formally declare the end of monarchy in France and the establishment of the First French Republic. Valmy permitted the development of the Revolution and all its resultant ripple effects, and for that it is regarded as one of the most significant battles of all time.
Treaty of Paris of 1783
This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River
Grand Empire
built by Napoleon and composed of three parts: an ever-expanding France, a number of dependent satellite kingdoms, and the largely independent but allied states of Austria, Prussia, and Russia
Alexander I
"Liberal" tsar of Russia (1801-25) who had played a major role in downfall of Napoleon. Feared by representatives of other powers as dreamer, self-chosen world saviour(Holy Alliance) who wanted to bring Christianity into politics. Some even thought of him as a crowned liberal.
Louis XVIII
(1814-1824) Restored Bourbon throne after the Revolution. He accepted Napoleon's Civil Code (principle of equality before the law), honored the property rights of those who had purchased confiscated land and establish a bicameral (two-house) legislature consisting of the Chamber of Peers (chosen by king) and the Chamber of Deputies (chosen by an electorate).
Louis XVI
- King of France (1774-1792). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.
The Directory
1785-1799. Five man group. Passed a new constitution in 1795 that was much more conservative. Corrupt and did not help the poor, but remained in power because of military strength. By 1797 it was a dictatorship.
National Convention
A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules.
checks & balances
A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power
Constitutional Charter
After gaining back power, Louis XVIII issued this to appease Tsar Alexander I. While France's government would be run in the same manner as the Old Regime, the efficiencies of the Revolutionary governments would be adopted and all the changes that had been cemented under Napoleon remained. Feudalism, and everything like it would not return to France
Civil Code (1804)
Also known as the Napoleonic Code, was a code created in 1804 the brought back principles of equality of all male citizens before the law and absolute security of wealth/private property. Women also had restricted rights.
Thomas Paine
American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC (12 January [NS] 1729[1]- 9 July 1797) was an Irish[2][3] statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party. He is mainly remembered for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionaries, and for his later opposition to the French Revolution. The latter led to his becoming the leading figure within the conservative faction of the Whig party, which he dubbed the "Old Whigs", in opposition to the pro-French Revolution "New Whigs", led by Charles James Fox.[4] Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals in the 19th century.[5] Since the 20th century, he has generally been viewed as the philosophical founder of modern conservatism,[6][7] as well as a representative of classical liberalism.
Marquis de Lafayette
French soldier who joined General Washington's staff and became a general in the Continental Army.
Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Power-hungry Napoleon decided he wanted to fight against Britain again (conflicting with the Treaty of Amiens made between Britain and France in 1802). Renewed war with Britain in 1803, and wanted to invade via Mediterranean Sea; he was defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar, even using both French and Spanish fleets, by Lord Nelson of Britain because of Great Britian's naval superiority.
Jacobins
Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.
first estate
The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bill of Rights
a statement of fundamental rights and privileges (especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution)
classical liberalism
a term given to the philosophy of John Locke and other 17th and 18th century advocates of the protection of individual rights and liberties by limiting government power.
plebiscite
a vote by the electorate determining public opinion on a question of national importance
total war
a war that involves the complete mobilization of resources and people, affecting the lives of all citizens in the warring countries, even those remote from the battlefields.
sovereignty
ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states
bourgeoisie
educated, middle class of France; provided force behind the Revolution
sans-culottes
in the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian eagernesses and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice n government, lower prices and an end to food shortages.
National Assembly
is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ("Sénat"). The National Assembly's members are known as députés (French pronunciation: [de.py'te] ; "delegate" or "envoy" in English; the word is an etymological cognate of the English word "deputy", usually "adjoint" in French).
satellite kingdoms
kingdoms basically under Napleon's control with a relative or a dummy ruler in place.
Legislative Assembly
persons who make or amend or repeal laws
manorial rights
privileges of lordship that dated back to medieval times and allowed Nobles to tax the peasantry for their own profit. This was done by means of exclusive rights to hunt and fish, village monopolies on baking bread and pressing grapes for wine, fees for justice, and a host of other "useful privileges." Also, nobles had "honorific privileges," such as the right to precedence on public occasions and the right to wear a sword. These rights conspicuously proclaimed the nobility's legal superiority and exalted social position.
Bastille
By July 1789, Revolutionary sentiment was rising in Paris. The Estates-General was convened in May and members of the Third Estate proclaimed the Tennis Court Oath in June, calling for the king to grant a written constitution. Violence between loyal royal forces, mutinous members of the royal Gardes Françaises and local crowds broke out at Vendôme on 12 July, leading to widespread fighting and the withdrawal of royal forces from the centre of Paris.[168] Revolutionary crowds began to arm themselves during 13 July, looting royal stores, gunsmiths and armourers' shops for weapons and gunpowder.[168] The commander of the Bastille at the time was Bernard-René de Launay, a conscientious but minor military officer.[169] Tensions surrounding the Bastille had been rising for several weeks. Only eight prisoners remained in the fortress, but one of these, the Marquis de Sade, had stoked the link between the revolution and the Bastille, addressing the public from his walks on top of the towers and, once this was forbidden, shouting from the window of his cell.[170] Sade began to claim that the authorities planned to massacre the prisoners in the castle, which resulted in the governor removing him to an alternative site in early July.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft (pron.: /ˈwʊlstən.krɑːft/; 27 April 1759 - 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationships, received more attention than her writing. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay (by whom she had a daughter, Fanny Imlay), Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight, ten days after giving birth to her second daughter, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts. Her daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, would become an accomplished writer herself. After Wollstonecraft's death, her widower published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century. However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and work as important influences.
Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself.
What is the Third Estate (1789)
is a political pamphlet written by French thinker and clergyman Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès in January 1789, shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution. The pamphlet was Sieyès' response to finance minister Jacques Necker's invitation for writers to state how they thought the Estates-General should be organized. In the pamphlet, Sieyès argued that the Third Estate - the common people of France - constituted a complete nation, and would be better off without the "dead weight" of the privileged orders, the First and Second Estates of the clergy and aristocracy. Sieyès stated that the people wanted genuine representatives in the Estates-General, representatives equal to the other two orders taken together, and votes taken by heads and not by orders. These ideas came to have an immense influence on the course of the Revolution.
third estate
made up of Bourgeoisie, urban lower class, and peasant farmers
egalitartian
promoting equal rights for all people
Marie Antoinette
queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)
guerilla warfare
sudden unexpected attacks carried out by an unofficial military group or groups that are trying to change the government by assaults on the armed forces
representative government
system of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by the voters and held accountable in periodic elections
Constitutional Convention
the convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787
equality
the quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status
departments
the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)
"second revolution"
tools and equipment were modified, methods of soil preparation, fertilization, crop care, and harvesting improved the general organization of agriculture made more efficient
Declaration of Pilnitz (1791)
was a statement issued on 27 August 1791 at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden (Saxony) by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick William II of Prussia. It declared the joint support of the Holy Roman Empire and of Prussia for King Louis XVI of France against the French Revolution. Calling on European powers to intervene if Louis was threatened, this declaration was intended to serve as a warning to the French revolutionaries not to infringe further on the king's prerogatives and to permit his resumption of power.[1] The statement contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Common Sense (1775)
written by Thomas Paine ; presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
written by the 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should have an education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men.