I. French (1789-1815)

A. Origins:

Old Regime – the political and social system that existed in France before the .

France divided into three estates. --estate – one of the three social classes in France before the French Revolution.

First Estate – clergy (Roman Catholic). --1% of population. --owned 10% of land. --tax exemptions. --privileged. --hated Enlightenment.

Second Estate – nobility. --2% of population. --owned 20% of land. --paid very low taxes. --privileged. --hated Enlightenment.

Third Estate – the rest of the population in France. --97% of population. --Embraced Enlightenment.

--divided into three levels:

-1st group – bourgeoisie ‘factory owners’, bankers, educated middle class.

-2nd group – workers in cities, laborers, servants, very poor.

-3rd group – Peasants. --80% of population. --Heavily taxed, had to pay tithes to the church, and paid dues to the nobles.

-economic depression = poor harvests (1780s) -violent

1700s: many wars = France heavily in debt

Members of the Third Estate were inspired by the Enlightenment. -Also, they were inspired by the (1775-1783).

People of the Third Estate had high-burdensome taxes. Cost of living jumped very high. Poor harvests (1780s) Price of bread doubled in 1789. Bread was a staple.

King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette’s extravagant spending on foreign policy brought France to financial crisis. -Declared war on England. -Allied with Americans during American Revolution. -Estates-General – an assembly of representatives from all three estates, or social classes, in France. -Held meeting: May 5, 1789.

National Assembly – a French Congress established by representatives of the Third Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people. -End of absolute monarchy. -Tennis Court Oath – a pledge made by the members of the National Assembly on June 20, 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution

July 14, 1789: Bastille Day. -People stormed the Bastille.

Great Fear – a wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789). -Emphasized freedom and equal rights.

Parisian market women marched on Versailles and captured the King and his family “Bread Riots”

-National Assembly took church’s land and power. Made priests state officials (elected).

King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette tried to escape France, but was caught and brought back to (June 1791).

National Assembly created Constitution (September 1791). Limited . Legislative Assembly – a French Congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the Constitution in 1791.

Factions in the Legislative Assembly. Radicals – opposed monarchy and change everything (sat on left side of the hall). Moderates – wanted some change (sat in the middle of the hall). Conservatives – uphold limited constitutional monarchy and few changes (sat on right side of the hall).

National Assembly: France declared war on Austria and Prussia (April 1792). Austrian and Prussian monarchs wanted King Louis XVI restored to power. Prussia invaded France. -The French mob captured King Louis XVI and his family.

-September Massacres (1792) – angry citizens in France murdering and killing anyone associated with the “haves”.

National Convention (new government body) – declared France a republic.

Jacobins – well-disciplined radical minority group. Major Leader = Jean-Paul Marat.

Girondins – political faction in France. Brilliant advocates.

National Convention sentenced King Louis XVI to death for treason. guillotine – a machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

Maximilien Robespierre (Jacobin Leader) wanted to make France “a republic of virtue”. Changed everything in France. Ex. No Sundays in Calendar.

Became dictator-like. “Reign of Terror”.

Leader of Committee of Public Safety.

Ironically, approximately 85% of the people guillotined in France were members of the former Third Estate.

National Convention executed Maximilian Robespierre (July 28, 1794)

Formed new government (1795) Assigned new General to command France: Bonaparte.

Napoleon Bonaparte life: (1769-1821).

October 1795: Crushed peasant rebels who tried to attack National Convention.

1796: the Directory (Executive Body created in 1795 as part of the new government), appointed Napoleon to lead the French Army.

Napoleon led a coup d’etat against the French government (November 1799). coup d’etat – a sudden seizure of political power in a nation. -end of Republican phase of Revolution

-Napoleon stabilized France – promised order to the many who was exhausted by Revolution Directory Dissolved. -Popular

Napoleon becomes Dictator of France. Concordat (1801) – a formal agreement, especially one between the pope and a government, dealing with the control of Church affairs. Pope Pius VII. Napoleonic Code – a comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon. -political and property rights not allowed for women -restricted speech and expression

1803: Sold Louisiana Purchase for $15 million to United States. --President Thomas Jefferson.

-- December 2, 1804: Napoleon becomes Emperor of France. Put church under his control. --Ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral.

European Front. -No single European nation could defeat Napoleon

Battle of Austerlitz (December 2, 1805). --As a result, Austria, Prussia, and Russia eventually signed peace treaties with Napoleon. --Napoleon built the largest European Empire since Roman Empire.

Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805). --An 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon’s army was defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson. --Showed Napoleon’s naval weaknesses, and he could never invade Great Britain.

Empire Crumbles:

Continental System – Napoleon’s policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain’s economy.

blockade – the use of troops or ships to prevent commercial traffic from entering or leaving a city or region. Goal: Hurt British economy since it can’t trade with European mainland. this policy failed because Great Britain had a stronger navy and made its own blockade against France and its allies. Black market: illegal trade in smuggled goods.

Peninsular War – a conflict lasting from 1808-1813, in which Spanish rebels with the aid of British forces, fought to drive Napoleon’s French troops out of Spain. (Called the Spanish Ulcer). Iberian Peninsula. guerrillas – members of loosely organized fighting force that makes surprise attacks on enemy troops occupying their own country. Napoleon lost 300,000 soldiers.

Czar Alexander I began trading again with Great Britain (1812). Result = Napoleon invaded Russia (Moscow) with 600,000 troops. severe winter, cold, starvation, and Russian attacks reduced Napoleon’s Grand Army to 30,000 soldiers. scorched-earth policy – the practice of burning crops and killing livestock during wartime so that the enemy cannot live off the land. Czar Alexander I defeated Napoleon.

The Battle of Leipzig (October 1813) (German City) Napoleon’s Grand Army is defeated. Napoleon is exiled to island of Elba, but eventually returns to France.

Hundred Days – Napoleon’s last bid for power, deposing the king, and becoming Emperor again.

The Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) (Belgium). The final defeat of Napoleon. Exiled to island of St. Helena.

Revolution Spreads (1789-1850)

Haitian Revolution: 1781-1804 Saint Domingue (French Colony) on Island of Hispaniola – one of the richest colonies in America One of the most brutal slave regimes in Caribbean Turmoil in France – French inability to control colony Conflict between slaves and whites: gens de couleur sent representatives to France to gain equal rights for blacks Francois Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture seized control of the French colony (1794)

Napoleon tried to regain control of colony again in 1802 L’Ouverture captured Although = Napoleon failed in taking over colony

Haiti established (1804) – independent republic -Close to one hundred thousand Haitian people died for independence -Economy destroyed Public administration – corrupted – more than a decade of violence

Congress of Vienna – series of meetings in 1814-1815, during which the European leaders sought to establish long-lasting peace and security after the defeat of Napoleon.

Major Countries at Conference: Russia. Prussia. Austria. Great Britain. France.

Prince of Austria. Wanted powerful countries to surround France. Prevent future French wars. Balance of power – a political situation in which no one country is powerful enough to pose a threat to others. Restore Europe’s royal families. Legitimacy – the hereditary right of a monarch to rule.

Holy Alliance: Russia Prussia Austria ↓ ↓ ↓ Czar Alexander I Emperor Francis I King Frederick William III Based relations on Christian principles.

Concert of Europe – series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century, devised by Klemens von Metternich to prevent the outbreak of .

Nationalism began to spread which would lead to future revolutions.

Nationalism:

Greece demanded independence in 1821 from the Ottoman Empire. With support from Great Britain, France, and Russia; Greece became independent in 1829.

Revolutions of 1830. Occurred in , the states of , Polish territory, as well as in France against the conservative governments. Revolts were crushed by governments, but instability was present.

Revolutions of 1848. Occurred in France, Prussia, German Confederation, Austrian Empire, Italian States, (in Poland), and the Ottoman Empire. Ethnic uprisings. Europe: Desire: for national self-determination and democratic reform

Results of the . Emperor Ferdinand of Austria abdicated his throne. abdicate – to give up. Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria resigned. Liberals made few gains and by 1849, conservatism returned to the governments of Europe. French Monarchy overthrown = elected President (Louis Napoleon)

--Revolutions failed to gain either Nationalist or Republican objectives

France: Monarchy had to accept constitutional rule and extend voting privileges In United States, Franchise extended after the War of 1812 Great Britain; Reform Act of 1832 & Repeal of Corn Laws (1846) = 50% increase in voters

Comparisons: American Revolution: Expenses of colonial wars – new taxes on colonials Resentment in British American colonies = Independence Movement New American Government = democratic ideals of Enlightenment

French Revolution: More radical form of representative democracy than the one founded in United States More violence in French Revolution than in American Revolution French Revolution led to and Haiti’s Independence