FCPS World II SOL Standards: WHII 6e, 8a and 8b The French Revolution, Napoleon, and Congress of Vienna (1770-1850 C.E.) You Mean the Revolution Was More than a Bunch of Heads Being Chopped Off? Causes and Events of the French Revolution By the late 1700s, France was on the edge of revolution. The French people were inspired by both the American Revolution and the Enlightenment ideas. The country was struggling due to debt, famine, and inequality. The lower class, known as the third estate, was being taxed unfairly and felt they deserved equal say in the government. On July 14, 1789, a group of angry peasants looking for weapons began the French Revolution by Storming the Bastille, an old prison. The third estate went on to take over the government and made major changes to France. Their goal was to get rid of the old system of monarchy and nobles and establish democracy. Revolutionaries, under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, arrested and executed King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. This began a time known as the Reign of Terror during which those who opposed the Revolution were executed with the guillotine. Over 15,000 people died during the Reign of Terror. While the Revolution did not achieve all of its goals of liberty and equality for all, it did succeed in encouraging secularism, nationalism and democracy.
The Third Estate carrying the king, nobles and Catholic Church on its back Napoleon’s Rise and Fall Source: http://www.mrallsophistory.com/revision/the-origins-of-the-french-revolution.html The French people grew tired of the revolution’s violence. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, a successful French general, promised to end the chaos and restore the glory of France. The French people willingly accepted him as their leader. Napoleon began fixing the economy, government, education and much more. His longest lasting impact was establishing a legal system known as the Napoleonic Code. This system applied to all French people and stressed equality. Napoleon declared himself emperor of France and attempted to conquer neighboring European countries in a series of wars known as the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon conquered a large part of Europe, but was eventually defeated. One of the major effects of Napoleon’s desire to control Europe was increasing nationalism in conquered lands.
Congress of Vienna After Napoleon’s defeat, the European leaders wanted to establish peace and stability in Europe, but there was disagreement about how to do that. Some leaders and politicians, known as conservatives, wanted to keep traditional ideas such as monarchy and divine right. Others, known as liberals, liked change such as democracy and equality. The European leaders held a The national boundaries within Europe as set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815 series of meetings called the Congress of Vienna in Source: Wikimedia Commons; http://upload.wikimedia.org/ 1814-1815. At the meetings, conservatives got their way. wikipedia/commons/0/05/Map_congress_of_vienna.jpg Napoleon crosses the St. Bernard, by Jacques- Louis David (Berlin), 1800 One decision was to restore the monarchies of Europe. Another decision was to balance Source: Source: Wikimedia Commons; http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_ power in Europe by making sure no one country became too powerful. They did this by Bonaparte#mediaviewer/File:Jacques-Louis_David_007.jpg changing the map of Europe and redrawing boundaries.
FCPS HS Social Studies © 2014 French Revolution, Napoleon and Congress of Vienna (cont.) WHII 6e, 8a and 8b
Revolutions and Reforms in the 1800s After the Congress of Vienna, liberals were disappointed that the new ideas were ignored. They wanted changes such as more open government. In 1848, a series of revolutions occurred in continental Europe particularly in Italy and Germany. These revolutions were unsuccessful, but they did increase nationalism in Europe. Unlike continental Europe, Great Britain did not have revolutions in the 1800s. (Remember: Britain had its Glorious Revolution in the 17th century.) Instead, the British passed laws allowing more people to vote and outlawing slavery in the British Empire.
Key Vocabulary Reign of Terror: the period, from mid-1793 to Conservative: in the 19th century European— Storm/Storming of the Bastille: to take mid-1794, when Robespierre ruled France as a usually a wealthy landowner or noble—who or capture/ Event in which a group of poor dictator and thousands were executed wanted to preserve the traditional monarchies of Europe people attacked the Bastille prison in Paris Guillotine: a machine for beheading people, and began the French Revolution used during the French Revolution Continental: located on the main portion of a continent; for example, continental Europe Congress of Vienna: a series of meetings Napoleonic Wars: series of wars in which includes France, Spain, Italy and Germany, in 1814–1815, during which the European Napoleon attempted to unify Europe under but not Britain which is an island leaders tried to establish long-lasting peace French control and security after the defeat of Napoleon Liberal: In the 19th century, someone— Napoleonic Code: a uniform system of laws usually a middle-class business leader or Nationalism: a feeling of unity of a group established for France by Napoleon of people, often based on a common merchant—who wanted to give more political language, culture, ethnicity, history, religion, Third Estate: lower class in pre-revolutionary power to elected parliaments or belief system France
Quick Review 1. What year did a series of unsuccessful liberal revolutions 2. What best completes the chart? take place in continental Europe? A. The French Revolution A. 1748 B. Council of Trent B. 1848 C. Napoleonic Wars C. 1790 D. Congress of Vienna D. 1890
3. Which box best represents a conservative’s viewpoint during 4. Identify and explain two to three causes of the the 19th century? French Revolution. A. Box 1 B. Box 2 C. Box 3 D. Box 4
Connection to Today Resources The French people accepted Napoleon as a dictator in order to end Learn 360 the revolution. When countries are going through economic and ● French Revolution: http://goo.gl/UD4dLb political problems, people are often willing to give up their individual freedoms and rights for security. Why would people be more willing to ● Library Resource: ABC-CLIO – Revolutions of 1848 limit their freedoms during these times? Can you think of any modern http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/311019?terms=roma examples of people giving up freedoms in order to ensure security? nticism
FCPS HS Social Studies © 2014