Toussaint Had Followed with Interest Ple the Military Spirit Must Prevaii

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Toussaint Had Followed with Interest Ple the Military Spirit Must Prevaii Ir_: : ' 1 789_1 800 The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte treated from a further expedition in S5rria. But the French occupation Toussaint of Egrpt lasted had followed with interest long enough for that la,rgely Muslim countryr Napoleon's rise to power in France; he once to experience the same kinds of Enlighten_ wrote to Bonaparte, "From the First of the ment-inspired legal reforms that had been Blacks to the Fi¡st of the Whites." He was not introduced in Europe: the French alone in his abolished fascination, for the rise of torture, introduced equality before the law, Napoleon Bonaparte (l76g-Ig2f) is one of eliminated religious taxes, and proclaimed the most remarkable stories in Western his_ religious toleration. tory. It would have seemed astonishing in Even the failures of the Eg,ptian 1795 that cam_ the twenty-six-year-old son óf a paign did not dull Bonaparte's luster. noble farnily from the island of Corsica off tlle Bonaparte had taken France's leading sci_ Italis¡l coast would within four years become entists with him on the expedition, and his the supreme ruler of France and one of the soldiers had discovered a slab of blackbasatt greatest military leaders in world history. In dating from 196 e.c.e. written in both hi_ 1795, he was a penniless artillery officer, eroglyphic and Greek. Called the Rosetta only recently released from prison as a pre_ stone after a nearby town, it enabled schol_ sumed Robespierrist. Thanks to some early a¡s to finally decipher the hieroglyphs used military successes parisian and links to by the ancient Eglrptians. When his army politicians, he was named commander of the was pinned down after its initial successes, French army in Italy in 1796. Bonaparte slipped out of Egpt and made his Bonaparte's astounding success in the way secretly across the Mediterranean to Itaharr campaigns of IZS}-LTSZ launched his southern Fra¡tce. meteoric ca.reer. With a¡ army of fewer than In OctoLrer IZ9g, Bonaparte arrived fifty thousand pied_ men, he defeated the home at just the right moment. The war montese in and ttre Austrians. In quick order Europe was going badly. The depariments he established client republics dependent of the former Austrian Netherlands had on his own authority; he negotiated with the revolted against new conscription laws; Austrians himself; and he molded the army deserters swelled the ranks of the rebels in into his personal force by payrng the sol_ western France; a royalist army had tried to diers in cash taken as tribute from the newly take the city of Toulouse in the southwest; conquered territories. He mollfìed the Direc_ and many government leaders wanted tory government to by sending home wagon_ revise the Constitution of 17g5. Amid loads great in_ of Italian masterpieces ofãrt, creasing political instability, generals which parisian in were added to museum col_ the fìeld had become virtually lections independent, {most are still there) after being and the troops felt more loyal to their units paraded in victory festivals. and generals than to the republic. As one In 1798, the Directory set aside its plans army captain wrote, "In a conquering peo_ to invade England, gave Bonaparte com_ ple the military spirit must prevaii ãver mand of the army raised for that purpose, other social conditions," Its victories had and sent him across the Mediterra¡rean Sea made the army a parallel and rival force to to ESæt, away from the parisian centers of the state. power-. The Directory government hoped Disillusioned members of the govern_ that French occupation of Egypt would ment saw in Bonaparte's return an occa_ strike a blow at British trade by cutting sion to overtu¡n t'lle Constitution of I7g5. the route to India On and thus compensate November 9,1799 (tB Brumaire, yearVIII, by France for losses its there years before. the revolutionary calendar), the conspira_ Once the army disembarked in Egpt, how_ tors persuaded the legislature to move out of ever, the British admiral Lord Horatio Nelson Paris to avoid an imaginary Jacobin plot. destroyed the French fleet while it was an- Butwhen Bonaparte stomped into the meet_ chored in Aboukir Bay, In the face of deter- inghall the next da¡r a¡rd dernanded changes mined ièsisaánCe ând an outbréak oi tfr" in the Constitution, he was greeted by bubonic plague, cries Bonaparte's armies re_ of "Down with the dictator.', His quick_ i:! B.¿.vü¡t o¡¿. rr, rlti.,l.¡(+*:.l. S¡ç 1 800 ¡ia. rted ttry en- )en red tw, Led Tr- lr. li- ris út ri- _a I- d v i, S l I I Bonaparte in Egypt Antoine Jean cros's painting Nopoleon visiting the victims of the plogue ot loffo (1804) to glorify js 1ea¡rt Bonaparte's courage: he is not afraid to touch the victims of the plague. Yet it also signals a terrible problem in Bonaparte's campaign for dominatíon in the west- ern Mediterranean. He has won many battles at this moment in I 799, but he is losing the war through attritíon, disease, and mounting resistance. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/ Art Resource, NY thinking brother Lucien, president of the He promised to be a man above party and to Council of Five Hundred (the lower house), restore order to the republic. A new consti- saved Bonaparte's coup by summoning tution was submitted to the voters. Millions troops guarding the hall and claiming that abstained from voting, and the government the deputies had tried to assassinati the falsified the results to give an appearance of popular general. The soldiers ejected the even greater support to the ne\M regime. In- deputies, and a hastily assembled rump leg- side France, political apathy had overtaken islature voted to abolish the Directory and es- the original enthusiasm for revolutionary tablish a new three-man executive called the ideals. Altogether it was an unpromising be- consulate. ginning; yet within five years Bonaparte Bonapar:te became F.irst Consul, a title would crown himsêlf Nápoldon I; èmþéror of revived from the ancient Roman republic. the French. A new order would rise from the z0 . THe iiiV"¡ìi,;íiìj::'::'.ì.Ëj¡prrn cnr¡crysm or Rrvorur¡o¡r ..i:': r::rr,:r;irr..r rr:ì: ':: :;- l::r: :¡::itrì:::::::: tl: 'I 789-1800 17 A9 wh< bas min mot den cas( the resJ hel< mer are aci futl its c Rev casl Fre. was beli sho luti den but eve. Je'* use ins¡ ples reli¡ tici¡ tion pen The MAPPING Natr THE WEST Europe¡nIB00 his France's expansion during the revolutionary wars threatened to upset the balance of power in Europe. tol n cgntyr¡r earlier the English and Dutch had allied and formed a Ëurope-wide coalition to check the fOPt tenitorial ambitions of Louis Xlv. Thwarting French ambitions after lebo would prove to be even more of a challenge to the other European po*ãrs. The Dutch had been reduced to satellite status, as had most of the ltalian states. After lB0o. even Austria and Prussia would suffer devastating losses to the French on the battlefield. only a new coalition of European powers coufd stop France in the future. Su ashes of the republic, and the French a¡mies The would Conclusion recover from their reverses of l79g to In tl push the frontiers of French influence even herr In 1799, no one knew what course Napo_ farther eastward. shor leon Bonaparte would follow. Everyône sensed, pher however, that the political land_ Pah Review: Why did some groups oulside of France scape in Ðurope had been permanently mea embrace the French Revolution while others re_ altered by the revolutionary cataclysm. Be_ clas sistecl -'' it? tween 1789 and 1790, monáiòht ás á fo.- the of government had given way to a republic cenl ,¡í i::i t..i:.{.::i;:ìrij lÌii.,:;;i*.:rtì:rl!',r*'1¡1$-lÈê!,¡r-ro:.:¡!,iql.É¡eit 7.83 tCenser, whose leaders were elected. Aristocracy Jack R., and Llmn Hunt. Líbertg, Equalítg, Flaternttg: Dxplorí.ng tlrc trrencLt based on rank and birth had been under- in favor of civil equality and the pro- Reuolutton.2OOl. (Includes a CD-ROM with mined images, songs, and documents.) See also the of merit. 1'he people who marched in molron accompanying Web site: http:/,/www.chnm met in clubs, and, in the demonstrations, .gmu.edu/revolution. case of men, voted in national elections for The Coming oJ the F-rench first time had insisted that government I-efebwe, Georges. the Trans. with a new preface, R. R. to them. Thousands of men had ReuoLutktn. respond Falmer. 1989. held elective office. A revolutionary govern- had tried to teach new values with Palmer, R.. R. ?he Age oJ the Democratic ReuoLu' ment tíon: A PotítícaL Htstory oJ Europe and America, calendar, state festivals, and a refashioned 1760-1800. Vol. 2, The Struggle. 1964. a civic religion. Its example would inspire L. Reuolution ín BrtLssels, 7787- future revolutionaries. Potasþ, Janet But the Flench Revolution also had 1793. 1987. Wayne. Regents andRebels: The Reuo' its darker side . The divisions created by the Te Brake, Lutionary World oJ an Eighteenth-Centurg Revolution within France enduled in many DutcÍt"Citg. 1989. cases until after World War II. Even now, French public-opinion surveys ask if it Tocqueville, Alexis de. The OLd Regime and the FterrhReuoluhon. Trans. Stuart Gilbeft. 1955. was right to execute the king in 1793 (most Originally published 1856. believe Louis XVI was guilty of treason but should not have been executed). The revo- lutionaries proclaimed human rights and From Monarchy t0 Republic, 1789*'1793 democratic government as a universal goal, From I78g onward, commentators on the but they also explicitly excluded women, French Revolulion have differed over its mean- even though they admitted Protestant, ing: Was it a r,evolution for human rights and Jewish, and eventually black men.
Recommended publications
  • The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and Its Importance for Modem Democracy
    DEMOCRAC AHMOKPATI The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and its Importance for Modern Democracy Mogens Herman Hansen The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and its Importance for Modem Democracy B y M ogens H erman H ansen Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 93 Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Copenhagen 2005 Abstract The two studies printed here investigate to what extent there is a con­ nection between ancient and modem democracy. The first study treats the tradition of ancient Greek democracy, especially the tradition of Athenian democracy from ca. 1750 to the present day. It is argued that in ideology there is a remarkable resemblance between the Athenian democracy in the Classical period and the modem liberal democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand no direct tradition con­ nects modem liberal democracy with its ancient ancestor. Not one single Athenian institution has been copied by a modem democracy, and it is only from ca. 1850 onwards that the ideals cherished by the Athenian democrats were referred to approvingly by modem cham­ pions of democracy. It is in fact the IT technology and its potential for a return to a more direct form of democracy which has given rise to a hitherto unmatched interest in the Athenian democratic institutions. This is the topic of the second study in which it is argued that the focus of the contemporary interest is on the Athenian system of sortition and rotation rather than on the popular assembly. Contents The Tradition of Democracy from Antiquity to the Present Time .................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • History Bee of Versailles – Final Round Packet
    History Bee of Versailles – Final Round Packet 1) This Holocaust survivor and first female minister in French government pushed through her namesake law while serving as Minister of Health in the government of Valery Giscard d’Estaing, where she also championed a law that facilitated access to contraceptives. For the point, name this woman who names the law legalizing abortion in France. ANSWER: Simone Veil (do not accept Simone Weil) 2) After this government arrested General Jean-Charles Pichegru, this government became divided in the aftermath of the Coup of 18 Fructidor. This government’s legislature was consisted of the Counsel of Ancients and Council of Five Hundred, which were stormed by grenadiers in the Coup of 18 Brumaire. The Consulate replaced, for the point, what government which formed after the fall of Robespierre in 1794? ANSWER: French Directory 3) The relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas were donated by Pope Urban V to this city’s Church of the Jacobins. This city was the capital of a kingdom that was conquered by Euric after the Visigoths expanded to Arles and Marseilles, although it was captured and sacked by the Franks under Clovis after the Battle of Vouillé. After Septimania merged with this city’s namesake county, this city became the capital of Languedoc. For the point, name this southern French city, the historic capital of Occitania. ANSWER: Toulouse (or Tolosa) 4) In addition to the Federalist Revolts, the bloodiest of these events was put down by General Turreau’s “flying columns” and failed to take Nantes. During that example of these events, priests who refused to agree to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy were tied to barges and drowned in the Loire.
    [Show full text]
  • H-France Review Volume/Tome 21 (2021) Page 1 Patrick Lagoueyte
    H-France Review Volume/Tome 21 (2021) Page 1 H-France Review Vol. 21 (August 2021), No. 152 Patrick Lagoueyte, Les coups d’État, une histoire française. Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2021. 230 pp. Notes and bibliography. €24.00. (pb). ISBN 9782271115256. Review by Philip Nord, Princeton University. The French Revolution ended up dethroning and guillotining a king. Yet, it was one thing to do away with a monarch and another to devise an alternate means of organizing executive authority. For that purpose, there were constitutions, written ones, which identified the various branches of government and distributed power among them. And so, the era of “L’État, c’est moi” drew to a close. The state was no longer a unitary entity but a ramified one, and the professionalization of military affairs over the course of the Revolution added one more layer of complexity. In the Ancien Regime, the army formed and unformed, as aristocrats, in answer to the king’s summons, mustered into service and mustered out again. Now, it was a standing affair and soldiering no longer the apanage of the titled, but a career with an ethos all its own, distinct from that of civilian life.[1] This new order proved a fraught and volatile one. The people, itself a new actor on the scene, might intervene to bend the state to its will. One organ of government might tread upon the authority of another, the executive maneuvering to subdue the legislative branch or vice versa. And, of course, the military might always step in to knock heads and take matters into its own hands.
    [Show full text]
  • Was the French Revolution Successful?
    NEW YORK STATE SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE TOOLKIT 10th Grade French Revolution Inquiry Was the French Revolution Successful? Jacques-Louis DaviD, ink Drawing, Tennis Court Oath, 1791. © RMN-GranD Palais / Art Resource, NY. Supporting Questions 1. What were the social, economic, anD political problems in prerevolutionary France? 2. How did the relationship between the French people anD the king change in the early stages of the Revolution? 3. How did Robespierre justify the Reign of Terror? 4. Did Napoleon’s rise to power represent a continuation of or an enD to revolutionary ideals? THIS WORK IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION- NONCOMMERCIAL- SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL LICENSE. 1 NEW YORK STATE SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE TOOLKIT 10th Grade French Revolution Inquiry Was the French Revolution Successful? 10.2: ENLIGHTENMENT, REVOLUTION, AND NATIONALISM: The Enlightenment calleD into New York State question traditional beliefs and inspired widespread political, economic, and social change. This Social Studies intellectual movement was useD to challenge political authorities in Europe anD colonial rule in the Framework Key Americas. These ideals inspired political and social movements. Idea(s) & Practices Gathering, Using, and Interpreting Evidence Chronological Reasoning and Causation Comparison and Contextualization Staging the Discuss the concept of revolution through a series of photographs that Depict the recent Egyptian Question uprising (2011–2013). Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3 Supporting
    [Show full text]
  • Political Conspiracy in Napoleonic France: the Malet Affair Kelly Diane Whittaker Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2007 Political conspiracy in Napoleonic France: the Malet affair Kelly Diane Whittaker Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Whittaker, Kelly Diane, "Political conspiracy in Napoleonic France: the Malet affair" (2007). LSU Master's Theses. 1437. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1437 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POLITICAL CONSPIRACY IN NAPOLEONIC FRANCE: THE MALET AFFAIR A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In The Department of History by Kelly Diane Whittaker B.A., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2002 December, 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract . iii Introduction . .1 Chapter One General Malet: A Biography . 8 Two Hopes and Disappointments in Napoleonic France . 46 Three General Malet’s Final Attempt, 22 October 1812 . 73 Conclusion . 95 Notes . .100 Bibliography . .112 Vita . 115 ii ABSTRACT The French Revolution ushered in a period of political unrest in France which appeared never-ending, even when a seemingly stable government rose to power. After a series of failed Republican governments, Napoleon Bonaparte seized control on 18 Brumaire VIII, promising to uphold the revolutionary ideals that had permeated the nation.
    [Show full text]
  • The French Diplomatic Corps, 1789-1799
    ““PPrroovveenn PPaattrriioottss””:: tthhee FFrreenncchh DDiipplloommaattiicc CCoorrppss,, 11778899--11779999 Linda S. Frey and Marsha L. Frey St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture ST ANDREWS STUDIES IN FRENCH HISTORY AND CULTURE The history and historical culture of the French-speaking world is a major field of interest among English-speaking scholars. The purpose of this series is to publish a range of shorter monographs and studies, between 25,000 and 50,000 words long, which illuminate the history of this community of peoples between the end of the Middle Ages and the late twentieth century. The series covers the full span of historical themes relating to France: from political history, through military/naval, diplomatic, religious, social, financial, cultural and intellectual history, art and architectural history, to literary culture. Titles in the series are rigorously peer-reviewed through the editorial board and external assessors, and are published as both e-books and paperbacks. Editorial Board Dr Guy Rowlands, University of St Andrews (Editor-in-Chief) Professor Andrew Pettegree, University of St Andrews Professor Andrew Williams, University of St Andrews Dr David Culpin, University of St Andrews Dr David Evans, University of St Andrews Dr Justine Firnhaber-Baker, University of St Andrews Dr Linda Goddard, University of St Andrews Dr Bernhard Struck, University of St Andrews Dr Stephen Tyre, University of St Andrews Dr Malcolm Walsby, University of St Andrews Dr David Parrott, University of Oxford Professor Alexander Marr, University of St Andrews/University of Southern California Dr Sandy Wilkinson, University College Dublin Professor Rafe Blaufarb, Florida State University Professor Darrin McMahon, Florida State University Dr Simon Kitson, University of London Institute in Paris Professor Eric Nelson, Missouri State University “Proven Patriots”: the French Diplomatic Corps, 1789-1799 by LINDA S.
    [Show full text]
  • The History French Revolution
    THE HISTORY OP TRB FRENCH REVOLUTION THEHISTOItt OF THE ~1ToLUTrON OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTTaN 1789-1800 BY LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS TRANSLATIID, WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM THB MOST AUTHRNTIO SOURCES, BY FREDERICK SHOBERL NEW A'DITION, WITH UPWARDS OF FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS ON STEEL ENGRA YED BY WILLlAM GREATBATOR IN FIVE VOLUMES VOL, III. LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON lIIubIisbns in @rlJinaT!,! to ~et' ~ajtllt! t!Je 'aueen 1895 [All .-ightl rmrved] 'v r:;~ :511/·,L:J C~-· 3 2-Ucg ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME III. AsSASSINATION OF MARAT I to face Title PORTRAIT OF CHARLOTTE CORDAY • ." 46 PORTRAIT OF CAMILLE-DESMOU,LINS ." 60 CONDEMNATION' QF MARIE ANTOINETTE. " ;10 PORTRAIT OF BAILLY (MAYOR OF PARIS) " 224 TR!AL OF DANTON, CAMILLE-DESMOULINS, 2 &C. " 35 • PORTRAiT OF DANTON 60 " 3 PORTRAIT OF MADAME ELIZABETH 0 " 45 CARRIER AT NANTES " 454 PORTRAIT OF ROBESPIERRE ". 490 APPENDICES. APPENDICES. A. [Page 27.] BERTHIER. .. Louis Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neufchatel and Wagram, mar­ shal, vice-constable of France, was born in Paris in 1753. He was the son of a distinguished officer, and was, while yet young, employed in the general staff, and fought with Lafayette for the liberty of the United States. In 1791 he was appointed chief of the general staff in Luckner's army, marched against La Vendee in 1793, and joined the army of. Italy in 1796. In the year 1798 he received the chief command of the army of Italy, and afterwards went to Egypt with Bonaparte, to whom he was much attached, and who, on his return to Paris, appointed him minister of war.
    [Show full text]
  • The Art of Humbling Tyrants: Irish Revolutionary Internationalism During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815 Nicholas Stark
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 The Art of Humbling Tyrants: Irish Revolutionary Internationalism during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815 Nicholas Stark Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE ART OF HUMBLING TYRANTS: IRISH REVOLUTIONARY INTERNATIONALISM DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC ERA, 1789-1815 By NICHOLAS STARK A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2014 © 2014 Nicholas Stark Nicholas Stark defended this thesis on March 27, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: Rafe Blaufarb Professor Directing Thesis Darrin M. McMahon Committee Member Jonathan Grant Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Rafe Blaufarb, for all of his help in guiding me through the process of my thesis and degree, in addition to the teaching he has provided. Serving with him as his research assistant has also been very enlightening and rewarding. In addition, I wish to express my gratitude to the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University (FSU) for providing excellent resources and materials for my education and research. The staff in Special Collections, Strozier Library at FSU has also been most helpful. Outside of the university, the archivists in Manuscripts at Trinity College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland deserve special note.
    [Show full text]
  • UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Noir / Blanc : : Representations of Colonialism and Cosmopolitanism in Eighteenth Century Painting Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5df0z40f Author Jarvis, Matthew W. Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Noir / Blanc: Representations of Colonialism and Cosmopolitanism in Eighteenth Century Painting A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Art History, Theory, and Criticism by Matthew W. Jarvis Committee in charge: Professor Norman Bryson, Chair Professor Rachel Klein Professor Kuiyi Shen Professor Lesley Stern Professor Cynthia Truant 2013 Copyright Matthew W. Jarvis, 2013 All Rights Reserved. The Dissertation of Matthew W. Jarvis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii DEDICATION For Robert and Vernal Kehm who were always there for me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page................................................................................. iii Dedication........................................................................................ iv Table of Contents............................................................................. v Vita .................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Political Conspiracy in Napoleonic France Kelly Diane Jernigan Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2015 Political Conspiracy in Napoleonic France Kelly Diane Jernigan Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Jernigan, Kelly Diane, "Political Conspiracy in Napoleonic France" (2015). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1198. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1198 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. POLITICAL CONSPIRACY IN NAPOLEONIC FRANCE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Kelly D. Jernigan B.A., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2002 M.A., Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 2007 May 2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research and writing that went into this dissertation may have been my own personal projects, but throughout the process, I recognized that I had a whole team of people working alongside me. Without them, I never would have pushed myself so hard and I probably would not have finished my degree. I will be eternally grateful for their support. To start, I want to recognize the contributions of my two-year-old daughter Mileena. I will always remember you sitting with me so you could “help Mommy work.” When you took over my laptop, you never deleted any chapters, for which I am grateful.
    [Show full text]
  • Uniting 'Good' Citizens in Thermidorian France
    Chapter 5 Uniting ‘good’ Citizens in Thermidorian France On September 20, 1794, a little less than two months after the fall of Robespierre on 9 Thermidor Year ii (July 27, 1794), representative Jean-Baptiste Robert Lin- det presented to the National Convention on behalf of the committees of Pub- lic Safety and General Security a report ‘On the internal situation of the Republic’.1 It was a strained report. How else could it be? Having gone through the experience of what has come to be known as the Jacobin Terror of 1793– 1794, France was still gasping for breath and was only beginning to ‘recollect the events the memory of which ought never to be effaced’, as the report put it. These events, Lindet purported, ‘will be a useful lesson for us and for posterity’. For ‘[t]he representatives of the people ought not only to pass on to posterity their actions, their glory and their success; they ought to pass on to them the knowledge of dangers, misfortunes, and errors’.2 What were these dangers, misfortunes, and errors? And could the Terror represent all these things at once? For weeks the streets had been flooded with anti-Jacobin pamphlets, as the freedom of press was re-established. Gradually, more and more atrocities came to light; Jacobins were denounced everywhere; Robespierre was portrayed as a ‘tyrant’ and bloodthirsty monster; militias of vengeful anti-Jacobin groups of young men scoured the streets of Paris, while thousands of often equally vengeful prisoners were released within less than a month. The downfall of Robespierre set in motion a process of public exor- cism that could hardly be kept under control by the National Convention that eagerly tried to re-establish its status as the supreme political authority above that of the committees and the Jacobin Club.3 It was an extremely vexed and complex process.
    [Show full text]
  • French Revolution.Pdf
    print page close window French Revolution The French Revolution from 1789 to 1799 was a major European historical turning point that transformed France from a monarchy to a republic. This social, political, economic, and legal upheaval began modestly and was meant to limit royal absolutism. Yet as the revolution progressed, its proponents became more extreme in their desires for democracy. What began as a call for constitutional monarchy erupted into a decade of turmoil that resulted in six consecutive governments, the execution of the king, and finally, a dictatorship that ushered in the Napoleonic Era. Ancien Régime The ancien régime refers to the societal, economic, and political structure of France before the French Revolution. At the top of the regime's pyramid-like structure was King Louis XVI, an absolute monarch. He had succeeded to the throne in 1774 and inherited nearly insoluble problems from his predecessors. Below the king came the clergy, or the First Estate; then the nobles, or the Second Estate; and finally the remaining French subjects, or the Third Estate. The First Estate comprised approximately 100,000 clergy, and the Second Estate comprised some 300,000 nobles. The tax-exempt nobles owned 20% of the land, while the clergy owned 10%. The Catholic Church was tax exempt as well. The remaining 23.5 million French people, the Third Estate, included lawyers, a rising bourgeoisie, workers, shopkeepers, and peasants. Approximately 90% of the people in the Third Estate were peasants. The Third Estate, despite being the poorest group, paid the taxes that ensured the financial well-being of the state, clergy, and nobles.
    [Show full text]