Download
1 / 30
300 likes | 380 Views
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEAN. WHAT CAUSED THE REVOLUTION?. Social Causes. First Estate: The Clergy (paid no taxes) Second Estate: The Nobility (paid no taxes)
E N D
Social Causes First Estate: The Clergy (paid no taxes) Second Estate: The Nobility (paid no taxes) Third Estate: The peasants and everyone else (98% of the population of France) paid all the taxes but held little power in government.
Economic Causes Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788. High spending on wars and luxury for the royalty. Price of bread doubles, peasants in crisis.
HOW DID THE FRENCH REVOLUTION CAUSE THE FALL OF THE OLD REGIME?
From the Estates General to the National Assembly The Estates General held an emergency meeting to discuss financial problems. At this meeting the third estate demanded equal voting rights but they were denied by King Louis XVI. The third estate then called themselves the National Assembly and decided to draft a constitution on their own.
From the Estates General to the National Assembly When they arrived at their meeting place three days later they found they had been locked out. They instead met at local Tennis Courts and took the Tennis Court Oaths swearing they would remain until they had created a French Constitution.
Storming of the Bastille Louis XVI planned to use force against the group but members of the third estate beat him to it. They stormed a well known prison called the Bastille to acquire weapons.
Declaration of the Rights of Man The National Assembly soon passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man which attempted to make all men in France equal under the law. A group of armed women surrounded the palace at Versailles and forced King Louis XVI to sign the Declaration. The King and Queen were forced back to Paris where they enjoyed only very limited power.
The Church The group also removed most of the power and land held by the church and created a system of choosing clergy and electing members of parliament.
War with Austria The new government of France declared war on Austria because they feared Austria may try to restore the power of Louis XVI. The war did more damage to the economy and led to more suffering for many people.
Radicalism Radicals who took power encouraged the people to take revenge on those who had supported the King during the revolution. Many of these people were arrested or killed as peasants were encouraged to use violence to get what they wanted. (Batman Rises scene)
Crisis After the National Convention ordered the execution of King Louis XVI, royalty throughout Europe were outraged and Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch Republic prepared to invade France.
The Reign of Terror A group called the Committee of Public Safety was formed to defend France from foreign enemies. This group was led by MaximilienRobespierre. To help this cause they killed up to 40,000 people within France who they saw as a threat to the National Convention. They also took many steps to completely eliminate the Christian church from France.
A Nation in Arms To combat the threat of other nations the committee raised a huge army in less than a year. This people’s army defeated most of its foreign enemies and created a sense of nationalism within the country. Robespierre soon became feared by the National Convention and they voted to execute himwhich ended the Reign of Terror.
The Directory A new constitution created a legislative assembly consisting of a Council of Elders and a Council of 500. They chose 5 directors as the executive committee who ruled the country along with the Councils. This government restored the church for the people but was also corrupt and they were overthrown in a coup d'état by a popular general named Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleons Rule After the coup d'état Napoleon was given a lot of power and eventually named himself Emperor Napoleon I. Napoleon fully restored the Catholic church as the religion of the French people but did not give back lands to the church that were taken during the revolution.
The Napoleonic Code Over 300 legal codes existed in France. Napoleon unified these under what he called the Napoleonic Code. His laws protected many of the peoples rights, abolished the feudal system, promoted religious tolerance, and protected property rights for men but not women. Napoleon preserved many of the gains of the revolution but didn’t respect freedom of the press and police even opened and inspected private mail.
European Response Britain’s survived French attacks by having a very strong navy and by adding new trade markets as they lost the American colonies. Nationalism spread from France after the French revolution which actually strengthened the resolve (will to fight) of the countries Napoleon attempted to invade.
The Fall of Napoleon When Napoleon invaded Russia the Russians fled east and burned down their cities in the process. This deprived Napoleon’s forces of valuable supplies and forced them to turn back towards home. Many of his troops did not survive the journey back without the necessary supplies. This was called the Great Retreat and it disgraced Napoleon. *
The Final Defeat Napoleon was forced into exile when Paris was captured and was replaced by King Louis XVIII. He was able to return as King Louis XVIII had little support. After being defeated by the British and Prussian armies he was finally exiled for good to St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic.
