History 11 Review

1. History 11 Review The French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe

2. Other revolutions and Changes • American Revolution (1775 – 1783) – dissatisfied with the London Gov – General George Washington founded the republic • Lisbon • Holland • Switzerland • Austrian Netherlands

3. How did the revolution happen? • Ideas were changing • Increase of poor people in the country and conditions worsened – 80% were peasants • Taxes were heavy – Tithes – church and money or share of the crops – Seigneur • Small farmers were forced out of profitable small holdings by richer large scale landowners who used more efficient methods of agriculture – similar to today.

4. The Three Estates • First about 130,000 people – the Clergy – pg 78 indicates how it was broken down, Main privileges- had their own law courts and exempt from certain taxes • Second – 120,000 – 350,000 – The nobility – Main privileges - had the right to carry a sword, received special treatment in law courts, exempt from certain taxes, exempt from military service. • Third – 27 million – everybody else – no privileges

5. Migration • To escape poverty poor people began looking for opportunities in towns. • Internal migration in France was at an all time high on the eve of the French Revolution

6. Intellectuals vs Bureaucrats • Enlightenment called for creative change • The elite wanted to deal with the problem of the government deficit and the perception of waste and incompetence in government procedures. • Mass population wanted fewer financial levies and taxes. – is this similar to today? • Financial crisis was evident • The inability of the royal treasury to meet payments lead to the collapse of the ancien regime • The idea of an Estates general was in the air – indicated they were on the brink of a revolution

7. Public Opinion on the eve of the Revolution • Nobody knew what would happen, but they hoped for a reformed constitutional monarchy. • Many opposed any basic changes to the government. • Censorship of publications was relaxed and many pamphlets expressed individual opinion. • The desire to express opinion led to the establishment of discussion in clubs in major cities.

8. Estates General • What happened when they met? • There was a deadlock between the three orders of the National Assembly. • Why was their a deadlock? First and Second could outvote the Third • What is known as the Tennis Court Oath? On June 20th 1789 the deputies of the third established this oath stating they were the majority and that they would no dissolve until this fact was accepted. • Why “Tennis Court”?

9. What happened as a result of the Tennis Court Oath? • When the parliamentarians refused to disperse and vote (request from the king) and that they would only do so by violence is seen as the effective end of the legal authority of the old monarchial order: national was set above the orders of the king.

10. What happened on July 14, 1789 • A Crowd attacked the Bastille (Paris’s state prison) • What did this place symbolize? • The oppressive nature of the ancien regime • Why? • It held prisoners there without trial – ordered by the authorities. • How many people were there? 7 one of whom was insane

11. July the 14th is a national holiday, what is it called? Bastille Day

12. How did people in the country fight? • They attacked castles and tried to burn records of feudal dues, rents payable, and taxation. • What were they fighting against? • Specific terms of feudalism and tithes • What happened as a result? • They were abolished • What did this represent or reflect? • The French citizens’ desire for equality

13. Why did Parisians attack the king and queen at Versailles • Fear and food and bread shortages. • Who led the attack? Women • What happened during the attack? • After the attack? The king and queen moved to Paris where they were under the watchful eye of the politicized population

14. What important changes took place by the end of 1789? • The Estates General had become the National Assembly (Constituent Assembly) • NA wrote a constitution • The king was no longer the central source of authority – however his approval was needed to make state authority legal. • Peasants found a new enemy in revolutionary officials and townspeople who still seemed to exploit them. They were also unhappy with new religious policy? Which was?

15. What major problems did Peasant resistance of the Revolution cause? • It caused a social revolution of the countryside, with different economic and cultural goals than those of urban politicians and intellectuals

16. What was the purpose of the Constituent Assmebly? • Renew the French legal system • Wrote a constitution • Reorganzied France into new units called units called departments • Sold church estates • Set up the Civil constitution of the Clergy (election of bishops and priests by the people) • Abolished the obligation of the French church to obey the papacy

17. Mirabeau • Had a skill of making complicated issues understandable to the public. • Elected member of the Assembly • He urged the Royal Family to accommodate the Revolution • He spoke out abut Robespierre’s Terror • Death was a shock because a lot of people saw him as a compromise between the court and the Assembly • Symbolized the attempt to set up a liberal constitutional monarchy

18. What two dominant political groups began to emerge? • Girondins – sans-culottes – without breeches (knee length garment of the well to do) • The Jacobins – who advocated radical reform and harsh measures to bring about the change they desired.

19. Who was Maximilien de Robespierre? • A leading revolutionary radical elected to the Estates-General in 1789 who amied to establish a republic. • He believed that eternal values were more important than specific experiences. • He looked for good in the community rather than in the individual.

20. What was the Convention? • The Legislative Assembly was dissolved on September 20th, 1792 and the Convention was developed • Convention consisted of 749 men and were mostly lawyers. • They sat in a semi circle facing the president, more conservative people sat on the right, majority in the middle. – Political Spectrum was developed. Left Middle Right

21. What major events happened in 1972 – 1973? • Sept 20th – Victory over the Prussians • Sept 21 – Proclamation of a new Republic • January 21st – Louis XVI was beheaded – this caused hosility to France. This signified their will to defy Europe and break with the past.

22. What happened after Louis XVI died? • There were disputes between the deputies in the Convention. • France was threatened by forign armies, by political struggles – where those who were oppposed were executed. • Conflict between ideologies • Just like WWII fascist vs democratic and the Cold War capitalism vs socialist (communism)

23. What crazy things happened? • Devlopment of a new religion – the Supreme Being • New calendar with a 10 day week • Lots of violence • Lots of killing • The Reign of Terror

24. What was the Reign of Terror • The Leaders in Paris would kill anyone who was against the Revolution – main leader Robespierre • How was the Terror made possible? • A revoltuionary system of government the powerful executive committies

25. What were the names of these committies • Committee of Public Safety – fought against food shortages, foreign enemies, and political subversion • Committee of General Security -

26. Who was Napoleon Bonaparte? • Emperor of the French • Lived 1769 - 1821 • One of the most brilliant individuals in history, Napoleon Bonaparte was a masterful soldier, an unequalled grand tactician and a superb administrator. He was also utterly ruthless, a dictator and, later in his career, thought he could do no wrong.

27. The revolutionary fever that was spreading when Bonaparte was a teenager allowed a talented individual the opportunity to rise far beyond what could have been achieved only a few years previously.

28. Napoleon • was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror. • Napoleon denied being such a conqueror.

29. Napoleon • He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. • But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts.

30. Napoleon • Emperor Napoleon proved to be an excellent civil administrator. • The new law codes—seven in number—incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. • The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. • Napoleon also centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided.