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FRENCH MONARCHY IN CRISIS 1789-1815. King Louis XVI (16 th ). Louis XVI – terrible leader Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette spent money on themselves and not the people The people of France are MAD!. The Estates General. First Estate – Church Second Estate – Nobility
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FRENCH MONARCHY IN CRISIS 1789-1815
King Louis XVI (16th) • Louis XVI – terrible leader • Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette spent money on themselves and not the people • The people of France are MAD!
The Estates General • First Estate – Church • Second Estate – Nobility • Third Estate – bourgeoisie, laborers, and peasants • Each estate had one vote
MEETING OF THE ESTATES GENERAL (ALL 3 ESTATES OF FRANCE MEET FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1618 IN 1789)
Beginning of the Revolution • National Assembly (made up of 3rd estate) – wanted to write a new constitution, but the king locked them out of their meeting hall • Tennis Court Oath – meeting of 3rd estate; vowed never to break up until a new Constitution is written
Tennis Court Oath THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (MADE UP OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 3RD ESTATE) MEET AND TAKE OATH TO WRITE FRANCE A CONSTITUTION)
Revolution Continues… • Crowds in Paris storm the Bastille (prison) in July because it represented royal authority • ** First major physical action of the Revolution
Other Actions by National Assembly • March of Versailles – 1789, (mostly women) protest over high food prices and rumors King was plotting against the National Assembly. The royal family was brought back to Paris.
1791 Constitution • Kept monarchy with very limited power • Gave taxpaying men ages 25 and older many voting rights • Results: • Austria and Prussia threatened war; French Legislative Assembly declared war and lost • 1792 Legislative Assembly became the National Convention, which declared France a Republic
Maximillien Robespierre – leader of Radical (extreme) group called the Jacobins; led the National Convention
Changes in Society • King executed to prevent return to monarchy in 1793 • Everything with connections to royalty or the Church was outlawed/changed • Playing cards (no kings or queens) • Calendar – 3 weeks of 10 days in a month • Metric system • Churches in Paris were closed
Reign of Terror • Many disliked the Radical changes • To prevent a counterrevolution, Radical leaders executed anyone suspected of being an enemy • 17,000 people in 10 months • Eventually Robespierre was executed
“The springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, sever, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue.” • - Robespierre, Justification of the Use of Terror
After the Terror • New constitution: fewer people could vote • Elected body called Directory • Weak and corrupt Directors left France with a power vacuum
RISE OF NAPOLEON • Napoleon won lands for France in Italy and Spain. • Became a national hero for his efforts • November 1799 – armed supporters of Napoleon surrounded the Directory and forced a coup d'état and put Napoleon in power of France. • Soon elected emperor of France
Napoleon’s Empire • Introduced religious toleration • Abolished serfdom • Reduced power of the Catholic Church • Drafted majority of men into the military and enforced high taxes.
Continental System • A blockade to prevent French and allies from trading with Britain • Britain required everyone else to ask permission to trade with the French
Napoleon’s Downfall • Napoleon sends 500,000 troops to invade Russia • France wins, but are out of supplies & food and Napoleon is forced to retreat. • Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia join forces and crush Napoleon and his army • Napoleon is forced into exile on the island of Elba.
BUT he is FREED by supporters and rebuilds the army- Hundred Days (of glory) begin • Europe unites again and defeats Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (Duke of Wellington led British forces) • Napoleon exiled until his death on St. Helena Island.
Congress of Vienna • Meeting of diplomats in support of monarchies (reactionaries) to redraw Europe’s boarders • Led by Prince Klemens von Metternich • France went back to 1792 territory and had to pay damages to countries occupied by Napoleon • German Confederation (loose gathering of city-states) created • Monarchy restored in Spain, France, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily