THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

REVOLUTION THREATENS THE FRENCH KING

            The system of feudalism left over from the middle ages known as the Old Regime divided into three large social classes or estates.

            The privileged estates tow of the estates had privileges the Roman Catholic Church clergy formed the First Estate owned 10 percent of the land. It provided education and gave 2% of its income to the government.

            The second estate was made up of rich nobles much of whose wealth was in land. Only made up 2% of the population but owned 20 % of the land and paid no taxes.

            The third estate 98 percent of the people belonged to there were three groups that made up this estate, the 1^st group the bourgeoisie were merchants and artisans well educated and believed strongly in the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality. Although as rich as the nobles, they paid high taxes and lacked privileges of the nobles.

            The workers of France’s cities cooks, servants, and others formed the second group within the third estate. Poorer than the bourgeoisie they received low wages and often out of work and often hungry. Mobs would form if the price of bread rose with attacks on the farmers and the bakeries.

            Peasants formed the last group of the third estate peasants paid half of their income to the nobles.

This group was taxed as heavily as any group in history and wanted a change

The forces of change

            The ideals of enlightenment caused the people to think of equality, liberty and democracy. The success of the American Revolution inspired them.

            An economic woe of the French was beginning. Heavy taxes made it hard to conduct profitable businesses in France. Bad weather destroyed crops and created a severe shortage of grains. The price of bread doubled in 1789. Louis XVI borrowed heavily to support the Americans against the long time enemy Britain. He doubled the government’s debt, and the bankers refused to loan him and the government more money.

            He was a weak leader. Spent more time playing and hunting then working on the government’s problem. He married his wife when they were 15 and 14, and she was disliked because she was from Austria who was an enemy of the French. She spent so much money she was known as Madame Deficit.  King Louis XVI put off problems until France was bankrupt, and then he called the Estates-General, the first meeting in 175 years.

Revolution is close. At earlier meetings of the Estate General, each group met separately and each group only had one vote.

The national assembly the third estate wanted to have a great meeting of the three groups with each member getting a vote. This stemmed from the enlightenment ideas. The third estate delegates renamed them selves the National Assembly and passed laws and reforms in the name of the French people. The members were locked out of the meetings and then broke down door to an indoor tennis court and swore to not leave until they had drawn up a new constitution. This was the Tennis Court Oath.

Not trusting his army, king Louis brought in Swiss soldiers to protect him in Paris. A rumor spread that said that the foreigners were going to massacre the French the fall of the Bastille a Paris prison was celebrated the same way our July 4^th, is celebrated. A great panic took over the French people with women leading the way protesting the high cost of bread and grabbing anything they could find demanded that the king return to Paris.

SECTION 2

REVOLUTION BRINGS REFORM AND TERROR

            The assembly reforms France

Taking away the power of the first and second estates, all members of society had the same power in government. 

The state takes over the church lands and demanded that the church officials and priests were to be elected by the property owners and paid as state officials. The government sold off the church lands to help pay off the debts of France. 

The peasants were upset by these actions.  From this time on the peasants weren’t as active in the revolution. King Louis tried to leave the French country but was captured and returned to Paris.

The National Assembly created a Limited Monarch this stripped the monarch of most of his powers.  Gave the legislative Assembly the power to create French law.

With the new government, the same old problems existed. Food shortages, and government debt still faced the nation. How to deal with these problems split the Legislative Assembly into three groups.

Extreme measures in France

            Austria and Prussia wanted that France put Louis back on the throne. Maria Antoinette and her family were torn to shreds. Because of the war with the Austrian and the Prussians

The radicals execute the king during 1793.  Using the guillotine he was beheaded.

The terror grips France the most radical group of the government were know as Jacobin wanted to remove king and create a republic Jean Paul Marat an editor who called for five or six hundred heads cut off.

 Adult male citizens were given the right to vote and women were not allowed to vote in fact one lady was killed as an enemy of the revolution movement. The Jacobins wanted to meet the changes with the people

By raising an army. Starting at 300,000 the army grows to 800,000.

Reign of terror. Robespierre as the leader led

To find the leader of the committee of public safety, he became the leader and then started executing the enemies of the revolution. Many were tried in the morning and beheaded in the afternoon. His period of rule was known as the reign of terror. Any one who challenged his leadership was an enemy of the revolution. 40,000 people were executed during the reign of terror.

End of the terror was when the members understood that they were only safe when Robespierre was gone. So they forced him to be beheaded.

Section 3 Napoleon Forges an Empire

He joined the army of the government and fought for the national convention. He was to protect them and keep them safe from the royalist rebels. Causing the rebels to flee in fear he became the hero of the hour.  He won several battles in Italy.  He tried to stop the trade of England and India, by attacking the supply lines in Egypt.  November 9, 1799 he took control of the government by using the military.  He took control by way of a coup d’etat. 

Napoleon ruling France.  Put on airs of being the constitutionally chosen leader of a free republic. In 1800, a plebiscite or vote of the people was held to approve a new constitution.  He would create a France that had order and stability by keeping some of the changes that the revolution pushed.

 Napoleon signed a concordat (agreement) with the pope of spelling out new relations between church and state the government; the church should not have any control in national affairs.  This agreement allowed napoleon the support of the church and the majority of the French people.

Napoleon crowned him self instead of letting the church crown him establishing that the emperor was bigger than the church.

Napoleon creates an empire. He spread the power of the French government to the new world, Louisiana, Florida, French Guiana, and the French West Indies.

There is a problem with the French areas in the new world. The revolution went all the way to saint Domingue slaves had demanded their freedom and a civil war erupted

Slaves under the Toussaint L’Overture took control of the island.

And wanted their own freedom. Napoleon sent 22,000 soldiers to the island and stopped the rebellion the United States wanted to buy New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory was sold to America.

Napoleon wanted to expand in Europe. When England, Russia, Switzerland and others tried to stop him napoleon’s forces were victorious and successful. However, fighting in this war, the battle of Trafalgar was important.

Horatio Nelson, who had defeated Napoleon in Egypt outmaneuvered the larger French-Spanish navy and defeated them. Losing his navy napoleon couldn’t attack and invade England.

The collapse of napoleon’s empire.

The coalition attack napoleon again. He was sent into exile and then he returned to power and tried to fight against the British and the Persian armies.

 Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo, by the Duke of Wellington. This last surge of effort by napoleon was known as Hundred Days.  Once napoleon had been defeated it opened ways for the Free Europe to establish a new order.

Section five the congress of Vienna convenes

Foreign minister of Austria, Klemens von Metternich. Had three goals for the Vienna Congress

The containment of France:  making the countries around France stronger.

1. the former Austrian Netherlands and Dutch Republic were united to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
2. a group of 39 German states were loosely joined as the newly created German Confederation, dominated by Austria.
3. Switzerland was recognized as a n independent nation.
4. The Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy was strengthened by the addition of Genoa.

Maintaining a balance of power allowed the French people and military to be controlled without creating a great feeling for revenge against the rest of the European nations. The leaders of Europe agreed to return those leaders that were displaced by napoleon to power.

The success of the Vienna congress can be measured in the fact that from 1853 until 1914, no European power waged war with its neighbor or other countries in Europe.