causes for Louis XV to go to the parlements for tax increase in 1763

a. was an absolute monarch but lacked the money to maintain his lifestyle

    - borrowed at high interest rates = more debt

b. needed a well-outfitted navy and army 

    - for continental wars

      (especially now after the 30 years war which they lost)

13 parlements refusal to grant money to Louis XV

- were upset because of the great cost of the 30 years war

- felt that he was challenging their freedom by taxing the nobles (who had previously been exempt from taxation)

Basic power struggle

king vs. magistrates

A. King

    - "L'etat, c'est moi"

    - exercising power

B. Magistrates 

    - represent the nation

    - ruling for the good of the ppl

"Apres moi, le deluge"

* After me comes the flood *

   - of creditors, etc

a. said by Louis XV

    - plunged France into massive debt, swamping his grandson (who ruled after him) Louis XVI

L'Ancien Regime

* The Old Regime *

A. undermining the power of the monarchy

    1. growing debt was weakening the power of the monarch

    2. ascending power of the elite = the bourgeoisie and nobles 

Louis XVI's reason for convening the Estates-General in 1788

Estates-General = * meeting of representatives of the 3 social classes of French society * 

(where Louis XVI sought permission to levy taxes on the state)

   - he wanted state reform in fiscal policy and financial stability w/o offending anyone

First Estate

- the clergy

Second Estate

- the nobility

Third Estate

A. the commoners

    1. the bourgeoisie 

        - could now express their opinions in govt and society (after having previously been excluded)

    2. the peasants

        - were suddenly participating in the same process as their social superiors = realized they now had the right to speak and be heard

B. Goals

    1. wanted equal treatment and an equal share of power

    2. wanted to make a constitution

growth of the power of the nobles

a. rise of the middle class = many more nobles now 

    - more of the aristocracy were being enobled

b. the nobles had managed to increase their social and economic power and wanted to preserve it

c. the nobles were inspired by the British model of govt and by Enlightenment ideas and wanted to increase the political power of the aristocracy 

Cahiers de doleances

* Lists of grievances - lists of grievances drawn up by each of the three Estates in France *

A. significance

    1. similarity of grievances shared throughout France

    2. indicated the extent to which a common political culture in France was formed among the different social classes, because of their common desire for political reform

deadlocking of the meeting of the Estates-General

- voting was weighted as one vote per each estate

   a. favored the 1st and 2nd estates

       - usually, members of one estate were also members of the other = common interests

- now the 3rd estate is demanding that they vote by head instead of by estate

They couldn't come to an agreement.  

Abbe Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes

a. French Roman Catholic clergyman

b. wrote What is the Third Estate?

   - became the manifesto for the French Revolution

   - stated that the 3rd estate is the largest and produced the most wealth and as long as the 1st and 2nd estates don't contribute as much as the 3rd estate does (in terms of taxes and products), they shouldn't be part of the govt and the French nation

The National Assembly

A. formation of the National Assembly

    - the 3rd estate met and were joined by some of the sympathetic clergy

    - changed their name to The National Assembly as an assertion of its true representation of the French nation

Oath of the Tennis Court

- the National Assembly wasn't allowed into the regular Estates-General meeting room by the King's guards

- they went to a nearby tennis court where they bowed to stay together for the purpose of writing a constitution

- Oath of the Tennis Court

- painted by Jacques-Louis David

Louis XVI's response to the demands for a constitutional monarchy

a. refused to recognize the legitimacy of the National Assemby

b. summoned troops to Versailles

date for the Storming of the Bastille

* A huge, bloodthirsty mob marched to the Bastille, searching for gun powder and prisoners that had been taken by the unpopular and detested Louis XVI *

(July 14, 1789)

causes/purposes for the Storming of the Bastille

a. to get weapons to fight back against the soldiers which the king had stationed in Paris

Marquis de Lafayette

A. French military officer

   1. general in the American Revolutionary War

   2. leader of the National Guard during the French Revolution 

        a. organized The National Guard

       (b. adopted the tricolor flag as its standard flag)

The National Guard

* the militia formed in Paris, and then the militias formed in each city, during the time of the French Revolution *

causes of the peasant revolt in July 1789

A. Fear of

    1. poverty 

    2. anarchical chaos

        - no protection

    3. the King/estates-general

        - didn't want to end up victims of an aristocratic plot

        - scared of the delegitimization of the National Assembly

The peasant revolts of 1789

A. Objective

    - to destroy all legal documents by which nobles claimed payments, dues, and services from local peasants

B. Success

    - Caused the National Assembly to agree to abolish the Principal of Privilege = now have to buy their way out of being serf/to get off land

the National Assembly's dilemma during the peasant revolts

A. Give in to the peasants

    - risk losing aristocratic support = undermine their own abilites of control

B. Give in to the aristocracy 

    - faced social revolution = couldn't suppress of police

The Declaration of the Rights of Man

"Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen"

(August 26, 1789)

* a fundamental document of the French Revolution - it defined the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal *

- produced by the French National Assembly in Paris

- produced to remove absolutism and monarch from France and establish in its stead a govt dependent on the ppl's sovereignty 

cause for the revolution's ambivalence towards slavery

- to dissolve slavery would be at odds with French colonial interest

"Either no individual of the human race has genuine rights, or else all have the same"

- Marquis de Condorcet 

- talking about women and ppl of other religious groups and slaves

new French departments in govt

- created to establish better control over municipal govts

The French Revolution vs. The Church

- the FR dissolved all monasteries and convents

   (except those that provided for the poor or served as educational institutes)

- caused the Pope to denounce the principles of the FR

Louis XVI's attempted escape

- was abandoning his country in their time of need

- came as a shock to the ppl - they still had had hope that he was on their side and could make things better

causes of the Counter-Revolution

a. the FR's economy

    - The National Assembly claimed all the debts of L'Ancien Regime to legitimize themselves 

    - they didn't have enough ways to make money other than confiscating Church property

    - this caused a depreciation of French money and inflation at home (worse than before = even more misery)

advantages of the war in Austria in 1792 for the French

1. it diverted the attention of the masses away from problems at home, and promoted loyalty to the revolution

2. crusade to bring the revolutionary principles to oppressed peoples throughout Europe

3. the king and queen saw war as a hope for liberation

assignats

* paper money issued by the National Assembly during the FR because the govt was bankrupt *

- the National Assembly made them as a way for the new govt to remain solvent and it soon became the currency

- when the land it was backed by ran out, they kept printing the bills, and it caused inflation and the French currency was devalued

sans-culottes

* poorer members of the third estate *

- called themselves tis to be distinguished from the privileged 

- the working class radicals

- they wanted govt power to be decentralized and neighborhoods rule themselves through sectional organizations 

guillotine

1. symbol of of the revolution

    - eliminates the suffering of its victims

       (Revolution wanted to eliminate the cruelty of older forms of punishment)

2. 50,000 victims

3. named for Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin - its biggest supporter

Jacobins

* the most radical element in the National convention who supported democratic solutions and speaking in favor of the cause of ppl in the streets *

- named for its meeting place in an abandoned monastery 

Girondins

* more moderate French Revolutionary faction *

- renewed European war

- fragmented the Democratic movement

- were unable to control violence at home - power seeped away 

Maximilien Robespierre

1. one of the most well-known, influential figures in the French Revolution and Reign of Terror, he also largely dominated Committee of Public Safety

    - save France from foreign occupation and internal collapse

    - couldn't save democracy through terror

2. was accused of tyranny and dictatorship and arrested and eventually executed

"To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty."

- Maximilien Robespierre

Committee of Public Safety

Comité de salut public

- set up by the National Convention in 1793

- formed the de facto executive govt of France during the Reign of Terror

- responsible for thousands of executions 

- Jacobins ran it headed by Robespierre

- ceased meeting in 1795

Revolutionary outlook of how ppl defined themselves

- all men were considered free and equal in opportunity

Robespierre's idea of the role of the individual in society

- individuals don't matter in comparison to the will of the Nation

- this idea was at odds with the contemporary idea that ppl are supposed to be free to do as they like, not what the country demands

La Terreur

The Reign of Terror

- period of violence that occurred right after the French Revolution

- incited by conflict between rival political factions

   (the Jacobins and the Girondins)

- was marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolutions

La Grande Terreur

The Great Terror

- the period of time during the Reign of Terror in which the repression escalated (June and July of 1794)

- ended in the Thermidorian Reaction

Thermidorian Reaction

*revolt in the FR against the excesses of the Reign of Terror*

(9 Thermidor Year II = July 27 1974)

- the coup in which several leaders of the Reign of Terror were executed (including Maximilien Robespierre and Louis de Saint-Just) 

- Democracy lost its legitimacy and the Jacobins were forced underground

- price control was abolished = extreme hardship for most urban individuals

The Temple of Reason

- formerly the cathedral of Notre-Dame

- came from the de-Christianization in France

- became a center for the cult of Supreme Being 

   (one of the Reign of Terror's attempts to create a new moral universe of revolutionary values)

cult of the Supreme Being

-  one of the Reign of Terror's attempts to create a new moral universe of revolutionary values

The Directory

- took over after Robespierre was executed

- mediocre, weak, cautious

- not in position to give a leader = creates a power vacuum

- advocated opportunism in place of the fanatical idealism and action of the FR

Robespierre's end

1. was accused of tyranny and dictatorship and arrested and eventually executed

       - attacked his critics on both the Left and the Right = undermined the support he needed to stay in power

       - abandoned the alliance with the popular movement that had been so important in bringing him to power => his enemies were able to break the identification between political power and the will of the ppl - he was branded a traitor

end of the French Revolution

1. basically fizzled out

    a. ppl were humbled after years of change

        - no one took control/no more heroes

        - ordinary men in parliamentary institutions could effectively run govt on a day to day basis

Napoleon Bonaparte

* a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century *

obstacles Napoleon had to overcome in his early rise to power

1. was of common birth - bourgeoisie

2. was short

3. was a Corsican - not French, not Italian, but both

    - funny accent

revolutionary opportunities for Napoleon

1. it opened up vacant seats in the army for those of lower birth but great talent to grab

2. polarized the military - didn't believe in rule of the mob/reign of terror => many ppl defected - more open seats

3. everyone was attacking the French - tested many soldiers abilities - gave them opportunity to show their talents

Napoleon's early triumphs

a. defense of The Directory against the Persians

b. conquered Italy with a ragtag army

c. conquered Egypt - defeated the Marmalukes with canons

Liberté, égalité, fraternité

* Liberty, equlity, fraternity *

- the three values that became the slogan of the FR

- caused huge bouts of nationalism

Napoleon's purposes/excursions in Egypt

A. was trying to enrich the French by:

    1. hastening the collapse of the Turkish Empire

    2. crippling British trade routes

    3. handicapping Russian interest in the region

Napoleon's rise to control of the French govt

a. the coup d'etat - conspiracy in which they rebelled and seized control of the Directory 

b. new govt was made up of a triumverate of consuls 

    - Napoleon = made 1st consul

Napoleon's attempts to restore order after the chaos of the Directory

a. guaranteed the security of property acquired in the FR

    - so that no royalists could come back claiming land just because of their class

b. promised a balanced budget

    - appeared to deliver it

c. established relations with the Pope

    - recognized Catholicism as the French religion

plebiscite

* a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal *

Napoleon's guarantee of power

a. he called a plebiscite in 1802 and asked them to extend his power - to vote him First Consul for life - and the vote was overwhelmingly in his favor

The Battle of Austerlitz/Battle of the Three Emperors

- Napoleon effectively destroyed the Third Coalition against the French Empire

- here the Russo-Austrian army commanded by Tzar Alexander I was defeated by Napoleon in what is often regarded as a tactical masterpiece

The Battle of Jena-Auerstedt

- Napoleon/France vs. Frederick William III/Prussia

- Napoleon won

Battle of Friedland

- Napoleon vs. Count von Bennigsen (Alexander I - Russia) 

- effectively ended the War of the Fourth Coalition

- France really won, but both signed a treaty that made them allies

The Peninsula War

- contest between France and the allied powers of Spain, the UK, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula

- started when France invaded Portugal in 1807 and Spain in 1808

- lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814

Battle of Trafalgar

(1805)

- end of the sea battle between Britain and France

- it was a decisive victory for Britain

- took place during the War of the Third Coalition

Admiral Lord Nelson

- a British flag officer in the Royal Navy

- won several victories during the Napoleonic wars

- hero of the Battle of Trafalgar for the British but died during the battle

Napoleon's Continental System

* a boycott of British products/trade by the European continent (wherever Napoleon ruled over) *

- ppl didn't listen to this because ppl don't listen when it comes to money = caused a strong black market to grow

- Britain retaliated by blockading their goods - cutting off French commerce in the Atlantic

- was pretty much ineffective 

Napoleon's support of the development of science

a. was a big patron of science and technology

    - was the first real modern political leader because of his support for the sciences

    - paid a lot of money to support the development of physics, chemistry, etc

Napoleon's economic reforms

a. created central banks

    - established currency, rates of exchange, put money in banks so banks could loan money to use to make railroads, etc

b. policy of protectionism - tariffs

    - protected French industry

c. built infrastructure that business needs to flourish

    ex) roads, govt service, education, etc

d. homegrown crops replaced colonial imports

    - imports = not reliable

e. codified/unified law

    - business = easier to do

        a. no different customs/rates of exchange

Napoleon's attitude towards women

a. thought women were good for nothing except bearing children - inconsistent with his other mostly modern ideas

    ex) response to Madame de Stael 

causes for the French invasion of Russia in 1812

1. he felt invincible 

    - ruler of continental Europe, sees Russia as weak but fertile, thought no one could stop him

2. Alexander I violated the Continental System and sold grain to Britain - violation of their treaty

Battle of Leipzig

(1813)

- Britain gathered Sweden, Austria, and Prussia and some Russians to attack Napoleon's back while most of his troops were in Russia = lost his first battle

Battle of Waterloo

(1815)

- Napoleon was defeated for the last time and sent back to exile, where he died