Chapter 20: The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815
- The French Revolution was a period of creation and discovery
- The spread of the Enlightenment at the upper levels of French society created new expectations and possibilities
- France was a nation of wealth and poverty existing at once
- Conflicts over taxes were common
- France didn’t have the adequate bureaucratic infrastructure to apply royal policies
- The monarchy was constantly competing with the nobility for power
- Government authority was closely tied with medieval concepts
- Conflict between the social classes was common
- Growing urbanization and mercantilist behavior caused an expansion in literacy and publication of things such as newspapers and pamphlets
- French Government
- Combination of centralized government and feudal system (under leadership of monarch)
- King was in theory absolute, but in reality was limited by the power of nobles and the feudal system
- Legislative Body consisted of the Estates Generals
- First Estate: Clergy
- Second Estate: Nobles
- Third Estate: everybody else
- In accordance with tradition, each estate normally received one vote
- Parisian Parlement was prestigious and powerful
- Regional government was guided by the feudal system and seen as repressive by peasants, and necessary by the nobles
- Parlement of Paris was disbanded as it refused taxes and loans for the king, leading the king to call a meeting of the Estates Generals
- The three Estates and the king had different goals in mind
- The first meeting ended in a stalemate
- Third Estate met alone in response to the stalemate
- National Assembly met in a Tennis Court
- Wanted to establish a representative government based on the constitution
- Louis XVI tried to reconcile, fearing popular support
- Louis XVI called the Swiss Guard which was seen as a step towards oppression
- People of Paris stormed Bastille on July 14, 1789
- Rioters formed National Guard
- National Assembly responded to Peasant Revolt on August 4, 1789
- National Assembly adopted Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens on August 27, 1789 which promised equal justice and freedom of speech and religion
- Counter-revolutionary enthusiasm started to develop between 1789-1790
- The Legislative Assembly was elected per the new Constitution in September 1791
- France declared war on Austria in April, 1792
- The National Convention met to plan a new course of action, eliminate the monarchy, and place Louis XVI on trial in September, 1792
- The National Convention faced an economic crisis
- Food shortage
- Failures in war
- The Committee of Public Safety (“Great Committee”) was given the power to govern while the National Convention focused on the new constitution
- “Terror is the Order of the Day”
- Means for re-establishing stability when faced with counter-revolutionary forces a losing effort against Austria
- Saved France from foreign invasion while destroying the democracy
- Napoleon inducted himself as “First Consul” in a coup in 1799
- Power was consolidated through reforms
- Napoleon was declared “First Consul” for life in 1802
- Fall of Napoleon
- Continental System
- Berlin Decree (1806)
- “Order in Council” (1806)
- Milan Decree (1807)
- Peninsula War (Spain: 1808-1814)
- Russian Campaign (1812)
- Grand Alliance
- Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Russia vs. France
- Battle of Nations at Leipzig (1813) the Great Alliance won
- First Treaty of Paris (1814)
- Second Treaty of Paris
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