The French EmpireNiamh, Lyle, Zack, Jessie & Julia

The French Empire

• Commonly known as the First French Empire, or the Napoleonic Empire.

• Dominated much of continental Europe.

• Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French on the 2nd of December

• Fell in 1814 when the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy arrived.

• Hundred Days period in 1815.

How did it start ?

• 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte was approached by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès.

• 9th of November 1799 troops led by Bonaparte seized control.

• Bonaparte, Sieyès and Ducos namedas provisional Consuls to administer the government.

• This made him the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X

Napoleon Bonaparteand

The Napoleonic Wars

• Born in Corsica, Italy in 1769

• In 1785, he became artillery officer in French army

• Appointed general in the Battle of Toulon

• French Navy defeated in Battle of Aboukir in 1798

• Napoleon became First Consul of France

• Installed real equality into French government

• Napoleonic Code of 1804

• In 1802, Napoleon became dictator for life

• Napoleon wanted to defeat the British

– Battle of Trafalgar in 1805

• Napoleon defeated Austrians at battle of Austerlitz

• Signed Treaty of Tilsit on July 7, 1807

• Wars of Liberation (1808-1813)

• Napoleon eliminated the Holy Roman Empire in 1806

• Battle of Waterloo

• Exiled to St. Helena in South Atlantic and died in 1821

www.wsu.edu/~dee/REV/NAPOLEAN.HTM

Government Structure

Pre-Revolution

-Monarchy

-Existing ‘Chamber of Deputies’, but not functional

-Little or no representation for the people, even the bourgeois

-Strong republican base in the radicals, full male suffrage, while liberals just want broader voting rights within the existing monarchy

-Government takes the side of neither group, defending the current system with zero change.

Revolution

• Advocates of reform plan a banquet for February 22, 1848 to coincide with demonstrations

• On the night of the 21st, baricades are built in working class sectors, using objects like paving blocks and pieces of furniture

• A ‘maze’ is built in which insurgents wait to fight the authority• King promises electoral reform, but it’s too late, riots have started,

and the republicans take hold and being a demonstration outside of the Prime Ministers house.

• Someone shoots at the guards, who return fire, killing 20 demonstrators. The organizers of the demonstration put the bodies on a cart and parade them through the city

• The King abdicated and left for England• Some people wanted to continue with the monarchy, but the

republicans have taken control, and set up a provisional government of 10 men, pending elections.

Post Revolution

• The provisional government has 10 members, 7 of whom are ‘political’ republicans, the other 3 being ‘social’

• The social republicans set up a ‘National Workshop’ which essentially becomes a place for the unemployed to work.

• A Constituent Assembly is elected and replaces the provisional government, and it contains no social republicans.

• This creates a class rift between the desperate workers in the National Workshops, and those who support the Constituent Assembly

• A class war breaks out, 10,000 men are killed, 11,000 taken prisoner, and the Constituent Assembly is upheld, and martial law is put in place, General Cavaignac rules

Post Revolution

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte-It is decided to put a large amount of power in the hands of the president, and that a president must be elected immediately

-Bonaparte wins by a landslide, and is liked by the public.

-A legislative assembly takes the place of the Constituents Assembly, however only one third of it’s members call themselves republicans. There is also a significant amount of members who advocate a monarchy

-The Assembly distances itself from socialism, ousting 33 socialist deputies, suppressing public meetings, and taking control of the press.

-Eventually takes away total male suffrage, removing the vote from the poorest third of the country

-France becomes an anti-republican republic

The St. Bartholomew’s day massacre• On August 24, 1572, King Charles IX of France, his

mother Catherine de Medici and Pope Gregory XIII followed through with their plan to massacre the Protestants of France

• They did this by inviting them to attend a royal wedding of a catholic princess and a Protestant nobleman.

• To the Protestants the wedding was seen as an opportunity to confirm the peace of St. Germain between French Protestants and Catholics, which had ended the third war of Religion in France.

• French Catholics were opposed to the Peace of St. Germain and many refused to accept it so they planned the massacre.

• The marriage went through successfully. For several days after the wedding a group of Huguenots led by Admiral Gaspard de Coligny stayed in Paris to discuss the Peace of St. Germain. Then, on August 22, an assassination attempt was made on Coligny's life.

• Orders were given to arm the french catholics of Paris and lock the city gates. The French Catholics wore a bit of white linen tied around the left arm and a white cross on the hat to recognize each other in the darkness.

The St. Bartholomew’s day massacre• The royal Swiss Guard was instructed to kill the leaders of the Protestant delegation. All the

protestant nobles were expelled from the palace and were slaughtered outside. 

• For three days Protestants were hunted throughout the city, with almost 4,000 people being murdered in the streets. Men, women, and children fell in heaps covering the streets. In one week, almost 100,100 Protestants perished. The rivers of France were filled with corpses.

• Many protestants were imprisoned, many sent as slaves for the kings and some were able to escape to other countries (Germany, Switzerland, England, Ireland and America). France was in disaster, wars broke out, famine, disease and poverty finally led to the French Revolution.

• Massacres continued into October. The number of Huguenots killed is not known, but estimates range from 8,000 to 20,000.

• News of the massacre was welcomed by the Pope, Vatican and the King of Spain.

• The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre had large religious impact. Many Protestants left France, or converted to Catholicism however, many also became politically active; encouraging a new form of government.

• The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre was certainly one of the greatest tragedies of the Protestants.

• It rekindled the hatred between Protestants and Catholics and resulted in the beginning of civil war.

Bonapartism The Second French Empire

1852-1870

Bonapartism: Quest-ce que c’est?

• Bonapartism was a movement in France in the 1800’s to support Napoleon I and the House of Bonaparte, and later on restore France to being ruled by them.

• Began in 1815, created by many French people who would not accept the French defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

• It gave the political support needed to elect Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, or Napoleon III, to become the Emperor of France in 1852.

Starting the Second French Empire

• Began out of a revolution, with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte promising the solution to France’s problems and being elected president.

• Louis Napoleon Bonaparte spent three years making himself seem great. By that time, his time in office was almost up, so he held a vote on whether he should be allowed to stay in office. He was voted in, by 7.5 million votes to 600k votes.

• Titled himself “Napoleon III, Emporer of France”.• Focused on many improvements to France, and

greatly developed the French economy.• Especially focused on improvements to Paris,

leaving it modernized and full of culture. Once boasted that he “found Paris smelling of excrement and left it smelling like a rose”.

Ending the Second French Empire

• Ended up focusing on a more modernized military rather than improved public works systems.

• Had success in various battles, such as the Crimean wars.

• Titled himself “Napoleon III, Emporer of France”.• Went to war with Prussia and the North German

Confederation in 1870, with a disastrous loss to France and the end of the Second French Empire.

• Was exiled to England for a few years until his death.