Chapter 18 French Revolution

Sec.1

Ancien Regime• Who: French• What: old order; outdated social system where society

was divided into 3 classes• Where: France• When: 1789• Why: The 3 estates (classes) were separated in this

system- Clergy= enormous wealth & privilege; 3rd estate didn’t agree w. taxing = Enlightenment ideas that questioned inequalities = Revolution against the Ancien Regime & overthrows the govt

Estate

• Who: French• What: divided social classes• Where: France• When: 1700s• Why: under Ancien Regime everyone in

France fell into 1 of 3 Estates: 1st- Clergy; 2nd- Nobles; 3rd- everyone else (vast majority of pop)

Bourgeoisie

• Who: Bankers, merchants, manufacturers• What: the middle class, the wealthy 3rd estate

members• Where: France• When: 1700s• Why: this group was the wealthiest of the 3rd

estate; the inequalities they experienced from the other estates led this group to starting the revolution

Deficit spending• Who: Louis XVI & Jacques Necker• What: when a gov’t spends more than it takes in• Where: France• When: 1700s• Why: the king lived super fancy = the Govt

borrowed more & more $$; ½ the gov’t’s income from taxes went to paying interest on the enormous debt; the economics issues = social unrest & heightened tension= Revolution

Louis XVI• Who: king of France• What: pursued pleasure before serious gov’t matters

= drove up debt • Where: France• When: 1715-1774• Why: he was weak & indecisive; lived extravagantly &

spent France’s $$, did not call on the Estates- General = made French MAD; his abuses = revolution; his was guillotined in the radical part of the revolution

Jacques Necker

• Who: financial advisor to King Louis XVI• What: he urged the king to reduce extravagant

spending, reform the govt, & abolish burdensome tarriffs

• Where: France• When: 1789-1815• Why: he proposed taxing the 1st & 2nd estate=

nobles & high clergy dismiss him; crisis worsened = pressure for reform mounted = revolution

Estates-General

• Who: Representatives of the 3 Estates• What: the Legislative body consisting of reps from

the 3 estates; King summons them for changes to be made

• Where: France• When; 1700s• Why: the King hadn’t called on them for 175 years

b.c. he feared the nobles would take back power; E-G is mad = refuse to cooperate w. King

Cahier

• Who: members from the 3 estates• What: notebooks that listed their grievances to the

king• Where: France• When: 1788• Why: these complaints called for reforms such as

fairer taxes, freedom of the press, regular mtgs of the Estates-General = these showed the boiling class resentments against the monarchy

Tennis Court Oath• Who: Members of the 3rd Estate • What: a constitution written by the 3rd estate that

declared their rights & was against the inequalities of the old order

• Where: France• When: 1789• Why: the 3rd Estate was locked out of their meeting

place by the 1st and 2nd = they met on a tennis court = claiming to represent the ppl of France, the 3rd Estate declared themselves the National Assembly = the revolutionary gov’t that would start the Revolution

Bastille• Who: Louis XVI; Parisians• What: a grim medieval fortress used as a

prison for political and other prisoners• Where: Paris, France• When: 1789• Why: the Parisian crowd demanded weapons & gunpowder

that they thought were stored in the prison; they killed the guards & released the prisoners; it was a symbol of the abuse of the monarchy; the storming & fall of Bastille = wake up call to king b.c. it was a challenge to his regime; today= French celebrate this as their independence day

Sec.2

Faction• Who: French• What: dissenting groups of people • Where: France• When: 1789• Why: these groups competed to gain power; Moderates

fought the Radicals who replaced the royal gov’t; these fights = whole neighborhoods into protest = furthers the revolution = some demanded end to monarchy, others no = complex Revolution- no one could agree

Marquis de Lafayette

• Who: • What: headed the National Guard & the

moderate dissenting group of the revolution • Where: France• When: late 1700s• Why: he led the Moderate faction group against

the royals in the revolution; competed against the Radical grp (Paris Commune) for power of France

Olympe de Gouges• Who: Female journalist• What: demanded equal rights for women in her

“Declaration of the Rights of Women & the Female citizen”

• Where: France• When: 1791• Why: became one of the 1st women’s rights activists;

later in the revolution, women met resistance 4 expressing their views in public = imprisoned & executed

Marie Antoinette

• Who: wife of King Louis XVI, queen of France• What: she lived a life of great pleasure &

extravagance• When: • Why: her extravagant living = put France in debt =

the French disliked her; in the Women’s March to Versailles- the women captured Marie & took her to Paris- she was eventually guillotined w. her husband for putting France into debt

Emigre• Who: Nobles, Clergy, others who had fled France• What: person who fled France from the

Revolutionary forces • Where: Europe, France• When: 1789-1815• Why: these ppl fled to other European countries &

told stories about the revolution = made European absolute monarchs nervous that revolutions would occur in their countries also

Sans-Culottes• Who: working class men & women• What: “without breeches”; those that were working

class that pushed the revolution into the radical phase• Where: France• When: 1792• Why: they wore long trousers instead of the fancy

knee britches that upper class men wore; this group demanded a republic (govt ruled by elected reps) instead of a monarch

Republic

• Who: Sans-Culottes• What: a govt that is ruled by elected

representatives instead of a monarch• Where: France• When: 1791• Why: the Sans-Culottes (the radicals) wanted

this type of govt after the French Revolution

Jacobins

• Who: middle class lawyers or intellectuals• What: a revolutionary political club that

supported the Sans-culottes• Where: France• When: 1791• Why: this group used newspapers & pamplets to

advance the republican cause; they were a radical faction that wanted a Republic, not a monarchy

Sec.3

Suffrage

• Who: French revolutionary radicals• What: the right to vote• Where: France• When:1792• Why: after the execution of King Louis XVI, the

radicals called for an election of a new legis. Body- Nat’l Convention; also called for suffrage for all male citizens, not just prop owners

Robespierre• Who: Maximilien Robespierre, lawyer & politician • What: leader of Committee of Public Safety, led

the Reign of Terror• Where: France• When: 1793-1794• Why: believed terror was necessary to achieve

the goals of the revolution; he was eventually arrested & executed himself= the end of Reign of Terror

Reign of Terror• Who: the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre• What: Revolutionary courts conducted hasty trials &

executed those who were suspect of resisting the revolution

• Where: France• When: Sept 1793-July 1794• Why: 300,000 ppl were arrested, 17,000 were executed by

the Guillotine; many were victims of false identity & falsely accused; radical part of the revolution= too radical= ended the reign & started the moderate 3rd stage

Guillotine

• Who: Dr. Joseph Guillotin • What: a more humane method of beheading

than an ax w. a falling blade that extinguished life instantly

• Where: France• When: 1793-1794• Why: this was the engine of terror for the Reign

of Terror; quickly became a symbol of horror

Nationalism• Who: French revolutionaries• What: a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to

one’s country, spread throughout France• Where: France• When: 1800s• Why: Revolution & war gave ppl a strong sense of

national identity; sense of loyalty had shifted from monarch to the nation itself; the French attended festivals & celebrated the nation & revolution

Marseilles

• Who: French • What: port city• Where: France• When: 1793• Why: troops marched through here with a

nationalistic song- “La Marseillaise” which later became the French Natl anthem

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Who: popular military hero, dictator of France• What: overthrew the Directory & set up 3 man

Consulate; took the title 1st Consul then took the title Emperor & became dictator of France

• Where: France• When: 1799-1815• Why: (next slide- there’s a lot)

Why:• Consolidated his power by strengthening the Central

govt• Restored economic prosperity– Controlled prices, encouraged new industry, built roads,

canals; set up system of schools• Made peace with the Catholic church• Won support across class lines– Encouraged emigres to return; opened jobs to everyone

• New code of laws- Napoleonic Code• Created a vast French Empire

Sec.4

Plebiscite

• Who: Napoleon• What: popular vote by ballot• Where: France• When: 1799-1804• Why: Napoleon held a plebiscite on each of

his steps to power so he was popularly elected into power- he then took control as dictator

Napoleonic Code• Who: Napoleon• What: one of Nap’s reforms; a code of laws that

embodied Enlightenment • When: 1801-1815• Why: one of Nap’s most lasting reforms;

consolidated many changes of the revolution; ensured equality before the law, religious toleration, & abolition of feudalism; women lost their newly gained rights & couldn’t exercise rights of citizenship

Annex

• Who: Napoleon • What: incorporating lands into an empire• Where: France• When: 1804-1812• Why: as part of his vast empire building, Nap

annexed Netherlands, Belgium, parts of Italy & Germany into France under his control

Continental System • Who: Napoleon• What: a blockade system in Europe that shut off ports

to keep ppl & goods from moving in/out • When: 1805-1812• Where: Europe, Great Britain• Why: Nap couldn’t invade GB successfully & he wanted

it in his empire so he waged economic warfare on the British through this system that closed European ports to British goods= War of 1812 w. America

Guerrilla Warfare• Who: Spanish patriots • What: hit and run raids, means “little war”• Where: Spain vs. France• When: 1812• Why: in resisting Nap’s rule in Spain- Small bands of

guerillas ambushed French supply trains/troops & retreated to countryside; kept large numbers of French soldiers tied down in Spain while Nap needed them = encouraged Austria to resume fighting French

Scorched-earth policy• Who: Napoleon • What: a war strategy where Russians retreated

eastward, burning crops & villages as they went• Where: Russia• When: 1800-present• Why: this russian war defensive strategy left the

French hungry & cold when trying to invade Russia = French retreated & could not invade Russia; this policy is used in WWI and WWII successfully

Abdicate

• Who: Napoleon• What: step down from power • Where: France• When: 1814• Why: Napoleon failed to take Russia =

weakened France = he abdicated & was exiled to Elba (an island in Meditearranean) = they brought back a king

Congress of Vienna

• Who: European diplomats & heads of state; Klemens von Metternich

• What: a meeting of leaders to discuss restoring stability & order in Europe after Napoleon

• Where: Vienna, Austria, Europe• When: Sept 1814-June 1815• Why: (on the next slide)

WHY:

• Wanted to create a lasting peace by est. a balance of pwr & protect monarchy

• “Holy Alliance” of christian monarchs to suppress future revolutions

• Redrew the map of Europe- took land away from France

• Principle of Legitimacy- restored monarchs• Created Concert of Europe

Legitimacy

• Who: European monarchs• What: after the fall of Napoleon, the hereditary

monarchies of Europe were restored to their thrones• Where: Europe• When: 1815• Why: The Congress of Vienna restored the monarchs

to their thrones to restore order to Europe; Louis VIII was king of France- time known as “Restoration”

Concert of Europe• Who: European rulers• What: a system where the rulers would periodically

meet to discuss any probs affecting the peace of Europe• Where: Europe• When: 1815• Why: The Congress of Vienna created this alliance in

order to ensure & maintain peace throughout Europe; to avoid another Napoleon from taking over the whole continent