the french revolution
DESCRIPTION
The French Revolution. 1789. Absolute Monarchies. All kingdoms in Europe had absolute monarchies (France, Russia, Spain, Austria, Prussia, etc.) EXCEPT: Britain The Netherlands. French King Louis XVI & his Austrian wife Marie Antoinette. Louis XVI spent money on: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The French
Revolution1789
Absolute Monarchies
•All kingdoms in Europe had absolute monarchies (France, Russia, Spain, Austria, Prussia, etc.) EXCEPT:
»Britain»The Netherlands
French King Louis XVI & his Austrian wife Marie
Antoinette
• Louis XVI spent money on:–Unsuccessful wars to enlarge
France’s territory and –Versailles
…he and his father and grandfather had made France wealthy, but they spent all France’s money and emptied the treasury!
Versailles
The three estates
•First Estate:
the Catholic Clergy•less than 1% pop.
•Paid no taxes (“free gift” from
church)•Owned 10% of land
•Second Estate:
•Landowning nobles (“duke”
or “baron”)•Paid no taxes
•Owned 20% land
•Third Estate:•Bourgeoisie – “Middle class” lawyers, doctors, bankers, manufacturers,
shop keepers•Sans – coulottes: urban
poor• Peasant farmers• 98% population
• Owned 70% land
•Third Estate Taxes:
•½ income to gov’t•Royal taxes to king’s agent
•Feudal dues to nobles•Corvee (work tax)
•Tithes to catholic church
Socio-Economic Data, Socio-Economic Data, 17891789
The French Urban PoorThe French Urban Poor
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% of Income Spent on Bread
1787
1788
a Urban Commoner’sUrban Commoner’sBudget:Budget:
– Food 80%Food 80%– Rent 25%Rent 25%– Tithe 10%Tithe 10%– Taxes 35%Taxes 35%– Clothing 20%Clothing 20%– TOTAL 170%TOTAL 170%
a King’s Budget:King’s Budget:– Interest 50%Interest 50%– Army 25%Army 25%– Versailles 25%Versailles 25%– Coronation 10%Coronation 10%– Loans 25%Loans 25%– Admin. 25%Admin. 25%– TOTAL 160%TOTAL 160%
Financial ProblemsFinancial Problemsin France, 1789in France, 1789
French Budget, 1774French Budget, 1774
American Revolution: 1776 - 1783
• Louis XVI sent troops & money to help American Revolutionaries
• Wanted to strike a blow against England – England was
France’s biggest rival in Europe
Why did French citizens feel the need to revolt?
• Disgruntled because of unfair tax situation
• Most 3rd Estate citizens lived mainly on bread– 1788 poor grain harvest – price of bread
doubled; many starved; Louis XVI didn’t do anything about it
– Spring 1788 – starved all winter & gave ½ income to gov’t
Why did French citizens feel the need to revolt?
• Louis XVI was a weak ruler– Borrowed money to finance his wars– Needed/ wanted to tax people more
• American Revolutionaries had successfully broken away from an unfair leader who taxed them without giving them representation in government– French citizens were INSPIRED!!!
Why did Louis XVI need money & tax French
citizens?• War effort in America• Expand French territory in Europe• Called Estates – General together
to approve a new tax– Dangerous move because they’d call
for new laws to be written
The Estates-General
= The French Legislature
King Louis XVI hadn’t called the Estates-General to meet for 175 years because he didn’t want them to pass any laws!
•When the king finally called the Estates-General together, the 3rd estate did something drastic…
Rigged Legislative System
• 1st Estate = 1 Vote• 2nd Estate = 1 Vote
– 1&2 Always voted together– 591 members total
• 3rd Estate = 1 Vote– 610 members– Called for a change in voting
system– led to the TENNIS COURT OATH
As soon as the Estates- General began to meet they declared themselves the
new Legislature of France and called themselves the National Assembly.
Louis XVI responded by sending in Swiss troops to break up the National
Assembly.
Meanwhile there were bread riots in the streets of Paris.
The tennis court oath
Tennis Court Oath
Signatures
Bastille: Fortress/ Prison for political prisoners
A French mob stormed the Bastille to get weapons to
defend the National Assembly
The Great Fear
•Rumors that the king’s troops were going to take revenge on the commoners for the storming of the Bastille.
•Instead, commoners went on a rampage, ransacking nobles’ manors and drove the king and queen from Versailles into Paris.
As a result, almost everyone died.
Bastille Day/ French Independence Day = July
14th
Changes made by the National Assembly August
1789 - 1791• Voted to end serfdom/ Feudalism & made
all citizens equal under the law• Freedom of speech• Freedom of religion
Changes made by the National Assembly August
1789 - 1791• Nobles gave up
exclusive hunting rights• Nobles gave up tradition
of paying no taxes• Nobles gave up right to
collect feudal dues
Changes made by the National Assembly August
1789 - 1791• Elected assembly to make all laws =
Legislative Assembly• Abolished provinces & created 83
“departments”• Set up a constitutional monarchy
“liberté,equalité,
fraternité”=
liberty,equality,
brotherhood
colors arered, whiteand blue
Declarationof theRightsof Man
1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man
First Article – “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.
Social distinctions can be founded only on the common
utility.”
Declaration of the Rights of Man
•“the aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural rights of man.”
•“…These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.”
DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN
WAS THE FIRST ACT OF THE NEW LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, MAKING ALL PEOPLE EQUAL
UNDER THE LAW.
It was their first step towards a new constitution.
Declaration of the Rights of Woman, a letter written by Olympe de Gouges
to Queen Marie Antoinette
Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by Mary Wollstonecraft
The Legislature invents new terms!
Left, Right and Moderate
Have you ever heard these terms?...wondered
what they mean?...
Within the Context of the French Revolution:
• Left = wanted more radical changes (a republic)
• Right = conservatives opposed to more change in government; wanted a limited monarchy
• Moderate = middle of the road
Within the context of today’s politics:
• Left = more gov’t control of social and economic programs
• Right = less gov’t control of social and economic programs
• Moderate = middle of the road
The French
RevolutionPart 2
Louis XVI Makes A Mistake…
• Tried to flee w/ Marie Antoinette to Austrian Netherlands
• Postmaster recognized Louis at the border from his picture on the new French coins
• Louis & Marie were returned to Paris• This discredited the French Monarchy• King and Queen taken as prisoners by the
French mob
Angry Parisians storm the Palace
National Convention elected in 1792
• Legislative Assembly resigned• National Convention declared
a republic• Made king and queen “private
citizens”– Louis XVI tried for treason– Executed by guillotine
January 21, 1793
Execution of King Louis XVI, 1792
Robespierre…a leader in crisis
1793-94• Radical leader of
“Committee for Public Safety”
• Reign of Terror – years during his control of France
• Tried to wipe out all traces of France’s monarchy & nobility
“liberté,equalité,
fraternité”=
liberty,equality,
brotherhood
colors arered, whiteand blue
Guillotine – “Death to the Traitors!”
• Executed Marie Antoinette & other leaders of the French Republic– More than 40,000 killed under Robespierre
guillotine
political cartoonfrom the
French Revolution;piles of heads
represent each groupRobespierre targeted;
nobles, clergy,peasants…and the biggest pileis “the people”
“down with the tyrant!”
• Conspirators from the Left and Right of the National Convention accused Robespierre of treason
• Tried in the morning, executed in the evening
• Guillotined July 28, 1794
Robespierre being
guillotined
1794
Constitution of 1795
…a new constitution (yes, another one!) • made TWO branches of government:legislative branch (elected) executive branch- Directory of 5 (group of
5 moderates - oligarchy)(Power in the hands of bourgeoisie)
NapoleonBonaparte
• Popular military hero from Corsica called on to save France from the continuing chaos!
Corsica,the
islandwhere
Napoleon
was born
Young Napoleon Bonaparte
as aFrench general,
circa 1795
byGros
Napoleon Bonaparte• 1795
– Group of royalists threatened the palace where the NC was meeting
– Napoleon was told to defend the Palace– w/in minutes Napoleon opened fire w/
cannons; attacked and fled – became a national hero– Appointed commander of Army – Age
26
Napoleon’s First 5 Years
• Relatively peaceful because of his military leadership and victories– Most famous
general in Europe by 1797
Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1800 by David
(notice names in rocks below)
• Consul- 2 people that jointly acted as Head of State in Ancient Rome
• Nov. 9, 1799 – ordered 500 troops to occupy legislature’s chamber and drive out elected members– Voted to end Directory of 5– Turned power of France to 3 Consuls
(Consulate)– Napoleon was one
Napoleon’s Rise to Power
1800• N. assumed title of “1st Consul”
– Coup d’etat– Asked French people to approve this
new title
1802
•Won a war against France’s neighbors: Britain, Russia, & Austria
•Napoleon asked French citizens to vote “yes” or “no” that he be named “Consul for Life”
•(result: Yes!)
1803
•Went to war against 3rd Coalition–Britain–Russia–Austria–Sweden–Prussia
•Won majority of battles & gained land for empire
Dec. 2, 1804• Crowned him self Emperor of France in
Notre Dame Cathedral
Detail of Napoleon and his wife, Josephine (by David)
Napoleonas
Napoleon I,Emperorof France
byDavid
Napoleon’s Empire (green) & his allies (purple) – name 4 countries not ruled
by Napoleon in 1810
Napoleon in War of 1812
• Napoleon wanted to conquer Britain
• Put a blockade on Britain’s Continental System of commerce
• British seized any ships in the Atlantic– Confiscated cargo and took it
back to England• Some of the ships were USA’s, so
the USA declared war on Britain
Napoleon’s Big Mistake
• Russian Czar kept selling grain to Britain, which prompted Napoleon to invade
• Scorched- Earth policy – Russian soldiers retreated instead of meeting French army– Burned crops and villages as they went– Napoleon unable to feed or supply his army &
forced to turn back
• Hitler made this same mistake in Russia during WWII
End of Napoleon’s Reign
• Exiled to Elba – island in Med. Sea• Louis XVIII crowned King of France –
Congress of Vienna• Battle of Waterloo (Belguim) 1815–
marked end of Napoleon’s rule– Exiled to St. Helena – Died 1821
St. Helena – site of Napoleon’s captivity
Napoleon’s Legacy•Napoleonic Code•Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
•1799-1815 all of Europe in chaos
•Napoleon tried to gain control of most of Europe
•All of Europe’s money, soldiers and metals used up to fight against France
Napoleonic Code
•First SUCCESSFUL code of law in Europe since Roman times (ended 1200 years before!)
•Established the “rule of law,” instead of the “rule of a monarch,” following the ideas of the revolution.
Napoleonic Code•Examples:–All laws have to be published–All male citizens are equal–“natural” right to property (government couldn’t take it away)
–Husbands are the head of the family, but divorce is allowed by mutual consent
Napoleonic Code
1.Abolished the 3 estates; all men were equal under the law
2.Granted religious freedom3.“all careers open to talent,”
not just the noble classes
Napoleonic Code
4. Took away women’s rights to own property
5. Re-introduced slavery into the French colonies in the Caribbean
6. Allowed government to censor publications like newspapers.
Napoleonic Code
•Applied to everyone EXCEPT Napoleon himself!