The background—absolute rule

The Bourbon Dynasty continued to strengthen its absolute rule in the France at 16th century

over 130 years of absolute rule before Louis XVI

Main reasons that caused a Revolution against absolute broke out:

• Political corruption

• Long-standing financial

• Social crises

The cause of Revolution

1.political corruption

Louis XVI failed to make France great again which make the poor still poor.

However himself,Marie Antoinette and royals lived on an extravagant lifestyle

Louis XVI gained hate and became unpopular among the French peasants

2.Social inequalities—unfair treatment

France had strict class divisions which divided into these estates

the third estate didn’t have any say in the government and had heavy taxes

The discontent among the third estates

3.Financial crisis

The main reason why they were broke:

• The two previous king and Louis XVI had fought many war (E.g. Louis XVI sent troops to the American Revolution)

• Louis XVI’s court lived luxuriously

• Natural disaster in the 1780’s caused crop failures which greatly reduced tax income

The counter did by Louis XVI:

1. Attempted to impose taxes on the first estate and second estate (failed)

2. Was forced to call a meeting (the estate-general)

• The estate-general became the immediate cause of the French Revolution

Inspiration of the Enlightenment and encouragement of the American Revolution

1. Inspiration of the Enlightenment

Enlightenment thinker (Montesquieu,Voltaire,Rousseau) promoted the idea of liberty,equality and civil rights which was popular in France

French people were determined to challenge absolutism

2. Encouragement of the American Revolution

French solider took parts in the American Revolution between 1775 and 1783. After war,they brought back the ideas of equality and liberty.

The success of the American Revolution encouraged french people to fight for their lives and end absolutism and social inequalities

Course of the Revolution

Immediate cause of the Revolution

• 1.social instability

Famine broke out in 1788 which caused food shortages then led to serious inflation.

Therefore, a lot of people fled to Paris

Greatly increased the competition for food and jobs there.

• 2.calling of the Estate-General

Louis XVI called the Estate-General to discuss taxes in May 1789,

The First Estate (303 representatives) and Second Estate (282 representatives) used “One Estate One Vote” (OEOV) to refuse to reform proposals (apply taxes on the First and Second Estate)

The Third Estate (610 representatives) proposed changed the OEOV voting system to One Head One vote (OHOV) which was also opposed by the First and Second Estate with OEOV system.

Which made the Third Estate withdrew from the Estate-General and set up the National Assembly to protest against unequal treatment

• 3.Tennis court Oath (June 1789)

First (June 20,1789)—Louis XVI closed the meeting hall of the National Assembly

Second—Members of the National Assembly met at a nearby tennis court

Third—they took the Tennis Court Oath.

• Stated that they won’t disband until Louis XVI introduced a constitution

• Stated that political power belonged to the people and their representative

Fourth—Louis XVI sent troops to the tennis court to suppress the Third Estate Which was found out by the Third Estate before the troops arrived Which led to ———

Fifth—the attack of the Bastille

Outbreak of prison

1.start of the Revolution: Fall of the Bastille (June 14,1789)

On July 17, 1789, the people in Paris heard that the government intended to suppress them.

Therefore they went to attack Bastille to seize (obtain) weapon

the French Revolution began

2.Declaration of the Rights of Man of the Citizens (August 1789)

In August,the National Constituent Assembly (the National Assembly) proclaim the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (the blueprint of the constitution) which reflected the French people’s desire for liberty and equality.

In Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the citizen,it stated that

• All people are born free and equal

• People enjoy freedom of speech, the press, religion and so on

• Power of the government comes from the people

Development and the end of the Revolution

Between 1791 and 1792, France first became a constitutional monarchy and then a republic

European countries attacked France in order to end the Revolution since it might be spreading the Revolution to other European countries.

Therefore, the “French Revolutionary Wars” that was about France againist other European countries started.

In 1799,Napoleon gained power and established absolute rule.

This was the end of the French Revolution.

The timeline:

1. The beginnning of the absolute rule of Bourbon dynasty (16th century)

2. The absolute rule of Louis XIV

3. The completed of the Palace of Versailles

4. The absolute rule of Louis XV

5. Louis XVI started to rule the France (1774)

6. The American Revolution (1775-1783)

7. The natural disasters happened in the France (~1780s)

8. The broke out of famine (1788)

9. The food shortage which caused the inflation (early 1789)

10. The calling of the Estate-General (May 1789)

11. The foundation of National Assembly (After Estate-General)

12. Louis XVI ordered to close the meeting hall of the National Assembly ( June 20, 1789)

13. The Tennis Court Oath

14. Louis XVI sent troops in order to suppress the Third Estate

15. The Fall of the Bastille:The start of the Revolution (July 14, 1789)

16. Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizens (August 1789)

17. Louis XVI was forced to accept the constitution ( June 1791)

18. France became a constitutional monarchy (October 1791)

19. The first Revolution War againist Prussia and Austria (February 1792)

20. The settlement of First French Republic

21. Louis XVI was convicted of treason for attempting escaped to other European countries for safety and quillotined (January 1793)

22. The start of the Reign of Terror by Robespierre (1793)

23. The death of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror (July 1794)

24. The Rule of Directory [5 leader at the same time] (1795-1799)

25. The End of the French Revolution by Napoleon (November 1799)

The Napoleonic Era

1. The childhood of Napoleon’s

First,Napoleon born in Corsica, a little island next to Papal state.Then his father saw the lavish side of the France.Therefore,his dad sent Napoleon to French military School. Throughout the childhood of Napoleon’s ,he had been insecure because of his height and his birthplace as a French Military Scholar.

2.The Rise of Napoleon and his reforms

During Renaissance, Napoleon suppressed revolts and defended France against foreign invasion.

Napoleon became a national hero and his prestige had increased

Napoleon set up the Consulate and became the First Consul in 1799 which was the beginning of The Napoleonic Era

Napoleon Was made Consul for Life in 1802

After the power he obtain, he continued to bring out reform against the anti-French coalition (mainly the First and Second Estate)

• No more privilege for The First and Second Estate

• No slavery (serf) and the farmer could get more land than before

• Building school and universities to build up National Identity among the French

• More taxes for the First and Second Estate, less taxes for the Third Estate and no more corrupted government

• Bring up Code Napoleon as the law for the colonies France had and France to use ( Just like Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizens)

Although Napoleon erased the republic, he preserved its spirit of liberalism and nationalism

Liberalism

• All people are born free and equal

• People have the right to overthrow an absolute government

Nationalism

• People with a common history, religion, language, custom should join together and govern themselves

• They should not be controlled by other ethnic groups or countries

the rise and fall of the First French Emperor

Napoleon as an emperor

The Napoleon’s prestige rose because of his reforms and military achievements.

Napoleon changed the republic to the First French Empire in December 1804.

Rise and fall of Napoleon

Under Napoleon, France was at war with multiple European countries constantly (Russia, Prussia, Austria)(Holy Roman Empire) All these war are called “Napoleon Wars”

And the Napoleon Wars were much more aggressive than The Revolutionary Wars

Napoleon won so many time that he became the master of Europe and remapped Europe.However after 1808 France lost several wars and Napoleon’s power started to decline.And Napoleon was defeated by an anti-French coalition. He was exiled to St. Helena

The Napoleonic Era came to an end

Influence of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era

Rise and spread of liberalism and nationalism

Rise of spread in France

The slogan of the French Revolution was “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”

And after the absolute rule was abolished, liberalism started to take root in France.

Since the French Revolution, the French people joined together to defend the revolution and their country.Moreover, France dominated Europe during the Napoleonic Era and it made the French people proud of their country and turned nationalism into a strong force

La Marseillaise

The volunteers soldiers from Marseilles would sing La Marseillaise while marching which make the song spread throughout Paris quickly.

And La Marseillaise encouraged the French solider on the front and made France defeated the allied forces several times.

La Marseillaise became the national anthem in 1795 before Napoleon banned the song once he became emperor. In 1879, La Marseillaise was restored as France’s national anthem

Rise and spread in Europe

Napoleon conquered many Europeans countries and introduced liberal reforms by overthrowing their absolute ruler.

E.g. Napoleon abolished the feudal system and introduced Code Napoleon which made the people in the conquered area still being able to enjoy liberty and equality.

Liberalism spread across Europe

The rule of Napoleon also encouraged people in the conquered area to fight for national liberation which led to spread of nationalism

After the Napoleon War, there were multiple nationalist revolution and unification movement broke out in the Europe.

Raising the revolutionary tide in Europe

Background: the Congress of Vienna

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era had broken the order in Europe.

Therefore, the European leaders held the Congress of Vienna from 1814 to 1815 which aimed to restore the old order of Europe, to prevent French expansion in future and to stop the spread of liberalism and nationalism in Europe since it damaged absolutism.

The Congress of Vienna was dominated by Prussia, Russia , Austria and Britain and they restored those dynasties overthrown during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era; redrew the map of Europe according to their own interests.

And Russia, Prussia and Austria also formed the Holy Alliance to maintain absolutism and suppress multiple revolution that were against foreign and absolute rule

Revolution in 19th-century Europe

The Congress of Vienna ignored the rising forces of nationalism and liberalism and Europe was once again under absolutism, or divided and under foreign control.

A series of revolutions against the Vienna Settlement resulted across Europe between 1820s and 1840s

Although mos of the revolution failed, they forced some ruler to make concessions such as constitutional rule and granted people freedom

In the 1870s, Italy and German became unified which showed liberalism and nationalism gradually made great progress In Europe.

Raising the revolutionary tide in the Americas

In the 19th century, a series of independence movements broke out in Central and South America since the spread of liberalism and liberalism. They aimed to get rid of the colonial empires’ absolute rule and set up independent nation-states.

Fostering the formation of unified nation-states

Italian and German nationalists fought for the unification of their countries and succeeded in 1870 and 1871 and the rise of the unified Germany greatly influence European politics later.

Unification movement in Italy

In 1870, Italy was unified under the leadership of the Kingdom of Sardinia:

1859: The Kingdom of Sardinia defeated Austria and took over some territories.

1860: The Kingdom of Sardinia took over certain central Italian states. A group of Italian nationalists called the Red shirt captured the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies where was handed to Sardinia later.

The Kingdom of Italy was formed