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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