Wednesday, April 10

4 Main Causes of the Revolution:

Debt
Taxation Issues
Failure to Reform
Famine

Debt:

The debt of the French government was around 8 to 12 billion livre (their currency)
Louis the 16^th spent a lot of money on very luxurious things instead of being financially responsible.
Also they still had war debts from the Seven Years war with England (1756-1763)
Much of their debt was compiled because they weren’t exploring like their rival, England.
England was able to use the colonies as a source of steady income.
France had not completely bought into Mercantilism either at this time like England had.

Taxation:

France, at this time, was heavily involved in trading. (good)
However, to be a great trading country you cannot have high tariffs so you need to tax heavily on your people (bad).
Masses of people of France not too thrilled with this idea. Also nobbles did not pay these taxes. They were taxing the people who couldn’t afford it and weren’t taxing the ones who could afford it.

Failure to Reform:

Some French economists stated that the nobles should be included in taxation.
This plan backfired as peasants had to pay even more than before.
France continued to stick with their economic plan even though they were continuing to fo deeper and deeper into debt.

Famine:

Crop failure in the 1780’s didn’t help much either.
Supply and demand occurs here with bread.
Got to the point where peasants thought the crown had wished for them to die. (conspiracy)

Guillotine:

A structure for death.
The condemned person is secured at the bottom of the frame with his or her head neck held directly below the blade.
However, it continued to be used long after the Revolution and remained France’s standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment with the backing of President Francois Mitterrand in 1981 (a little more than 30 years ago.)

Marie Antoinette:

Born in Vienna, Austria.
Married Louis the 16^th.
Became the queen of France.
Had two sons and two daughters.
Very popular with the people at the beginning of her reign.
At the end of her reign, very unpopular.
Executed by the guillotine.

Napoleon:

Military leader during the French revolution
Became the emperor of the French in 1804.
Known for Napoleonic code, height, battle tactics, and waterloo.

Fun Fact: During the French Revolution, George Washington became the first President of the USA

Revolution: More Beginning

Started in 1789 and lasted until 1799
In 1700s, France and England were considered the most advanced countries in Europe and the world
It had a large population and a great (good and bad) foreign trade
However, much of the world did not know the extreme debt that France had occurred

Old Regime

In the 1700s, the social and political system of France was called the Old Regime
Under this Regime, there were 3 large social classes called estates

First Estate

Made up of clerdy of the Roman Catholic Church (priests, bishops, deacons, cardinals)
Had to pay 2 percent of their earnings to taxes
Owned 10 percent of the lands in France
Their jobs were to provide religion, education, abd relief services to the poor
Less than 1 percent of French populations were in this estate

Secone Estate

This group weas made up of rich nobles
They held the highest offices in the government in France
This estate paid 0 percent of income to taxes
Owned 20 percent of the lands in France
This estates had only 2 percent of the population of France

Third Estate

Included everyone that wasn't in the first two estates
Had no power to influence their government on France
Had to pay 50 percent of income/food to taxes
Resented the first two classes
Owned 70 percent of the lands in France and consisted of 97 percent of the populations

Enlightenment Ideals

Enlightenment is a complex with many influences, for this chapter we will focus on the influence from USA
The 3rd estate was becoming very tired of the Old Regime
They prompted the ideals of equality, liberity, and a democracy

Weak Leader

Louis XVI (Married to Marie Antoinette) was a weak leader
He was very indecisive and paid very little attention to his advisors
Maire didn't help much either with constantly expressing her opinion and the fact that she was from Austria
He finally wanted to tax the nobles, but they weren't there either so the Estates- General was called

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three estates
Their goals was to approve the new tax
The meeting was held on May 5, 1789, in Versallies
It was the first the assembly had meet in 175 years
In the past, the 3 estates would meet separately and there would only be one 1 vote per estate
This allowed for the 1st and 2nd estate to always beat the 3rd
The king sided with the nobles again and they were outvoted

Order of Events

July 14th 1789

Storming of the Bastille- see your research. Know that France lost their governor, secretary of state, and the "mayor" of Paris

July 17th 1789

The Great Fear- The peasantry revolt against feudalism and a number of urban disturbances and revolts. Many members of the aristocracy flee Paris to become emigres.
Emigres- someone who has migrated out of an area (Emigrant)

August 26th 1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is adopted by the assembly
Is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal
Is it like the Bill of Rights however the Bill of Rights is based on the whole USA and not into estates

Legislative Assembly

Late 1789
Emigres are required to return back to Paris with the threat of death if they didn't return
King is still scared to return so he removes the idea that they have to come back
This allows for new blood (3rd estate) to become part of the legislative assembly

Women's March on Versailles

Also known as The October March, The October Days, or The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the Frence Revolution
The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of October 5th 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread
The market women and their allies grew into a mob of thousand and thousands, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles
The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris
These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king

National Convention

Comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly of France and sat from September 20, 1792 to October26, 1795
It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic
The Republic ended in 1804 when Napoleon changed it to the First French Empire

December 3, 1792

Louis XVl is brought in front of the courts for trial
Robespierre, a leader in the French Revolution, utters the famous phrase that "Louis XVl must die so that the country can live"

January 21, 1793

Citizen Louis Capet guillotined, formerly known as Louis XVl

June 24, 1793

Ratification of new Constitution by National Convention, but not yet proclaimed.
Slavery is abolished in France until 1802
1802 is around the rise of power for Napoleon and he thinks that slavery is a good idea

Reign of Terror

September 5, 1793- July 28, 1794
Was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions
Mass executions of "enemies of the revolution"
The death toll ranged in the range of ten of thousands
Summary exectution no trial, no convention, if you think they are guilty you kill them

October 15, 1793

Queen Marie Antoinette is impeached and convicted for treachery against the country, and for incest with her child, the Dauphin, and is condemned to be executed in the Place de la Revolution
The next day Marie is gullotine

1st Coalition

1792- 1797
Fought against revolting/revolutionizing France, and many other European countries
Was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France
France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on April 20, 1792 and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrina side a few weeks later
England set up the crown in France

Countries Involved: First Coalition against France

Habsbury Monarchy
Holy Roman Empire
Prussia
Great Britain
French Royalists
Spain
Portugal
- These countries liked the idea of a monarchy

Opposing Side

French Republic
Spain (until 1796)
Batavian Republic (1795)
French satellite States
Polish Legions (1795)
- These countries were against the monarchy

1st Coalition

This war started off as France as the aggressor, even though many people assumed differently.
At the beginning, France suffered some defeats by other countries and some issues with loyalist
Their response was to increase their size of their army
They made all man ages 18 to 25- "draftable" to fight in the war

France Against Coalition

However, the French were able to regroup and do much better fighting off the coalition
A few countries quit fighting against France in 1795( Prussia and Spain switched sides)
Finally in 1797, Great Britain was the only country still fighting against the France
They quickly quit and France had prevailed

Results of the War

French Victory
Treaty of Campo Formio
Survival of the French Republic
French annexation of the Austrian Netherlands
Several French client republics established
Hostilites resume in 1798 with formation of a Second Coalition against France

Treaty of Campo Formio

With the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Holy Roman Empire ceded the Austrian Netherlands to France and Northern Italy was turned into several French "Sister Republics"

Napoleon Bonaparte: The Beginnings

Born on the islan of Corisca on 1769
At the age of 9, Napoleon was sent to military school in France
Graduated from school at the age of 16
He quickly became an artillery Lt for the French army
He was a very keen to studying different stratergies while at school and as an artillery Lt for the French Army

Revolution

When the French Revolution began Napoleon joined the side French Republic
He hated the idea of monarchy
He did a good jon rallying his troops and helping the Revolutionist defeat the French Loyalist, 1st Coalition, and the 2nd

Moving Up in the Ranks

Napoleon was an individual who had to work his way up in life:
- Artillery Lt
- Captain
- Commander
- General
- Empire

Power

At the age of 26, he became the leader of hte entire French Army, this was a result of the power struggles that was occurring in Paris France in 1795

Where he Fought:

Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Malta, Egypt, Syria
He fought battles to his east and west, This became a lot of his downfall.

Good Things That Napoleon Accomplished

He helped bring down the end of the monarchy and end the French Revolution for a win for the 3rd estates
He cleaned and spent a lot of money into Paris and made it the Paris that France loves to this very day
He also founded the French banking system
He also created a fair and legal modern code that appointed people on ability more so than nobility (Napoleonic Code)
This code is still practice and used to this day in France

Bad Things

Crowned himself Emperor- even though he hated the monarchy. He really allowed his popularity to get the best of him at times
Invaded nearly every country in Europe and was successful in defeating many of them
Crowned his baby boy "King of Rome"
Also put many many many other relative in charge of different countries
Started many wars that cost millions of lives both French and other
When started losing and the enemies were getting closer, France turned him over to the English
They exiled him to St Helen and he lived their under guard for 7 years

Post Napoleon France

Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Bourbon Dynasty was restored to the Frence throne. The period of their reigns is called in French Restauration
France had just fought for 10 years to get rid of the Monarchy, but now it is back. However, this time is in the form of constitutional monarchy instead of an absolute monarchy

The Next Three Kings

Louis XVll
Charles X
Louis- Philippe l

Louis XVll

Louis XVll was the XVl's younger brother. He was going to inherit the kingship after his brother. However, he had two sons so cut him in line, now he is the 3rd in waiting. Well in 1795 the 9 year old son of Louis XVl is murdered so Louis XVll proclaims himself to be the new king for France. From Absolute Monarchy to Empire back to Monarchy

Louis- Philippe (Citizen King)

At first, he was much loved and called the "Citizen King" but his popularity suffered as his government was perceived as increasingly conservation and monarchical
Under his mangement the conditions of the working class deteriorated, and the incom gap widened considerably
An economic crisis in 1847 led to the citizen France revolting against their kings once

Napoleon lll

Nephew to Napoleon Bonaparte
Military Leader just like his uncle
He was determined to regain the French throne
After revolution of 1848, in 1850, Napoleon lll eas elected president of the Second Republic
He served in that position until 1852, when he was made emperor- a position he held until 1870
When the distatrous Franco-Russian War led to his capture. He was deposed and sent to England, where he died in 1873

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