The French Revolution, 1789 1799

The Enlightenment

A phenomena that happened during the 18th Century.

Britain Constitutional Monarchy.

France Royal Absolutism (cultural/religious unity).

Prussia, Hapsburg Empire, Russia Enlightened Despotism.

Ottoman Empire Traditional Empire.

Names of the three royal dynasties Hohenzollern (Prussia), Romanov (Russia) and Hapsburg (Austria).

The Royal Academy of Science, Paris in 1789, the amount of official scientific institutions in France ballooned from 2 to 29 and, in Europe, from 5 to 65.

Characteristics of the Enlightenment:

Reason should be the arbiter of all things rationalism.

A new concept of man, his existence on earth and the place of the Earth in the universe cosmology.

Application of the methods of science to relgion and philosophy secularism.

Scientific method mathematical analysis, experimentation, inductive reasoning.

No opinion is worth burning your neighbour for tolerance.

The belief that man is intrinsically good; the belief in social progress optimism and self confidence.

Freedom in thought and expression; bring liberty to all man modern battle against absolutism.

Education of the masses.

Legal reforms justice, kindness and charity, no torture or indiscrimination, incarceration, due process of the law.

Constitutionalism written constitutions (laws), listing citizens rights.

Cosmopolitanism not restricted to how you see things; accepting people from other countries/cultures, an open mind, opening oneself up to different influences as a result of different cultures, nationalism in ones own country.

The Philosophes:

Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794) Progress of the Human Mind, 1794.

An expectation of universal happiness.

Every individual guided by reason could enjoy true independence.

Advocated a free and equal education, constitutionalism and equal rights for women.

John Locke (1632 -1704) Letter on Toleration, 1689; Two Treatises of Government, 1690; Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1693; the Reasonableness of Christianity, 1695.

The individual must become a rational creature.

Virtue, the ideal way to live, can be learned and practiced.

Human beings possess free will and should be prepared for freedom. Obedience should be out of conviction, not fear.

Legislators owe their power to a contract within the people.

Neither kings nor wealth are divinely ordained.

There are certain natural rights that are endowed by God to all human beings life, liberty, property.

The doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings was nonsense.

Favoured a republic as the best form of government.

Voltaire aka Francois Marie Arouet (1712-1778) Essays on the Customs and Spirit of Nations, 1756; Candide, 1759; Philosophical Dictionary, 1764.

Every man is guilty of all the good he didnt do.

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent ihm.

It if dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.

Love truth and pardon error.

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

Men are equal; it is not birth, but virtue which makes a difference.

Prejudice is opinion without judgement.

The way to become boring is to say everything.

I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, 1750; Emile, 1762; The Social Contract, 1762.

Virtue exists in the state of nature but lost in society.

Man is born free yet everywhere he is in chains concept of the noble savage.

Liberty, equality, fraternity civil liberty; these rights should be invested in society.

Government must preserve virtue and liberty.

The right kind of political order could make people truly moral and free.

Individual moral freedom could be achieved only by learning to subject ones individual interests to the general will.

Individuals did this by entering into a social contract not with their rulers, but with each other this social contract was derived from human nature, not from history, tradition or the Bible.

People would be most free and moral under a republican form of government with direct democracy.

Rousseaus thinking had a great influence on the French Revolution.

The Symbols

Tricolour the white of the Bourbons and the red and blue of Paris.

People started referring to one another as citoyen and did away with their social differences.

No-one was a king or bishop, they were all citoyen.

The flag of France before the tricolour was a white flag with a gold Fleur de Lis; a symbol of royalty. This was done away with in 1789.

Cockade red, white and blue flowers.

Revolutionary clock.

The Causes

1. The Ancien Regime / old administration:

Based on the feudal system.

The king gave land to the nobles, who allowed poor people to live on and work the land.

The famers paid the nobles for the privilege.

The nobles paid the king for allowing them to own the land.

Letat cest moi the state is me. The French Kings personified themselves with France.

First king who said this phrase was King Louis XIV, the Sun King.

Phrase of absolute monarchy rules without a parliament.

3 social factions:

Clergy c. 130,000.

Aristocracy c. 400,000.

There were two types of aristocracy those who had been born wealthy and those who had bought their nobility business men, merchants).

The bourgeoisie was made up of peasants, commoners (carpenters) and professionals (lawyers, businessmen).

Foubourg was the slums of Paris. A lot of people had emigrated to Paris.

2. The work of the Philosophes:

A collection of all known information at the time.

Twenty-six volume encyclopaedia LEncyclopedie.

Diderot and Dalembert edited the series they were the compilers of the knowledge in the encyclopaedia.

Was bought by the nobility and the higher middle class.

In it were several articles written by philosophers that were highly critical about how the king treated his subjects.

The idea of doing away with absolute monarchy started creeping in.

An indirect cause of the revolution.

The commoners and the poor people were the ones who carried out the revolution.

Main issue for the bourgeoisie to want change to a meritocracy state.

In the French society, people advanced by nepotism instead of by meritocracy.

Libelles were peddled by pamphleteers speaking of sexual depravity in high places, especially in the reference of the Queen, but they had little to do with the philosophes work.

The parlements and regional law courts claimed the right to block or delay the edicts of the monarchy.

There was no universal law in France laws varied by region and were reinforced by religious groups or parlements (judicial boards).

3. The example of the USA:

A direct cause of the revolution.

French and American troops fought side by side with America during the 1776 American War of Independence. Britain was Frances enemy.

French soldiers left America when the war ended with new ideas that they took with them to France.

4. The bankruptcy of the crown and the economy:

Marie Antoinette organized lavish parties and balls paid with Frances finance.

The aristocracy and the higher clergy didnt pay taxes.

Necker wanted to tax the First and Second Estate, but Louis XVI was influenced by the Queen not to do it.

The inability of a succession of unable financial ministers who had been promoted to the position through nepotism.

No central banks or stock exchange.

Manufacturing was backwards France only had a thousand spinning jennies and eight mills.

Agricultural productivity was low.

Capital investment from land and trade into industry was almost non-existent.

No European bank wanted to give France a loan due to the fact that they knew about the extent of Frances problems with money.

5. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette:

Louis XVI an affable sort and easy to get along with on a personal level, but he was a failure at his administrative duties because he was such an introverted character.

Protect us, Lord, for we reign too young. Louis XVI.

Had a condition that made arousal painful it took years for it to fix it with an operation.

Paid 8000 million livre to fight the American War of Independence.

The French monarchy did not want to get mixed up in the problems in Paris despite the fact that they had a beautiful palace the Tuileries in Paris. They lived in Versailles, a summer home outside of Paris.

Louis XVI was not really aware of what went on outside of Versailles.

Versailles was seen as a symbol of unwavering royalty. Marie Antoinette an Austrian princess, a Hapsburg, who was bright, extroverted and charming; the antithesis of Louis XVI.

The Hapsburg thought of themselves as above even the royals. It dominated central Europe and it was the most powerful family at that time.

She was just a teenager when she arrived.

Their marriage symbolized the end of an ancient rivalry.

The French public nicknamed her Madame Deficit because she kept spending as though nothing was wrong.

Her image was ruined by all the years of being unable to produce an heir; the fact that she was Austrian only made people hate her more.

They had three children a boy and two girls. The Dauphin died of neglect and abuse.

The king could warrant death in a signed letter under his seal lettres de cachet which cannot be appealed against. 80,000 were issued during the reign of Louis XV (Louis XVIs grandfather).

One of the main causes of the revolution.

6. The bad harvest of the summer of 1788:

The winter of 1788-1789 was very harsh and adverse there were snow storms, hay storms, etcetera.

If a farmer couldnt produce enough food or products to sell, they resorted to crime stealing from travellers and formed mobs.

Most of them moved to Paris to find work.

A shift from the rural areas to the urban areas was the result of the harsh winter, vicious climate and bad harvest.

The situation in Paris was even worse:

They lived in one-room establishments in the slums due to a lack of adequate lodgings.

Paris was infested with the homeless and the jobless.

When the Revolution started, these people with nothing to do ended up doing everything robbing bakeries, storming the Bastille because they had nothing to do.

The Revolt of the Nobility: Feb 1787 - May 1789

20 August 1786: Calonne tells the King that his finances require radical reform.

Total revenue was 475 million livre; there was a deficit of 100 million livre.

Over 50 percent of the total revenue was spent putting right the debts.

Why:

Defence costs wars and recent involvement in the American War raised defence costs to 25% of the total.

Inadequate revenue value of land tax was reduced by the fact that the First and Second Estate didnt pay taxes and of regional variations. The system was regressive and annoying.

Political situation because of the financial problems led to social disorder and a decline in the standard of living:

30% population growth in an already densely populated state landholdings became more and more fragmented and homelessness increased.

Prices increased three times faster than wages due to the demands of the population on food supply.

Recession from the late 1770s due to a collapse in wine prices triggered secularisation of goods, and selling them at a very high cost; falling agricultural incomes did not help.

Bad weather/failed harvests of the late 1780s unemployment rises by 50%, wheat prices doubled, wage earners devoted 80% of their income to the purchase of bread.

Common belief that it was the result of a speculative pacte de famine between the grain dealers and the government which further irritated people.

Lay and clerical aristocracy tried to combat falling rents and rising expenses by establishing a virtual monopoly of official posts to the detriment of the lesser notables and bourgeoisie.

Army morale at an all-time low:

Defeats in the Seven Years War followed by a whole series of embarrassing foreign policy setbacks due to the alliance with Austria.

System of purchase of commissions benefitted the wealthy annoblis and worked against the old provincial gentry.

Many members of the poor provincial nobility were in the ranks of the revolutionaries the army was not to be trusted during 1788-89.

The revival of the Estates General:

Attempting to solve the problem of the royal finances fell to Jacques Necker, who disguised its seriousness in 1781.

1787: Calonne produces a programme including land tax to be paid by everyone, stamp duty on all official documents and measures to stimulate economic growth.

This was seen as an opportunity to destroy absolutism and a group of nobles the Society of Thirty forced the modifications of the proposals and a surrender by the king:

Agreed to place Necker as financial minister.

Agreed to an election by the General Estates, which was seen by many as a means of blocking royal power. Had last met in 1614.

The Revolt of the Lawyers: 5 May 1789 - June 1789

The aristocracy wouldve been able to dominate the Estates General if it had had the same structure as in 1614:

Three separate assemblies, each with one conservative vote this meant that the Third Estate (the rest of the French people) would constantly be in a minority.

The First Estate Clergy; The Second Estate Noblemen.

Many nouveau riche nobles were sent to the Third Estate, causing a rift between nobles.

The First and Second Estate shared many privileges and voted together against improvements such as universal taxing.

Before the elections, delegates for the Third Estate were doubled to 600 in response to arguments like Abbe Sieyes What is the Third Estate? What is the Third Estate? Everything.

What has it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing.

What does it want? Something or everything.

This showed the Third Estate that it was useless fighting between themselves.

Though the country might be run by a minority, it belonged to the Third Estate.

The commoners made up 97% of the population.

There was a rift within the Third Estate itself some of them were peasants, and some of them were nobles who found it hard to relate to the peasants.

Regardless of size, and though the Third Estate was larger than the First or Second Estates, it still had one vote and was overruled.

They had to enter through a side door and wear black robes, which infuriated them.

It was convened at the insistence of Necker on May 5, 1789.

Parlament of Paris reinforced the one-vote rule.

Nothing improved.

Seeing that matters needed to be taken into their own hands, the Third Estate broke away from the rest of the Estates on June 17, 1989 and declared itself the National Assembly.

This gave it control over taxation.

Nation-wide support.

Many members of other estates joined the cause.

The Third Estate had never sought a revolution, but a bit of liberty; if the First and Second Estates had used the meeting of the Estates General to placate them rather than to strengthen their own positions in the social caste, the entire revolution might have been avoided instead, their refusal to agree to the moderate proposals of the Third Estate only made the people resent them further and lit the flame of revolution.

The National Assembly: 1789 1791

Also known as the National Constituent Assembly.

France became the first country in Europe to become a republic.

The difference between the National Assembly and the Estates General: the National Assembly voted by head, which made a lot of difference.

Three days after splitting from the Estates General, the National Assembly (the former Third Estate) found themselves locked out of their regular meeting hall and met at a nearby tennis court.

All but one member took an oath saying that the National Assembly would be indissoluble until it had succeeded in creating a new national constitution.

This episode became known as the Tennis Court Oath.

June 20, 1789.

Libert, Egalit,Fraternit liberty, equality, brotherhood became the slogan of the National Constituent Assembly.

Main purpose to draw up a new constitution and bring down the Ancien Regime.

Louis XVI tried to intimidate the National Assembly into submission but it had proved too strong for him and he was forced to recognize the group.

Riots grew more ferocious in Paris, inspired by the Tennis Court Oath. Fearing violence, Louis XVI ordered guards to surround Versailles.

Despite its progress, weaknesses would begin to show in the National Assembly:

The revolution was run by the bourgeoisie.

The March of the Women and the Great Fear had not been backed by the National Assembly they were the peoples own doings.

Its treatment of churches lost a lot of support.

The Storming of the Bastille

July 14, 1789.

Blaming him for the failure of the Estates General, Louis XVI fired Jacques Necker, who was popular with the people. His termination caused riots.

This confirmed the rumour that the King was planning a military coup against the National Assembly and that the weapons were hidden in the Bastille.

They decided to take up arms against the king and his army the people of Paris raided any place where food, weapons and supplies could be stored.

The Bastille was a symbol of royal tyranny. Only seven people were imprisoned there: 5 ordinary criminals and 2 madmen.

The man guarding the Bastille had his head cut off and paraded around Paris on a pike De Launay.

The revolutionaries had such vast numbers behind them that they were able to take control of the situation with relative non-violence.

The assembly secured Paris and barricaded it against an attack by the king.

Necker was reinstalled as financial ministers.

Assembly members were given prime positions in the government.

The King travelled to Paris and accepted a revolutionary tricolour cockade on his way into the Hotel de Ville to cries of Long live the nation!

Marquis de Lafayette assembled a collection of citizens into the National Guard which was under his control.

However, nobles were not reassured by the fact that the Revolution seemed to have blown over, but were fleeing the country.

The Bastille was torn down by the revolutionary armies, and the bricks were sold as souvenirs.

The Great Fear

July 20 August 5, 1789.

Majority of the conflicts took place in the countryside:

Situation was worse due to the bad harvest grain supplies were being guarded by local militia due to rumours of armed men swarming the countryside.

Frightened peasants armed themselves. In some areas, manor houses were attacked.

Night of 4 August/August Decrees the clergy and the nobility surrender their privileges.

Also known as the Saint Bartholomew of privilege.

Feudalism was also abolished.

King Louis XVI named as the Restorer of French liberty.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

August 26, 1789.

Spoke about liberty, the right to own things and the right to take up arms against their oppressors.

Abolished royal power and the privileges of the nobility.

Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at this time.

Every person was a Frenchman and equal.

Ended the Ancien Regime and ensured equality for the bourgeoisie.

A milestone for human rights, but:

Womens rights and slavery were overlooked voting was allowed only to men and blacks in the colonies were not allowed freedom.

Protestants and Jews were persecuted despite of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

The October Days

The March of the Women to Versailles:

October 5, 1789.

Men, dressed as women, in a spontaneous demonstration for bread.

We want the baker, the bakers wife and the bakers boy.

Refers to the King, the Queen and the Dauphin.

Brought the monarchy to Paris.

They were followed by the National Guard.

When Louis XVI hesitates to follow the mob back to Paris, the women storm it and start to massacre the guards, placing their heads on spikes.

The royal family had no choice but to accompany the mob back to Paris and the King and his family were imprisoned in the Tuileries.

The King was merely a figurehead for the noble classes most of the revolutionaries were not against the King, but against nobility, due to how limited interaction with the royal family was because of Louis XVIs shy nature.

October 7, 1789: The Royals throw the tricolour to the ground and trample it underfoot at a party.

After this episode, Louis XVI signs the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

The National Assembly and the Church

The Catholic Church was one of the largest landholders in France.

Mortmain law signing over of the lands to the church.

February 1790: the state confiscates all of the churchs land and uses it to back up new money called the assignat.

It financed the revolution.

The assignat was a symbol of the economic strength.

Interest-bearing notes.

It gradually lost its worth as it was printed on paper, which was worth nothing.

Was used to buy church land, and retired as soon as the land was solid.

The Pope condemned this move.

Jurying versus Non-Jurying priests:

Jurying the priests would take an oath of allegiance to the state instead of the Vatican and they would serve the state first. They were in the minority.

Non-Jurying priests who didnt take the oath to serve the state first.

Permanently divided the Catholic population.

Non-Juror priests were carted off to the guillotine as they were seen as enemies of the state.

The church thus ended up being controlled by the French state.

Government paid the salaries of the clergy and maintained the churches. Priests were seen as civil servants.

Reorganization of the church:

Parish priests elected by the district assemblies.

Bishops named by the department assemblies.

The Pope had no say in the appointment of the French clergy and made them condemn the revolution and excommunicated the Jacobin government.

France was devoutly Catholic targeting the church seemed to symbolize that people had to choose between the church and the revolution, which upset many people in France.

The country was divided into 83 departments, which was governed by an elected official and an elected bishop.

Established a national church system with elected clergy the clergy had to meet certain criteria to become elected.

The Flight to Varennes

King Louis XVI was unsure of how to deal with the revolutionary demands and allowed the queen to make most of the decisions.

Feared that the Royal family would end up in a bad situation.

Outwardly, King Louis XVI pretended like he was an avid supporter of the revolution.

In reality, he contacted the leaders of Austria, Prussia and Sweden and asked them for their help in restoring his family to power by starting a war with France.

Disguised as the servants of a Russian baroness, played by the Dauphins maid, the Royal Family made their escape and made it to Varennes.

The King was then recognized and arrested on the spot.

When the royal family was taken back to Paris, they were met by a crowd of revolutionaries in complete silence it was seen as the highest treason the king could have done.

The abolition of the monarchy became a more real situation.

It ruined the Kings reputation in the eyes of the people and it was clear that his days were numbered.

Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793.

Marie Antoinette was executed nine months after.

They were both convicted of treason.

The Declaration of Pillnitz

Issued by Prussia and Austria on August 27, 1791.

Demanded that the monarchy be restored and warned against harming the Royal Family.

Also implied that military intervention would follow if their demands were not met.

It also served as a warning to the French revolutionaries to show that other countries were watching their actions closely.

Helped begin the French Revolutionary Wars.

The Constituent Assembly

Constitution of 1791:

Legislative assembly the idea of a two-chamber system was rejected.

Deputies with a specified property qualification were picked by a limited electorate only.

Kings role the monarchy became a paid office of state.

The King could appoint ministers, but they would not have seats in the Assembly.

The King could suspend legislation but could not dissolve the Assembly.

New system of government established constitutional monarchy.

Legal tribunals replaced the old parelments.

Barred servants from voting the country would stay in the hands of the middle class.

Established a poll tax.

Free trade weights and measures standardised, obstacles were abolished. However, workers unions were also prohibited.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Establishment of the assignat proved to be a disaster as the paper money depended on the stability of the state.

The Legislative Assembly

More radical than the Constituent Assembly.

Divided into groups.

Most radical group Jacobins, named after the old Paris monastery where they met.

Supporters of a centralized republic wanted to abolish the monarchy.

Led by Robespierre and Danton.

Started as a debating dociety.

Membership mostly middle class.

Created a vast network of clubs.

The Jacobins were ready to ally with the san-culottes to carry the revolution forwards.

The sans-culottes:

Means without breeches. The French aristocracy worse breeches, which the sans-culottes couldnt afford, and it was turned into a defining feature.

Most of them were small shop keepers, artisans and tradesmen.

Shared many of their ideals of their middle-class representatives in government.

Depicted by other European countries as savages.

The Girondins were also a part of the Legislative assembly and they were a breakaway from the Jacobins; they didnt want to go as far as their counterparts did in reference to the King and what should happen to him. They were more moderate, while the Jacobins were radical.

The Girondins were led by Jacques-Pierre Brissot.

War against Prussia and Austria

Brissot rallied the Legislative Assembly into declaring war on Austria and Prussia following the Declaration of Pillnitz.

However, Prussia had anticipated this and allied itself with other countries thus, France faced a coalition, and not just one country.

Prussia and Austria were already prepared and their troops were waiting at the borders of France.

The French army was unprepared and defeated sorely in battle.

Half of the officer corps had emigrated due to being nobility.

New recruits were untrained.

Ill-equipped.

This failure undermined the Legislative Assembly.

Brissot was removed from command.

Although a group of Girodins marched in protest that he be reinstated, the demand was ignored.

The Brunswick Manifesto

July 25, 1972.

Threatened to level Paris if the Royal Family was harmed.

Did not help the kings cause at all.

It was intended to intimidate the French, but it served only to kick the public up into a fury and created fear and anger towards the Allies.

Triggered the storming of the Tuileries.

The Storming of the Tuileries

August 10, 1792.

Anti-monarchy Jacobins rallied together with the sans-culottes and stormed the Tuileries.

They massacred the Swiss guards guarding the palace.

The King and his family tried to escape, but they were apprehended and arrested for treason.

A month after the storming of the Tuileries, the hysterical sans-culottes, spurred on by talks of counterrevolutionary methods, massacred 1,000 political prisoners.

The sans-culottes proved that no government body really had control.

Easily swayed and prone to violence.

The Girondins hoped to rally them to their cause but found that they were more radical than had been expected.

Made up of poor workers and peasants who still had no rights, despite all the promises made by the constitution their cry soon changed from liberty to equality.

Government was dominated by the far-richer bourgeoisie.

Failure of the Legislative Assembly

Had accomplished all the things they said the Revolution would accomplish.

Had not organized an army capable of standing against the Prussian and Austrian forces.

Had not calmed its own internal feuds.

It was far too unsteady to go to war, and it did which resulted in a defeat that shook the stability of the government.

The Girondins and Brissot wanted a constitutional monarchy enough to go to war for it.

The Jacobins and the more radical parties just wanted to take control.

The September Massacres

Sparked off by rumours that the anti-revolutionary political prisoners (clergy/aristocracy) were plotting to break out and attack from the rear the armies defending France while the Prussians attacked from the front.

Buveurs de Sang (drinkers of blood) over 1000 killed.

Discredited the Revolution among its remaining sympathizers abroad.

Whole families who had been jailed for aristocracy were killed, but even commoners, elder citizens, women and children were killed.

The Paris Commune had been overthrown and was now being headed by transitional authorities; for a while, it was the government in Paris and it:

Adopted universal suffrage.

Armed the civilian population.

Abolished all other remaining nobleman privileges.

Sold the properties of emigrated nobles.

Other than that, the Paris Commune was lethally crushing down on political opponents by repressing all counter-revolutionary activities.

Most of the religious orders were dissolved by August 15, 1972.

News that the Duke of Brunswick had invaded France sent the people into a frenzy:

Paris did not have adequate food stocks to last a siege.

There were rumours that the people who opposed the Revolution would support the First Coalition.

The Brunswick Manifesto was still fresh in everyones minds and kicked off a wave of fresh hysteria.

After the Parisians learned that the fortress at Verdun had fallen, the Convention ordered the alarms to be fired, adding to the sense of panic.

An army of 60,000 was to be sent at the Champs de Mars.

The first killing of the September massacres was a group of non-Jurying priests that were being transported to the national prison for counter-revolutionaries.

Trials took place, but criminals were still executed wildly.

The Princess de Lamballe was also killed, and her head was paraded on a stick outside the Queens windows.

Led to the temporary de-Christianisation of France.

The National Convention and the French Republic

The idea of a constitutional monarchy was pushed aside for a National Convention of delegates to oversee the country.

The monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792.

The Girondins had support in the provinces; the Jacobins controlled Paris through their links with the 48 Sectional Assemblies.

The Jacobin coup detat took place on August 10, 1792.

The Jacobins were divided into two political groups the Plain, whose votes changed, and the Montagnards, who were extreme revolutionaries.

Montagnards:

Power base in Paris.

Main support from the sans-culottes.

Would adopt extreme measures to achieve their goal.

Saw Paris as the centre of the Revolution and had a more centralized approach to government.

Girondins:

Power base in the provinces.

Feared the influence of the sans-culotte and the dominance of Paris in national politics.

Supported more national government centralization.

The Jacobins sat on the left the term leftist (the source of extreme ideas) comes from this.

The Montagnards sat on the uppermost seats of the convention, where they could be seen by everyone, while the Plain sat on the lower portion.

The Republic of France was founded.

Switched its policies to a tone of war:

Edict of Fraternity November 19, 1792.

Declaration of French natural frontiers as extending to the Rhine, Alps and Pyrenees January 31, 1793.

Declaration of war on Britain, Spain and the United Provinces February 1, 1793.

Led to the formation of the Committee of Public Safety.

Laws passed by the National Convention:

Law of General Maximum September 5, 1793.

Limited prices of grain and other essentials to one third above the 1790 prices and wages to half of 1790 figures.

Brainchild of Robespierre.

Prices would be strictly enforced.

Hoarders would be routed out and punished.

Food supplies would be secured to the army they were the first preference.

Law of Suspects September 17, 1793.

So widely drawn that almost anyone not expressing enthusiastic support of the republic could be placed under arrest.

The Execution of Louis XVI

January 21, 1973.

First victim of the Reign of Terror.

Executed in the Revolutionary Square by the guillotine.

Hastened by the discovery of some letters in a secret cupboard in the Tuileries which cried out for help from Frances enemy, Prussia.

National Convention voted 387 to 334 to execute the King.

He was called by his French name and surname Louis Capet.

Royal blood was seen as impure impure blood doesnt soil our land.

It was a warning for the other crowned heads of Europe matter for reflection for the crowned juggler.

Attempts to control the crises

Setting up the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris to try suspected counter-revolutionaries.

Representatives on missions were sent to the provinces/the army and had wide powers to oversee conscription.

Watch committees were set up to keep an eye on foreigners and suspects.

Sanctioned the trial and execution of rebels and emigrants should they ever return to France.

They printed more assignats to pay for the war the assignat would later help the Jacobins achieve their dictatorship as it fell to 22% of its value.

Concentrated the Conventions power into the hands of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security reluctantly agreed to by the Girondins.

The Committee of Public Safety was created to oversee/speed up the work of the government.

Controlled the Revolutionary Tribunals.

Created to combat Dumouriezs defection to Austria, the Vendee-region revolutions and the fear that Revolutionary France would be brought down from within.

Nine members.

300,000 arrested.

16,000 50,000 executed.

The Committee of General Security was responsible for the pursuit of counter-revolutionaries, the treatment of suspects and other internal security matters.

The Jacobins Coup

The Committee of Public Safety proved weak and ineffective and enraged the sans-culottes.

They stormed the National Convention and accused the Girondins of representing the monarchy.

Robespierre took this as the opportunity to banish the Girondins and install the Jacobins in power.

The sans-culottes were angry that the Girondins expected them to bolster the failing war effort, and that the National Convention did not represent them, but the big thinkers and the bourgeoisie.

The Jacobins and the sans-culottes became the new French government.

Another new constitution appeared in June, 1793.

Introduced the Law of Maximum.

In the beginning, Robespierre began on a productive note; he could relate to the sans-culottes and his approach to the economy proved effective, if only in the short run.

Lazare Carnot was appointed head of the French war effort and set about conscription throughout France, known as Levee en masse.

500,000 soldiers.

Conscription could not be avoided.

Army based on merit, and not birth.

Carnot succeeded in pushing the invading forces back to the French borders.

Victory at Fleurus on June 26, 1794.

Opened the way to the reoccupation of Belgium.

Happened only due to Carnots reorganization of the army.

The murder of Marat, on July 13, 1794, by Charlotte Corday in his bathtub increased the political influence of the Jacobins.

The Reign of Terror

The government against internal opposition was bloody, long and brutal.

To keep the support of the sans-culottes, economic controls were applied in the form of the Law of Maximum and food rationing.

De-Christianisation - the Church became a symbol of counter-revolution and was a particular target of the atheist Hbertists. Religion itself was associated with the Ancien Regime and superstitious practices.

The De-Christianisation programme was very popular with the sans-culottes, who wanted to seize some of the riches of the church.

Clergy persecuted, church property seized.

A new Republican calendar was adopted.

Reason: religion has no place in a rational, materialistic republic.

Abolished Sunday and religious holidays.

Months named after seasonal features.

Ten day week instead of a 7-day week.

The yearly calendar started on September 22, 1794 the date of the creation of the Republic.

Symbolic divorce of the Church from the State by the Convention.

The public exercise of religion was banned.

The Paris Commune encouraged this and supported the destruction of religious and royal statues, the ban on clerical dress and encouraged the clergy to give up their vocation.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame was changed inno the Temple of Reason an atheist temple.

Robespierre attempted to introduce a Cult of the Supreme Being, but this made him clash heavily with the Hbertists due to their support for social equality.

The programme:

Alienated most of the population, especially in the rural areas.

Robespierre never supported it he persuaded the Convention to reaffirm the idea of religious tolerance.

Purging of the enemies of the people.

A total of over 20,000 people were executed in this period in a process accelerated by legislation which reduced the need for evidence or trial.

The employment of roving Jacobin representatives en mission with wide powers added to the number law of suspect.

The Revolutionary tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims in 15 months.

The nation-wide total of victims was over 20,000.

Social classes executed:

Clergy 7%.

Nobility 8%.

Peasants and Farmers 25%.

Middle Class 28%.

Working Class 31%.

The revolution was eating its own children.

In September, Robespierre began accusing anyone who didnt believe the same as he did of being a counter-revolutionary.

Even Danton saw that Robespierre was getting out of control, but when he tried to point it out to him, he lost his life. April 1794.

Robespierres attempt to protect the Revolution eventually led to a weakening on all fronts during the Terror, Robespierre lost many of his supporters and burned bridges with allies, resulting in the situation where he was alone, against everyone.

The need for terror was over; now, the commoners just wished for peace.

Robespierres reasons were that he was protecting the public from foreign invaders but they had already been staved off, and there was no justification.

The final straw was Robespierres move towards a Republic of Virtue to replace Christianity. He was arrested after that, on July 27, 1794.

The Vendee Revolt, 1793

Lots of problems came from Machecoul, the capital of the Vendee Region.

Lon was razed to the ground.

Vendee revolt was crushed in 1793.

Reasons:

The need for 300,000 French troops for the war effort from Vendee alone.

Rural peasantry still highly taxed.

Resentment of the civil constitution of the clergy.

Peasants had failed to benefit from the sale of church lands.

When the Vendeeins rose up in revolt, they attacked local government officials, national guardsmen (soldiers of the revolution) and jurying priests.

The Thermidorian Reaction, 1794

The action taken by the opponents of Robespierre within the Convention.

Robespierre was posing a threat even to his friends.

His very method of government turned against him and the politicians rose up against him in revolte.

Nearly 400 Robespierrists were executed along with him.

July 26 Robespierre gives a speech illustrating new plans and conspiracies. Robespierre said that there were people even in the Convention plotting to bring down the Revolution and the convention. This sowed the seeds of doubt in the Convention.

He alienated members of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security; many felt threatened by his implications.

July 27 the Convention arrests Robespierre. Many try to physically assault him, and he is shot in the jaw.

July 28 Robespierre tried and guillotined.

Curtailed the power for the Committee for Public Safety.

Closed the Jacobin clubs.

Churches were reopened.

1795 freedom of worship for all cults were granted.

Economic restrictions were lifted in favour of laissez-faire (let it be/liberty) policies.

Prices skyrocketed, but the revolt was easily crushed due to the lack of a strong leader. August 1795: a new constitution is written.

More conservative Republicanism.

The New Directory

Paris Commune outlawed.

The Law of Suspect (22 Prarial) was revoked.

People who were involved in the original terror were now attacked white terror as white was the colour of the Bourbons.

Significantly more conservative and entrenched in the values of the moderate middle-class the Jacobins and the sans-culottes were forced to go into hiding underground.

Attempts to establish a new constitution proved difficult; the clergy (most of them loyal to the monarchy) began to return from exile and the Comte de Provence announced himself the next ruler of France.

A new constitution was drafted on August 22, 1795.

Ushered in a period of governmental restructuring upper house, Council of Ancients, 250 members; lower house, Council of Five hundred, 500 members.

Passed a law saying that two-thirds of the members of the first new legislature had to have served in the National Convention to minimize influence from the left.

Directory a five-member council which held no power of its own but could appoint people to fill in other positions in the government.

Annual elections.

The Directory had to:

Remove Jacobin influence and prevent royalists from reclaiming the throne.

Based on the United States form of government checks and balances.

New governments priorities became its downfall.

Political instability:

April, 1795 Inflation leads to bread riots.

May 20, 1795 Revolt of Prarial (Year III).

October, 1795 Vendee and Brittany revolted; suppressed by military.

May, 1796 first communist/commoners revolt; Gracchus Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals.

Met secretly to plot to bring back the 1793 government, but were executed and guillotined.

1795 elections worried the Directory as a number of moderate royalists won.

Napoleon and the French army:

Due to the 1793 Constitution, the French Army had grown in number and strength they had gone on from the victory against Austria and Prussia and moved into foreign countries, annexing land.

Napoleon Bonaparte won a series of victories for himself abroad and amassed wealth and support as he moved through Europe.

The war effort was encouraged by the Directory, particularly because a large, victorious French army would lower unemployment rates in France and guaranteed steady pay-checks.

The Elections and Coup of 1797

Jacobin and royalist influences were, once again, leaking into the republic.

They could not call off the elections, as they had to adhere to the constitution of 1795.

However, when the results showed Jacobin and royalist results, the Directory:

Annulled the election results.

Removed a majority of new deputies.

Removed two members of the Directory itself one of them Lazare Carnot to make sure that the Directory would remain moderate.

The New Directory was powerful and conservative.

Initiated new financial policies.

Cracked down on radicalism.

Faith in the Directory was destroyed due to the liberal use of power:

When the left tried to play on the peoples sympathies at their anger over the military draft being reinstated, the Directory annulled one-third of the election results.

Inflation continued and became more drastic people started to wonder whether a royal return to power wouldnt have been more adequate.

The French army also took a beating:

Faced war against Britain, the Ottoman Empire, Austria and Russia.

Napoleon defeated in Egypt, but deserted and returned to France.

Coup de Brumaire

Failing war efforts make people more suspicious of the Directory.

Abbe Sieyes elected to power in the Directory.

Intended to use powers to protect the French government from future instability and disturbances.

Enlisted Napoleon to help him topple the government.

November 9, 1799 Napoleon marches his troops into the meeting hall and disperses the two legislative councils, placing himself in power as first consul.

Reasons:

The armys distance from home moved them to develop their own philosophies and loyalties, and none of them were towards the Directory and the French Republic.

Napoleon earned the respect and the trust of his soldiers; they were very loyal to him and followed him in whatever he did, and he did it by splitting the spoils of the winning campaigns with them.

Sieyes saw that the people would fare better underneath Napoleons rule rather than underneath the government and finagled his way into position for this purpose.

The Napoleonic Era, 1795 1815

Napoleon Bonaparte

Born in Corsica, an island which had only become French the year before he was born (1769).

Cultural heritage more Italian than French.

Numerous family lower-class bourgeoisie.

Father was a failed lawyer who didnt have enough work to sustain his family.

Received a military education at the military academies of Brienne and Paris trained and finally graduated as a brigadier general.

Brienne 11/12 years old.

Paris 16 years old.

Ignored by colleagues from wealthy families.

Most of his battlefield qualities show here.

Supported the French Revolution, was affiliated within the Jacobin club and saw the chance to advance his career.

1793: lifted British siege of Toulon.

Toulon located on the sea-ward side.

Method bring up the cannonballs and order them to be heated so that, apart from exploding, they would set fire to the ships.

1796: strengthens position by the Whiff of Grapeshot episode in Paris.

Political introduction to Napoleon.

Promoted to general and put in charge of an army.

Found a beleaguered army; transformed the French soldiers into a winning army who could defeat the Austrian forces.

Inspired his soldiers.

Always at the forefront of battles.

Treaty of Amiens peace treaty between France and Britain, which lasted until 1803.

1804: Napoleon crowns himself Emperor.

Crowned himself, embarrassing the Pope.

Ushered in a new era of reforms.

Todays French laws are based on the Codec Napoleon.

Robespierres downfall threatened to cut Napoleons career short spent a month in prison after the Thermidor events.

Under new government, career takes off.

Two wives Josephine de Beauharnais (divorced because she didnt give him a male heir; French noblewoman) and Marie Louise (gave him a male heir; Austrian princess whose marriage to Napoleon cemented the friendship with the Austrians).

Right connections friendship with Robespierres brother and skilful use of artillery in Toulon; wedding to Barras (member of the Directory) ex-mistress Josephine de Beauharnais (October 1796).

Image conscious published battle reports; good actor who could appeal to the deepest loyalties of his soldiers.

Great military ability inherited a professional officer corps from the revolution.

Ruthlessness helped to propel him forwards.

The Italian Campaign

1796 1797: conquered most of northern Italy for France and developed a taste for governing.

Most of the anti-French coalition had dissolved and only Austria and Britain remained at war with France.

Convinced the Directory to let him attack Austrias position in Northern Italy.

Outnumbered 38,000 French soldiers versus 38,000 Austrian soldiers + 25,000 Piedmontese allies.

Plan: Isolate the Austrians from the Piedmontese and destroy separately.

Struck first at Piedmont crushed their army within two weeks with lightning attacks (spreads forces out, pushing the enemy to do the same, concentrates them at a point and attacks).

Piedmont surrenders on April 26.

Paid his troops with silver and gold taken from Piedmont.

Pursued the Austrians west they had fortified a bridge at Lodi with cannons and battalions. Bonaparte ordered a frontal assault on the bridge.

Made it halfway across the bridge before it collapsed.

Forced the retreat of the Austrians.

Bonaparte won the respect and devotion of his men.

Chased the Austrians continuously and won victories in Castiglione, Bassano and Arcole.

Ruled in Italy and suppressed religious order, abolished serfdom and limited noble privilege.

By April 7, 1797, he was within 75 miles of Vienna the Austrian Emperor surrendered and Bonaparte himself negotiated the terms.

The Egyptian Campaign

1798-99.

France still at war with Great Britain Napoleon hoped to disrupt Britains trade routes to India and establish French dominance in trading in the east.

Eluded a British fleet and landed in Malta.

Landed in Egypt with 35,000 soldiers on July 1, 1798.

Captured Alexandria.

July 3: leads soldiers to Cairo and to battle.

They were met by the fiercest warriors in the East, the Mamelukes, who charged at Napoleons cannons and arms with sabres and horses.

Napoleon organized his men into five giant squares and held fire until the Mamelukes were within fifty paces of their ranks.

Battle of the Pyramids won in an hour.

Marched his men into Cairo, where Horatio Nelson catches the French fleet around the Egyptian coast and blows it to pieces.

The Battle of the Nile is won by the English, leaving Bonaparte and his 35,000 soldiers were stranded in Cairo.

Won a battle against the Turks in Aboukir, but it did not raise the morale of the soldiers.

He abandoned his troops in Egypt and returned to France, receiving a heros welcome.

Napoleon as First Consul

Sieyes was looking for a man to link the army and the political system, a man who was a popular war hero, to help lead the country.

An unelected Senate would choose the legislators and two consuls.

February 1800.

Napoleon got Sieyes to agree to one of the consuls being in office for four years and to have power over the appointment of officials and the initiation of legislation.

Restructured police, department, local government and criminal court systems so that he could control them.

Worked to centralize government agencies created the Bank of France to improve financial situation.

The Second Italian Campaign

France and Austria were still at war Napoleon pushed for peace, but it was refused.

In the spring of 1800, he took his soldiers (40,000 field artillery) in a march over the Alps.

June 14, 1800: Faces the Austrians at Marengo 6,000 French casualties but twice as many Austrians. A victory for the French.

This led to a peace treaty between Austria and France the Treaty of Lunville which was followed by the Treaty of Amiens the following year.

The Concordat of 1801

Wanted to repair the relationship with the Catholic Church that had suffered after the confiscation of Church Property and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

True purpose was to use the Church to prop up his regime.

July 15, 1801: Pope Pius VII signs a Concordat with Napoleon.

The Church officially recognized the French Republic and gave back the property it had accumulated during the Revolution.

Catholicism was declared the most French religion and became the religion of the Republic, though Napoleon tolerated other religions as well.

Eventually, Pope Pius VII renounced the Concordat and Napoleon had him brought to France and placed under house arrest.

Weakened the royalist cause by getting the Catholics on his side.

Consul for life

May 1802.

With his personal standing enhanced by military victories, he conducted purges of the legislature, the army officer corps and surviving Jacobins.

Converted his office into life tenure and changed the constitution so that he would have near dictatorial powers over the electoral and legislative system.

Created lycees based on the French military system which were to serve as secondary schools.

Initially enrolled only the most talented students they had to pay tuition.

Financial help available for poorer students.

Violation of the Treaty of Amiens

The British backed a Royalist plot to reinstate a Bourbon prince on the French throne.

Napoleons forces captured Louis de Bourbon-Conde on March 15,1804 and he was executed.

The Code Napoleon

Created one law code for France.

To reform the French legal code to reflect the principles of the French Revolution.

Napoleon was an enlightened despot the best kind of rule was dictatorship by a ruler who knew what was best for the people.

Surrounded himself with skilled advisors to rule better for the people.

Wherever it was implemented, the Code Napoleon swept away feudal property relations.

Criminals were punished extremely harshly.

Labour unions banned.

French women had little control over their property after they were married.

The Ulm-Austerlitz Campaign, 1805

Napoleon was planning to cross the English Channel to attack Britain with 2000 ships and 200,000 soldiers.

Ordered his soldiers to march into England.

Austria and Russia had joined Britain in an attempt to destroy him.

September 10: Austria attacks French-controlled Bavaria.

Russian soldiers joined them France outnumbered two to one.

Planned to defeat Napoleon through the use of sheer force; however, Napoleon noticed that their forces were widely-dispersed and that he could attack the Austrians before the Russians arrived if he moved quickly.

In less than six weeks, French soldiers reach the Danube and take the Austrians by surprise.

Force them to surrender by surrounding them and isolating the general Karl Mack.

27,000 men surrendered at the battlefield near Ulm nearly the whole of Macks army!

October 21: Battle of Trafalgar.

British Admiral Horatio Nelson catches a French/Spanish fleet and destroys it at the cost of his own life.

Leaves Napoleon without a fleet.

November 14: Napoleon marches into Vienna triumphantly the emperor had fled, leaving the city to him.

The Grand Army is in danger.

Winter had settled in, and the soldiers were unprepared for the cold.

Surrounded by enemy territory.

Russians on the way to help the Austrians.

Troops have dwindling supplies and numbers.

November 22: Russian and Austrian forces unite against the French forces 90,000 Russian/Austrians against 75,000 Frenchmen.

Chose the battlefield of Austerlitz, near a hill named the Pratzen Heights.

Would have given him ordinary success, but Napoleon wanted a decisive victory.

Sacrificed his position at the Heights to get the Russians to attack his right flank kept a thin line of soldiers there and ordered them to abandon the Heights.

Enemy soldiers occupied it immediately 70,000 Russian soldiers led by Tsar Alexander I.

Tsar Alexander wanted to attack immediately (which was what Napoleon wanted) he could not believe that Napoleon had not been conquered.

His General, Mikhail Kutuzov, told him to wait, but he ignored his orders.

Saw Napoleon as weak and scared an easy win.

The day was foggy Pratzen Heights was left unsecured as the Tsar ordered his soldiers down to attack Napoleons right flank.

However, Napoleon had called for reinforcements from Vienna and they had arrived in time the right flank was stronger than the Tsar expected.

He put two divisions of French soldiers (17,000) at the bottom of Pratzen Heights and as the mist cleared, the French soldiers were revealed they had gotten close enough to attack the troops without the Tsars men realizing.

By 9.30, the French controlled the Heights, and demolished the centre of the allies army. The battle was over by 5.00.

Tsar Alexander and his army had retreated.

The Austrians asked for peace.

Austerlitz became Napoleons greatest campaign. The Continental System, 1806

November 1806.

Issued in Berlin.

Forbade any French ally/conquest from trading with Great Britain.

Great Britain responded by blocking French trade even that of allies and neutrals and using the Royal Navy to close French ports. Napoleons Milan Decree, 1807, declared all neutral shipping using British ports/tariffs as British and demanded that they were seized.

The plan was to destroy Britain by ruining its trade, however Britain still had supremacy on the seas so the only way they could enforce the Continental System was on land.

Believed that he could cause an economic collapse in Britain and that he could invade when it was weak. The Prussian Campaign, 1806-1807

The Prussians challenged Napoleon, who made short work of them.

October 1806: Defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Jena and Auerstadt.

Captured 140,000 prisoners.

Left 25,000 dead/wounded.

Prussian army entirely crushed.

October 27: Marched through Berlin to the Revolutionary war tune Marseillles. As 1806 ended, he was still at war with Russia and Great Britain.

Marched into Poland to defeat Russia in Warsaw, he received news of a surprise Russian attack and struck back at Eylau, 130 miles away from the Russian border, and then in Friedland.

70,000 soldiers injured or killed.

Russian army in ruin.

June 25, 1807: Tilset peace treaty. Napoleon and Alexander meet on a raft in the centre of the Nieman river.

Alexander said, Sir, I hate the English as much as you do. Napoleon took that as a sign of peace.

Asked for no Russian territory. In return, Russia joined the Continental Blockade and refused to trade with Great Britain. The Peninsular War, 1808-1813

Portugal defied the Continental Blockade. Napoleon sends General Jerot to march over the Pyrenees.

November 30: French troops enter Lisbon and close British trading ports.

The aggressive action made Spain question the alliance with France.

Napoleon installed his brother Joseph as the king of Spain and sent 118,000 soldiers into Spain to ensure his rule.

Wanted to bend Spain to his rule made it a part of the French empire.

Spain was far behind the rest of the European nations: old-fashioned, illiterate, ruled by the clergy.

Did not understand that the Spanish loved their country as much as he loved France and it would prove his downfall.

May 2: Spaniards rise against French rule and kill 150 French soldiers.

Thousands of Spaniards killed in retaliation.

Sparks off a savage and brutal war that ends with no decisive victory.

Napoleon stays in Spain for five years and is unable to break the will of the Spanish people.

English troops land in Portugal with a welcome.

August 30, 1808: English troops defeat French troops at battle of Cintra.

Two months earlier, the 18,000 French troops were forced to surrender.

Napoleon is outraged at this defeat and leads a new army into Madrid.

December 4, 1808: Napoleon arrives in Madrid and turns his attention to the English troops however, he is forced to leave them behind as Austrias preparations for war call him away. He leaves his marshals in charge.

February 20, 1809: General Lannes captures Saragossa one of the last French victories. Wellingtons combined forces of Portugal, Spanish and English soldiers drove the French soldiers out of the Peninsula.

January 19, 1812: Wellington beat the French at Ciudad Rodrigo. July, 1812: Defeated General Marmont at Arapiles.

1813: Drove back the remaining French troops over the Pyrenees and into France.

The French suffered 300,000 casualties over the length of this six year campaign.

1814: French morale at its lowest Napoleon losing power.

The Austrian War, 1809

Inspired by the Spanish success.

A campaign to liberate neighbouring countries from French rule. April 8, 1809: Austrians invade Bavaria, in the Confederation of the Rhine, with the hopes of inspiring revolution.

Bavaria rallies around Napoleon as it had benefitted from the last defeat of Austria.

Napoleon batters the Austrians and forces them back to the border.

May 13: Napoleon recaptures Vienna. Emperor Francis I still refuses to sign a peace treaty until the Austrian army is crushed.

May 22: Napoleon attacks the Austrians on Lobau Island, west of Vienna.

Although outnumbered, the French push Austrian troops back to the village of Essling with heavy losses.

Austrian troops upstream cut loose a floating flour mill that smashes Napoleons bridges. He goes to reassure them, and orders a retreat to Lobau by rowboat.

Gave command to General Lannes, who was shot by a cannonball shortly afterwards. Despite amputation almost immediately, Lannes dies in 9 days: Napoleon had lost one of his best commanders and wept openly at his death.

July 4: Napoleon rebuilds bridges and moves his troops over the river again.

July 6: 155,000 Austrian troops fight the largest French army (173,000) with heavy losses on both sides.

October 1809: Francis I signs a peace treaty with Napoleon three million Austrians become subjects of Napoleon. The Russian Campaign, 1812

Tsar Alexander I refused to be a part of the Continental Blockade any longer as the ban on trading with Britain was ruining Russian economy.

June 24, 1812: Napoleon invades Russia against his advisors wishes with 600,000 men.

Russia did not openly fight they retreated, and burned the countryside behind them, leaving nothing for Napoleons men.

The Cossacks where left behind to attack Napoleons flanks and rears and gallop off.

The heat of the Russian summer dropped five thousand soldiers a day from exhaustion and sickness. September 8: The Russians and the French fight at the village of Borodino for Moscow.

Heavy losses on both sides.

Showed little of Napoleons old strategy.

Russians withdrew, so Napoleon claimed victory.

September 14: Napoleon enters Moscow and finds it burning. He could not stay in Moscow, as there was nothing there. Wrote to the Tsar proposing negotiations, and received no answer.

Napoleon ordered a retreat.

October 19: March out of the Kremlin.

The Russian winter arrived early and froze most of the remaining soldiers to death.

Food ran out, and soldiers quarrelled for the food.

The Cossacks and Russian peasants attacked the straggling French army, which fell to pieces under the assault on all sides.

Napoleon feared capture and carried poison in a little black bag around his neck.

Headed back to Paris on rumours of a coup developing.

From Ltzen to Elba, 1813-1814

Russia, Britain, Prussia and Sweden united against Napoleon after his defeat in Russia.

Managed to produce another army and rallied France for one last campaign in central Europe.

Battered the Allies at the battle of Ltzen on May 2, 1813. The two sides signed the Armistice of Pleiswitz later.

Both the Allies and Napoleon turned on the indecisive Austria to get the country to fight for them.

Met Metternich, Austrias ambassador, with disdain.

Metternich said that Austria would join the war if Napoleon returned the territories he had taken Napoleon refused to do so, saying that he had not been lost, and promised to beat them. Metternich pointed out that his troops were old men and boys, and that Napoleon had lost.

August 12, 1813: Austria declares war on France and joins the Allies.

Agreed not to fight an army if Napoleon was in command, but to thrash his generals.

Dealt Napoleon a defeat at Liepzig.

Napoleon defeated the Allies at Hanau, though his troops were in retreat all over Europe.

November 13: Holland is freed from French rule.

December 30: Austrians inhabit Switzerland, right on the borders of France.

1814: Napoleon is in Paris when he learns that the Allies invaded France and fought off their armies with his old brilliance, though defeat was a certainty he had just 85,000 Frenchmen against 350,000 Allies.

January 25: Napoleon says goodbye to his wife and son.

March 31, 1814: the Allies march down the Champs Elyses and Napoleons attempts to rally his soldiers for a battle in Paris are dashed when his marshals refuse to fight.

April 12, 1814: Napoleon renounces his throne and is exiled to Elba. The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 The Allies restored a Bourbon king to the throne Louis XVIII.

Grew unpopular for his weak and uncharismatic character.

Royalists threatened to take all the wins of the revolution away.

Economy floundering.

The king is unpopular and France is in turmoil.

February 26, 1815: Napoleon escapes from Elba with a handful of soldiers and manages to avoid the British fleet.

Six days after landing ashore, Napoleon confronts a regiment of infantrymen from the Kings army sent to stop him, and manages to win them over.

Napoleon is in Paris two weeks later and Louis XVIII has fled. News reaches the Allies.

The Allies had been at odds in the Congress of Vienna, but now they united once more to win over the tyrant Napoleon.

Napoleon raises an army and marches towards Waterloo, where the Duke of Wellington is waiting for him. 68,000 men under Wellingtons command plus 72,000 Prussian soldiers led by Marshal Bleucher von Wahlstatt.

June 16: Wahlstatt beaten by Napoleon in Ligny and hesitant to send them after Napoleon again.

Wellington demands Wahlstatts soldiers, but Wahlstatt is many miles away from the battlefield and Napoleons troops are there to intercept him unlikely that he will reach the battlefield in time.

June 18: Wellington adopts a strong defensive position and waits for the attack.

It never comes, as Napoleon is waiting for the ground to dry so he can use his cannon he has lost his confidence.

At 11.30, Napoleon opens fire.

Ordered no elaborate manoeuvres just a frontal attack.

Planned to attack Wellington first, then Bleucher.

Attacked with cannon, but Wellingtons men had taken cover. Napoleons soldiers charged the British drive them back.

Napoleon receives word that the Prussian army is reaching the battlefield the time to break Wellington is almost up.

The French charge over and over again, while the British patiently wait.

Marshal Ney, who led the charge, went ahead without infantry and was defeated.

English centre on the verge of collapse.

Wellington hoped for night or the Prussians, as one more attack would break them.

Napoleon sends forwards his bravest soldiers the Imperial Guard.

The Duke orders an attack on the guards four hundred fall, but they keep going, then, the Guards hesitate and retreat.

Bleucher arrives all hope for the French is lost.

Napoleon escapes and leaves his army behind.

June 22, 1815: Napoleon abdicates his throne and is exiled to St. Helena. The Congress of Vienna, 1815 1830Background Intended to maintain peace and stability. The leaders of Europe learned that once change got started, it got out of control.

The French Revolution had been a bloody reign of terror, and they did not want to repeat history.

Two options:

Tolerate the revolution and attract support for the government by making moderate reforms best shown in Britain.

Crush the revolution before it even started.

Wanted a new balance of power within Europe to stem the threat of imperialism.

Included France (Talleyrand) so as not to bring up feeling of revenge in the French, which could lead to conflict.

Ensured no wars for forty years.

Condemned the slave trade as being inconsistent with human rights.

All decisions made by Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia. Metternich Austrian representative.

Very reactionary politician.

Wanted to bring history to a stop.

Metternich system turning history back to the Ancien Regime.

Saw revolution as a problem to be tackled on a broad European front:

Was not a native Austrian he had been born in the Rhineland and considered himself European, which gave him such a wide view of European affairs.

Believed that he faced a huge conspiracy with close links between leaders of other countries.

The situation of the Austrian Empire was in such dire straits that it would disintegrate should revolution break out. Keeping it intact was very much linked to keeping peace in Europe.

Believed that:

The best form of government was monarchy based upon a well-established claim to the throne the divine right of kings/hereditary rulers with the hope that they would be wise rulers with good advisors.

Cornerstone of the Vienna Settlement.

States should have the right to intervene if they felt threatened by revolution revolution was a contagious disease which easily spread across frontiers.

System:

Direct intervention to stop revolutionary threats.

Indirect intervention using the Congress system:

Congress system the powers continue to work co-operatively to battle revolutions in Europe, though they could not agree on the idea of co-operation. The Settlement

Needed to reconstruct the states system of Europe, and involved a wide range of deals and compromises between the Allies.

Restoration of legitimate rulers and states:

Metternich and Talleyrand were the chief advocators of restoration.

There were few alternatives; the examples of republics were not encouraging.

Principle of legitimacy was applied in France, Spain, Piedmont, Tuscany, Modena and the Papal States.

Murat was allowed to stay the King of Naples only when he was captured and shot that the Bourbons were restored.

Could not always be applied because:

Not practical due to vast landmass Germany had over 300 states, which became 39 states loosely linked as the German Confederation, with the Austrian Empire dominating the Diet. Conflicted with other objectives when the international security or self interest of the powers involved were threatened, alternative measures were found.

Rewards and retributions:

Penalties were imposed upon France, especially after the Hundred Days of Napoleon happened France was asked to pay an indemnity of 700 million and be occupied for 3-5 years and lost all of its gained territory.

Territorial adjustments with the spoils taken from France:

Russia kept Finland and Bessarabia.

Sweden was given Norway.

The Tsar was given the greater part of Poland.

Prussia lost a lot of Polish territory, but received 40% of Saxony, the Duchy of Westphalia and Swedish Pomerania, as well as most of the new Rhineland.

Austria lost the Austrian Netherlands, but received Lombardy and Venetia (Northern Italy), Illyria and Dalmatia (east cost of the Adriatic) and the Bavarian Tyrol.

Britain received a number of potential naval bases and staging posts for trade Heliogoland (North Sea), Malta, the Ionian Islands, Ceylon and Cape Colony.

Peace in Europe:

A buffer of states created a barrier around France Belgium and Holland in the North, Nice and Genoa in the North West, the Swiss Confederation to the West and the Rhineland.

European balance of power retained by cutting back Prussian gains.

Russia was the most likely danger as she was the strongest, militarily, out of the three Allies, and had been given considerable territorial advantages.

Austria, Britain and France made a secret alliance in case war was renewed. Assessment

The Vienna Settlement came into a lot of criticism in the later years. Forty Years Peace:

No major war until 1854 contributed to the Vienna Settlement as it left no great grievance outstanding.

Powers were also distracted from aggressive diplomacy by internal revolutionary threats and post-war economic exhaustion.

The work of internationalists such as Metternich.

Bartering the happiness of millions:

Diplomats in Vienna ignored the growing opposition to absolutist monarchy.

However, neither the nationalists nor the liberals had any clearly explained programme.

No alternative for much of what the diplomats did independent Belgium would not have likely survived; northern Italy was either going to be ruled by Austria or France.

Some concessions were made to the gains of the revolution Germany was less divided; all of the German rulers were supposed to establish constitutions.

The short-sighted repressive policies of European rulers led to revolutions, not the Vienna Settlement.

The Congress System

The war had been won by co-operation and the powers realized that it would be only sensible that they should keep the peace by continuing to work co-operatively.

Metternich saw the co-operative route as a means of combating revolution. Article VI and the Quadruple Alliance:

Napoleons near success in the Hundred Days proved the need to make some permanent arrangements to guard the Vienna settlement.

The Quadruple Alliance of Austria, Russia, Britain and Prussia should continue to exclude the Bonaparte dynasty from France.

Congresses would be held so that the Allies could discuss the greatest comment interest and measures necessary for the peace and prosperity of the people and for peace in Europe.

The Holy Alliance:

The Tsar, beneath the influence of the German religious mystic Baroness von Krudener, produced this document to act as a personal pact between the European rulers.

Main signatories were Prussia, Austria and Russia, and it was signed by all rulers except the King of Britain, the Sultan and the Pope.

Had very vague intentions, though it was meant to be a renewal of the old Christian unity of Europe. The Congress of Aix La Chapelle, 1818

Revolutions in some European states and the continuing revolutions in South America needed to be discussed.

A rift grew between the European powers over the purpose of the congresses.

Settled the issues of payment of the indemnity and withdrawal of the army of occupation from France.

France admitted to the congresses on an equal basis.

Tsar seeking to convert the system into an alliance against revolution wanted troops to be sent to South America to crush revolution in the Spanish colonies.

Talked about raising an international army.

Castlereagh, British foreign minister, warned fellow diplomats against the move.

The Congress of Troppau, Silesia, 1820

Revolts broke out in Spain, Portugal and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Line is clearly drawn between the attitudes of Metternich and Castlereagh.

State Paper of 5 May 1820:

Castlereagh saw the congresses as prevention of the restoration of the Bonaparte dynasty in France and to protect the Vienna Settlement not to be sympathetic with revolution.

Feared that intervention could upset the balance of power in Europe.

Revolutions were internal matters to be dealt with by the governments of the states concerned.

Troppau Protocol:

Metternichs view summed up by agreement of Russia, Prussia and Austria that they would intervene in the affairs of any state in Europe where events seemed to threaten the interests of any other state.

An alliance against revolution.

Castlereagh sent an observer to Troppau and protested the agreement as misuse of the Congress. The Congress of Laibach, 1820

It was agreed that Austria should suppress the revolution in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Holy Aliance powers claimed the power to support any established government against internal revolt.

The British spokesman objected the more moderate intentions of the Quadruple Alliance had been ruined by the Holy Alliance.

The Congress of Verona, 1822

The Greek War of Independence was ongoing; the Tsar sympathised with this rebellion as the Turks were Russias old enemy.

New foreign secretary , George Canning. More liberal than Castlereagh.

Had a greater understanding of the needs of British trade.

Brilliant speaker, whereas Castlereagh was a poor speaker.

Sent the Duke of Wellington to the Congress of Verona to object to the French intervention with 100,000 troops in Spain.

A wholesome state

Canning:

Guaranteed the independence of the newly-created states in the Spanish-American colonies.

Since the 1830, large areas of South America were being freed from Spanish rule.

In 1823, it was rumoured that the European powers were prepared to support the re-establishment of Spanish rule.

Britain had a growing trade relationship with these new states.

December 1824: Canning officially recognized the independence of the new states and gave a speech which suggested sympathy for the liberal cause. Facts of geography guaranteed the independence of the new states regardless.

Monroe Doctrine in 1823 made it clear that any European intervention would be opposed by the United States.

Actively supported Portugal liberal group against their opponent. 1824: King John of Portugal asks for British help to restore him to his throne.

He had already granted a constitution and wished to maintain it the liberals were on his side, and the opponents were his wife and his brother Miguel.

Britain had a long-established relationship with Portugal and Canning contributed naval assistance and the king was restored to the throne.

Brought about a diplomatic agreement in Greece to achieve self-government, which led to splitting up the Holy Alliance powers.

Brought Britain, Russia and France together with the Treaty of London in 1827 and they persuaded Turkey to grant Greece self-government.

Had split up the ties between the Holy Alliance, which would later bring about the Russo-Turkish war and independence for Greece.

Strengthened British trade interests in these regions and used the Royal Navy. After 1830

Another revolution in France triggered off revolutions in Belgium, Poland and Italy, although they were unsuccessful.

Left possibility open for further revolutions.

Division between the powers Austria, Prussia and Russia side together; France and Britain side together.

Connection between revolutions was being made international Metternich blamed a conspiracy.

Metternich was too inflexible. The revolutions of 1848, 1848Italy Not united. Metternich said that it was a geographical expression it counted for nothing.

Divided into eight states:

Lombardy (under direct Austrian rule). Venetia (under direct Austrian rule).

Parma (duchy ruled by duke).

Modena (duchy ruled by duke).

Tuscany (duchy ruled by duke).

The Papal States Umbria, the Marches, Romagna and the Patrimony (ruled by the Pope).

The Kingdom of Naples/the Two Sicilies Southern Italy and Sicily (ruled by Spanish Bourbon dynasty).

The Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia Northern Italy. The only independent state within the Italian peninsula (ruled by the House of Savoy).

Foreign rulers of Italy all despotic (did not rule through a parliament with no formal constitution).

Even King Charles Albert of Piedmont ruled without parliament though a revolt in 1848 forced him to grant a constitution.

Italian patriots fought for liberty Giuseppe Mazzini started the Young Italy movement precisely for that reason.

Austria appeared to be the main obstacle in the way of Italian unification but the Italians themselves did not agree about what type of nation and rule they wanted. Some wanted King Charles Albert to assume the title of King of Italy.

Others wanted the Pope to become president of a united Italy.

Mazzini wanted to establish a republic and drive out all foreign rulers.

1846: Pius IX became Pope carried out several reforms in the Papal States; earned him the nickname of the Liberal Pope.

January 1848: great riots in Milan, the capital of Lombardy. Tobacco Riots.

Started out over a quarrel concerning tobacco, which was considered to be a luxury good to be bought and sold only by Austrians.

Rebellion in Sicily King Ferdinand (King Bomba) forced to grant a constitution.

Other riots in Parma, Modena and Tuscany constitutions granted. March 1848: Revolts broke out in Vienna and other parts of the Austrian Empire.

Most of the Austrian troops in Lombardy and Venetia were called back home.

City of Venice declared completely independent from the rest of the Italy became the Republic of St. Mark.

April 1848: King Charles Albert of Piedmont declares war on Austria.

July 1848: Piedmontese forces defeated by the Austrians at Custozza.

Austrian forces re-occupied Venetia and Lombardy.

Italian revolutionaries led by Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi attack Rome and force the Pope to flee to Gaeta. Rome declared a republic, but soon after, the Pope gets help from France and is restored to the throne.

March 1849: King Charles Albert of Piedmont raises a new army and again launch an attack against the Austrians.

Defeated at Novara.

Abdicates in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II.

First attempt at Italian unity failed due to lack of unity among the Italian insurgents. France King Louis XVIII succeeded by Charles X.

Disregarded the French Constitution laws and the Code Napoleon.

Forced to abdicate in 1830 as he was an absolute monarch.

Had his ten year old grandson to succeed him, which was unacceptable, so a relative was put in his place Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleans.

Louis Philippe imitated the middle-class way of life, and became known as the Citizen King.

Took this step to find favour among the people, though he only appealed to the middle class/bourgeoisie. Despised by the aristocracy (saw him as denigrating the monarchy) and the lower class (didnt associate with the commoners).

Foreign policy was bad:

1840: First setback supported Mehmet Ali in his revolt against the Sultan.

England, Austria, Prussia and Russia agreed to help the Sultan Louis Philippe sided with Mehmet Ali, who lost.

1846: A conflict in Switzerland between the Northern Protestants/Southern Catholics.

England supports Protestants.

Louis Philippe supports Catholics, who lose.

In the same year, Louis Philippe arranges a double-marriage between the Queen of Spain and a French Duke, the Spanish Queens sister and his son.

England protests against the marriage and Louis Philippe lost Englands support.

They were two powerful arch-rivals of Britain. Had to suffer opposition at home:

Socialists of Louis Blanc wanted him to set up National Workshops to keep unemployment in check.

Legitimists favoured the Bourbon dynasty.

Republicans wanted a republican government.

Bonapartists still favoured the Napoleonic family.

Very radical Liberals who continued what the Jacobins started. February 1848: Members of the French opposition hold a banquet to protest against Louis Philippes corrupt minister Francois Guizot (reactionary, conservative, dictatorial)

Reform Banquet prohibited.

February 22, 1848: Riots break out in Paris and the National Guard demand reforms.

Louis Philippe replaced Guizot by Louis Thiers.

Parisian workmen wanted reforms other than a change of ministers and the riots continued.

Guards fired upon protesters outside Guizots hotel 35 killed, and the officer of the guards. Guizot escaped.

All of Paris in revolt.

February 24, 1848: Citizen King forced to abdicate and flee to England. Germany Confederation of many German states led by different rulers the Confederation of the Rhine.

Established during the Congress of Vienna.

Strongest German state was Prussia, ruled over by King Frederick William IV of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

Most south German states under the influence of Austria.

March 1848: revolt in Berlin, capital of Prussia, and in Hesse-Cassel. Rebels demand a constitution and a liberal government.

Frederick William IV agreed to abolish feudal rights and grant a constitution.

May 1848: assembly composed of delegates from most of the German states within the confederation of the Rhine, including Austria, met at Frankfurt. Fran