Ch 11 Notes
World History
Enlightenment ideas- lead to Am and French Rev’s
- French Rev is much more complex, violent and radical than the Am Rev
-
Tries to transform
Long term causes- the social conditions in
3 Estates-
- 1st estate- clergy (Church officials)
- exempt from taxes
- local priests were not wealthy, probably identified with the poor
- 2nd estate- nobility
- held many gov’t positions
- many exempt from taxes
- 3rd Estate- everyone else (98% of pop, 65% of land, 100% of taxes)
- peasants were the largest group (75-80% of total pop)
- resented the noble landlords b/c of fees they had to pay
- another group, skilled craftsmen, shopkeepers
- hurt by inflation, wages low, prices high
- bourgeoisie- middle class, lawyers, doctors, bankers
- upset by privileges the nobility had that they did not
Economic crisis-
-
because of wars (like supporting the Am Rev) and lavish
spending (
- food shortages occurred, price of bread skyrockets
- Louis XVI decides to ask the Estates-General to raise taxes
Estates-General- law making body only met when king called it together, last time was over 150 yrs before
- made up of reps from the 3 estates
- each Estate got one vote
- 3rd Estate wants 1 and 2 to pay taxes, but they will be outvoted 2 to 1
- result- 3rd estate wants a voting change where each rep gets one vote, not vote as a bloc
o king- says “no thanks, I like how its been done”
-
3rd Estates’ reps- call themselves the
“National Assembly” and they represent all of
o Tennis Court Oath- agree to continue to meet until a Constitution is created
Tensions rise- Louis has his army ready to breakup/arrest the National Assembly
- citizens get word of this and seize many weapons, storm the Bastille to get gunpowder
- Bastille- notorious prison for those that opposed the king, citizens view it as a symbol of the king keeping them down
o Bastille is stormed, prisoners are freed (all 7 of them)
o Guards are slaughtered, Bastille torn down by hand
-
Great Fear- peasants throughout
o many
nobles decide to leave
End of Old Regime-
- National Assembly passes the Declaration of the Rights of Man
o Equal rights for all men
o No more exemptions to taxes
o Freedom of speech and the press
- What about the King?
o He’s
holed up at
o An
angry crowd of women march to
o Crowd breaks into Palace, killing some of the King’s guards
o King
and Queen move back to
§
Later they try to flee to
-
national assembly declares war on
Paris Commune- a more radical group, takes power from the National Assembly
- takes the King captive
- more radicals-
o Sans-Culottes- refused to wear the fashionable short pants in favor of long pants the working class wore
o This differentiated them from the nobility (although they probably weren’t poor themselves)
Sec
2
Paris Commune- ran things in
- Georges Danton becomes justice minister
o Seeks revenge on all who aided the king or worked against the Revolution
o Orders the arrest and death of thousands
- Jean-Paul Marat- writes a popular newspaper that stirs up emotions against the monarchy and turns the revolution more political
National Convention- called on to create a new
constitution, but acts as gov’t for
- made up of the middle class (lawyers, professionals, property owners) (hmm, no peasants)
- abolished the monarchy, created a republic
-
Jacobins- political group in
o Girondins- were the moderate faction of the Jacobins that represented the rural areas in Fr.
- radical side wins, king is ordered to be executed
o used the guillotine- thought to be more humane
Problems for the revolution-
- Paris Commune was very radical
- the outlying areas didn’t fully believe in Nat. Con.’s authority
-
foreign countries took up arms vs.
o supported the monarchy
§ family ties
§ don’t want the same thing to happen in their countries
o French troops routed at first, major crisis
- National Convention gave broad powers to a special group
o Committee of Public Safety
§ 12 members
§ led at 1st by Danton
§ later led by Robespierre
Reign of Terror- time where Fr. Led by Comm of PS
-
to protect
- 16,000 beheaded, appx 40,000 executed in 1793-‘94
o enemies of the republic- many were peasants
-
armies sent to areas of
o
o
- Clergy and nobles executed, but most were peasant and middle class (irony?)
- expected all citizens to participate in gov’t
- Mr. and Madame. Replaced with “citizen”
- Women wore fashion inspired by the Romans
- Slavery abolished in the colonies
- Attempts to deal w/ wartime emergency
o Tried to enforce price limits on some goods
- deChristianization
o to encourage reason
o removed “Saint” from street names
o renamed Notre Dame- “a temple of reason”
§ had dancing girls in place of alter at dedication
o adopted a new calendar
§ time started from start of the republic
§ 12 months, 3 10 day weeks
The War- C of PS mobilized the country around the war effort
- young men were conscripted
- women put to work making uniforms,tents, nursing
- children/elderly put to work for war effort as well
- army gets to become the largest in European history,1 million
o pushed back invaders and even took the Austrian Netherlands
o created Nationalism- people fight for their country
§ before- wars were fought between leaders/govts w/ small professional armies
End of the Terror- Robespierre becomes too radical and bloodthirsty
- some on the C of PS fear they will be next to be charged and go after him first
- he is executed
- moderates take over afterwards
The Directory-
- C of PS has power greatly reduced by the Nat Conv
- Const of 1795 created new gov’t with upper and lower houses elected by property owners (hmm, no peasants)
- but ran by 5 people it selected called the Directory
o Became a time of corruption
o Failed to solve many problems, some got worse
o Gave a chance for a popular strong man to come forward and take charge
§ Napoleon
Sec 3
Napoleon Bonaparte- rules as dictator of
-
essentially, his rule ends the French Rev., but it also
helps to spread its ideas through
- as a result of the revolution- becomes a general at an early age
o his skill and personality causes his to gain tremendous loyalty from his men
o basically
dictator of
o crowned himself Emperor of France
§ took crown from the Pope, symbolizing who was in charge
Policies-
-
recognized Catholic Church in
o made church happy, and those who took their land
-
Napoleonic Code (Civil Code)- standardized laws for all
of
o Religious toleration
o People can choose own profession
o Outlawed strikes/trade unions
o Women ceded land ownership when they got married
- New Nobility- based on civil service (military/gov’t)
o Promotions to only be based on ability
- Ideas of the Revolution?
o Helped protect the ideas of equality
o However- really limited the freedom of the press (shut down many newspapers)
§ Wanted books previewed by gov’t before published
Empire-
-
at war with
-
defeated
o French Empire
§
Enlarged
o Dependant states
§
Countries directly controlled by
1.
o Allied states
§
Countries defeated by
1.
Spreading the Revolution-
-