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Napoleon leads a campaign in France to conquer areas in the Middle East to disrupt British trade in India. The French are forced out in 1801 with a disruption in Egypt.
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The Constitution of 1791, set up a limited monarchy in place of the absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries. The Constitution of 1791 seemed to complete the revolution. Reflecting Enlightenment goals, it ensured equality before the law for all male citizens and ended Church interference in government. At the same time, it put power in the hands of men with the means and leisure to serve in government.
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Political crisis and rural unrest was present in France. Peasants went hungry, grain prices rapidly increased, and people went broke trying to buy bread. Rumors also sparked the "Great Fear" when rumors led to panic within villages that government troops were taking peasant crops. During hard times, peasants attacked the nobles when nobles tried to reimpose medieval dues by ransacking the castles of the nobles and destroying documents. Peasants fought against the unjust regime.
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In October 1791, the newly elected Legislative Assembly took office. Faced with crises at home and abroad, it survived for less than a year. Economic problems fed renewed turmoil.
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Spectators greeted death sentences with cries of “Hail the Republic!” or “Death to the traitors!” About 300,000 citizens were arrested. About 17,000 were executed. The engine of the Terror was the guillotine. Its fast-falling blade extinguished life instantly. Dr. Joseph Guillotin had introduced it as a more humane method of beheading than the uncertain ax. Still, the guillotine quickly became a symbol of horror.
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The Constitution of 1795 set up a five-man Directory and a two-house legislature elected by male citizens of property. The Directory held power from 1795 to 1799.
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Napoleon overthrows the Directory, establishing the French Consulate, and ends during the Hundred Days and his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
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A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition.
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Napoleon betrays the Spanish government by attacking Spain after a combined effort to invade Portugal. The French victory ends up with a loss of Spain after 6 years of occupation.
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The French invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and in France as the Russian Campaign, began on June 24, 1812 and ended on December 14, 1812. The French losses were immense and this lead to Napoleon being exiled.
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