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France Three Estates
Since the Middle Ages, France’s population had been divided by law into one of three status groups, or estates. The First Estate consisted of the clergy, the Second Estate the nobles, and the Third Estate everyone else. Thus the Third Estate included anyone from the lowliest peasant to the wealthiest merchant. -
The bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie (burzh•wah•ZEE), or middle class, was another part of the Third Estate. This group included about 8 per- cent of the population, or 2.3 million peo- ple. They owned about 20 to 25 percent of the land. The bourgeoisie included mer- chants, bankers, and industrialists, as well as professional people—lawyers, holders of public offices, doctors, and writers. -
Louis XIV
monarchical sys-tem resting on privileges and on an old and rigid social order. The opposition of these elites to the old order led them to take drastic action against the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI. -
Tennis court oath
On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate boldly declared that it was the National Assembly and would draft a constitution. Three days later, on June 20, its deputies arrived at their meeting place, only to find the doors had been locked. They then moved to a nearby indoor tennis court and swore that they would continue meeting until they had a new constitu- tion. The oath they swore is known as the Tennis Court Oath. -
The National Assembly
The National Assembly reacted to news of peasant rebellions and rumors of a possi- ble foreign invasion. On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly decided to abolish all legal privileges of the nobles and clergy.
Declaration of the Rights of Man -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.
On August 26, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Inspired by the Eng- lish Bill of Rights of 1689 and by the Amer- ican Declaration of Independence and Constitution, this charter of basic liberties began with “the natural and imprescripti- ble rights of man” to “liberty, property, -
Rise of Paris commune
Many members of the Paris Commune proudly called themselves sans-culottes, meaning “without breeches.” They wore long trousers, not the knee-length breeches of the nobles, which identified them as ordinary patriots without fine clothes. Often, sans-culottes are depicted as poor workers, but many were merchants or artisans—the elite of their neighborhoods. -
George Danton
By August of 1792, the monarchy was over. Rallied by the newly appointed minister of justice, Georges Danton, the sans-culottes attacked the palace, and the royal family had to seek protection from the Legislative Assembly. -
First republic
In September 1792, the newly elected National Convention began meeting. The Convention had been called to draft a new constitution, but it also served as the ruling body of France. It was dominated by lawyers, professionals, and property owners. Two- thirds of its deputies were under the age of 45, but most had some political experience as a result of the revolution. -
Jean-Paul Marat
Rumors spread that impris- oned nobles and other traitors were conspiring to defeat the revo- lution. Violence erupted in the streets in September, leaving thousands dead. New leaders of the people emerged, including Jean-Paul Marat, who published a radical journal called Friend of the People. Marat defended the September massacres. -
Crises and response
The French armies began to fall back. By late spring 1793, the coalition was poised to invade. It seemed possible that the revolution would be destroyed, and the old regime reestablished. -
Society revolutionary republican women
In 1793, two women founded the Society for Revolutionary Republican Women in Paris. Most members were working-class women who asserted that they were ready to defend the republic. Most men, how- ever, believed that women should not par- ticipate in either politics or the military.
The Convention also pursued a policy of de-Christianization. Its members believed that the religion encouraged superstition, rather than the use of reason. -
The execution of Louis XIV
On January 21, the king was beheaded on the guillotine. Revolutionaries had adopted this machine because it killed quickly and, they believed, humanely. The king’s execu- tion created new enemies for the revolu- tion, both at home and abroad. A new crisis was at hand. -
The reign of terror
For roughly a year during 1793 and 1794, the Committee of Public Safety took con- trol of the government. To defend France from domestic threats, the Committee adopted policies that became known as the Reign of terror -
Aftermath
After the death of Robespierre, the Jacobins lost power and more moderate middle-class leaders took control. The Reign of Terror came to a halt. In August 1794, the Law of 22 Prairial was repealed and the release of prisoners began. -
Robespierre
In June 1794, the Law of 22 Prairial was passed, which gave Robespierre more power to arrest and execute enemies of the revolution. Deputies in the National Convention who feared Robespierre
decided to act, lest they be the next vic- tims. They gathered enough votes to con- demn him, and Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794. -
Directory
Under the new constitution, the executive was a com- mittee of five called the Directory. The Council of Elders chose the Directors from a list presented by the Council of 500. The Directory, which lasted from 1795 to 1799, became known mainly for corruption. People reacted against the sufferings and sacrifices that had been demanded in the Reign of Terror. -
Napoleon military life
Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks. In 1792 he became a captain. Two years later, at age 24, the Committee of Public Safety made him a brigadier general. In 1796 he became commander of the French armies in Italy. -
Coup d’etat
To stay in power, the Directory began to rely on the mili- tary, but one military leader turned on the government. In 1799 the successful and popular general Napoleon Bonaparte toppled the Directory in a coup d’état a sudden overthrow of the government. Napoleon then seized power. -
Napoleon Bonaparte’s
Napoleon was born in 1769 in Corsica, an island in the Mediter- ranean, only a few months after France had annexed the island. His father came from minor nobility in Italy, but the family was not rich. Napoleon was talented, however, and won a scholarship to a famous military school. -
Agreement with Napoleon and the churches
In 1801 Napoleon came to an agreement with the pope, which recognized Catholi- cism as the religion of a majority of the French people. In return, the pope would not ask for the return of the church lands seized in the revolution.
With this agreement, the Catholic Church was no longer an enemy of the French government. -
Codification of law
Seven law codes were created, but the most important was the Civil Code, or Napoleonic Code, introduced in 1804. It preserved many of the principles that the revolutionaries had fought for: equality of all citizens before the law; the right of the individual to choose a profession; religious toleration; and the abolition of serfdom and all feudal obligations. -
Napoleon and Great Britain
Napoleon was never able to conquer Great Britain because of its sea power, which made it almost invulnerable. Napo- leon hoped to invade Britain, but the Brit- ish defeated the combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. This battle ended Napoleon’s plans for invasion. -
Napoleon empire
From 1807 to 1812, Napoleon was the master of Europe. His Grand Empire was composed of three major parts: the French Empire, dependent states, and allied states. The French Empire was the inner core of the Grand Empire. It consisted of an enlarged France extending to the Rhine in the east and including the western half of Italy north of Rome. -
Napoleon bureaucracy
Napoleon also created a new aristocracy based on meritorious service to the nation. Between 1808 and 1814, Napoleon created about 3,200 nobles. Nearly 60 percent were military officers, while the rest were civil service or state and local officials. -
Nationalism
A second important factor in the defeat of Napoleon was nationalism. Nationalism is the sense of unique identity of a people based on common language, religion, and national symbols. Nationalism was one of the most important forces of the nineteenth century.AnewerawasbornwhentheFrench people decided that they were the nation. -
Disaster in Russia
In June 1812, a Grand Army of more than 600,000 men entered Russia. Napoleon’s hopes depended on a quick victory over the Russians. The Russian forces, however, refused to do battle. Instead they retreated for hundreds of miles. As they retreated, they burned their own villages and countryside to keep Napoleon’s army from finding food. When the Russians did fight at Borodino, Napoleon’s forces won an indecisive victory, which cost many lives. -
Disaster in Russia continued
This military disaster led other European states to rise up and attack the crippled French army. Paris was cap- tured in March 1814. Napoleon was soon sent into exile on the island of Elba, off the northwest coast of Italy. The vic- torious powers restored monarchy to France in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of the executed king, Louis XVI. -
Final defeat
At Waterloo in Belgium on June 18, 1815, Napoleon met a combined British and Prussian army under the Duke of Wellington and suffered a bloody defeat. This time, the victorious allies exiled him to St. Helena, a small island in the south Atlantic. Napoleon remained in exile until his death in 1821, but his memory haunted French political life for many decades.