The French Revolution

Old Regime• First Estate

• 1% of population • Mostly priests w/ many privileges

• Second Estate• 2% of population• Nobles who owned 25% of land • Had many privileges as well

• Third Estate• 97% of population• Peasants, artists, and bourgeoisie

Discontent Grows

• 3rd estate began growing angry with their social position

• Bourgeoisie wanted more political power

• Growing population put strain on resources and raised prices

• Previous kings had put nation into severe debt (XIV & XV)

• Overseas conflicts (Am. Rev.)

Uniting the Estates

• Louis XVI tried to tax the nobility but they refused

• In May 1789 he called an Estates-General to have them implement taxes

• Nobles intended to use the council to weaken the monarchy

National Assembly (1789-1791)

• 3rd Estate wanted to meet as a delegation to best represent people

• They were locked out, so they created the National Assembly

• Wanting equality, the Assembly had heated debates and wanted to write a constitution (Tennis Court Oath)

THE GREAT FEAR

• Assembly mobs stormed the Bastille on July 14th and freed prisoners

• Wave of violence throughout the country side followed, with many nobles being driven from their land

End of the Old Order• In August 1789, nobles voted to lose

power• Declaration of the Rights of Man• Louis XVI refused to accept these

changes• Louis was forced to move to Paris• 1791 Constitution limited monarchy

and created a unicameral legislature

Continued Unrest & Violence

• Unrest on the Legislative Assembly (Radicals, Moderates, Conservatives)

• Unrest outside the Assembly•Émigrés & Sans-Culottes

• King & Queen failed to escape to Austria in June 1791

• Fearing the reinstatement of Louis, war was declared on Austria and Prussia in April 1792 and Louis XVI was arrested (September Massacres)

National Convention Reforms (Sep. 1792-1795)

• Ended monarchy and formed a republic

• Controlled by Radical Jacobins• Implemented the metric system• Beheaded Louis XVI to legitimize

the republic in January 1793

Revolution Spreads

• Radicals won control of the National Convention

• Wanted to end monarchies everywhere and expand France

• Monarchs of Europe became allies• France adopted conscription to build

up the army, angers many

Reign of Terror

• July 1793-July 1794• To stop the civil war in France,

Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety executed “traitors” (40,000)

• Robespierre’s execution ended the “Terror” but also Jacobin power

The Directory (1795-1799)• In 1795, the National Convention

had lost all support• A new constitution created the

Directory, 2-house legislature• Continued food shortages and

inflation doomed the Directory• People began to look for one strong

leader once again

Rise of Napoleon

• Napoleon Bonaparte was a skilled general

• Gained fame by defeating the Austrians and winning land for France

• He was popular, so when in Paris, he led a coup d´état

Napoleon’s Rule • Established a dictatorship in 1799• Brought order to education and

banking systems• Passed Napoleonic Code of laws• Made peace with the Catholic

Church (Concordat of 1801)

Napoleon’s Empire• By 1812, Napoleon controlled land

all the way to Russia • Continental System• Peninsular War• Angry at Russia, Napoleon

attacked with 420,000 troops•Defeat eroded Napoleon’s power

Napoleon’s Legacy

• Though he was a dictator, he spread Enlightenment ideas of equality, toleration and economic reform

• Nationalism• Ended Holy Roman Empire• Louisiana Purchase allowed

America to become a world Power

Peace in Europe

Congress of Vienna 1814-1815

• Met in 1814 after 25 years of war• Containment, legitimacy, balance of

power• Restored boundaries to 1792 areas• Restored monarchies in France,

Spain, & Portugal• Isolated France with buffer states

Forces change Europe

• Reactionists hoped to stop the spread of liberalism

• Alliances formed to prevent spread of nationalism and democracy

• Concert of Europe met to avoid any more disturbances or conflicts