The French Revolution, Napoleon, and the Congress of Vienna

The Old Regime

• First Estate – clergy, less than 1% of pop., owned 20% of land, exempt from taxes

• Second Estate – nobility, 2-4% of pop., owned 20% of the land, exempt from taxes

• Third Estate – middle class, urban artisans, peasants, 95% of pop.– Oppressive taxation

• Taille - land tax, tithe, income tax, poll tax, salt tax, local tax

– Lettre de cachet- essentially a general warrant

The Old Regime

• Louis XVI attempted to tax nobility and clergy– Because of debts of his ancestors– Mismanagment of gov’t– Versailles– American Revolution

• Parlement of Paris ruled that Estates-General must approve any new taxes

Moderate Stage (1789-1792)

• See handout.

Radical Stage (1792-1795)

• See handout.

Reactionary Stage (1795-1799)

• Thermidorian Reaction– Returned moderate bourgeois reformers to power

• Director– Five-member executive– Napoleon Bonaparte put down a riot that

threatened the power of the Directory

Napoleon

• 1799– After victories against Austria and England,

Napoleon overthrows the Directory and forms a new gov’t• The Consulate

Domestic Reforms

• Concordat of 1801– Pope renounced claims over Church lands seized

during Revolution– Priests who resisted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

would be restored, replacing the jurying priests• Code Napoleon (1804)– Uniform legal system

• State-supported education (1808)• Lowered taxes and redistributed land to peasantry

Conquests and Defeats

• Italy– 1797 – established Cisalpine Republic in Northern

Italy– 1809 – controlled virtually all of Italy– Abolished feudalism– Decided against national unity in Italy

Conquests and Defeats

• Germany– Defeated Austria and Prussia– Consolidated many of the nearly 300 political

entities– Abolished feudalism– Planted the seeds of German nationalism

Conquests and Defeats

• The Continental System– Closed all ports to British commerce

• Spain– Replaced the Spanish king with his brother– Spanish rebelled in a bloody guerilla war

supported by the British

Conquests and Defeats

• Russia– Invasion of Russia – June 1812• Because Russia withdrew from the Continental System

– 600,000 troops– Russians used scorched earth tactics– Napoleon took Moscow– Winter – retreat– Only 22,000 returned

Collapse of Empire

• Riots in Italy• British invasion in southern France• Napoleon defeated – October 1813– Russia, Prussia, and Austria– Battle of Leipzig

• Abdicated as emperor – April 4, 1814– Bourbons restored– Napoleon exiled to Elba

Congress of Vienna

• September 1814-June 1815• Representatives of the major powers meet to

redraw map of Europe and create a balance of power

• Rule of legitimacy– Return rightful rulers to their thrones

Congress of Vienna

• Napoleon makes a brief return in March 1815• Defeated at Waterloo by British/Prussia force• Exiled to Saint Helena in South Atlantic

• Concert of Europe – alliance– England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria– Ensure status quo– Prevent spread of revolution and republican ideas