UNIT 1: Part 2

The French
Revolution
INDEX
1 Causes of the French Revolution

2 The French Revolution: stages

3 Napoleonic era

4 French Revolution’s legacy

5 Liberal Revolutions

6 The rise of nationalism: unification of Italy and Germany

 Causes of the French
Revolution Political demands
Discontent of due to economic
commoners Estates system crises
The king Louis XVI needed
Most peasants farmed other There was a general sense of money to pay their loans due to
people’s land and paid taxes and discontent among the Third wars and lifestyle, so decided to
rents which made subsistance Estate (non-priviledge estate, tax the priviledged classes.
difficult, particularly when harvests To approve it, he convened
95% of population).
were poor. the Estates-General on 5 May
The bourgeoisie demanded 1789. The Third Estate
changes: wanted to eliminate feudal
In cities, labourers and artisans
[Link]: right to property, dues and introduce national
were struggling to survive and the sovereignity while the
freedom to produce, buy, sell.
bourgeoisie were angry. privileged opposed to the
2. political: demanded
new taxes.
freedom, equality before law
 ... and ended in revolution

The Third Estate requests were ignored and they decided

to form the National Assembly (representatives of
people).
In the tennis court at Versailles, they voted for a new
political system based on popular consent.
The priviledge threatened military force so an angry mob
stormed the Bastille in Paris, a symbol of absolutism, 14
July. This showed the monarchy’s vulnerability to the
people.
 Stages of the French Revolution
[Link] monarchy (1789-1792)
The National Assembly (who considered themselves representatives of a
new nation) introduced major changes:
abolished the privileges and manorial rights of nobility and clergy.
Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
The new National Constituent Assembly drafted France’s first
Constitution (1791). It contained separation of powers, equality before
law, sovereignity for the nation, census sufrage.
It was followed by Legislative Assembly elections with the aim to
create a liberal [Link] Church assets were seized to decrease its
economic powder.
France was a constitutional monarchy but was not accepted by the former
priviledged classes and conspired against the new regime. King Louis XVI
tried to flee France to lead a counter-revolution. The counter-
revolutionaries continued to plot and the allies reached the gates of Paris.
 Stages of the French Revolution
[Link] Republic (1792-94)
The King’s betrayal caused the common people (sans-culottes) to rise up. In 1792, they attcked the
Tuileries Palace (royal residence); the King and Queen were imprisoned.
In 1792, the National Convention proclaimed the republic, abolished the monarchy and beat the Austrian
and Prussian armies at Valmy. It was the beginning of most radical stage.
The Convention consisted of two main factions:
Girondins (moderate republicans)
Jacobins (radical groups)
The King & Queen were judged by the Convention, sentenced to death and executed by guillotine (1793).
This deepened the divide between revolutionaries, and shocked absolutists. The counter-revolutionary
rebellions grew in France and abroad some European countries alarmed.
The Jacobins with some bourgeoisie and the sans-culottes ruled as a dictatorship the Committee of
Public Safety headed by Robespierre.
They created a new army and mass conscription. They approved a new constitution and Declaration of
Rights, important because advocated social rights.
Other reforms: compulsory education, redistribution of land to peasants, minimum wage..to favour
commoners.
Howerver, suspended rights and freedoms and implemented a violent dictatorial regime.
This was the Reign of Terror.
 Stages of the French Revolution
[Link] Republic (1794-1799)

The Convention was not popular with everyone; the bourgeoisie rejected social
laws, Reign of terror and opposed Jacobinism. Moderate republicans staged a
coup d’état, the Thermidorian Reaction (1794) and gave power to a five-member
committee called the Directory (1975).
It promoted economic liberalism, a bourgeois society with great differences. It
encountered great social instability and radical conspiracies such as the
Conspiracy of the Equals.
In this context, most bourgeoisie considered the Directory ineffective and wanted
a new moderate regime.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, a young, successful general headed a coup d’état
(Coup of 18 Brumaire) that ended the Directory and the Revolution. He rejected
egalitarian, democratic reforms and consolidated moderate liberalism.
 The Napoleonic Era
Napoleon wanted to show the world the grandeur of France, the nation that
defeated feudalism and absolutism and aspire to dominate Europe.
The Consulate (1799-1804) was established by a new constitution. It gave
the executive branch power over the other branches and freedoms were
restricted. Napoleon, as First Consul assumed most functions creating a
personalist dictatorship. He proposed reforms:

Organised local governments with prefects, State representatives in

France’s departments.
Founded liceos (public schools)
He reconciled with the Catholic Church
He enacted three codes: Civil (1804), Commercial (1807) and Penal
(1810)
In 1804, he felt so powerful that asked the Pope to crown him emperor. He
set out to conquer Europe, annexed some conquered territories while others
were governed by members of his family (José Bonaparte in Spain).
Napoleon established constitutional regimes in the territories occupied
which earned his sympathy from liberals.
In 1812 the French Empire reached its peak (map p.19).
Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo (1815) and exiled to the
island of Saint Helena where he died (1821).
French Revolution’s Legacy
During the period (1789-99) absolutists lost their power and people
began to enjoy freedoms and rights. But not everyone had the same
rights. Popular sovereignity was first exercised through universal male
suffrage (1792) but later was imposed census suffrage (it meant
poorer men and all women could not vote).
Olympe de Gouges, a writer and feminist wrote the Declaration of
Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen (1791).
Citizenship required separation of powers and a constitution that
established the rights, freedoms and obligations of citizens (the basis
of today’s democracies). During the Revolution this political system
took the form of a parliamentary monarchy and a republic.
Other forms were the Jacobin dictatorship and Napoleon’s authoritarian
system (non-democratic systems).
The state changed considerably: it created a public administration,
private property was protected, guilds were abolished, trade became
more free (economic liberalism), weights and measures were unified,
the Church was separated from the State and affected education which
became public and a right for all children aged 5-12.
 French Revolution’s Legacy

What happened to Europe after the Congress of

Vienna?

The powers that defeated Napoleon (Austria, Prussia, Russia and the
United Kingdom) met at the Congress of Vienna (1815) to organise
Europe. They restored absolutist monarchies and abolished
constitutional principles and citizens’ rights. The period is known as
Absolutist Restoration (1815-1848). The United Kingdom, with its
parliamentary regime, remained an exception.
The Congress remodelled Europe to benefit the victors: the autocratic
Austrain , Russian and Ottoman Empires. The empire was divided among
the absolutist powders. They also created the Holy Alliance, which
claimed the right to intervene whereever liberal revolutions threatened.
The Liberal Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Despite the precautions of the absolute monarchies, liberalism expanded
in Europe with uprisings in Spain, Portugal, Naples and Piedmont
between 1820 and 1824. All were defeated.
In 1830 new revolutionary movements began in the centre of France.
After Charles X was dethroned, a constitutional monarchy abolished
noble priviledges. This was moderate liberalism (aslo established in
Spain and Portugal).
In 1848, the revolutionary movement that began in Paris spread
throughout Europe, mainly in cities. These movements, known as the
Springtime of the Peoples, had different characteristics:
In France and countries with liberal regimes, they were democratic
and demanded social changes
Elsewhere, these revolutions occurred due to a desire for
independence from the empires to become sovereign nations.
Most revolutions were suppressed and failed. However, they opened the
door for liberal, constitutional and democratic reforms in the second half
of 19th century.
 The Rise of Nationalism
Nationalism expanded throughout Europe due to people’s opposition to
Napoleonic rule in occupied territories.
The powers that defeated Napoleon annexed these territories to they
already large dominions (Congress of Viena), creating plurinational
empires.
Nationalist movements grew and encountered imperial resistance:
In the 1820s, Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman
Empire which reconised Greek autonomy in 1829.
A wave of nationalist movements began in 1830. While Poland was
crushed by Russia, Belgium separated from Holland(1831-39).
In 1848, national revolutions spread throughout the Austrian Empire
and involved many nationalities.
Most revolts were suppressed: Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Prague,
Lombardy, Veneto, German Confederation,..
 The Unification of Italy and Germany
Italy Germany
Italy was divided into multiple states. In some, a Germany was a mulitstate with 39 states. Under
national movement emerged (Risorgimento) Prussian leadership, most of them had joined a
seeking to bring all italians together. Zollverein (union) to facilitate trade.
By 1859, the initative of Piedmont led by King 1848 a revolutionary movement achieved a first
Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy and Prime Minister unification but was defeated by conservatives.
Cavour fought France and Austria and The King of Prussia, Wilhelm I, and his prime minister,
Otto von Bismark (1860) decided to go to war. They
incorporated the northern states (1859-66). In
defeated Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France
the centre and south Garibaldi’s republicans
(1871) in a war that united all Germans.
annexed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1860).
1871, Wilhelm I was named Kaiser (emperor) of the 2nd
The Kingdom of Italy was founded in 1861. Reich.
The last occupied were the Papal States annexed
in 1870 and Rome was made the capital of the
new country.
Thank you
for your attention