The French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon

1
The French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon

• 1789-1815

2
Social Structure of the Old Regime

• The First Estate
• The clergy
• Constituted about 130,000 people and controlled
  10 of the land
  
• The Second Estate
• The nobility
• Comprised of nearly 350,000 people and controlled
  about 25 to 30 percent of the land
  
• Homogenous entities or not?

3
The Third Estate

• Constituted everyone else in French society
• Peasants which comprised nearly 75 to 80 percent
  of French society and held 35 to 40 percent of
  the land
  
• Another segment of the Third Estate were the
  skilled artisans, shopkeepers and other city wage
  earners
  
• Last group was the bourgeoisie, or middle class,
  which comprised 8 of the population
  
• Historiography Conflict between the estates or
  between the old new in each?

4
Other Problems Facing the French Monarchy

• Economic difficulties
• Bad harvests in 1787 1788
• Manufacturing depression
• Privileges
• The Parlements/Nobility and the arbitrary power
  of the monarchy
  
• Example Taxation
• Finances
• Immediate cause of the French Revolution
• Increased expenditures covered by too much
  borrowing

5
Beginnings of the RevolutionCalling of the
Estates-General

• Summoned by Louis XVI, it first met on 5 May
  1789
  
• In the elections, it was decided that the Third
  Estate would get double the representation of the
  First Second (300 vs. 600)
  
• Voting by Order or Head
• The First Second Estates wanted to vote by
  order instead of by head
  
• Members of the Third Estate argued that voting
  should be done by head, which would then give
  them control
  
• Disagreement creates leadership vacuum

6
Formation of the National Assembly

• The Third Estate fills the leadership vacuum and
  declares themselves the National Assembly (17
  June 1789)
  
• The Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789)

7
Common People Intervene

• Since the Third Estate had no right to act as a
  National Assembly, the King, with the support of
  the First Estate threatened to dissolve the
  Estates-General
• The Third Estate was saved by a series of risings
  on the part of the common people
  
• Storming of the Bastille on July 14
• Peasant uprisings and panics in the countryside
  also created difficulties for the government

8
Destruction of the Old Regime

• First Step 4 August 1789 the National Assembly
  votes to abolish seigneurial rights as well as
  the fiscal privileges of the nobles, clergy,
  towns, and provinces
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
  
  
• Issued August 26
• Began with a ringing affirmation of the natural
  and imprescriptible rights of man to liberty,
  property, security, and resistance to
  oppression
• It affirmed the destruction of the aristocratic
  privileges by proclaiming an end to exemptions
  from taxations, freedom equal rights for all
  men, and access to public office based on talent
• The monarchy was restricted and all citizens had
  the right to participate in the legislative
  process as well as freedom of speech and the press

9
The Women's March

• Meanwhile, Louis remained inactive at Versailles
  refusing to acknowledge the decrees passed by the
  National Assembly
  
• March of the common people on Versailles (October
  5)
  
• Louis and the Royal family return to Paris

10
New Constitution

• By 1791, the National Assembly had completed a
  constitution establishing a constitutional
  monarchy
  
• Sovereign power rested in the new Legislative
  Assembly
  
• Was to sit for two years
• Comprised 745 representative elected by indirect
  vote
  
• The National Assembly additionally restructured
  France as the old provinces were replaced by 83
  departments
  
• Civil Constitution of the Clergy (April 1790)

11
Growing Opposition

• However, opposition was forming against the new
  government
  
• The clerics were angered by the Civil
  Constitution of the Clergy
  
• The Flight to Varennes
• June of 1791 Louis tried to flee France
• Unfortunately, he was recognized and returned to
  Paris
  
• There was still support for a monarchy, but
  Louiss flight undermined both him and the
  moderates in the new Legislative Assembly

12
Opposition from Abroad

• Frances neighbors began to fear the events
  occurring in France - Declaration of Pillnitz (27
  August 1791)
  
• Action was not taken, but that was made mute by
  France declaring war upon Austria in April of
  1792
  
• Why war?
• Reactionaries thought preoccupation with war
  would cool the revolution
  
• The left hoped to consolidate the revolution at
  home and spread it abroad

13
Path to Radical Revolution

• France does badly in the beginning battles and
  loud recriminations are heard in Paris
  
• Radical Parisian political groups organize a mob
  attack upon the king and the Assembly in August
  
• Suspension of the Monarchy and call for a
  National Convention
  
• Rise of the Paris Commune and the sans-culottes,
  who now initiate the radical phase of the French
  Revolution

14
Radical Revolution

• Proclamation of a Republic
• National Convention opens sessions in September
  1792 composition similar to its predecessors,
  but young and experienced politically
  
• Also distrustful of the king and his activities
• September 21st - abolish the monarchy and
  establish a republic
  
• Execution of Louis XVI
• The Girondins (The Plain) and the Jacobins
  (Mountain)
  
• The Mountain gained ascendancy and passed a
  decree in the beginning of 1793 condemning Louis
  XVI to death, which was done on 21 January 1793

15
Crises Domestic and Foreign

• Factional conflicts between the Girondins and the
  Mountain intensify
  
• The Paris Commune becomes more radical and in
  June of 1793 organizes a demonstration and
  invades the National Convention
  
• The Mountain is now firmly in control, but
  rebellions in the Vendee and Lyons Marseilles
  show the National Convention is not firmly in
  control of France

16
Crises Domestic and Foreign

• In the foreign arena, an informal coalition of
  Austria, Prussia, Portugal, Britain, and the
  Dutch array themselves against France the war
  goes badly for France and the NC
• Formation of the Committee of Public Safety -
  protect France against her enemies foreign and
  domestic
  
• A Nation in Arms CPS issues on 23 August 1793 a
  proclamation calling on a levee en masse, a
  universal mobilization of the nation

17
Committee of Public Safety and the Reign of Terror

• To combat the domestic crisis, the CPS instituted
  the Reign of Terror
  
• Formation of Revolutionary courts throughout
  France
  
• Victims of the Terror
• Included Marie Antoinette to former Girondins,
  noblemen and peasants alike
  
• Anyone who opposed the radical activities of the
  sans-culottes was suspect
  
• Over the nine months of the terror, officially
  around 16,000 people were killed by the
  guillotine though historians believe there were
  probably closer to 50,000 victims

18
The Reign of TerrorWhy the bloodletting?

• The Committee of Public Safety believed that it
  was only an expedient during the emergency
  
• Additionally, they believed their actions were
  correct because they were acting through the
  general will of the people
  
• The twelve men who composed the CPS had taken
  upon themselves the right to ascertain the
  sovereign will of the French people and kill
  their enemies because they challenged that will

19
Republic of Virtue and Dechristianization

• In addition to the Terror, the CPS took other
  steps to both control France and create a new
  republican order and republican citizens
  
• Representatives on mission
• Policy of dechristianization
• Furthering this policy was the adoption of a new
  republican calendar
  
• Years numbered from the birth of the Republic
• 12 months with 3 ten day weeks
• Months were renamed reflecting the seasons, the
  temperature and the state of vegetation
  
• The new calendar faced intense popular opposition
  and was not fully enforced

20
Decline and Fall of the Committee of Public Safety

• The CPS centralized power further by Law of 14
  Frimaire, curbing the excesses of the Terror
  
• Neutering of the Paris Commune
• Terror continues under Maximilien Robespierre
  means of purifying the body politic of all that
  was corrupt
  
• Fall of Robespierre (28 July 1794)
• Brought an end the radical phase of the French
  Revolution

21
Thermidorean Reaction and the Directory

• With the death of Robespierre, the National
  Convention acted to curtail the power of the CPS
  and lessen the controls on the economy and
  society
• New constitution was proclaimed in 1795
• Created a national legislative assembly of two
  houses Council of 500 and Council of Elders
  (Upper house)
  
• The Council of Elders would elect five directors
  to serve as the executive

22
Thermidorean Reaction and the Directory

• Controversy with the new elections
• Uprising in Paris and the Whiff of grapeshot
• The Directory
• Known for its corruption and graft, a
  materialistic reaction to the suffering during
  the Reign of Terror
  
• Additionally, the Directory had to deal with
  enemies on both sides, heavily relying upon the
  army to protect itself
  
• The Directorys weakness allowed for a certain
  general to position himself to take over the
  reigns of power, resulting in the coup detat of
  18 Brumaire

23
Early Life of Napoleon

• Born in 1769 in Corsica - part of the petty
  nobility of Corsica
  
• Military school and commission as a lieutenant of
  artillery in 1785
  
• For the next 7 years, Napoleon spent most of his
  time reading the works of the Philosophes and
  educating himself in military matters
  
• Life was changed by the French Revolution
• In 1792, was promoted to captain and through his
  actions at Marseilles the following year was
  appointed Brigadier General in 1794
  
• 1795 he saved the Directory from the Paris mob
• Appointment in 1796 as commander of the Army of
  Italy

24
The Army of Italy

• 1796 appointed as commander of the ragtag Army
  of Italy at the age of 27
  
• In a short period, Napoleon was able to turn his
  ill-fed, demoralized and undisciplined army into
  an effective fighting force
  
• In a series of campaigns resulting in some of his
  most famous victories Lodi, May 1796 Arcola,
  November 1796 and Rivoli, January 1797 - Napoleon
  is able to defeat the Austrians in northern Italy
  and dictate peace
• As a result, Napoleon becomes the man of the
  moment in France

25
The Invasion of Egypt

• With his popularity, when Napoleon returns to
  France he is given command of an army preparing
  for the invasion of England, but Napoleon has
  other plans
• He decides to launch an invasion of Egypt as a
  means to striking indirectly at the British
  through India
  
• Napoleon sails for Egypt in 1798 and conquers
  most of it in a series of battles
  
• The Battle of the Nile and Napoleons isolation
• In 1799, Napoleon abandons his army and returns
  to France

26
Consul (1799-1804)

• Coup detat of 18 Brumaire
• Napoleon, fresh from Egypt takes the lead in the
  coup which overthrows the Directory
  
• 30 years old at the time
• Consular Government
• A new republic is proclaimed with a constitution
  that established a bicameral legislative assembly
  elected indirectly
  
• Executive power was vested in the hands of three
  consuls, but real power rested with the First
  Consul, i.e., Napoleon

27
War in Italy

• Austria again declares war on France (War of the
  Second Coalition), with the main theater being
  Italy
  
• Napoleon leads an army over the Alps and through
  a series of famous campaigns, Napoleon is again
  victorious
  
• Marengo (14 June 1800)
• Austria makes peace as well as England in 1801

28
Emperor (1804-1815)

• In December of 1804, Napoleon proclaims himself
  Emperor of the French in a splendid ceremony at
  Notre Dame, creating the First Empire which would
  last until 1815
• The upstart Corsican is now master of all of
  France

29
Domestic PoliciesConcordat with the Church

• In 1801, Napoleon made peace with the Catholic
  Church, which had been an intractable enemy of
  the Revolution
  
• Concordat of 1801
• Catholicism was recognized as the religion of the
  majority of the French people pope could dispose
  bishops, but the state was still allowed to
  appoint them clergy, both Catholic and
  Protestant, were to be paid by the state, but
  their was no state religion also, church lands
  were not restored
• The result was the Catholic Church recognizing
  the accomplishments of the Revolution and the
  Church was no longer an enemy of France

30
Domestic PoliciesCode Napoleon

• Need for a uniform legal system
• Seven codes were formed, of which the most famous
  was the Civil Code, or the Code Napoleon
  
• Recognized the principle of equality of all
  citizens before the law, the right of individuals
  to chose their profession, religious toleration,
  and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism as
  well as the careful protection of property
  rights
• The Code clearly reflected the revolutionary
  aspirations for a uniform legal system, legal
  equality, and protection of property and
  individuals
• However, some rights were curtailed, such as
  womens rights to divorce, property, and liberty

31
Domestic PoliciesThe Bureaucracy

• Napoleon also rationalized the bureaucracy by
  developing a powerful centralized administrative
  machine
  
• Retention of the Departments
• Taxation was now made more systematic and
  efficient
  
• Professional tax collectors employed by the
  state
  
• No exceptions were allowed
• Napoleon also insisted upon a bureaucracy of
  capable officials
  
• Expertise, not birth was preferred
• However, Napoleon also created a new nobility
  based upon merit and state service

32
Napoleons Empire

• France proper France to the Rhine river,
  northern Italy and Rome
  
• Dependent States Spain, the Netherlands, the
  Kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the Grand
  Duchy of Warsaw and the Confederation of the
  Rhine
• Allied States these were the states that
  Napoleon defeated and forced to ally themselves
  with France Prussia, Austria, and Russia

33
Obedience and Liberties

• Napoleon saw himself as the head of all of Europe
  and he was not hesitate to install or replace
  monarchs at will
  
• Therefore, Napoleon required obedience from all
  his dependents, especially against the British
  
• Napoleon also spread throughout Europe the
  Enlightened ideas that formed the core of the
  ideals of the Revolution and, to an extent, the
  Enlightenment
• Hand in hand with those goals was the destruction
  of the Old Order and its replacement by
  Napoleons new order

34
Europe's Reaction and British Nationalism

• Not all countries welcome Napoleon and his
  ideals, especially the British
  
• Since he could not directly attack England,
  Napoleon used indirect means - The Continental
  System
  
• The Berlin and Milan Decrees (1806 1807)
• Denied British goods from Europe
• The other factor that brought down Napoleon was
  Nationalism
  
• Awakened during the Revolution in the France, it
  also arose in the other nations of Europe in
  response to the actions of Napoleon and the
  French
• The best example of this were the Spanish and the
  Germans in 1813

35
Napoleons Military System

• One of the Great Captains in military history
• He was a synthesizer, not an innovator
• His was also a practical rather than a
  theoretical genius
  
• Moreover, Napoleon really had no set system, but
  general ideas
  
• Placed great emphasis upon speed and mobility
• What allowed Napoleon that great speed and
  mobility was his armies living off the
  countryside, a complete contrast to the close
  contacts armies of the 18th century had with
  their magazines

36
Napoleons Military System

• His favorite strategic movement was the advance
  of envelopment (la manoeuvre sur les derrières)
  
• Used it 30 times from 1796 to 1815, of which the
  finest examples are the crossing of the Alps in
  the Marengo campaign of 1800 and the advance from
  the Rhine to the Danube during the opening phase
  of the Campaign of 1805
• The corps de armée

37
War of The Third Coalition

• In 1803, war was again resumed with Britain
• The encampment at Boulogne
• Crossing the English Channel and the Battle of
  Trafalgar (1805)
  
• Meanwhile, Austria declares war on France and
  Napoleon breaks camp and marches the newly
  christened Grande Armée into Germany to confront
  the Austrians
• Major Battles
• Ulm (17 October 1805)
• Austerlitz (2 December 1805)

38
War with Prussia

• In 1806, Prussia finally decides to declare war
  on France after various incidents involving
  Hanover and violations of Prussian territory
  
• Victory at Jena-Auerstädt (14 October 1806)
• However, the war does not end as the few
  remaining Prussians join with their Russian
  allies
  
• Two more battles are fought Eylau and Friedland
  in February and June of 1807
  
• The Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807

39
The Spanish Ulcer

• 1808 Napoleon deposes the Spanish monarch and
  installs his brother Joseph as king
  
• The Spanish populace reject this and rebel
  against French rule
  
• The British seize this opening and dispatch an
  army, eventually led by the Duke of Wellington,
  to Portugal and Spain
  
• For the next six years trying to maintain control
  over Spain and fighting the British would drain
  French resources, thus gaining its nickname of
  The Spanish Ulcer

40
Campaign against Austria, 1809

• In 1809, a pro-war party gains ascendancy in
  Austria and they again declare war on France
  
• Napoleon reconstitutes the Grand Army and
  launches a campaign against Austria
  
• At the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Napoleon
  receives his first setback and the Austrians gain
  a small victory
  
• However, at Wagram (5-6 July 1809) Napoleon is
  able to defeat the Austrians and they are forced
  to sue for peace

41
The Russian Fiasco

• In 1812, Russias refusal to properly enforce the
  Continental System forced Napoleon to launch an
  invasion of Russia
  
• The Russians withdrew into the depths of Russia
  avoiding battle with Napoleon
  
• Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) and Moscow
• Retreat of the Grande Armée
• By December, the remnants of the Grande Armée
  reached the safety of Poland and East Prussia
  
• Of the 614,000 who went into Russia, only 60,000
  remained

42
Germany, 1813

• With their victory over the French, the Russians
  continue their advance westward into central
  Europe, gaining the support of Prussia and then
  Austria toward the summer of 1813
• Napoleon reconstitutes the Grande Armée to
  counter the advance of the allies
  
• The 1813 campaign for Germany or the War of
  Liberation
  
• The most important battle of this campaign was
  the Battle of Leipzig (16-19 October 1813), also
  known as the Battle of the Nations
  
• This major defeat, plus others force the French
  to retreat back to France

43
France, 1814

• In 1814, the allies invade France proper and
  during a series of battles and maneuvers, many of
  which are considered Napoleons finest, Napoleon
  is able to hold off the Allies
• However, allied numbers and French exhaustion
  force Napoleon to abdicate in April

44
Elba, Waterloo, and St. Helena

• Restoration of the Bourbons, Exile and the
  Congress of Vienna
  
• Napoleon at Elba
• Return to France, 1815
• The Allied powers declare him an outlaw and plan
  for an invasion of France
  
• Napoleon, with a new army, moves north into
  Belgium to engage the British and Prussian armies
  stationed there

45
The Battle of Waterloo(18 June 1815)

• Fought between Napoleon and the Duke of
  Wellington
  
• Completely underestimating the British, it is not
  one of Napoleons best efforts and he is let down
  by lapses in his own judgment and that of his
  primary subordinates
• Defeat of the Imperial Guard
• French retreat and disorder
• Napoleon again abdicates
• Exile to the island of St. Helena in the south
  Atlantic
  
• Napoleon would remain there until his death in
  May of 1821