World History

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World History

• Chapter 23.1 23.2
• The French Revolution

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the 3 estates of the Old Regime

• 1st estate - Roman Catholic clergy
• 2nd estate - nobles
• 3rd estate commoners
• Estate social class
• Estates General meeting similar to English
  Parliament

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• the forces of change that led to the French
  Revolution

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1. growing resentment of the lower class

• the 1st and 2nd Estates enjoyed wealth and
  special privileges under law.
• The 3rd Estate had many reasons for
  dissatisfactions
• bourgeoisie wanted social status and political
  power equal to their wealth
• workers - poorer than bourgeoisie
• poor - often hungry, bread riots, 4/5 of French,
  1/2 of income to taxes

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2. enlightenment ideas

• new views about power and authority in government
  were spreading
• people questioned ideas about the structure of
  society and using words like equality, liberty
  and democracy
• inspired by the success of the American
  Revolution
• discussions of the radical ideas of Rousseau and
  Voltaire

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3. economic problems

• heavy taxes ? impossible to run a profitable
  business, ?cost of living, bad weather ? crop
  failures ?shortage of grain ? price of bread
  doubled ?starvation
• extravagant spending by king and queen
• Louis XVI inherited debt
• the king borrowed heavily to help finance the
  American Revolution.

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4. a weak leader

• Louis VXI did not pay attention to his advisors
• he put off dealing with emergencies until France
  faced bankruptcy
• then he tried to tax the Second Estate

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financial crisis forced Louis XVI to call a
meeting of the Estates General

• the government used 50 of its budget to pay
  interest on its debt and 13 to support the
  royal familys household staff of 15,000 people
• Louiss ministers hoped to avoid bankruptcy by
  taxing the nobles.
• The nobles (2nd estate) refused to pay taxes
  unless the king called a meeting of the Estates
  General. (first meeting in 175 years)

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the National Assembly begins

• In the Estates General, each estate had one vote.
  
• the Third estate could always be outvoted.
• The 3rd Estate insisted that all 3 estates meet
  together and that each delegate have a vote
• King sided with nobles

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The National Assembly

• The 3rd Estate named themselves the National
  Assembly
• proclaimed the end of absolute monarchy and the
  beginning of representative government
• the first act of revolution

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The Great Fear

• A panic which leads to great destruction in the
  French countryside
• Women angered by the price of bread march on
  Versailles and compel the royal family to move to
  Paris

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the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen

• used the philosophes ideas of equality and
  natural law to justify the destruction of an
  unjust government based on absolutism and
  privilege
• the new social order would be based on peoples
  natural rights to liberty, property, security,
  and resistance to oppression.

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The new government reflected the ideas of
Montesquieu

• The National Assembly created a limited
  constitutional monarchy that divided power
  between the king and an elected assembly.
• Despite the new government, many difficult
  problems still remained.

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3 Factions

• Radicals left wing
• Opposed the king and the idea of monarchy
• Wanted sweeping changes
• Moderates
• Sat in the center
• Wanted some changes
• Conservatives right wing
• Liked the idea of limited monarchy
• Did not want change

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War with Austria Execution of the King

• European monarchs fear the loss of their own
  position support Louis XVI
• France declares war on Austria
• Louis XVI imprisoned after mob invades the royal
  palace
• September massacres Paris mobs murder
  prisoners, lead Assembly to depose the kind and
  set aside the Constitution
• New legislature votes to execute the King
• French citizens become soldiers as Austrian
  forces march to Paris

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Robespierre

• Gains control of the revolutionary government
• Tries to wipe out the French nobility
• The Reign of Terror a time of thousands of
  arbitrary executions
• 85 of those killed were common people those
  the revolution was supposed to help

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The Reign of Terror ends

• When Robespierre is executed
• A 3rd new constitution gives power to the upper
  middle class
• The government finds a new general to lead the
  army Napoleon Bonaparte

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World History

• Chapter 23.3 -23.5
• Napoleon

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23.3
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the reasons for Napoleons victories

• His work ethic
• worked 20-hour days preparing for a battle
• studied the battlefield terrain
• While his opponents rested, he marched at night
  and attacked an enemy in the rain or on Sunday
• He won the loyalty of his soldiers by fighting
  alongside them

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Napoleon restored order to France

• Economic order - slowed inflation by balancing
  the governments budget and setting up a national
  bank. The sans-culottes of Paris could finally
  buy bread
• Social order - Noble émigrés returned to France.
  Bourgeoisie also liked Napoleon
• religious order - concordat with Pope Pious VII.
  recognized the Church
• legal order - Napoleonic Code abolished the 3
  estates and granted equal rights before the law
  to people of all classes

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Napoleon also

• limited liberty
• censored newspapers
• took some rights away from women
• restored slavery in the Caribbean
• AND Napoleon was above the law

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23.4
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Napoleons mistakes

• The Continental system (a blockade) an attempt
  to cut off trade b/t England and the rest of
  Europe
• The Peninsular War in Spain inflames Spanish
  nationalism and weakens France
• The French invasion of Russia fails, with
  terrible loss of life

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Napoleons downfall

• All the other main powers of Europe unite against
  a weakened Napoleon
• His army is defeated and his enemies march
  through Paris
• He surrenders and is banished to Elba
• He escapes and briefly regains power until he is
  defeated by British and Prussian forces at
  Waterloo

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23.5
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The Great Powers

• A Great Power is a country that could shape
  international events
• Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia (except
  France) called the Congress of Vienna to restore
  boundaries of Europe as they had existed before
  Napoleons conquest

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Metternich

• The Austrian foreign minister
• offered Europe peace and stability
• believed that expanding the right to vote to all
  social classes would lead to chaos

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Metternichs three goals

• strengthen countries surrounding France to
  prevent French aggression
• restore a balance of power
• restore royal families to their thrones

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The balance of power

• the main goal of the Congress of Vienna
• they attempted to achieve an equilibrium between
  European powers so that none could become
  powerful enough to risk war or to conquer
  neighboring countries as Napoleon Bonaparte had
  done
• And it worked - after the negotiations in Vienna,
  Europe remained at peace for 30 years

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political ideas

• Conservative belief in constitutional or even
  absolute monarchy
• Liberal approval of early reforms of French
  Revolution and government by an elected, limited
  parliament
• radical support of democratic government and
  idea of change (US)

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Which group prevailed at the Congress of Vienna?

• Conservatives - kings and princes were restored

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How was the British government different from
others in Europe?

• It was the only constitutional monarchy