Global Studies: The French Revolution – Flashcards

middle class, members of the third estate, educated professionals, possibly worked in banking or industry

Liberty, Property, Security and resistance to oppression these natural rights were stated in the declaration of the Rights of mAn and of the Citizen

A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws.

Government practice of spending more than it takes in from taxes

Long pants that French Revolutionaries wore. This dress represented the working class. They were a radical group made up of wage-earners, and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre

THE RIGHT TO VOTE

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

Join or merge territory into an existing political unit such as a country or state

type of fighting in which soldiers use swift hit-and-run attacks against the enemy

to give up a position, right, or power

Extreme

A person whose pol. views favor more local, limited govt, less govt regulations, conformity to social norms & values; rough on criminals

Person whose views are between conservative and liberal and may include some of both ideologies

King of France (1774-1792). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)

French aristocrat who played a leading role in 2 revolutions in France and the American Revolution. He served as a major-general in colonial army.

Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror. The Jacobins.

Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the third estate decided to draw up a constitution and it was completed by 19791 which set up limited monarchy. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791. It would contain 745 representatives chosen in such a way that only the more wealthy members of society would be elected, there was also still a king

Radical political groups in Paris organized a mob attack on the royal palace and Legislative Assembly. They took the king captive and forced the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for a National Convention, chosen on the basis of universal male suffrage. All males had the right to vote.

After Robespierre was guillotined, a new constitution was created in August 1795 that reflected the desire for more stability(conservative). Five man group. Corrupt and did not help the poor, not even during the suffering of the reign of terror, but remained in power because of military strength. By 1797 it was a dictatorship.

- First Estate - clergy and numbered about 130,000. They owned about 10% of the land. They were exempted from taille (taxes). (p. 104) - Second Estate - nobility, composed of 350,000 people who owned about 30% of the land. They held many of the leading positions in the government, military, the law courts, and the higher church offices. They were exempted from the taille (taxes). - Third Estate - commoners of society divided by occupation, level of education, and wealth. The peasants, the largest segment of the Third Estate, were 80% of population and owned 40% of the land. - About 8% of the population, or 2.3 million people, made up the bourgeoisie, or middle class, who owned 20% of the land. This group included merchants, bankers, and industrialists. They were jealous of the nobles but by obtaining public offices, wealthy middle class could enter the ranks of the nobility.

-The long range causes of the French Revolution are to be found in the condition of French Society. - Immediate cause was the near collapse of government finances. - Costly wars and court luxuries. - Third Estate paid all of the taxes. INEQUALITY.

- when the Third Estate arrived to the meeting place, the doors were locked. - They then moved to a nearby tennis court and swore (hence the name) that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French constitution.

-Louis XVI prepared to use force against the Third Estate during the Tennis Court Oath. -The common people, however, saved the Third Estate from the king's forces. -On July 14, a mob of Parisians stormed the Bastille and proceeded to dismantle it, brick by brick. -Paris was abandoned to the rebels. -The storming of the Bastille was the symbol of victory of the French people against the Monarchy. What started as a revolt became a Revolution that will change the face of France's policy forever. -The fall of the Bastille had saved the National Assembly.

- Popular revolutions broke out throughout France, both in the cities and the countryside. - A growing hatred to the entire landholding system, with its fees and obligations, led to a popular uprising. - Peasants decided to take matters into their own hands. - Peasant rebellions took place throughout France and became part of the Great Fear, a vast panic that spread like wildfire through France in the summer of 1789. - Peasants feared that foreign troops would support the French monarchy and would invade so formed local militias to defend themselves.

- This charter of basic liberties began with a ringing affirmation of "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." - It went on to affirm the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming freedom and equal rights for all men, access to public office based on talent, and an end to exemption from taxation. - All citizens were to have the right to take part in the making of laws. - Freedom of speech and press were coupled with the outlawing of arbitrary arrests. - It also raised the question whether equal rights should be extended to women.

- Deputies did not agree that women are equal to men. - On October 5, thousands of Parisian women marched to Versailles and forced the King to accept the new decrees.

- It set up a limited monarchy. Legislative Assembly made the laws.

- Over time, some European leaders began to fear that revolution would spread to their countries. - The kings of Austria and Prussia even threatened to use force to restore Louis XVI to full power. - Insulted by the threat, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria in the spring of 1792. The French fared badly in the initial fighting. - Defeats in war, coupled with economic shortages at home in the spring of 1792, led to new political demonstrations, especially against the king.

- This code preserved most of the revolutionary gains by recognizing the principle of: the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of the individual to choose a profession, religions toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism. - Divorce was still allowed, but the Civil Code made it more difficult for women to obtain. - Women were now "less equal to men" in other ways as well. - Napoleon brought many different sets of laws to one set for the whole nation. - Created a bureaucracy to deal with enforcement - a powerful, centralized administrative machine. - Liberty had been replaced by despotism, the Civil Code preserved the equality of all citizens before the law and the concept of careers open to talents was also well received.

- French Empire - inner core of Grand Empire - Dependent States - kingdoms under the rule of Napoleon's relatives - Spain, Holland, Italy, Swiss, Warsaw, German states - Allied States - Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden.

- It was a negative force. - Britain had control of the ocean - Nationalism - the spread of French nationalism had made possible the mass armies of the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. However, Napoleon's spread of the principles of the French Revolution beyond France indirectly brought a spread of nationalism as well. The French arouse nationalism in two ways; 1. They were hated as oppressors. Stirred patriotism of others in opposition. 2. The French showed the people of Europe what nationalism was and what a nation in arms could do.

- Russia was a big country. - Napoleon attacked with a Grand Army of 600,000. - Russia would not engage and kept retreating for hundreds of miles. - Kept burning their own villages and countryside to keep Napoleon's army from finding FOOD. - When they arrived in Moscow, they found it burning. - French retreated during terrible winter conditions- only 40,000 made it back.

- At the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's One Hundred Days ended in bloody defeat. He was exiled to St. Helena, a small and forsaken island in the south Atlantic. Only his memory would continue to haunt French political life.

• The Code Napoléon: Reorganize the entire legal structure. By the time he was done, France had a unified, progressive legal system, which Napoleon then gave to other parts of his empire. Today, the Code Napoléon is the basis of law in France and a number of other countries, as well as in the state of Louisiana! • Economic reforms: The terrible French economy was one of the key factors leading to the French Revolution. When Napoleon came to power, he turned it around in only a year. Fair taxes, increased trade, the development of French luxury industries, a new commercial code, an improved infrastructure, and a central bank to control monetary policy were keys to his success. • Religious freedom: The Catholic Church had dominated French society, but the French Revolution tossed it out on its ear. Napoleon reached an agreement with the Pope allowing the Church a major role in French society while providing religious freedom for all others. He also abolished slavery and freed the serfs, and today he is seen as a progressive force in European history. • Freedom for the Jews: In various parts of Europe, they had been forced to wear arm bands, kept from certain professions, made to live in ghettos, and prevented from attending their synagogues. Napoleon put an end to all of those restrictions, made Jews full citizens of France, and even wrote a proclamation that established the idea of a Jewish homeland in Israel. • Education reforms: To create a middle-class group of leaders, Napoleon reorganized France's education system. He restarted the primary schools, created a new elite secondary system of schools (called lycées), and established many other schools for the general populace. He promoted education for girls and greatly improved teacher training. Literacy levels in France soared under Napoleon's reforms. • European unity: Napoleon's empire, accompanied by his legal and other reforms, helped provide the basis for what is today the European Union. He worked hard to create a unified Italy, Poland, and Germany. Napoleon was also responsible for sweeping away many of the old regimes and promoting the ideals of equality and European solidarity. Sure, the old regimes still had some life in them when Napoleon left the scene, but things were never really the same. For that reason, Napoleon is often considered the father of modern Europe.

After the defeat of Napoleon, European rulers moved to restore much of the old order. This was the goal of the great powers - Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia - when the Congress of Vienna met in September 1814 to arrange a final peace settlement. Led by the Austrian foreign minister, Prince Klemens von Metternich who claimed that he was guided by the principle of legitimacy. This meant that the lawful monarchs were returned to their power. Ignored it. The great powers all grabbed land to add to their states.

-The peace arrangements worked out at the Congress of Vienna were a victory for conservative rulers, who wanted to contain the forces of change unleashed by the French Revolution. Believed in conservatism. Favored obedience to political authority and believed that organized religion was crucial to order in society. Monarchs, landowning aristocrats, government bureaucracies supported it.

• End of the Old Regime - Immediate • Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted. • First Constitution was written. • Execution of the Monarch - Immediate • Reign of Terror - Immediate • Rise of Napoleon - Immediate • Napoleonic Code was written and French public schools were built. • War with other European nations - Immediate

• Decline in French Power - Long Term • Conservative Reaction - Long Term • Growth of Nationalism - Long Term • Revolutions in Latin America- Long Term • Spread of Enlightenment Ideas - Long Term