French Revolution Take Home Notes

7-3.1 France Vocabulary pg 162-172 Human rights American patriots Tyranny (not in bold, on pg 163) Estates Aristocracy Bourgeoisie Estates General National assembly Declaration of Rights of Man and of Citizen (not in bold, on pg 165) Radical Reign of Terror Directory (not in bold, on pg 168) Coup d’etat Napoleonic Code

7-3.1 Causes of French Revolution 1. Social Division France was divided into 3 estates 1st estate: Catholic Clergy (.5% of population) 2nd estate: Nobles (1.5 % of population) 3rd estate: Commoners (98 % of population)lawyers, merchants, peasants etc. The 3rd estate paid all of the taxes. They had the least money and they were underrepresented in govt

King Louis XVI was not a good leader 2. Debt from the Monarch King Louis XVI was not a good leader Caused debts by helping with the American Revolution Spent lots of money on the Palace of Versailles Charged very high taxes and the banks refused to loan him money

3. Enlightenment Ideas French citizens wanted an equal distribution of power in govt They saw the American colonists get a new govt so they wanted one too They wanted popular sovereignty

7-3.1 Leading to Revolution Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General (legislative group) and requested more taxes The 3rd estate requested that each male citizens vote be counted instead of one vote per estate Their request was denied, they seceded and formed the National Assembly

3rd estate met on the king’s tennis courts and wrote a new constitution called the Tennis Court Oath, it called for representative govt. July 14, 1789 peasants stormed the Bastille, a large prison/armory Peasants stole weapons and tore the prison down as a symbol of Louis’ power

When the Bastille was torn down the French Revolution officially began Riots began throughout France and peasants raided the homes of nobles killing and looting because they were so angry about the unfair estate system

7-3.1 Fall of French Monarch 1791 a constitutional monarchy was created to weaken Louis’ power The Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen said that govt got power from people, Louis didn’t want to accept change and tried to run from France

Louis was put in jail and radical changes began The National Convention took over as the legislature and declared France a republic with universal male suffrage (voting) They created an army to protect the revolution from other European monarchs Louis was put on trial and executed

7-3.1 Reign of Terror The National Convention became a radical group that wanted lots of change and fast Maximilien Robespierre became an influential leader and ran the Committee of Public Safety in mid 1793

Robespierre’s power increased and he became a dictator in France With him began the Reign of Terror Violence grew, anyone who was seen as ‘an enemy of the Revolution’ was executed (mostly nobles) 25,000-40,000 people were executed by the guillotine

National Convention members thought he was too radical, they feared execution Robespierre was executed in July of 1794

7-3.1 Rise of Napoleon After Robespierre was executed the revolution became more conservative 1795-1799 France was ruled by 5 men known as the Directory, they were not very effective leaders A general named Napoleon Bonaparte was becoming popular in the French army

Ended government corruption Improved taxes National bank Napoleon staged a coup d’etat and took over the government becoming First Consul France had been unstable for 10 years, he had a lot of problems to fix He did some good things: Ended government corruption Improved taxes National bank

He wrote a uniform system of laws, the Napoleonic Code In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor He expanded the empire of France and by 1812 he controlled most of Europe

7-3.2 Napoleon’s Fall from Power Napoleonic Wars He sent his armies to conquer countries in Europe He took parts of Spain, Portugal, modern day Germany and Italy At its height his empire stretched from the English Channel to the West and Russia to the East

Blockade of Britain (Continental System-blocking trade) Napoleon was never able to take over Britain and Russia, but he continued to try until his defeat Starting in 1812 Napoleon made 3 big mistakes Blockade of Britain (Continental System-blocking trade) Peninsular War (battles with Spain) Invasion of Russia (winter hit and France couldn’t win)

1814- Napoleon surrendered his throne and was sent to the Island of Elba He escaped and gathered allies to tried to regain power His final defeat was at Waterloo and he was exiled again