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UNIT 02: Revolution and the Restoration of Absolutism, image, image, image…
UNIT 02: Revolution and the Restoration of Absolutism
The French Revolution: Liberty,Equality,Fraternity
Difficult times for the monarchy
In the last third of the 18th century under the reign of Louis XVI
France was a model of absolute monarchy ruled under the principles of Enlightment Depotism
Large segments of the population had begun
to criticise the situation
and demand a change of regime
In 1789 the combination of a series of factors triggered the revolution
The liberal ideas of the Enlightment
the had became popular amongst large segments of the population even
amongst the nobility
and clergy
Critiscm of absolutism and the division of society into estates of realm became widespread
as people called for the separation of powers
and equality before the law
The example of United States
Some French people such as the marquess of Lafayette
had fought on the side of the colonists in the American War of Independence
Some of the delegates who had signed the Declaration of Independence such as
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
visited France frequently
Inequality before the law
In line with feudal societies from the Old Regime due to
their estate privileges
noblemen
and clerics
did not pay direct taxes even thought they were the richest members
As part of the third estate the bougeoisie and the peasantry did pay taxes
so they agreed that neither the nobility nor the clergy provided any economic benefit
Economic crisis
After the seven years war France lost possesion in
Canada
India
Africa
This also afected the royal treasury
which was forced to pay huge debths it had taken to finance the war
despite this the court of Versailles did not reduce its spending on luxuries
Political unrest
There was an atmosphere of great political unrest in
Paris
and the rest of France
Many propaganda pamphlets criticising the Old Regime were
distributed
and printed
The King and queen were openly
criticised
discredited
Social Inequalities
The population had grown a lot throughout the 18th century
and farming production could no longer meet the demand for food during poor harvests
Existing social inequalities became more evident many Parisians
went hungry
and had no resources
Phases of the French Revolution
The Estates General
A consultative parliament made up of the three estates to raise taxes especially the rich
National Constituent Assembly
The storming of the Bastille
The Constitution of 1971
which established a division of powers
which included the Declaration of The Right of Man and Citizen
The king thought appearing to accept reforms
he was conspiring against the new regime
by contacting other European absolute monarchies
The Kings conspiracies were discovered and he was detained
The Legislative Assembly
The plain
they were deputies who were in the majority and did not belong to any party
The Girodins
With the second highest number of representatives
they were
moderates
federalists
and supporters of the parliamentary monarchy
The Jacobins
They were radical liberals, centralist and supporters of the republic
Austria and Prussia attacked France and the sans-culottes played an important role in revolutionary activities
The National Convention
had more legislative and executive powers
Louis XVI was removed from the powers and imprisoned
tried and found guilty of treason and guillotined in 1793
A republic was proclaimed in September 1792
The Jacobins took power and "The Terror" was established
Robespierre the leader of the Jacobins was responsible for the execution of thousands of suspected anti revolutionaries
People were tired of the fear and instability of the terror
so the carried a coup d'etat in 1794
This started what was called "The White Terror" against the Jacobins
The Directory
A new more conservative constitution was written
It was where executive power was given to a Directory
which was made up made up of a five-member committee
it faced constant threats from internal and exteranl forces
The continued sense of instability and unrest led to Napoleon carrying out a coup d'etat
The Consulate
Napoleon Bonaparte a French general took power and wrote a new constitution
Napoleon established and empire in 1804 ruling authoritatively
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon's Reforms
He ended some revolutionary achievements such as
the abolition of slavery
and the separation of powers
He established an authoritarian government as he controlled
and legislative powers
and the appointment of judges
the executive
He created a repressive regime
as he persecuted all opposition
this came both from supporters of the Boubon dynasty who wanted to restore it
and from Jacobins and Republicans opposed to authoritariarism and the end of the Republic
He created the French Civil Code
which was the model for subsequent legal codes
he ensured the
equallity of all citizens before the law
prohibited torture
and separated aspects of civil life such as marrige from the control of the Church
The Napoleonic wars
First Phase
Napoleons repeated victories against great absolutist powers
Prussia
Russia
Austria
He also invaded Spain
which was ruled by his brother Jose I
His reign was unstable and he faced a long conflict
In addition the British fleet won the Battle of Trafalgar takin control of the seas
Second Phase
Napoleon tried to conquer Russia but his army was heavily defeated
He briefly regained power but in 1815 the British and their allies finally defated Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo
