FRENCH REVOLUTION

The causes of the Revolution

Social unrest Economic Crisis
The wealthy bourgeoisie Bad harvests caused
wanted to gain political rising prices, which led to
power. widespread hunger and
The Enlightenment
social unrest.
The peasantry could
Louis XVI lost the support of
barely survive due to the The Royal Treasury
the commoners, who felt
numerous taxes they underwent a crisis that his reforms were
had to pay to the Crown, because of overspending ineffective. He also lost the
the Church and the and because the support of the privileged
nobility. privileged groups did not estates, who viewed the
pay taxes. unstoppable advance of
Enlightenment ideas with
suspicion.
The National Assembly (1789)
ESTATES-GENERAL 1789
The King, Louis XVI, called the
Estates-General. He wanted to find a solution
to the economic crisis and he said that he
would address people’s complaints about the
situation of the country.
The dispute over how to meet and vote
triggered the Revolution. The Third Estate had
requested one vote per person.
1st State (Clergy): 1 vote
2nd State (Nobility): 1 vote
3rd State (Commoners): 1 vote - they formed
the National Assembly
The Constituent Assembly (1789 - 1791)
● Storming of the Bastille (14th July 1789): The
Bastille was a fortress and a political prison.
● New reforms:

Abolished feudal rights

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen:

personal liberty, equality before the law and right to
property.

1791 First Constitution of France:

- National sovereignty and fundamental rights of

citizens.
- A parliamentary monarchy with separation of
powers: legislative power was held by the
Assembly, executive power by the king, and
judicial power by independent courts.
- Census suffrage to elect the members of the
Assembly. Only men over the age of 25 and with
a certain level of income could vote.
The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
The nobility and the clergy didn’t want to
lose their privileges

War against other countries (Austria)

Some revolutionary groups wanted more

radical reforms: Jacobins (supported by the
sans-culottes)
The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
Louis XVI tried to run away with his
family (June 1791)

They were captured and the as forced

to sign the Constitution

In August 1792, people from Paris

stormed the Tuileries Palace and the
royal family were imprisoned
The Convention (1792-1794)
The Girondin National Convention
(1792-1793)

- Monarchy was abolished and the

Republic was proclaimed
- Louis XVI was convicted of treason
and executed in 1793
- The European powers declared war
to France (1st Coalition)
The Convention (1792-1794)
The Jacobin National Convention (1793-1794)

- There was a coup and Robespierre and the Jacobins

took power.
- A democratic Constitution was signed in 1793. It
recognised popular sovereignty and universal male
suffrage.

- Robespierre assumed all powers, and established

dictatorship.
- The danger of foreign military invasion and the internal
threat from French opponents of the Revolution served
to justify the period called the Terror: anyone
suspected of not supporting the Republic could be tried
and sentenced to death.
The Convention (1792-1794)
The Jacobin National Convention (1793-1794)

- During the Terror, Marie Antoinette was decapitated

- New calendar
- In 1794, Robespierre lost power and moderate
revolutionaries arrested him. He was also decapitated.
The Directory and the end of the Revolution (1795-1799)
● New moderate government ● Several conspiracies

- The royalists also led revolts to restore the

● New Constitution: Borbón dynasty. Napoleon Bonaparte, head of
- National sovereignty the Paris garrison, stopped this revolt and
- Census suffrage became very popular. Fearing his influence, the
- Separation of powers: legislative power Directory sent him to fight in Italy. There, he
was held by two chambers (Council of Five defeated the First Coalition in 1796. The
European powers formed a Second Coalition,
Hundred and Council of Ancients), and
and, in 1799, the war began again.
executive power was held by a
five-member Directory.
- In November 1799, Napoleon carried out a coup
d'état. A Consulate was created. Power was
exercised by three consuls, Napoleon himself,
Ducos and Sieyès.
Europe under
NAPOLEON
1. the CONSULATE
2. the EMPIRE
The Consulate (1799-1804)
- First consul in 1799
- Consul for life in 1802

He wanted to modernize the country

- He wrote a civil code

- Created the Bank of France
- Signed a Concordat with the Pope
The Empire (1804-1815)
- 1804: hereditary emperor
- Expansionist policy
- He conquered many territories in
Europe : he lost battles (Battle of
Trafalgar 1805) and he also won lots
of battles (Battle of Austerlitz 1805)
- Continental blockade
The Empire (1804-1815)
- 1812 he invaded Russia, which was a huge mistake
- 1813 he was defeated by the Coalition
- 1814 he was exiled into the island of Elba
- He returned for 100 days but was defeated in Waterloo.
- He was finally sent to the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821
 The return of the Old
Regime
Reaction against the Revolution
The Constitutions were abolished
Absolutism was restored
Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)
- Meeting between the great
European powers

- They restored the borders before

Napoleon

- Austria, Prussia and Russia gained

territories

- Holy Alliance (Prussia, Russia and

Austria): defend absolutism

- Quadruple Alliance (UK, Prussia,

Russia and Austria. France in the
end too): keep Louis XVIII in the
throne
LIBERALISM
Political and moral philosophy based
on the rights of individuals, liberty,
political equality, and equality before
the law

It also defended national sovereignty

and separation of powers.
REVOLUTION OF 1820
There were uprisings in several
countries

Spain: the Holy alliance invaded Spain

and they restored absolutism

Greece: they revolted successfully

against the Ottoman Empire and they
gained their independence
REVOLUTION OF 1830
France: the absolutist monarch was
replaced by Louis Philippe of Orleans,
who was more liberal (Parliamentary
monarchy)

There were also other uprisings in some

Italian states, Belgium and Poland
REVOLUTION OF 1848
Known as the Springtime of the
Peoples

France: the king was dethroned

and the Second French Republic
was declared. Louis-Napoleon
Bonaparte became president.

Revolution spread through

Europe. It won’t be a great success
but it will be of great influence in
the next centuries.
NATIONALISM
Definition: ideology based on the premise
that the individual’s loyalty and devotion
to the nation surpass other individual or
group interests.

In the 19th century, people believed that

the state borders should coincide with
religious, ethnic, linguistic and other
boundaries.

Nationalists movements emerged after

the Congress of Vienna. They rejected the
new borders and the national sentiment
grew. Nations exalted their own identity.
 NATIONALISM

Unifying nationalism: unification in a

Divisive nationalism: independence from large single state of territories that are under
control of others.
empires
Unification of Italy
- The Italian peninsula was divided into
several states.
- Italians shared a common language and
history
- It started in 1859 and the main
personalities of the process were king
Vittorio Emanuele II and the
revolutionary leader, Garibaldi.
- In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II became
king of Italy.
- 1870: Rome was occupied and became
the capital.
Unification of Germany
- In 1815, German territory was divided in 39
states
- The Congress of Vienna group them into an
association: the German Confederation.
- 1834 Zollverein (free trade area)
- 1862: King Wilhelm I of Prussia and his Prime
Minister Otto von Bismarck started the
unification.
- They had to fight with Austria for several
territories.
- 1870-1871: war against France. The french
lost and had to cede Alsace and Lorraine to
Germany.
- 1871: the Second Reich was proclaimed.
Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed kaiser.