Ch 20: The Revolution in Politics
Background
to Revolution
· Numerous factors account for revolution
o Deep social changes, long term political crisis that
eroded monarchial legitimacy, impact of new political ideas from ENLT,
financial crisis by France’s wars
Legal Orders and Social
Reality
· 3 Estates: The three legal categories, or orders, of
France’s inhabitants: the clergy, the nobility, and everyone else
o 1st estate: Clergy
§ 100,000
§ Had important privileges
§ Owned 10% of land
§ Paid a voluntary gift rather than regular taxes
§ Levied a property tax (tithe) on landowners
o 2nd Estate: Nobles
§ 400,000
§ Descendents of those who fought in Middle Ages
§ Owned 25% of land
§ Lightly taxed
§ Enjoyed certain manorial rights/privileges of lordship
· Rights to hunt and fish, monopolies on baking bread,
etc.
§ Honorific privileges
· Wear swords
· Proclaimed nobility’s legal superiority and exalted
social position
o 3rd Estate: Everyone else
§ 98% of population
§ Legally members, not socially
§ A few commoners were well educated and rich, and might
purchase manorial rights (merchants, lawyers)
§ Vast majority of 3rd estate consisted of
peasants, rural agricultural workers, urban artisans, and unskilled day
laborers
§ Conglomeration of very different social groups united
only by their shared legal status
· Historians focused on growing tensions between
nobility and comfortable members of 3rd class, bourgeoisie
(upper-middle class)
o Bourgeoisie increasing in size, wealth, culture, and
self confidence
o Exasperated by feudal laws restraining economy and
pretensions of a nobility that was closing ranks against middle class aspirations
o Bourgeoisie rose up to lead entire 3rd
estate into great social revolution that destroyed feudal privileges and
established a capitalist order based on individualism and a market economy
· New view: questioned existence of growing social
conflict between bourgeoisie and reactionary feudal nobility
· See both bourgeoisie and nobility as highly
fragmented, riddled with internal rivalries
o 2nd estate: nobility
§ Sword nobility: descended from oldest noble families,
separated by differences in wealth, education, and worldview\
§ Robe nobility: people who acquired noble titles
through service in the royal administration and judiciary
o 3rd Estate: Bourgeoisie
§ Wealthy financers
§ Local lawyers
· Nobility and bourgeoisie formed two parallel social
ladders increasingly linked together at the top by wealth, marriage, and ENLT
culture
o Nobility and Bourgeoisie were not at odds in the
economic sphere
§ Investment in land and government service were
preferred activities of both groups
§ Ideal of merchant capitalist was to gain enough wealth
to retire from trade, purchase an estate, and live nobly as a large landowner
o Wealthy members of 3rd estate could move
into 2nd estate by serving gov or purchasing noble positions
o Wealthy nobles often acted as aggressive capitalists,
investing especially in mining, metallurgy, foreign trade
o Key sections of nobility were liberal and generally
joined bourgeoisie in opposition to government
· Bourgeoisie and nobility were not locked in growing
conflict
· Old Regime ceased to correspond with social reality
o Legally, society was still based on rigid orders
inherited from Middle Ages, but in reality those distinctions were often
blurred
· Upper echelon (level) of aristocratic and bourgeois
notables saw itself as an educated elite that stood well above the common
masses
o Society’s upper crust was frustrated by a bureaucratic
monarchy that continued to claim the right to absolute power
· France’s laboring poor were still struggling
The Crisis of Political
Legitimacy
· Overlying social changes was a structural deadlock in
France’s tax system and century long political and fiscal (economic) struggle
between the monarchy and its opponents sparked by expenses of foreign wars
· Louis XIV was succeeded by Louis XV and system of absolutist rule was questioned
o Duke of
Orleans: Number of institutions
retrieved powers they had lost under Louis XIV
o High courts of France, parlements, regained ancient
right to evaluate royal decrees publicly in writing before being passed
o Restoration of right was a fateful step: magistrates
of parlements were leaders of the robe nobility who passed their judicial offices
from father to son
§ Well entrenched/highly articulate branch to evaluate
king’s decrees was a counterweight to absolute power
· Heavy expenses of war proved unbearable for the state
treasury
o Many privileged groups escaped direct taxes
o Revenue from taxes could not meet expense of war
o War of Austrian Succession à Plunged France into financial crisis and pushed state
to attempt a reform of tax system
§ Louis XV’s finance minister decreed a 5% income tax on
every individual regardless of social status
§ Vigorous protest from those previously exempt from
taxes
· Clergy, nobility, towns, wealthy bourgeoisie, led by
PLMT of Paris
§ New tax was dropped
o 7YW à gov tried to maintain emergency taxes after the war ended
§ PLMT of Paris protested and challenged royal
authority, claiming king’s power had to be limited to protect liberty
§ Gov withdrew taxes
§ Judicial opposition asserted that the king could not
levy taxes without the consent of the PLMT of Paris
· After years of attempted compromise, Louis XV roused
himself to defend his absolutist inheritance
o “In my person only does the sovereign power rest”
o Appointed Rene
de Maupeou, tough career official, as chancellor and ordered him to crush
the judicial opposition
§ Abolished existing parlements
§ Exiled vociferous members of PLMT of Paris to
provinces
§ Created new and docile parlements of royal officials,
known as Maupeou parlements, and began to tax privileged groups
o Public opinion sided with old parlements
o Widespread criticism of “Royal despotism”
· King found people turning against him for moral
reasons as well
o Louis XV broke tradition by choosing mistress not from
court nobility -- took Madame de
Pompadour, daughter of disgraced bourgeois financer
§ She exercised tremendous influence (literature, art),
and used patronage to support Voltaire
§ Exercised considerable influence over king
§ Her low birth and hidden political influence generated
a stream of resentful and illegal pamphleteering
· King sunk lower in immorality
o Stream of scandalmongers depicted pornographic
pictures of court
o Ate away at foundations of royal authority, especially
among common people
o King was being stripped of sacred aura of God’s
anointed on earth and was being reinvented as a degenerate
· Power of monarchy was still strong enough to overcome
opposition
o Louis XV died, so we don’t know what if he would’ve
succeeded
· Louis XVI succeeded
o Wanted to do things that would make him loved, eager
to please
o Yielded in face of vehement opposition from France’s
educated elite
o Dismissed Maupeou and repudiated strong willed
minster’s work
o Dismissed Turgot when his attempts to liberalize
economy drew fire
o Weakened but unreformed monarchy faced judicial
opposition that claimed to speak for entire French nation
Financial Crisis
· French had imminent origins from king’s financial
difficulties
· Thwarted by PLMT of Paris to raise revenues by
reforming tax system, gov was forced to finance all of its enormous
expenditures during Am. War with borrowed money
· National debt and annual budget deficit soared
· 50% of annual budget went to paying debt, 25% to
military, 6% absorbed by king, less than 20% for productive functions of state
· Impossible financial situation
· King was too weak to declare partial bankruptcy and
forcing his creditors to accept reduced payments
· King and ministers could not print money and create
inflation to cover deficits
· France had no central bank, paper currency,, or means
of creating credit
· Royal gov had no choice but to try to increase taxes
o France’s tax system was unfair and out of date, so
only reform would allow for increased revenues
· Louis XVI’s minister of finance revived old proposals
to impose a general tax on all land property as well as to form provincial
assemblies to help administer the tax
· Convinced king to call Assembly of Notables to gain
support for the idea
o Notables were mainly important noblemen and high
ranking clergy
o Insisted that a sweeping tax required approval of
Estates General
§ Representative body of all 3 estates, which had not
met since 1614
§ A legislative body in prerevolutionary France made up
of representatives of each of the three estates
· Attempting to reassert authority, king dismissed
notables and established new taxes by decree
· Judges of PLMT of Paris declared royal initiative null
· King tried to exile judges, tremendous protest swept
country
· Investors refused to advance more loans to state
· Louis XVI bowed to public opinion and called Estates
General
Politics and the People
· Calling Estates General caused a Pandora’s box of
social and political demands to open
o French was politicized like never before
§ Electing delegates, forming grievances
· Delegates struggled over who truly represented France,
and common people took matters into their own hands – they rose above noble
lords and reached out to royal families to demand for change
· Complex slave society of Saint-Domingue was rocked by
political aspirations inspired by events in Paris
The Formation of the National
Assembly
· Once Louis XVI called Estates General, the 3 estates
separately elected delegates in each district and prepared their own lists of
grievances
· Drafting complaints unleashed a flood of debate and
discussion across France, helping galvanize public opinion and demands for
reform
· Results of elections reveal political loyalties
o Local assemblies of clergy elected mostly parish
priests, rather than church leaders à clergy was dissatisfied with church hierarchy
o Nobility voted for conservatives from provinces where
nobles were less wealthy and more numerous
o 3rd Estate experienced great popular
participation in elections, almost all male commoners over 24 had the right to
vote, and they elected primarily lawyers and gov officials to represent them,
with few delegates representing business or poor
· Though elected reps had differing political
viewpoints, petitions were change were surprisingly similar
o Agreement that royal absolutism should give way to
constitutional monarchy in which laws and taxes would require consent of
Estates General in regular meetings
o All agreed that individual liberties would have to be
guaranteed by law, and that economic regulations should be loosened
· Delegates paraded through streets of Versailles, hopes
were high for reform in cooperation with king
· Estates General was deadlocked due to arguments about
voting procedures
o Gov confirmed that each estate should meet and vote
separately
o Critics denounced situation and demanded a single
assembly dominated by 3rd state to ensure reforms
§ Emmanuel
Joseph Sieyes: What is the Third Estate? Argued that nobility was a tiny overprivileged
minority, and the neglected 3rd estate was true strength of French
nation
· Gov conceded that 3rd estate could have as
many delegates as clergy and nobility combined, but rendered this act
meaningless by upholding voting by separate order
· Delegates of 3rd estate refused to transact
any business until king ordered clergy and nobility to sit with them in a
single body
· After 6 weeks, parish priests began to go over to 3rd
estate, which called itself the National Assembly
· Delegates of 3rd estate went to Tennis
Court to sweat Oath of Tennis Court
o National Assembly has been called to establish
constitution of realm, bring about regeneration of public order, and to
maintain true principles of monarchy
o Nothing may prevent it from continuing its
deliberations in any place
o National Assembly exists wherever its members are
gathered
· Members of National Assembly pledged not to disband
until they had written a new constitution
· King’s response was disastrously ambivalent
o Made a conciliatory speech to a joint session where he
urged reforms, and 4 days later, he ordered 3 estates to meet together
o At same time, he followed advice of relatives and
court nobles who urged him to dissolve National Assembly by force
o Asserted his divine right to rule, and called an army
of 18,000 troops toward the capital
o Dismissed financial minister and other liberal
ministers
o Appeared that the monarchy was prepared to renege on
its promises for reform and use violence to restore control
The Storming of the Bastille
· Economic hardship gripped common people
o Poor grain harvests caused prices to soar
§ Economic depression
o Demand for manufactured goods collapsed
§ Artisans and small traders were thrown out of work
o Bread riots broke out
· People believed they should have steady work and
enough bread at fair prices to survive
· Feared dismissal of moderate finance minister would
put them at mercy of aristocratic landowners and grain speculators
· Massing of troops near Paris à it seemed royal gov was prepared to use violence to
impose order
· Angry crowds formed, passionate voices urged action
· Several hundred people marched to Bastille to search
for weapons and gunpowder
· Bastille: royal prison guarded by soldiers
· Governor of fortress refused to hand over
weapons/gunpowder, out of panic he ordered his men to fight back
· Prison surrendered, killed governor
· Marquis de
Lafayette: citizen appointed
commander of city’s armed forces
· Bastille
forestalled king’s attempt to reassert authority
· Louis announced reinstatement of liberal finance
minister and withdrawal of troops from Paris
· National Assembly was not free to continue its work
without threat of military intervention
Peasant Revolt and the Rights
of Man
· Struggling French peasantry reached boiling point as
well as laboring poor of Paris
· Countryside sent delegates at Versailles a message
o Peasants began to rise in insurrection against lords,
ransacking manor houses and burning feudal documents that recorded their
obligations
o Reinstated traditional village practices, undoing recent
things
· Great Fear: The fear of noble reprisals against
peasant uprisings that seized the French countryside and led to further revolt
o Peasants were afraid of retaliations from nobles
· Nobles were faced with chaos, but unable to call king
to restore order
· Liberal nobles and middle class delegates did a
surprise maneuver
o Duke of
Aiguillon: Powerful noble landowner,
urged equality in taxation and elimination of feudal dues
o Old noble privileges were abolished along with tithes
paid to church
o French peasantry achieved an unprecedented victory
o Sought to protect and consolidate their triumph
· After granting peasants new rights, National Assemly
moved on to reform
o Issued Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen
§ Men are born and remain equal in rights
§ Mankind’s natural rights are liberty, property,
security, and resistance to oppression
§ Every man is innocent until proven guilty
§ All citizens have right to have a say
§ Free expression – freedom of speech, press, writing
§ Equality before law, a representative gov for a
sovereign people, and individual freedom
§ Disseminated throughout France and Europe
Parisian Women March on
Versailles
· National Assembly’s declaration had little practical
affect for poor and hungry of paris
· Revolutionary spirit continued to smolder
· Economic crisis in city worsened after fall of
Bastille because aristocrats fled country and luxury market collapsed
· Foreign markets shrank and unemployment for urban
working class grew
· Women couldn’t look to church (stripped of tithes) for
help
· 7,000 desperate women marched from Paris to Versailles
to demand action
o Armed with scythes, sticks, pikes, invaded National
Assembly
o Invaded Versailles and searched for Marie Antoinette
to kill her
o Intervention of Lafayette and Royal Guard saved royal
family
o Forced king to live closer to his people in Paris
A Constitutional Monarchy and
Its Challenges
· National Assembly followed king to Paris
· Saw consolidation of liberal revolution
· Under middle-class leadership, National Assembly
abolished French nobility as legal order and pushed for a constitutional
monarchy, which Louis XVI reluctantly agreed to accept
· King remained head of state, but all lawmaking power
now resided in National Assembly, elected by wealthiest half of French males
· New laws broadened women’s rights to seek divorce,
inherit property, and obtain financial support for illegitimate children from
fathers, but women couldn’t hold office or vote
· Some believed rights of man should be extended to all
French citizens
o Marquis de
Condorcet: Accused legislators of
violating principle of equality by depriving half of mankind to participate in
law
o Olympe de
Gouges: Protested slavery and
injustices to women in her writing, Declaration
of the Rights of Woman, and challenged revolutionaries to respect ideals of
Rights of Man. Demanded both sexes be equally admissible to all public offices,
jobs, just according to ability
· Arguments for women’s equality found little sympathy
among leaders of the Revolution
o One rev journal editor said women should be allowed to
speak in assemblies, but not vote or serve as reps because the house should
never be deserted. A mother can’t abandon her domestic duties
o Represented opinions of vast majority of legislators
and ordinary Frenchmen
· National Assembly replaced complicated patchwork of
provinces with 83 departments of approx equal size
o Monopolies, gilds, workers’ associations prohibited
o Barriers to trade within France in the name of
economic liberty
· National Assembly applied spirit of ENLT in a reform
of France’s laws and institutions
· National Assembly imposed radical reorganization of
country’s religious life
o Religious freedom of French Jews and Prots
o Nationalized Catholic Church’s property and abolished
monasteries as useless relics
o Gov used all former church property in attempt to put
state’s finances on solid footing
§ Used all former church property as collateral to guarantee
a new paper currency, assignats
§ Peasants eventually purchased much when it was
subdivided
§ Purchases strengthened their attachment to new rev
order in countryside
· Delegates distrusted popular piety and superstitious
religion from ENTL influence
o Established a national church with priests chosen by
voters
o National Assembly forced Catholic clergy to take
loyalty oath to the new gov
o Pope formally condemned attempt to subdue church, and
only half the priests swore the oath
o Many pious Christians were upset
o Sharpened conflict between educated classes and common
people
Revolutionary Aspirations in
Saint-Domingue
· Saint-Domingue: most profitable of French colonies
· Had social tensions
o Variety of social groups who resented and mistrusted
one another
o European population: French colonial officials,
wealthy plantation owners, merchants, poor immigrants
o Greatly outnumbering whites, were slaves, and some
free people of mixed descent (free coloreds)
· Code Noir
o Set parameters of slavery
o Granted free people of color same legal status of
whites
· Colonial administrators began rescinding these rights,
and soon free coloreds were ruled by discriminatory laws
· White planters eagerly welcomed laws, strict color
line defended practice of slavery
· French rev ideals of equality, fraternity, liberty raised
new possibilities for each gropu
o Slaves: Hopes that mother country would grant them
freedom
o Free coloreds: To regain political and legal rights,
getting suffrage, or reasserting equal status with whites
o White elite: Infuriated by talk of abolition,
determined to keep their way of life, saw rep gov as way to gain control of
their own affairs like Am colonies
· National Assembly frustrates hopes of all the groups
o Cowed by colonial reps who claimed support of free
coloreds would result in slave insurrection
o Refused to extend French constitutional safeguards to
colonies
o Ruled that each colony would draft its own
constitution, with free rein over decisions on slavery and suffrage
o Also reaffirmed French monopolies over colonial trade,
and angered planters
· Vincent Oge: Free coloreds who wanted to redress issues, raised
army and sent letters to Provincial Assembly of Saint-Domingue demanding
political rights for all free citizens
o Army defeated
o Tortured and executed
· National Assembly granted political rights to free
coloreds born to 2 free parents with property to respond to what they thought
was partially justified grievances
· White elite was furious, and colonial gov refused to
enact it
· Violence erupted between whites and free coloreds
· Liberal revolution failed to satisfy contradictory
ambitions of colony
World War and Republican
France, 1791-1799
· Louis XVI accepted final version of National
Assembly’s constitution
· Maximilien
Robespierre concluded that Rev is
over
o Most constructive and lasting reforms were in place,
but a much more radical stage lay ahead
o New heroes and ideologies
Foreign Reactions to the
Revolution
· Great Britain
o Hoped French example would lead to a fundamental
reordering of PLMT, in hands of aristocracy
§ Mary
Wollstonecraft: Wanted to be indep in
a society that expected her to be an obedient wife, struggled to earn living as
governess, Wrote Vindication of the
Rights of Man, and Rights of Woman.
o Conservatives, Edmund
Burke, were troubled by spirit of reform
§ Defended inherited privileges of people and English
monarchy
§ Glorified unrepresentative PLMT
§ Said reform like France’s would lead to despotism
o Mary
Wollstonecraft: Wanted to be indep in
a society that expected her to be an obedient wife, struggled to earn living as
governess, Wrote Vindication of the
Rights of Man, and Rights of Woman.
§ Equal rights for women
§ Coeducation would make women better (economically
indep, better citizens, wives, mothers)
§ Women could do things if men gave them the chance
(manage business, enter politics)
§ Inspired by French Rev
· Kings and Nobles of continental Europe first saw Rev
as weakening a competing power, now felt threatened
· Louis XVI tried to flee, failed
o Proof king’s supposed acceptance of constitution was a
sham, and he was a traitor intent on procuring foreign support for an invasion
of France
· Monarchs of Austria and Prussia issued Declaration of
Pillnitz: Rulers’ willingness to intervene in France to restore Louis XVI’s
monarchial rule if necessary
o Wanted to sober France w/o causing war
· New rep body, Legislative Assembly had new
delegates/character
o Majority of delegates were still well-educated middle
class men
o Younger, less cautious
o Many belonged to Jacobin club: where ppl used to
debate on politics
The Outbreak of War
· New reps were angry over Pillnitz
· Wanted to retaliate and make monarchs tremble on their
thrones
· Robespierre and very few others argued that ppl would
not welcome liberation at point of a gun
· They were pushed aside
· France declared war on Francis II, Habsburg monarch
· Went badly at first
o Prussians joined Austrians in the First Coalition,
which made French flee
o Road to Paris lay open
· Assembly declared country in danger, volunteers
rallied to capital
· Rumors of treason from king and queen spread
o Crowd attacked palace and fled to Legislative Assembly
· Assembly suspended king from all functions, imprisoned
him, and called for a new National Convention to be elected by male suffrage
· Monarchy in France was on its deathbed
The Second Revolution
· Fall of monarchy marked rapid radicalization of Rev:
Second Revolution
o Second phase of French Rev, where fall of French
monarchy introduced a rapid radicalization of politics
· After Louis XVI was imprisoned, September Massacres
occurred
· Stories of imprisoned counter-rev aristocrats and
priests were plotting w/ allied invaders seized city
o Angry crowds invaded prisons of Paris and slaughtered
half the men
· New popularly elected National Convention proclaimed
France a republic, a nation where the people hold sovereign power
· All members of National Convention were republicans
o Almost all belonged to Jacobin club at first
o Divided into Girondists, and Mountain, led by
Robespierre and Georges Jacques Danton
o People floated between rival factions
o Division occurred after Louis XVI was convicted of
treason
§ Girondists: don’t want to kill him, but he is guilty,
moderate
§ Mountain: Led by RP, Want to kill Louis XVI, and did, seized
legislative power
· Girondists and Mountain were determined to carry on
war against tyranny
· Prussians stopped at Battle of Valmy
· French armies invaded Savoy and captured Nice, and
occupied entire Austrian Netherlands
· French armies chased princes, abolished feudalism,
found support among peasants and middle class
· Lived off land, requisitioned food and supplies, and
plundered local treasures
o Looked like foreign invaders
o International tensions mounted
· National Convention at war with Austria Prussia, and
declared war on Britain, Holland, and Spain
· Republican France was not at war with almost all of
Europe
· Groups within France added to turmoil
o Peasants in w. France revolted against being drafted
to army
o Vendee region was epicenter
o Devout Catholics, royalists, and foreign agents
encouraged rebellion
o Counter revolutionaries recruited armies to fight for
their cause
· National Convention was locked in a life and death
political struggle between Mountain and Girondists
o Radicals accused Girondists of inciting sedition
o Laboring poor of Paris was decisive factor: sans
culottes, military radicals
§ Demanded radical political action to guarantee daily
bread
o Mountain joined with sans-culottes and engineered a
popular uprising
o Armed sans-culottes invaded Convention and forced
deputies to arrest Girondists for treason
o All power passed to Mountain
· Convention formed Committee of Public Safety to deal
with threats in and out of France
o
Led by Robespierre
o Given dictatorial power to deal with national
emergency
o Moderates in provinces revolted against committee’s
power and demanded a decentralized gov
o Counter-rev forces in Vendee won significant
victories, and republic’s armies were driven back
o Only areas around Paris and eastern frontier were
firmly held by central gov
Total War and the Terror
· Central gov reasserted power on provinces
· Austrian Netherlands and Rhineland were in hands of
French armies, and First Coalition was falling apart
· Due to success of French gov in harnessing forces of
planned economy, revolutionary terror, and modern nationalism in a total war
effort
· CPS and Robespierre claimed to speak “general will”
for all people, and sought to impose republican unity across nation, on pain of
death
o Collaborated with patriotic/democratic sans-culottes
o They wanted fair prices and moral economic order, and
distrusted wealthy capitalists and aristocrats
o Robespierre established planned economy with
egalitarian social overtones
§ Gov set maximum allowable prices for key products
§ Fixed price of bread in Paris at levels ppl could
afford
§ Rationing introduced
§ Make only “bread of equality”
· People worked to produce arms and munitions for war
effort
o Gov told craftsmen what to produce
o Took raw material and grain
· Embryonic (new) Socialism frightened Europe’s
propertied classes
· Reign of Terror helped republican unity
o Period where RP and CS tried and executed thousands
suspected of treason and a new revolutionary culture was imposed
o Courts tied to CPS tried enemies of nation and killed
them
o Political weapon against those supposed of opposing
rev gov
o Robespierre thought it was a necessary measure to save
republic France
o Most thought it was a perversion to generous ideals of
1789
o France had replaced weak king with bloody dictatorship
· Jacobins took actions to suppress women’s
participation in political debate
o Unusual, women should be at home
o Prohibited clubs of women
o Banned women against counter rev – bad idea
o Executed Olympe de Gouges
· Imposing political unity by force
· Wanted to transform French citizens into true
republican patriots by bringing Rev into all aspects of everyday life
o Sponsored rev art/songs/holidays/festivals to
celebrate republican virtue and love of nation
o New calendar
o New system of weights and measures
o Dechristianization: aimed to eliminate Catholic
symbols and beliefs
§ Campaign to eliminate Christian faith and practice in
France undertaken by the revolutionary government
§ Churches sold, clerics humiliated, statues destroyed
§ RP halted dechristianization fearing hostility
· Drew on patriotic dedication to a national state and
mission to win over First Coalition
o Common language and common tradition new to France
o Large number of people stirred by a common loyalty
o Saw it as a struggle between life and death
o Everyone participated in national struggle
· All out mobilization of French resources under Terror
and fervor of modern nationalism created an awesome fighting machine
· All unmarried men subject to draft, and 800,000
soldiers active in 14 armies – outnumbered enemies, never seen before in European
history
· Rev gov used this army to combat internal and external
force
· Resistance from Vendee rebels couldn’t withstand
forces of republic
· Well trained, equipped, and indoctrinated, army
republic was led by impetuous generals
o Risen from ranks and personified opportunities
Revolution offered gifted sons of the people
o Used mass assaults to overwhelm enemy
· French republican army was victorious on all fronts
Revolution in Saint-Domingue
· 2nd stage of rev in Saint Domingue resulted
from decisive action from below
· Slaves took events into their own hands
o Series of nighttime meetings to plan mass insurrection
o Religious ceremonies where participants made ritual
offerings and swore a sacred oath of secrecy and revenge
o African culture and ENLT ideals played role in Saint
Domingue rev
· Revolts began on plantations
o Swept to northern plain
o 2,000 slave army
o Destroyed hundreds of plantations
· National Assembly issued a decree enfranchising all
free blacks and free people of color
o Hoped it would win loyalty of free blacks and aid in
defeating slave rebellion
· Eruopean warfare spread to Saint Domingue
· Spanish neighboring Saint Domingue supported rebel
slaves and began to bring slave leaders and their soldiers into the Spanish
army
· Toussaint
L’Ouverture: freed slave who joined
revolt, was named Spanish officer
· British navy blockaded colony, and captured French
territory
· For French and Spanish, rev chaos was an opportunity
to capture a profitable colony
· Commissioners sent by newly elected National
Convention promised freedom to slaves who fought for France
· Abolished slavery
· Convention ratified abolition of slavery and extended
it to all French territories
· L’Ouverture switched sides
· French gradually regained control of colony
· Named commander of Saint-Domingue
The Thermidorian Reaction and
the Directory
· Success of French armies led RP and CPS to relax
emergency economic controls
· Extended political Reign of Terror
o Wiped out his critics
o Group of radicals and moderates, fearing for their
lives, organized conspiracy
§ Howled down RP and killed him
§ Thermidorian Reaction: Reaction to violence of Reign
of Terror, resulting in execution of RP, and loosening of economic controls
· Recalled early days of Rev
o Middle lass lawyers and professionals reasserted
authority, drawing support from their own class, provinces, and well off
peasants
· National Convention abolished many economic controls,
let prices rise sharply, and severely restricted local political organizations
in which sans-culottes had strength
· Collapse of economic controls and inflation hit
working poor hard
· Convention used army to suppress sans-culottes’
protests
· Urban poor lost revolutionary fervor
· Excluded, disillusioned – had little influence on
politics until later
· Poor of countryside turned towards religion as relief
from earthly cares
· Rural women brought back Catholic church and open
worship of God as gov began to soften antireligion stance
· Middle Class of National Convention wrote another
constitution
o Believed it would guarantee their economic position
and political supremacy
o Mass of populations voted for electors
o Electors elected members of legislative assembly and
key officials of France
· New Assembly chose 5 man executive Directory
o Continued to support French military expansion abroad
o War was a means to meet economic problems
§ French armies could live off territories they
conquered rather than be unemployed
o French people disgusted with war and food rationing,
grew weary of unprincipled actions of Directory
o General elections proved dissatisfaction returned
conservative people who favored peace
o Members of Directory used army to nullify elections
and began to govern dictatorially
· Napoleon Bonaparte ended Directory in coup d’état and
substituted a strong dictatorship for a weak one
· Efforts to reestablish a stable representative government
had failed
The Napoleonic Era
1799-1815
· Napoleon
Bonaparte: Realized the need to put
an end to civil strife in France to create unity and consolidate his rule,
glory of war and dream of universal empire proved irresistible, he spiraled
from victory to victory, then ended by a mighty coalition
Napoleon’s Rule of France
· Born in Corsica to impoverished noble family
· Became lieutenant, became a dedicated revolutionary
· Rose rapidly in new army, placed in command of French
forces in Italy
· Won victories, but lost in Egypt
o Returned to France before fiasco was known and
reputation remained intact
· Napoleon learned ppl were plotting against Directory
o Dissatisfaction from Directory as a weak dictatorship
o Years of uncertainty and upheaval made firm rule more
appealing than liberty or popular politics
o Sieyes changed from wanting universal suffrage to: Confidence
from below, authority from above
· Sieyes wanted a strong military ruler, like others in
his group
o Napoleon was ideal
· Conspirators and Napoleon organized a take over
o Ousted Directors, disbanded legislature at bayonet
point
· Napoleon named first consul of republic, and a new
constitution consolidating his position was overwhelmingly approved by plebs
(lowerish classes)
· Republican façade was maintained, but in reality
Napoleon was ruler of France
· NAP used popularity and charisma to maintain order
o Unwritten agreements w/ powerful groups in France
where groups got favors for loyal service
o Napoleonic Code: Written bargain with middle class,
reasserted 2 fundamental principles of Rev
§ Equality of all male citizens before the law
§ Absolute security of wealth and private property
· Established privately owned Bank of France, which
loyally served interests of state and financial oligarchy
· Peasants appeased when Napoleon defended gains in land
and status they gained in Rev
· Built on bureaucracy inherited from the Revolution and
Old Regime to create a centralized state
· Consolidated rule by recruiting disillusioned revolutionaries
for ministers, prefects, and mayors that depended on him
· Only former revolutionaries who leaned too far to
left/right were pushed away
· NAP granted amnesty to 100,000 émigrés (fleeing old
nobility) on the condition that they return to France and take a loyalty oath
· Many old nobility were granted high posts
· New imperial nobility to reward his most talented
generals and officials
· Tried to heal Catholic Church so it could serve as
bulwark (defense) for social stability
o Concordat of 1801
§ Pope gained right for French Catholics to practice religion
freely, NAP nominated bishops, paid the clergy, and exerted great influence
over church in France
· Domestic reforms were NAP’s greatest achievement
o Legal and administrative reorganization still used in
France
o Gave great majority of French ppl a welcome sense of
stability and national unity
· Order and unity had a price: authoritarian rule
o Women lost many gains concerning political
o Under NAP code, they were subject and dependent to
father or husband
o NAP aimed at reestablishing family monarchy where
power of father or husband was over wife and children
· Freedom of speech and press were violated
o 4 newspapers left, and they were used as propaganda
for gov
· Occasional elections were farce
· Penalties for political offenses
· People watched carefully under spy system (Like RP)
o People doing suspected subversive activities were
detained/house arrest/insane asylums
Napoleon’s Expansion in
Europe
· Above all, NAP was a great military man
· Sent peace feelers to Austria and Great Britain,
remaining members of 2nd Coalition
· These peace offers were rejected à NAP led French armies to defeat Austrians
· Treaty of Luneville: Austria accepted loss of almost
all Italian possessions, German territory and Rhine was included
· Treaty of Amines: Great Brit allowed France to control
Holland, Austrian Netherlands, and west bank of Rhine, and most of Italian
peninsula
o Diplomatic triumph for Napoleon
o Peace, honor, and profit increased his popularity at
home
· NAP wanted to expand power
· Redrew German map to weaken Austria and encourage SW
Germans to side w/ France
· Tried to restrict Brit trade w/ all of Europe
o Plotted to attack Great Brit, but Lord Nelson beat his
fleet at Battle of Trafalgar
o Invasion of England was impossible
· NAP proclaimed emperor
· Austria, Russia, Sweden joined Brit to form 3rd
Coalition against France after Trafalgar
o Alexander I of Russia and Francis
II of Austria that Napoleon was threat to their interests and to European
balance of power once NAP took the crown
o No match for NAP, who won at Austerlitz
o Alex I decided to pull back and accepted large
territorial loss for peace
o 3rd Coalition collapsed
· NAP reorganized German states to his liking
o Abolished tiny German states and ancient HRE as
established by German Confederation of Rhine
o Named himself “protector” of confederation
o Controlled western Germany
· NAP’s intervention in German affairs alarmed
Prussians, who mobilized armies
o NAP won at Jena and Auerstadt
o Prussia and Austria came together and war continued
o NAP won again
o Alex was ready to negotiate
§ Treaty of Tilsit
· Prussia lost ½ of population
· Russia accepted NAP’s reorganization of western and
central Europe, and promised to enforce NAP’s economic blockade against Brit
goods
The War of Haitian
Independence
· NAP was forced to accept defeat overseas
· Toussaint L’Ouverture acted independent ruler of Saint
Domingue
· Andre Rigaud: set up his own gov in southern peninsula
· L’Ouverture and Rigaud maintained policies of
requiring former slaves to continue work
o Thought reconstructing plantation economy was crucial
to maintaining their military and political victories, and suppressed
resistance
· Tensions between L’Ouverture and Rigaud
o L’Ouverture was freed slave, Ringaud was free colored
elite
o Free colored elite resented growing power of former
slaves
o Former slaves accused free coloreds of adopting racism
of white settlers
o Civil war between two sides
· L’Ouverture’s side led by Jean Jacques “Jean Jacket” Dessalines
o Victory over Ringaud
o L’Ouverture got control of entire colony
· Victory challenged by NAP, who wanted to use profits
from colony plantations for expanding French power
· NAP’s New constitution opened way for reestablishment
of slavery
· In response, Saint Domingue colonial assembly drafted
its own constitution and reaffirmed abolition of slavery and granted
L’Ouverture governorship for life
· NAP viewed this as a seditious act
o Sent brother in law General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc to lead expedition to crush
new regime
o L’Ouverture cooperated with French and turned army
over to him, but was arrested, and deported to France
· Jean Jacket united resistance under command and led a
crushing victory over French
· Jean Jacket formally declared independence of Saint
Domingue and creation of sovereign Haiti
· ThomJeff refused to recognize – rev ideals of equality
and freedom are below economic stability
The Grand Empire and Its End
· NAP resigned to loss of Saint Domingue but maintained
imperial ambitions
· Saw himself as emperor of Europe, not just France
· Grand Empire: Empire over which Napoleon and his
allies rules, encompassing virtually all of Europe except Great Brit and
Russia, had 3 parts
o 1st part: Core: ever expanding France
o 2nd part: number of dependent satellite
kingdoms on throne which NAP placed members of his family
o 3rd part: Independent but allied states of
Austria, Prussia, and Russia
· Satellites and allies were expected to support NAP’s
Continental System: a blockade in which no ship coming from Brit or her
colonies was allowed to dock at any port controlled by the French
o Intended to halt all trade between Brit and continental
Europe, destroying Brit economy and military force
· Impact of Grand Empire on peoples of Europe was huge
o In places incorporated into France and satellites, NAP
abolished feudal dues and serfdom
§ Some peasants and middle class benefitted
· Nap put prosperity and special interests of France
first to safeguard his power base
o Levied heavy takes in money and men for his armies
o Regarded as a conquering tyrant
o French rule sparked patriotic upheavals
o Encouraged growth of reactive nationalism, for diff
ppl in diff lands learned to identify emotionally with their embattled national
families
· First great revolt in Spain
o Coalition of Catholics, monarchists, patriots rebelled
against NAP’s attempts to make Spain a French satellite
o French armies occupied Madrid, but foes fled to hills
and waged guerrilla warfare (hit and run)
o Spain was a clear warning: resistance to French
imperialism was growing
· NAP pushed on, determined to hold huge empire together
· Brit was at war with French, helping Spanish and Portuguese
· Continental System was a failure
· It was France that suffered from Brit’s counter
blockade, which created hard times for French artisans and middle class
· NAP turned on Alexander I who repudiated NAP’s war of
blocking Brit gods
· NAP invaded Russia
o 1/3 of army was French, draftees were there
o Planned to winter in Smolensk, Russia if Alexander I
didn’t sue for peace
o Reached Smolensk and recklessly pushed on to Moscow
o Battle of Borodino was a draw and Russians retreated
o Alex ordered evacuation of Moscow, Russians burned,
refused to negotiate
o NAP ordered retreat
o Greatest military disasters in history
§ Frozen, hungry, being shot at
· NAP raced to Paris to raise another army
o Couldn’t accept having France restored to historical
size
o Austria’s foreign minister Prince Klemens von Metternich proposed
o Austria and Prussia deserted NAP and joined Russia and
Great Brit in Treaty of Chaumont
o Four powers pledged to defeat NAP
· Patriots called for war of liberation against NAP’s oppression
· NAP abdicated
· Allies granted NAP island of Elba off coast of Italy
as his own tiny state
· NAP was allowed to keep his imperial title, and France
was required to pay him a yearly income of 2 million francs
· Restoration of Bourbon dynasty under Louis XVIII
· Promised to treat France w/ leniency in a peace
settlement
· New monarch tried to consolidate support among people
by issuing Constitutional Charter: Accepted France’s revolutionary changes and
guaranteed civil liberties
· Louis XVIII
o Old, ugly, crippled, lacked magnetism of NAP
· Hearing of political unrest in France, NAP escaped
Elba
o Gained some support, marched on Paris with small band
of followers
o Louis XVIII fled, NAP took command
o Allies were united, and during Hundred days, they
crushed his forces at Waterloo and incarcerated him
o Louis XVIII returned to throne, and allies dealt more
harshly with the apparently incorrigible French
· NAP took revenge by writing memoirs, nurturing myth
that he’d been Europe’s revolutionary liberator, whose work had been undone by
oppressive reactionaries
·
