French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire History

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire

Revolution:

A dramatic change that often includes the fall of a government or the transformation of a social and economic order.

Napoleon Bonaparte:

Military commander who took power in France in 1799 and was emperor from 1804 until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815.

Napoleonic Empire:

Territory conquered and controlled by Napoleon between 1804 and 1815.

The Beginning of the Modern Age

The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 marked the start of the Modern Age.

Before the French Revolution, the enlightened despots failed to make the political, economic, and social changes that Enlightenment thinkers had proposed. These changes were violently imposed by revolutionaries, as reforms had failed.

• A political revolution ended the Ancien Régime in France, leading revolutionaries to implement a number of reforms and establish a new regime.
• In Spain, the events of the French Revolution inspired the first steps towards a new order.
• The revolutionaries transformed the everyday life of the population with new habits and customs.
• Art reflected the political, economic, and social changes of the time.

The new era had a slogan which was: Liberty, equality, and fraternity. The revolutionaries were always prepared to fight. The slogan appeared on French coins.

The Causes of the French Revolution

It was a period of violent political and social change, which saw the abolition of the absolute monarchy and the end of the estates system of the Ancien Régime.

The Influence of the Enlightenment

French intellectuals and the bourgeoisie supported Enlightenment ideas and tried to put them into practice. For example, the idea that everybody was equal under the law.

The Political Crisis

In France, the Estates General (a meeting of representatives of the three estates in France) brought together representatives to advise the king on important issues such as tax increases.

The clergy and the nobility had 300 representatives, and each group had one vote. In contrast, the middle class and the peasantry had 600 representatives and only one vote.

Louis XVI was an absolute monarch and opposed frequent meetings of the Estates General. Thus, the estates couldn't present their demands or try to limit his power.

Clergy and nobility didn't pay taxes, but they voted.

After the French Revolution, there was a more open social structure, allowing for greater social mobility.