French Revolution and Napoleonic Era Study Notes

1. Forms of Government

• Constitutional Monarchy
• Social Republic
• Conservative Republic

Key Assemblies: Constituent and Legislative Assembly

Key Periods: Social Republic and The Directory

2. Napoleonic Europe

• Main Enemy: Great Britain
• Directly Controlled Territories: Italy, Holland, Belgium, Illyrian Provinces, North-West Germany
• Satellite States: Confederation of the Rhine, Spain, Poland, parts of Italy
• Independent Nations: Austria, Russia
• Conflict Zones: Spain
• European Territories: Sardinia and Sicily

3. Napoleonic Timeline

• 1799: Napoleon's coup d'état
• 1804: Napoleon crowned Emperor
• 1815: Napoleon's abdication

4. Education and Labor

• Age range: Between 5 and 12 years old
• Options: Learn a trade, farm work, or study fine arts and sciences

5. The Metric System

Introduced to facilitate the exchange of goods. (Note: Great Britain and USA did not adopt it).

6. Contributions of the French Revolution

• Citizens with rights
• Constitution

7. Models of Liberalism

• Girondins: Census suffrage
• Jacobins: Universal suffrage

8. Definitions

• Liberalism: Political system defending constitutional monarchy, national sovereignty, and census suffrage.
• Nationalism: Movement advocating for nations to become states.
• Absolutism: The king holds absolute power.
• Bourgeoisie: Social group that wanted a liberal regime.
• Sans-culottes: Poor people who supported the Jacobins.
• Republic: Regime without a monarch.

9. Chronology

• 1789: Storming of the Bastille
• 1793: Execution of Louis XVI
• 1815: Defeat of Napoleon
• 1830: Greek independence

10. Key Differences

• Universal vs. Census Suffrage: All citizens vote vs. only wealthy citizens vote.
• National vs. Popular Sovereignty: Wealthy citizens vote vs. all citizens vote.
• Absolutism vs. Liberalism: Without a constitution vs. the state has a constitution.

11. Political Concepts

• Congress of Vienna: A conference where Napoleon's victors met and restored the situation before the French Revolution.
• National Sovereignty: Defended by the bourgeoisie.
• Census Suffrage: Supported by the bourgeoisie because only wealthy people voted.
• Popular Sovereignty: Sovereignty defended by workers.

12. The Reform Act Analysis

• a) Impact: It had little real impact.
• b) Process: A voter elected an MP.
• c) Key Figure: A Whig Prime Minister who enacted the Reform Act.
• d) Voter Statistics: 1831: 366,000; 1832: 650,000.
• e) Secret Ballot: A private vote. Without it, voters could be bribed or intimidated.