Key Events of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era

Legislative Measures of the Constituent Assembly

• Removal of privileges
• Separation of powers, property rights, and Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
• Nationalization of Church property.
• Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
• Establishment of economic liberalism and suppression of guilds.
• Constitution of 1791, which established that sovereignty resided in the nation.

The French Republic and War (1792-1795)

The new assembly, now called the National Convention, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic in 1792. In 1793, the king was executed on charges of treason. That same year, it adopted a democratic constitution. It marked the beginning of the triumph of the Jacobins (radical revolutionaries), supported by the sans-culottes.

The Republic faced opposition from the aristocracy and the Girondins. To control the situation, the regime became a dictatorship where anyone suspected of opposition could be executed. This period, known as the Terror, was led by Robespierre.

The serious economic situation and general fatigue with the rise in executions provoked a coup that toppled the Jacobins, and Robespierre himself was guillotined.

The Directory and Rise of Napoleon (1795-1804)

After the fall of Robespierre, the Thermidorian Convention ruled, which promulgated a new constitution in 1795 that represented the ideals and interests of the moderate bourgeoisie. However, the European powers continued to see France as a danger and continued the war against it.

The Thermidorian Convention was replaced by a Directory that relied on the military, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, who took advantage of his prestige gained from his military victories in Europe and collaborated in the coup of 18 Brumaire. As a result, three consuls took power, and Napoleon became the First Consul.

The Napoleonic Empire (1804-1815)

Napoleon consolidated his power and in 1804 proclaimed himself Emperor. Supported by the army, his major policy actions included:

• Domestic Policy: The Civil Code was elaborated, and education was reformed.
• Foreign Policy: Napoleon extended his empire in Europe but could not defeat Britain, which underwent a Continental Blockade.

Napoleon's troops were defeated in 1813, and Napoleon was exiled, leading to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Napoleon returned to France and regained power in what was called the Hundred Days. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and exiled to the island of Saint Helena.

Consequences of Revolution and Napoleonic Empire

• Disappearance of the social and political structures of the Ancien Régime.
• The King's absolute power was replaced by a constitutional monarchy.
• National sovereignty was recognized.
• The bourgeoisie rose to political power.
• Ideas for Latin American independence began to emerge in the colonies.
• The expansion of French troops encouraged nationalist movements.
• New revolutionary waves swept across Europe in the decades of the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s.