Napoleonic France & French Revolution: 1789-1815

France and Napoleonic Europe: 1799-1815

Phases:

• Consulate: 1799-1804
• Empire: 1804-1814
• Government of the Hundred Days: 1815

Between the Empire and the Government of Louis XVIII reigned the Hundred Days (1814-1815).

Phases of the French Revolution

The phases of the French Revolution were:

• Revolution, Constituent Assembly: 1789-1791
• Legislative Assembly: 1791-1792
• National Convention: 1792-1795
• Directory: 1795-1799

The National Convention: 1792-1795

The Convention went through three stages:

The Girondin Convention: 1792-1793

In September 1792, the monarchy was abolished and the Republic was proclaimed. The execution of nobles and clergy began. Louis XVI was tried, sentenced to death, and executed on January 21, 1793. The Girondin Convention entered into crisis due to:

• International isolation and military defeats in Europe.
• Civil War in the Vendée (1793-1796). The peasants revolted against the conscription system, food shortages, and anti-clerical policies.

Girondin leaders were arrested and executed.

The Montagnard Convention: 1793-1794

The Jacobins, with the support of the sans-culottes, were the majority. In June 1793, a new constitution was adopted, reflecting direct universal suffrage and the separation of powers. Robespierre presided over the Committee of Public Safety to carry out the revolution from the government. The Terror was proclaimed on October 10, 1793: the constitution was suspended, revolutionary tribunals were created to prosecute the opposition, mass executions were carried out, and churches were closed. Among its military successes in Europe were highlighted. Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794.

The Thermidorian Convention: 1794-1795

Most deputies were moderates. It abolished the price ceiling, which pushed up commodity prices, resulting in the hunger riots of May-June 1795 that ended the conventions. In August 1795, a new constitution was adopted, which included:

• Basis in census suffrage
• The division of powers
• The creation of a Directory that would hold executive power