French Revolution and Napoleon
European map before the revolutions in 1848.
The French Revolution was influenced by several things. It was influenced by the three estates and the estates general, the Enlightenment ideas, economic crisis, weak leadership, the meeting of the estates general, and the establishment of the National Assembly. The three estates and the estates-general were the social classes of France. Two of the estates had a lot of privileges- they were rich nobles and they didn't have to pay taxes. The third estate made up 97% of the population and it consisted of the workers and peasants. The economy was crashing because taxes were extremely high and crops were failing. It didn't help that Louis XVI was a terrible leader and he kept raising the taxes. The revolutionary government of France attempted to make reforms but also used terror and violence to receive power.
Louis XVI, being the king of France during this time, was receiving a lot of criticism. The people really disliked him and he paid seldom attention to his government advisers. He had little patience for details of governing, he was indecisive, and he allowed matters to drift. The queen Marie Antoinette only worsened his problems. Because of all of this chaos and because Louis was concerned about his future, him and his family tried to escape. They were almost able to and they came really close to it, but revolutionaries caught the royal family by the Netherlands border.
France just continued to go down the drain. They were having conflict with other countries like Austria and Prussia. A Parisian mob jailed the royal family. It wasn't long before someone wanted to take control and make some changes- this is when Jacobins, a radical political organization, took over. Louis XIV was found guilty of treason and beheaded by a machine called the guillotine. The guillotine was a machine designed during the Revolution used to behead people. It was really efficient and the victims didn't suffer a painful death because it was really quick; and it was somewhat humane. However, the people who would come and watch executions found them boring and not exciting at all.
As the war kept dragging on, Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin leader, took over the leadership of France for a year. He became a leader of the Committee for Public Safety and he was considered a dictator. He was cruel and ruthless, and he murdered anyone that got in his way. Thousands died under his rule- including former allies and Marie Antoinette. It wasn't until July 1794 that people began to realize how horrendous he was and he was then arrested and executed. His rule was known as the Reign of Terror.
Not long after the disaster of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte started rescuing and taking charge of France. He attended military school when he was young and joined the army, only to become a great military leader. He lead the French military to many important and crucial victories. The start of his streak of defeats and victories was called the Continental System. In November of 1799 he carried out the Coup de Etat, a seizure of power. He accomplished this by defeating countries like Great Britain, Russia, and Austria who all joined forces against him. Them all joining forces together (with much pride and spite for Napoleon) was considered nationalism. He was ruling France and defeating all of their enemies. In 1804, he crowned himself the emperor of France.
After losing against the British in the Battle of Trafalgar Napoleon was forced to give up on his goal to defeat Britain. He continued to rule most of Europe, not including Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottomans. The French Empire was at its biggest most dominant point. He attempted to take control of the Americas in 1801 but failed, so he kept his focus on conquering Europe. In several battles against enemy forces he had several vital victories. His conquests caused nationalistic feelings all across Europe which led to his downfall.
Napoleon sent troops across Spain to attack Portugal which resulted in protest. He declared his brother the king of Spain which made things worse. The British and Spanish sent guerillas to attack him and he lost 300,000 soldiers during this Peninsular War. He then made the decision to invade Russia which was known as the Invasion of Russia. All French ties with Russia were broken when Napoleon did this. He marched into Russia with 420,000 men and the Russians retreated from Moscow in 1812. Waterloo was when Britain and Prussian forces joined forces against Napoleon's army and he suffered defeat, which ended the Hundred Days- Napoleon's last attempt at power. He surrendered and was exiled to the island of Elba.
A meeting of the nations was then called to order; known as the Congress of Vienna. There were several meetings that followed and they all had the purpose of reshaping Europe. Klemens von Metternich was one of the leaders of these meetings and he was very influential. Conservative governments started to rule Europe and new ideas were impacting Europe. A lot of other revolutions followed after the French Revolution and Britain and Prussia were gaining power.
Louis XVI, being the king of France during this time, was receiving a lot of criticism. The people really disliked him and he paid seldom attention to his government advisers. He had little patience for details of governing, he was indecisive, and he allowed matters to drift. The queen Marie Antoinette only worsened his problems. Because of all of this chaos and because Louis was concerned about his future, him and his family tried to escape. They were almost able to and they came really close to it, but revolutionaries caught the royal family by the Netherlands border.
France just continued to go down the drain. They were having conflict with other countries like Austria and Prussia. A Parisian mob jailed the royal family. It wasn't long before someone wanted to take control and make some changes- this is when Jacobins, a radical political organization, took over. Louis XIV was found guilty of treason and beheaded by a machine called the guillotine. The guillotine was a machine designed during the Revolution used to behead people. It was really efficient and the victims didn't suffer a painful death because it was really quick; and it was somewhat humane. However, the people who would come and watch executions found them boring and not exciting at all.
As the war kept dragging on, Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin leader, took over the leadership of France for a year. He became a leader of the Committee for Public Safety and he was considered a dictator. He was cruel and ruthless, and he murdered anyone that got in his way. Thousands died under his rule- including former allies and Marie Antoinette. It wasn't until July 1794 that people began to realize how horrendous he was and he was then arrested and executed. His rule was known as the Reign of Terror.
Not long after the disaster of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte started rescuing and taking charge of France. He attended military school when he was young and joined the army, only to become a great military leader. He lead the French military to many important and crucial victories. The start of his streak of defeats and victories was called the Continental System. In November of 1799 he carried out the Coup de Etat, a seizure of power. He accomplished this by defeating countries like Great Britain, Russia, and Austria who all joined forces against him. Them all joining forces together (with much pride and spite for Napoleon) was considered nationalism. He was ruling France and defeating all of their enemies. In 1804, he crowned himself the emperor of France.
After losing against the British in the Battle of Trafalgar Napoleon was forced to give up on his goal to defeat Britain. He continued to rule most of Europe, not including Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottomans. The French Empire was at its biggest most dominant point. He attempted to take control of the Americas in 1801 but failed, so he kept his focus on conquering Europe. In several battles against enemy forces he had several vital victories. His conquests caused nationalistic feelings all across Europe which led to his downfall.
Napoleon sent troops across Spain to attack Portugal which resulted in protest. He declared his brother the king of Spain which made things worse. The British and Spanish sent guerillas to attack him and he lost 300,000 soldiers during this Peninsular War. He then made the decision to invade Russia which was known as the Invasion of Russia. All French ties with Russia were broken when Napoleon did this. He marched into Russia with 420,000 men and the Russians retreated from Moscow in 1812. Waterloo was when Britain and Prussian forces joined forces against Napoleon's army and he suffered defeat, which ended the Hundred Days- Napoleon's last attempt at power. He surrendered and was exiled to the island of Elba.
A meeting of the nations was then called to order; known as the Congress of Vienna. There were several meetings that followed and they all had the purpose of reshaping Europe. Klemens von Metternich was one of the leaders of these meetings and he was very influential. Conservative governments started to rule Europe and new ideas were impacting Europe. A lot of other revolutions followed after the French Revolution and Britain and Prussia were gaining power.
Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV.
What the guillotine device looked like.
Maximilien Robespierre.
Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Peninsular War.
Napoleon leading his army into Russia to invade.
The Battle of Waterloo.
A Congress of Vienna meeting.
People watching the execution of Marie Antoinette.
France in total chaos during the French Revolution.