The French Revoltion and the Napoleonic Rule.

1. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND
THE NAPOLEONIC ERA (1789-1815)

2. - CAUSES
- DEVELOPMENT
- BEGINNING: Call of the Estates General, Tennis Court Oath, summer
of 1789 events and August decrees
- CONSTITUTIONAL
MONARCHY
(1789- 1792)
- NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1789-1791)
- LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1791-1792)
- 1st REPUBLIC
(1792-1804)
- CONVENTION
(1792-1795)
- DIRECTORY (1795-1799)
- CONSULATE (1799-1804)
- GIRONDIST CONVENTION
- JACOBIN CONVENTION
- THERMIDORIAN CONVENTION
- 1st EMPIRE (1804-1815)
- LEGACY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
FRENCH
REVOLUTION
(1789-1815)

3. CAUSES
- Economic crisis: bad
harvests, increase in food
prices
- Financial crisis: increase in
the State debt due to
constant wars and money
waste at the court.
- Discontent of the bourgeois.
- Influence of the ideas of
Enlightenment.
LOUIS XVI MARIE ANTOINETTE
Louis XVI, advised by his finance ministers, started thinking about reforming
the tax system and eliminating privileges.

4. CALL OF THE ESTATES GENERAL
The privileged demanded the call of the
Estates General to discuss the tax
reform
The Estates General hadn´t been called
since 1614.
Before the meeting, the demands of the
different estates were collected in books
of grievances.
The representatives of the Third Estate
demanded double representation,
collective discussions and per-
person voting.
The king accepted the double
representation, but rejected the vote per
person. BOOKS OF GRIEVANCES

5. MEETING OF THE ESTATES-GENERAL ( May 1789)
When the meeting started, the representatives of the Third Estate
continued to demand collective meeetings and voting per person.
Protests went on and the king closed the Estates-General.

6. TENNIS COURT OATH (20th June 1789)
The representatives of the
Third Estate and some
nobles and members of the
clergy looked for an
alternative meeting place:
the Tennis Court in
Versailles.
They formed a National
Assembly, declared
themselves the legitimate
representatives of the
nation and promised to stay
there until France had a
Constitution.
The king had to accept the National Assembly and ordered the nobles and the
clergy to join the Assembly: the National Constituent Assembly, which started
writing a Constitution.
TENNIS COURT OATH

7. POPULAR REACTION (summer of 1789)
- Storming of the Bastille (14th
July 1789): Fearing a violent
reaction from the king against the
National Constituent Assembly,
the people of Paris attacked the
Prison of the Bastille, symbol of
absolutism.
- Great Fear: many peasants
attacked castles and manors and
destroyed the property titles of
the lands in the countryside

8. AUGUST 1789 DECREES: END OF THE ANCIEN RÉGIME
The National Constituent
Assembly:
- abolished feudalism
(seigneurial rights and tithes)
- issued the Declaration of
the Rights of the Man and
of the Citizen
These documents meant the
end of the Ancien Régime
in France.

9. WOMEN’S MARCH ON VERSAILLES (5th-6th OCTOBER 1789)
The king showed his reluctancy to sign the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and
the Citizen. On the 5th October a demonstration of thousands of women headed to
Versailles to protest against the high prices of staples. Once there, the people
demanded that the royal family returned to Paris. Fearing a reaction of the
protesters, the King signed the Declaration and the royal family moved to the Tuileries
Palace in Paris. The National Constituent Assembly also settled down in Paris.

10. NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1789-1791)
Main decisions:
- Nationalization of the properties of
the clergy in order to reduce the
State debt
- Civil Constitution of the Clergy: the
clergy members became dependent
from the State and had to swear
allegiance to the Constitution
- Suppression of religious orders and
hereditary nobility
- - Abolition of guilds, abolition of
torture
- Universal tax system
- Creation of a national army Cartoon that shows the happiness of the monks
after the elimination of religious orders
The National Constituent Assembly in 1790

11. These decisions were
rejected by part of the clergy
and the nobles.
Many people, known as the
émigrés, started migrating
to other countries and
begun a campaign against
the revolution.
French émigrés in despair, 1790

12. FLIGHT TO VARENNES (20th June 1791)
Louis XVI didn´t like what the
Constituent Assembly was
doing and he tried to flee to
Austria, but he was caught at
Varennes and sent back to
Paris.

13. Constitution of 1791 (1st
European Constitution), inspired
on the principles of political
liberalism:
-Constitutional Monarchy
(monarch’s power was
limited)
-Division of powers
-Census suffrage: active
citizens, with right to vote,
and passive citizens, without
right to vote.
-Veto power for the king
1791 CONSTITUTION

14. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1791-1792)
After the aproval of the Constitution (30th
September 1791), there were elections and
the Legislative Assembly was formed, with
deputies from different ideologies:
- 263 deputies, called feuillants, who were
in favor of a constitutional monarchy
- 136 deputies who preferred the republic,
divided into Girondists (more moderate)
and Jacobins (more radical)
- around 300 deputies with no defined
position.
The concepts “right and left” come from the
places where the different groups of deputies
sat down in the Assembly.
Medallion of the Legislative Assembly

15. POLITICAL FACTIONS
GIRONDISTS
VERGNIAUD BRISSOT
BARNAVE LAMETH
CONSTITUTIONAL
MONARCHISTS
(Feuillants)
REPUBLICANS
JACOBINS
(Montagnards)
ROBESPIERRE DANTON
LA FAYETTE
SAINT JUSTDUCOS

16. SANS CULOTTES
Groups of workers who supported
the most radical reforms.
They didn´t wear the fashionable
culottes, but pantalons.

17. The King, backed by the monarchist deputies,
went on conspiring against the Assembly:
- he used his veto power to stop the
reforms
- he contacted other absolute monarchs to
recover his power and end the revolution.
Faced with the threats of the absolute
powers (Austria and Prussia), the Legislative
Assembly declared war on Austria in April
1792.
On the 10th August 1792 the people of Paris
discovered Louis XVI´s conspiracy and
stormed the Tuileries Palace, arrested the
royal family and suspended the King’s power.
STORMING OF THE TUILERIES PALACE
END OF THE MONARCHY
Louis XVI declaring the war on Austria

18. - Creation of a provisional executive council,
in charge of the government.
- Election of a new assembly by universal
suffrage in September 1792: the
Convention, in charge of reforming the
Constitution. Only 10% of the French men
aged 21 voted.
- September massacres: fearing a foreign
invasion of France, more than 1,000
monarchists and suspected counter-
revolutionaries were executed (beginning
of the Reign of Terror)
- The French revolutionary army could stop
the threat of invasion with the victory in
the Battle of Valmy against the Prussian
army (20th September 1792)
- On the 21st September the Convention
proclaimed the 1st Republic
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1792-1794)
Battle of Valmy (20th September 1792)

19. NATIONAL
CONVENTION
1792-1793: Controlled by the GIRONDISTS
1793-1794: Controlled by the JACOBINS
It concentrated the executive and legislative power
and its main task was to write a new Constitution with
universal suffrage
STAGES
1794-1795: Thermidorian Convention

20. Controlled by the Girondists.
Main problems:
- Royalist rebellion in the
Vendée región
- Trial of Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette. They were
accused of treason and
sentenced to die executed
by the guillotine.
The execution provocked the
creation of the 1st anti-
revolutionary Coalition, led by
Great Britain. The Convention
ordered a levée en masse
(mass conscription) to defend
the country
GIRONDIST CONVENTION (September 1792- June 1793)

21. The Girondists started losing influence and
the Jacobins, led by Robespierre, became
increasingly popular.
In April 1793 the Committee of Public Safety
was created to hold the executive power and
the Committee of General Security was
restructured. The Revolutionary Tribunal was
also created to keep public order and stop
counter-revolution.
In June the support of the sans culottes gave
the power to the Jacobins. Many Girondists
were arrested and the Jacobins got the
majority in the Convention
Committee of Public Safety
Headquarters of te Committee of General
Security

22. JACOBIN CONVENTION (June 1793- July 1794)
ROBESPIERRE SAINT JUST COUTHON
Urgent decisions were made to save the
revolution and improve the lives of the
poorest:
- New Constitution (June 1793), which
included universal suffrage, popular
sovereignty, equality and social rights
(right of association, public education,
right to work and public assistance)
- Law of the maximum: control of the
prices of staples
- Confiscation of the properties of the
counter-revolutionaries and
distribution among the poor and sale
of the properties of the Church in
small shares
- Dechristianization was one of the
most controversial decisions:
churches were closed and the cult of
Reason was established

23. Sentence of the Committee of Public Safety
ordering Danton’s execution
In order to save the revolution, liberties were suspended and the
Committee of of General Security was in charge of chasing and judging
the suspected counter-revolutionaries and all the people considered to
be a threat to national security. 16,000 people were guillotined in nine
months. Some of them were outstanding revolutionaries, like Danton
or Desmoulins, for their criticism of the Committee
THE REIGN OF TERROR
“It is dreadful, but necessary”
Journal d´autre monde, 1794)
The Radicals’ Arms
DANTON

24. Execution of Robespierre, 28th July 1794
Arrest of Robespierre
27th July 1794
THERMIDORIAN REACTION
The last stage of the Convention was
controlled by conservative deputies,
who revoked the Jacobins’ social
measures, like the law of the maximum.
When the danger of invasion disappeared
and the internal revolts were controlled,
terror policy continued. Opposition to the
Jacobins increased in the Convention and
on the 27th July 1794 (9th Thermidor in
the revolutionary calendar) a conservative
coup d´État deposed the Jacobins and
their leaders were executed the following
day.

25. DIRECTORY (1795-1799)
REBWELL
BARRAS
LA
REVEILLÈRE CARNOT
LE
TOURNEUR
A new Constitution was written in 1795 (Constitution
of the Year III), which established a new conservative
regime:
- ejecutive power: government of 5 members
(Directory)
- legislative power: two chambers, Council of the
Five Hundred and Council of the Elders
- universal suffrage
Problems:
Members of the first Directory
- Attacks from the absolutists (failed coups d´État)
- Popular protests and Jacobin conspiracies
- War against the European monarchies
- Serious economic crisis (inflation)
- Corruption (Barras) and loss of prestige of the
Directory
General Napoleon Bonaparte´s victories in Italy and Egypt gave him a lot of prestige and many
people started thinking in him as a solution against chaos.

26. In their fight against the European
powers, the French army got
important victories: they invaded
the Low Countries, created the
Batavian Republic there and
defeated the 1st Coalition. Only
Great Britain and Austria continued
to fight against them.

27. 18th BRUMAIRE 1799: BONAPARTE´S COUP D´ÉTAT
Pretexting a threat of Jacobin
rebellion, Napoleon was charged with
the safety of the deputies.Three
directors resigned and the deputies,
intimidated by the troops, voted the
dissolution of the Directory and the
constitution of a new government: the
Consulate, formed by three members.
Bonaparte was one of them.
Provisional Consulate
SIEYÈSDUCOS
Napoleon surrounded by members of
the Council of the Five Hundred during
the 18th Brumaire coup d´État
NAPOLEON

28. NAPOLEONIC ERA
CONSULATE
(1799-1804)
- TRIUMVIRATE (1800-1802), with
Bonaparte as First Consul
- NAPOLEON, FIRST AND ONLY
CONSUL FOR LIFE (1802-1804)
1st EMPIRE
(1804-1815)
- April 1804- April 1814
- Hundred Days Empire (March-
July 1815)

29. Napoleon as First Consul
The three consuls: Jean
Jacques Régis de Cambacérès
Napoleon Bonaparte and
Charles-François Lebrun
CONSULATE (1800-1804)
-1800-1802: TRIUMVIRATE: three consuls,
with Napoleon as First Consul. In fact he held
all the power.
-1802-1804: in 1802 Napoleon was
proclaimed First and Only Consul for Life
- New Constitution (Constitution
of the Year VIII)
- Restablishment of public order:
end of absolutist conspiracies
and popular protests
- Concordat with the Pope
- Administrative reform: prefects,
economic reform, educational
system, creation of the Bank of
France…
- Napoleonic Code: Civil Code
which consecrated the
achievements of the revolution
(equality before the law, right of
property…)

30. CORONATION OF NAPOLEON
In April 1804 the Senate approved the conversion of France into an Empire.
In December 1804 Napoleon crowned himself as Emperor of the French.

31. THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE
The French armies defeated many European countries and made them part
of the French Empire. Only Great Britain and Portugal defied Napoleon´s power.
In 1806 Napoleon ordered the Continental Blockade against the United Kingdom.

32. DECISIONS MADE TO PUNISH THE COUNTRIES THAT
DIDN´T OBEY THE CONTINENTAL BLOCKADE
INVASION OF PORTUGAL INVASION OF RUSSIA
TREATY OF FONTAINEBLEAU
(1807)
PENINSULAR WAR IN SPAIN
(1808-1813)
First defeat of the French troops
in Bailén(19th July 1808)
1812: Napoleon retired
troops from Spain to invade
Russia.

33. NAPOLEON´S RETREAT FROM RUSSIA
FRENCH INVASION OF RUSSIA
The extreme cold, the
scorched-earth tactics and
the guerrilla warfare
practiced by the Russians
obliged Napoleon to order the
retreat, after losing 500,000
soldiers (only 120,000 out of
600,000 men came back).

34. END OF THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE
After the invasion of France by the enemy
troops, Napoleon was obliged to abdicate in
April 1814 and banished to the Island of Elba,
near the Italian coast. In France the Bourbon
dynasty was restored with Louis XVIII, Louis
XVI’s brother.
The Imperial Army was defeated by the coalition
armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden in
the Battle of Leipzig (16th-19th October 1813).
600,000 soldiers participated in the battle (the
largest battle before World War 1).
Battle of Leipzig
Louis XVIII

35. THE HUNDRED DAYS EMPIRE
THE RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON
AND MAP OF THE ISLAND OF ELBA
NAPOLEON LEAVING ELBA (February 1815)
In March 1815 Napoleon came back
to France for a short period (100
days). A new coalition was formed
to stop him.

36. BATTLE OF WATERLOO (18th June 1815)
Napoleon tried to invade the
Low Countries, where the troops
of the Seventh Coalition were
concentrated. The imperial
troops were defeated by a
coalition of British, Dutch and
Germans led by the Duke of
Wellington.

37. NAPOLEON AT SAINT HELENA
After his defeat Napoleon
was exiled in the Island of Saint
Helena in the Atlantic Ocean,
where he died in 1821.

38. LEGACY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
-The French armies spread the ideas of
the French Revolution (freedom, equality,
end of privileges, absolutism and
feudalism, division of powers, right to vote
for the citizens) throughout Europe.
Although the Napoleonic army was
defeated, these ideas remained.
-The French occupation gave birth to
nationalist feelings against the invaders.
Different peoples expressed their will of
living together and independently.