Lesson 3: The French Revolution + Napoleon

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 2

Flashback 2 minutes

Explain the following terms:

Absolutism, Society of Estates, Ancien Regime.

Enlightenment.

Give two examples of questions philosophers asked themselves during the Enlightenment

Lesson Goal

At the end of this lesson:

• You can explain the course of the French Revolution
• You can explain what Napoleon meant to France/ Europe
• You explain what changes made in the revolution he reversed

Important terms (write them down)

Estates-General

National Assembly

French Revolution

Constitution

Dictator

Napoleon

France in trouble...

- Empty treasury

- Famine

- first and second estate still living in luxury...

- no trust in King Louis XVI

Louis 14th

1643-1715

Louis 15th

1715-1774

Louis 16th

1774-1793

- Bread was 80% of a days'wage

- Only the rich can afford bread now.

- Riots in Paris. 

France goes bankrupt

may 1789

• King Louis XVI inherits massive debts from his predecessors.
• He was afraid to lose support amongst the first and second estate.

• Parties/ wars/ his wife costed a lot of money but the treasury is empty.

• King Louis calls for the Estates- General to ask the estates for more money!
• 300 clergy, 300 nobles and 600 from the third estate gathered, but each estate only had one vote....

First Estate

Clergy 

130.000 - 1 vote

2nd Estate

Nobility 

350.000 - 1 vote

3rd Estate 

Citizens 

25.500.000 - 1 vote

• When announced the king wanted to uphold the tradition of having each estate meet separately  and hold the vote by estate instead of 'by head' the third estate decided to pay no attention to the other estates.

National Assembly, June 1789

• The third estate declared themselves a National Assembly. A few clergymen and nobles joined their side.
  
• Took an oath as true representatives of the people to not leave untill there was a new constitution

Eed op de kaatsbaan

1789

De 3e stand begint zijn eigen vergadering: de Nationale Vergadering.

Een deel van de 1e en 2e stand sluit zich hierbij aan.

Op een kaatsbaan spreken ze af pas uit elkaar te gaan als 

er een nieuwe grondwet is.

Storming of the Bastille

July 14th 1789

• The king sends the army to Paris to break up groups of people. 
• The French people storm the Bastille, a prison AND gunpowder store. 
• They had already captured the weapons.
• The French Revolution has begun...and spreads to other parts of the country!

'Rien'

‘Nothing’ in French.

That was the only thing Louis XVI wrote down in his diary in the evening.

Louis had still asked an adviser whether it was a ‘revolt’.

This one indicated: ‘It is not a revolt, it is a revolution.’

Louis did not understand: ‘Why?’

Decleration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

august 1789

• This document makes it clear that every human being is born free and with equal rights, based on the ideas of enlightenment. Also with freedom of speech and religion
• 4th of August they abolished the privileges of the nobility and clergy.
• in 1791 a new constitution was written. The king lost almost all of his power.

Louis is beheaded, January 1793

• The king is sentenced to death and publicly executed in Paris.
• In October Marie Antoinette was also beheaded.

Effects French Revolution: 

Ending of the Ancien Régime: The feudal system was abolished together with the society of estates. The third estate also got a say in govenment.

Rise of democracy: ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. This led to the development of constitutional monarchies and the establishment of republics.

Coup d'etat by Napoleon

November 1799

• General Napoleon Bonaparte has saved the French Republic before: in 1795, when supporters of the late king wanted to seize power.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Born on the island of Corsica on 15th of August 1769
• He was from the third estate (his father was a lawyer)

• The family was not rich, but Napoleon was still able to study

• He went to military school at 15

Napoleon becomes dictator

1799-1804

• Although the French Revolution gave him the chance to rise higher, Napoleon does not have much use for the ideals of the Revolution.
• He eliminates opponents and slowly becomes dictator of France.
• The people, because of his victories, have full confidence in Napoleon.

Napoleon crowns himself

1804

• With Napoleon now the absolute boss in large parts of Europe, he crowned himself emperor.
• After 15 years of revolution, France seems back to square one: one man is in charge again.

Exile to Elba

1814

• Napoleon is deposed and exiled to the island of Elba in 1814, but he manages to escape and reach Paris.
• The French cheer him as he rides past: Napoleon becomes emperor again

Battle of Waterloo

1815

• Napoleon is emperor for another 100 days, then he is defeated by England, Prussia and the Netherlands, among others, at the Battle of Waterloo (B).
• Napoleon is exiled again. Now for good.
• He will spend the rest of his life on St Helena (Atlantic Ocean)

Napoleon dies

1821

• Napoleon died of stomach cancer on 5 May 1821 at the age of 51. 

His body was taken to Paris, where his mausoleum can still be found today.

• In the Netherlands, an Orange is then in power again: King William I

What remained of the French revolution?

• constitution which limited the power of the king
• European countries that had been occupied by France adopted new constitutions that limited the power of their rulers.
• All religions were equal
• Government was much more efficient thanks to practical measures of Napoleon.

But...

• Rulers still tried to regain power, discrimination against groups of people continued.  

Things to do

First write down the meaning of: Estates-General, National Assembly, Constitution, French Revolution, Dictator, Napoleon.

You show how Napoleon reversed the consequences of the French Revolution.

Be aware you first have to collect all the information. Choose the form of your presentation and read the step-by-step plan carefully!

Important terms

Estates-General

National Assembly

French Revolution

Constitution

Dictator

Napoleon

Ask one question about something you have not yet understood.......

Extra information (in Dutch)

Watch the video on the next slide fot more information about Napoleon.