French+Revolution+and+Napoleon

1789-1815  By Michael, Devin, Luke and Adis

"A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories." -Napoleon Bonaparte (BrainyQuote.com)

The French Revolution and Napoleon era lasted from 1789 until 1815. In this time era there were three different estates with different types of people. The first estate consisted of the clergy and had 130,000 people. The second estate consisted of the nobles which had around 350,000 people. And the third estate was made up by the commoners of society. One of the main groups of people in the third estate was the bourgeoisie, or middle class. This group included 8 percent of the population or 2.3 million people. This group of people owned about 25 to 30 percent of the land. In this age there were a lot of important events that happened. On August 26, the National Assembly made **__the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen__** a legal document. This was inspired by the Declaration of Independence, and the English Bill of Rights. There was also the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793. Then in 1795 the Directory is formed. Then in 1802 Napoleon is mad consul for life. Then Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, Belgium by the Duke of Wellington and his army of Britain’s and Prussians. There were also a lot of important people. One of these people was King Louis the XVI. He was the king of France during the French Revolution. There was also Olympe de Gouges who was a women who wrote plays and pamphlets. Another person was George Danton, who aided the king and resisted the popular will. One of the most important people in this chapter was Napoleon Bonaparte. He dominated French history from 1799 to 1815. In a sense he ended the French Revolution.

Important People:


 * 1) __**Napoleon Bonaparte**__ - Napoleon took the crown from Pope Pius VII and crowned himself to become emperor. He started the Napoleonic Code that claimed that all men were equal, he reorganized the French legal system of government and created civil laws.
 * 2) **__King Louis XVI__** – Louis XVI ruled in 1774-1792 during the French Revolution. The storming of the Bastille took part during his reign and signaled the end to royal authority.
 * 3) **__Queen Marie Antoinette__** - Marie Antoinette was the queen of France and was known for her large expenses on luxuries. She was one major factor in the poor economy of France and was murdered by the Guillotine.
 * 4) **__Olympe de Gouges__** - Olympe was a poet and writer wasn't satisfied with the lack of women political rights. She demanded that women be treated equal to men but was ignored by the National Assembly.
 * 5) **__Maximilien Robespierre__** - Maximilien Robespierre was the main leader of the French Revolution and was known as "The Incorruptible." He demanded suffrage (the right for all adult males to vote) and led the Reign of Terror.
 * 6) **__George Danton__** – George Danton controlled the Committee of Public Safety, a committee acting to defend from foreign threats. The Committee of Public Safety began the Reign of Terror, and George was beheaded on the guillotine for treason.
 * 7) **__Jean Paul Marat__** – Marat published a newspaper called "Friend of the People" in which he led revolutionists through his words. He was murdered in his bathtub while writing.
 * 8) __**Charlotte Corday**__ - Charlotte Corday murdered Marat in the bath tub. She believed that Marat was too powerful in leading revolutionists through his paper and she claimed that "I killed one man to save 100,000."
 * 9) **__General Lafayette__** - Lafayette was the national guard of the peoples' army. He was beheaded after the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
 * 10) **__Anne-Louise-Germaine de Stael__** - Anne was a writer during the revolution and Napoleonic Era. She once supported Napoleon but later said that his rule was tyrannical. Napoleon than had her books banned and exiled her to Germany.

Key Terms:


 * 1) __**The Bastille**__ - The Bastille was an armory in France that was stormed on July 14, 1789, by a mob of revolutionists who cut off Marquis de Launay's head after his defeat.
 * 2) __**Factions **__ - Factions are smaller divisions that split up France to determine the fate of the king, the Girondins and the Mountains.
 * 3) __** Girondins **__ - The Girondins were the faction that stood for the outside provinces. Their goal was keeping the king alive as they feared radical mobs.
 * 4) **__Sans-culottes__** - The term Sans-culottes literally means "Without Breeches." These were the patriots of the Paris Commune that were poor and without nice clothes that wanted revenge on anyone that helped the king. They murdered thousands during their Reign of Terror.
 * 5) __**Reign of Terror**__ - The Reign of Terror was a time in which revolutions set up courts to prosecute enemies of the revolutionary republic. They murdered almost 40,000 people using a guillotine.
 * 6) __**Guillotine**__ - Was the death sentence that cut the head off of the victim. It was created to be humane and painless. The Guillotine was also known as the "French National Barber" and "The Razor."
 * 7) __** Council of 500 **__ - The Council of 500 was the lower house of the 1695 constitution with 500 electors. This was the larger group of the legislation.
 * 8) __**Electors**__ - Electors were members of the 2 legislative bodies, the Council of 500 and the Council of Elders. A total of 750 electors made up the 1695 constitutional legislature.
 * 9) Coup d' etat - This term means a sudden overthrow of government or "stroke of the state" In which power is seized by force. Napoleon Bonaparte took control of France on November 9, 1799 by his Coup d' etat.
 * 10) __**Estates**__ - Estates were divisions or social classes of France. The first estate was the clergy (church leaders), the second estate was the nobility, and the third estate making up 98% of the population was the commoners.



For More Information:

[|French Revolution] - This website talks about what caused the revolution, what happened during it, and the French Revolutionary calander. [|Macrohistory and World Report] - This website gives a thurough description of main events in the French Revolution. [|Enclyclopedia Britannica on French Revolution] - This website also gives an overview of the French Revolution, but also visually emphasizes key terms, people, and events that are involved with it. [|Napoleon Bonaparte Internet Guide] - This website discusses Napoleon Bonaparte's life. [|The French Revolt and Empire] - This website talks about the French Revolution and Napoleon's empire but divides it into sections organized by goups of dates. [|Politics in Napoleon's Time] - This website talks about what leads to the Revolution, the Revolution itself, Napoleon, and a little of what's going on in other parts of Europe near to where the Revolution is occuring. [|France During the French Revolution and Under Napoleon Bonaparte] - This website shows the dates of civil and military events during this era. [|Effects of the French Revolution] - This website discusses the effects of the French Revolution in Government, the secular effects, and the effects after the revolution. [|French Revolution Guillotine] - This website talks about the role of the guillotine in the french revolution and its creator. [|Effects of the French Revolution in U.S.] - This website talks about the effects of the French Revolution on the Government of the U.S.



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