Congress of Vienna

After the defeat of Napoleon, European rulers moved to restore the old order. This was the goals of the great powers - Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia - when they met at the Congress of Vienna in September 1814 to arrange a final peace & settlement and the Congress of Vienna tried to create a new balance of power in Europe. Practical considerations of power were addressed at the Congress of Vienna. The powers at Vienna wanted to keep any one country from dominating Europe. The arrangements worked out at the Congress of Vienna were a victory for rulers who wanted to contain the forces of change unleashed by the French Revolution.

Waterloo

The final defeat of Napoleon was in 1815. At Waterloo in Belgium on June 18, 1815, Napoleon met a combined British and a Prussian army under the Duke of Wellington and suffered a bloody defeat. This time, the victorious allies exiled him to St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic. Only Napoleon's memory would continue to haunt French political life.

Information found in Book, Page 569

Napoleon Bonaparte's Rise & Fall continued

The beginning of Napoleon's downfall came in 1812 with his invasion of Russia. In June 1812, a Grand Army of over 600 thousand men entered Russia. Napoleon's hopes for victory depended on a quick defeat of the Russian armies. The Russian refused to give battle and retreated for hundreds of miles. As they retreated, they burned their own villages and country-side to keep Napoleon's army from finding food. When the Russians did stop to fight at Borodino, Napoleon's forces won an indecisive & costly victory. Lacking food, Napoleon abandoned Moscow and began the "Great Retreat" across Russia to arrive back in Poland in 1813. The powers that had defeated Napoleon pledged once more to fight this person they called "Enemy & Disturber of the Tranquility of the world." Napoleon raised yet another army & moved to attack the nearest allied forces stationed in Belgium. At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon suffered a bloody defeat.

Information found in Book, Pages 568 & 569

Napoleon Bonaparte's Rise & Fall

Napoleon Bonaparte bought the French Revolution to an end in 1799 but he was also a child of the revolution. The French revolution made possible his rise first in the military & then into supreme power in France and gave him new opportunities to use his knowledge. In 1797, Napoleon returned to France as a conquering hero. By 1799, the British had cut off Napoleon's army in Egypt so he abandoned his army and returned to Paris. One of Napoleon's first moves at home was to establish peace with the oldest enemy of the revolution, the Catholic Church. The most important of the codes was the Civil Code or Napoleonic Code, which preserved most of the gains of the revolution by recognizing the principle of the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of the individual to choose a profession, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism. Within his empire, Napoleon sought to spread some of the principles of the French Revolution, including legal equality, religious toleration and economic freedom. The spread of French revolutionary principles was an important factor in the development of liberal traditions in these countries. A second important factor in the defeat of Napoleon was nationalism. Napoleon's spread of the principles of the French Revolution beyond France indirectly brought a spread of Nationalism as well.

Information found in Book, Pages 563 - 568

The Republic of Virtue

Along with the Terror, the Committee of Public Safety took other steps both to control France & to create a new order, called by Robespierre the Republic of Virtue - a democratic republic composed of good citizens. In the new French republic, the titles "citizen" and "citizeness" had placed "mister" and "madame". Women wore long dresses inspired by the clothing worn in the great republic of ancient Rome. Slavery was abolished in France's colonies. The Parisian group, which was mainly composed of working-class women, stood ready to defend the new French Republic. Years would no longer be numbered from the birth of Christ but from September 22, 1792 - the 1st day of the French Republic. The French Republic created a new kind of army that would ultimately change the nature of modern warfare. France was threatened by external forces during this time. To save the republic from its foreign enemies, the Committee of Public Safety decreed a universal mobilization of the nation on August 23, 1793. The Republic's army was the largest ever seen in European history. After the death of Robespierre, much to the relief of many in France, the Reign of Terror came to a halt.

Information found in Book, Pages 559 & 560

Reign of Terror

To meet the crisis at home, the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety set in motion an effort that came to be known as the Reign of Terror, which was a rebellion against authority of the National Convention. Revolutionary courts were set up to prosecute internal enemies of the revolutionary republic. During the course of the Reign of Terror, close to 40,000 people were killed and of those 16,000 people including Marie Antoinette & Olympe de Gouges, died under the blade of guillotine. People from all classes were killed during the Terror.

Information found in Book, Page 557

Bastille & National Assembly

On July 14, a mob of Parisians stormed the Bastille, an armory and prison in Paris, and dismantled it, brick by brick. The fall of the Bastille had saved the National Assembly. The peasant revolts and fear of foreign troops had a strong effect on the National Assembly which was meeting in Versailles. On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights Of Man & the citizen. Olympe de Gouges, a woman who wrote plays & pamphlets, refused to accept this exclusion of women from political rights. She insisted that women should have all the same rights as men. On October5, thousands of Parisian women - described by one eyewitness as "detachments of women coming up from every direction, aimed with broomsticks, lances, pitchforks, swords, pistols, and muskets" marched to Versailles to persuade Louis to return to Paris with his family. The royal family and the supplies were escorted by women armed with pikes. The king and his family became virtual prisoners in Paris.

Information found in Book, Pages 551 & 552

The Estates-General, National Assembly, & the Tennis Court Oath

The Estates-General was composed of representatives from the 3 orders of French society. The meeting of the Estates-General opened at Versailles on May 5, 1789. Each estate had one vote so the First and Second Estates together could outvote the Third Estate two to one. On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate called a National Assembly and decided to draft a constitution, The oath they swore is known as the Tennis Court Oath.

Information found in Book, Pages 549 & 550

The Third Estate & the financial crisis

The Third Estate made up the overwhelming majority of the French population. Unlike the other estates, the Third Estate was divided by vast differences in occupation, level of education, and wealth. Another part of the Third Estate consisted of skilled craftspeople, shopkeepers, & other wage earners in the cities. In the 18th century, a rise in consumer prices that was greater than the increase in wages left these urban groups with a decline in buying power. The struggle for survival led many of these people to play an important role in the revolution. The bourgeoisie, or middle class, was another part of the Third Estate. Social conditions, then formed a long-range background to the French Revolution. The immediate cause of the revolution was the near collapse of government finances. The French economy suffered periodic crisis and in spite of the economic problems, the French government continued to spend enormous sums on costly wars and court luxuries. On the verge of a complete financial collapse, the government of Louis XVI was finally forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General to raise new taxes.

Information found in Book, Pages 548 & 549

The First & Second Estates

The First Estate consisted of the clergy & numbered about 130,000 people. These people owned approximately 10 percent of the land. They were exempt from the taille, France's chief tax. The clergy was radically divided and the higher clergy, members of aristocratic families, shared the interests of the nobility. The Parish priests were often poor and from the class of commoners. The Second Estate, included about 350,000 people & the noble owned about 25 to 30 percent of the land. They played an important & even a crucial role in French society in the 18th century. They held many leading positions in the government and possessed many privileges including tax exemptions. The nobles sought to expand their power at the expense of the monarchy and many of them said they were defending liberty by resisting the arbitrary actions of the monarchy. They also sought to keep their control over positions in the military, the Church, and the government.

Information found in Book, Page 548

Causes of The Revolution

The year 1789 witnessed two far-reaching events: the beginning of a new United States of America and the beginning of the French Revolution. The French Revolution was more complex, more violent, and far more radical than the American Revolution. The French Revolution tried to create both a new political order & a new social order. It has often been seen as a major turning point in European political & society history. The causes of the French Revolution include both long-range problems & immediate forces. The long-range causes are to be found in condition of French society. French society was based on equality before the revolution. France's population of 27 million was divided as it had been since the Middle Ages, into three estates. The French Revolution lasted from the year 1789 to 1815.

Information found in Pages 547 & 548

Introduction

Hello Mom, Dad, sisters, and other family & friends. It seems that I am stuck in a wormhole and brought into Paris France and sadly I am not able to come for dinner for I'll be here for a very long time. There is a war starting here, but we are alright and I promise to add pictures of where we are staying and how it is here in France.

Sincerely,

Your Daughter