-Key Concepts-

-Ideological Foundation for Political Liberalism-

The notion of individual human rights

A new type of government in which the people are sovereign

The importance of a representative assembly

The importance of a written constitution

The notion of self-determination

Freedom to accumulate property

Equality of rights and civil liberties Equality before the law No special privileges for the rich Equality of opportunity “Careers Open to Talent” Inherent tension between liberty and

equality

Judeo-Christian and Greek roots

Enlightenment Foundation

Locke’s Notion of the Rights of Englishmen

The French Revolution was the inaugural European revolution

The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution together transformed the western world

This “Dual Revolution” changed everything politically, socially and economically

Triumph of European states and economies globally

The Modern Era was inaugurated by the Dual Revolution

French Revolution was a part of a whole series of revolutions which took place during the late 18th century--Political agitation in England, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the American colonies

One big movement of revolutionary agitation

“All Men are Created Equal”

The significance of the American constitution

The influence of the American Revolution

The impact of the American Revolution

Independence from Spanish rule

Simon Bolivar, the father of Latin American independence

Continued dominance of the white minority

The abolition of the slave trade is set in motion--United States abolished this trade in 1808

More fundamental and profound consequences than the American Revolution

France = most powerful and populous state in Europe

Massive social revolution Worldwide impact Becomes model for future revolutions

“Series of revolutions which became more radical as

leadership cascaded down through French society.”

Watch for the different revolutions within the Revolution!

Began as a revolt of the aristocracy

Attempt to capitalize on the financial woes of the monarchy

Only solution = tax reform and a direct tax on all property

Aristocracy refused and forces the issue

Although people were starving and the country was broke, the royal family flaunted their wealth and uncaring.

An old feudal assembly that had not met since 1614

Three Estates: Clergy, Nobility, All Others

The significance of the voting procedure

The miscalculation and lack of social awareness of the aristocracy

Who were they? Third Estate was

dominated by the middle class

Blending of aristocratic and bourgeois classes by 1789

Middle class = Big Winners

Revolutionary goals of the middle class

Representative government did not mean democracy or “mob rule”

Estates-General became the National Assembly in June of 1789 with the power to frame a constitution--Tennis Court Oath

Who were they? “Sans-culottes”

(without knee britches)

Picked up the ideas and slogans of the Revolution from the more educated leadership of lawyers and journalists

Poverty and Hunger Low wages and fear of

unemployment Heightened

expectations and the exposure to a political perspective-- “Cahiers”

Strong dislike for and distrust of the wealthy

The role of conspiracy

Events of the night of July 13, 1789

Reasons for the attack on the Bastille the next morning

The stubbornness of the governor of the fortress

Celebrations on the night of July 14th

Sparks tremendous popular revolution all over France

Independent revolutionary agitation in the countryside

Rumors of Royalist troops becoming wandering vandals

Fear breeds fear and peasants start marching

Within 3 weeks of July 14, the countryside of France had been completely changed

Abolition of the Nobility

Mounting unemployment and hunger in Paris in the fall of 1789

“October Days”-- “The point is that we want bread!”

Women nearly killed the Queen

The Royal Family returns to Paris on October 6, 1789

Events from October, 1789 through September, 1791

Abolition of the French nobility as a legal order

Constitutional Monarchy established Economic centralization Nationalization of the Church

--Stage set for subsequent civil war

Revolutionary Talk--More than 500 new newspapers--Oath of Loyalty-- “Liberte, Equalite, Fraternite!”

Revolutionary Symbols Revolutionary Clubs

--The Jacobins Revolutionary Leaders

Reasons:--Snowball Effect--Unsatisfied Expectations--Outbreak of War

Results:--Increasing Violence--Change in Political Leadership

The Committee of Public Safety

The Concept of “Total War”

Maximum price ceilings on certain goods

Nationalization of Small Workshops

Execution of 40,000 “Enemies of the Nation”

Stress on radical definition of equality

Wanted a legal maximum on personal wealth

Wanted a regulation of commercial profits

End of Robespierre’s dictatorship on July 28, 1794

The Directory (1794-1799)

Napoleon’s Rise to Power

The Napoleonic Code Establishment of the

Bank of France Reconciliation with

the Catholic Church--Concordat of 1801

Heavy Censorship Napoleon’s “Art of

War”

Napoleon Bonaparte dominated European history from 1799 to 1815.

He never stopped reminding the French that he preserved what was beneficial in the revolutionary program.

Napoleon was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

He went to a military school in France on a royal scholarship.

Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he reached power.

First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the many nations warring with France after the execution of Louis XVI.

However, in 1803, the war was renewed. From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand

Army defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies.

Napoleon’s conquests began soon after he reached power.

First, he achieved a peace treaty (1802) with the many nations warring with France after the execution of Louis XVI.

However, in 1803, the war was renewed. From 1805 to 1807, Napoleon’s Grand

Army defeated the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies.

Britain’s defeat of a combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar (1805) ended Napoleon’s dream of invading.

Napoleon tried to use the Continental System to defeat Britain.

The Continental System was intended to stop British goods from reaching continental markets.

Allied states resented being told they could not buy British goods, and this strategy failed as well.

Napoleon now could create a new world order.

His Grand Empire had three parts: the French Empire, dependent states, and allied states.

The dependent states were kingdoms that Napoleon’s relatives ruled, including Spain, Holland, Italy, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.

The allied states were those Napoleon defeated and forced to join him in war against Britain.

These included Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden.

Napoleon sought to spread some of the principles of the French Revolution, including equality before the law, religious toleration, and economic freedom, through his empire.

He urged his rulers to be constitutional kings.

He tried to destroy the feudal, hierarchical order in the French Empire and his dependent states.

Napoleon’s fall began with his invasion of Russia, which had refused to remain in the Continental System.

In 1812 a Grand Army of over six hundred thousand men entered Russia.

Napoleon needed to score a quick, decisive victory.

The Russians would not fight but kept retreating.

They burned their villages, and even Moscow, as they wanted to deny the French food and supplies.

Lacking food, Napoleon left Moscow after two months to retreat.

He left in October, so his “Great Retreat” happened under terrible winter conditions.

Only forty thousand men arrived back in Poland.

Other European nations rose up to attack the crippled French army.

The European powers and Napoleon, whom they called the “Enemy and Disturber of the Tranquility of the World,” fought again.

At Waterloo in Belgium in 1815, Napoleon was defeated by a combined British and Prussian army under the Duke of Wellington.

The allies exiled him to St. Helena, a small island in the south Atlantic.

Napoleon’s power was ended.

France was ruled by the monarchy until the French Revolution that took place in the year 1789. After the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte took over the control of the Republic in the year 1799 and crowned himself the emperor of the first French empire between the year 1804 and the year 1814.

Napoleon be defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in the year 1815, the second French republic ended in the year 1852 and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte be defeated at the Franco-Prussian war which took place in the year 1870. The third French republic replaced Louis-Napoleon's regime.

The fourth French republic was established after the Second World War and within the year 1958, the weakened fourth French republic gave way to the fifth republic. One of the major characteristics of the fifth republic was the strengthened presidency. Charles De Gaulle was the president of the fifth republic of France.

A revolutionary model A Mass political

consciousness Varying

interpretations of the Revolution--Conservative View: Edmund Burke--Liberal View: Thomas Jefferson

Conflict within the Liberal Tradition

“Libertarianism” vs. “Egalitarianism”