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Age of Revolutions
In 1789 the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, the National Assembly abolished the privileges of the nobility and proclaimed the rights of man. The revolution turned to terror, to war with half of Europe and finally to the rule of a general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who crowned himself emperor. When he fell at Waterloo in 1815, the old monarchies returned - but the ideas of liberty, equality and the nation remained.
1789
THEME ONE
Bankrupt, Louis XVI called the Estates-General in May 1789 for the first time since 1614. The deputies of the Third Estate declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to part until France had a constitution. On 14 July Parisians stormed the Bastille. In August the Assembly abolished feudal privileges and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights."
Republic and Terror
THEME TWO
In 1792 France went to war with Austria and Prussia, the monarchy was overthrown and a republic proclaimed. Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. Facing foreign armies and revolt at home, the Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre ruled by terror: some 17 000 people were officially executed and many more died in prison or civil war. In July 1794 Robespierre himself was sent to the guillotine.
Napoleon
THEME THREE
A young general from Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte, seized power in 1799 and crowned himself emperor in 1804. His Civil Code set out equality before the law and property rights in clear articles. His armies beat Austria and Russia at Austerlitz in 1805 and Prussia in 1806, and he redrew the map of Europe. Then, in 1812, he invaded Russia with some 600 000 men, and only a small part of them came back.
Waterloo and the new Europe
THEME FOUR
The allies defeated Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813 and took Paris in 1814. He was sent to Elba, escaped, ruled for a hundred days and was finally beaten at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. At the Congress of Vienna the victors restored monarchies and tried to balance power in Europe. Meanwhile, in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, enslaved people had risen up and founded Haiti, independent since 1804.
Periods
Constitutional monarchy
1789 – 1792
The Estates-General, the Bastille, the rights of man and the constitution of 1791, while the king tries to flee and war approaches.
The Republic
1792 – 1799
The end of the monarchy, the execution of the king, the Terror, and then the weak rule of the Directory.
The Napoleonic era
1799 – 1815
The Consulate and the Empire, the Civil Code, French domination of Europe, the Russian campaign and the final defeat.
Key dates
- 1789The storming of the Bastille on 14 July.
- 1793Louis XVI is executed, and the Terror begins.
- 1799Napoleon seizes power.
- 1804Napoleon becomes emperor and issues the Civil Code. Haiti declares independence.
- 1812The Grande Armée invades Russia and is destroyed.
- 1815Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna.
Questions and answers
Why did the French Revolution happen?
The state was bankrupt after costly wars, including its support for the American Revolution, bread was expensive after bad harvests, and the tax privileges of the nobility and the clergy angered the Third Estate. The ideas of the Enlightenment gave people the words to demand change.
What did Napoleon leave behind?
The Civil Code, which still underlies the law of France and of many other countries, a centralised administration run by prefects, the spread of the metric system across Europe and the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. His wars also woke national feeling in Germany, Spain and Russia.