French Revolution, Points Test 18 - The Collapse of Empire

Question 1

How was Louis XVIII restored to the throne after the downfall of Napoleon in 1814?

Answer 1

• When the allied armies entered Paris in April 1814, the Senate invited Louis XVIII to take the throne.
• This was on the condition that he accepted a Charter of 74 articles.
• This was drawn up by a committee comprising Louis’ own advisers, Charles Talleyrand and other leading Napoleonic Ministers.

Question 2

What did the 1814 Royal Charter guarantee?

Answer 2

• This charter guaranteed…

1. A constitution with a two-chamber assembly: an elected chamber of deputies with a property-owner franchise and a Chamber of Peers appointed by the King.
2. Fair taxation (controlled by Chamber of Deputies).
3. Equality before the law.
4. Freedom of the individual and careers open to talent.
5. The abolition of conscription.
6. A pardon to former revolutionaries.
7. A relatively free press.
8. Freedom of worship (although Catholicism to be the state religion).
9. That the owners of the biens nationaux would keep their lands.

Question 3

Who was Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838)?

Answer 3

• A political survivor.
• A noble, born with a clubfoot, placed in the church.
• Rose to become Bishop of Autun and Archbishop of Reims.
• He sat for the clergy in the EG, but joined NA, supported the CCC and became a diplomat for the new government.
• He was denounced during the Terror and escaped to the USA.
• He returned to become foreign minister for two years during the directory and again for Napoleon, whom he supported.
• He was appointed Grand Chamberlain in 1804.
• When the allies entered Paris in 1814, he persuaded the Senate to establish a provisional government of five, including himself, and to declare Napoleon deposed.
• This government recalled Louis XVIII, who appointed Talleyrand as his foreign minister.
• Talleyrand served as France’s representative at the Congress of Vienna, exhibiting his diplomatic skill to the full.

Question 4

Describe Louis’ return to Paris in 1814?

Answer 4

• Thus, shortly after Napoleon set off for Elba, Louis left his exile in Britain and arrived in Paris on 3 May.
• The charter made the king’s return more palatable, but there were still grave reservations about the return of a Bourbon king in the capital.
• Louis processed through the streets in ‘traditionalist’ royal pomp and installed himself in the Tuileries Palace.

Question 5

How did Louis insist the Charter be announced?

Answer 5

• He insisted that a preamble be added to the published charter.
• It made clear that freedoms it promised were his personal gift to the people – not their right.
• Indeed, he made it clear his belief in his own divine right and the legitimacy of his position and refused to accept any responsibility to the new assembly.

Question 6

What were the terms of the First Treaty of Paris, 30th May 1814?

Answer 6

• The allies (Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Portugal) presented Louix XVIII with the First Treaty of Paris to sign on 30 May 1814.
• They agreed to withdraw from french soil and allow France to keep looted artworks.
• While facing no war indemnity, the french had to accept the borders of 1792.
• This meant that France would extend east of the Rhine; so even though Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany would be lost, 500,000 more people would be included in France than in 1790.

Question 7

How was the First Treaty of Paris made?

Answer 7

• To confirm the treaty and work out details, delegation of allies and french met at Congress of Vienna, November 1814.
• The key delegates were the British Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh (and Duke of Wellington when Castlereagh left in February 1815); Austrian foreign minister Metternich; Tsar Alexander I and his foreign minister, Count Nesselrode; Fredrick-William III of Prussia and his Chancellor Prince Karl von Hardenburg; and the French foreign minister, Charles-Maurice Talleyrand

Question 8

Who was Robert Stewart (Viscount Castlereagh), 1769-1822?

Answer 8

• British statesman and foreign minister between 1812-1822.
• Worked with Metternich in managing 4th coalition, brought about Napoleon’s defeat.
• Led British delegation at Vienna.
• Concerned to preserve the ‘balance of power’ in Europe to bring peace and stability (conducive to british trade), and for fp interests?
• However, unlike Metternich, he favoured moderate liberal political reform.
• Despite his attitudes abroad, he became unpopular for his repressive action against working classes in Britain.
• He committed suicide in 1822.

Question 9

Who was Prince Klemens Von Metternich (1773-1859)?

Answer 9

• An able diplomat and Foreign Minister of Austria between 1809-1848.
• Had been responsible for marriage of Marie-Louise and Napoleon.
• Presided over Congress of Vienna.
• Used his influence to resist spread of liberal and nationalist ideas, which might threaten the Austrian Empire.
• Concern for monarchical government continued in post-war era.

Question 10

Describe the Congress of Vienna.

Answer 10

• The Congress hosted by Austrian Emperor Francis I.
• He entertained 4 kings, 3 grand Duchesses and 32 German Royals and all their servants in his own palace.
• Other attendees, including 215 princes and their families, government ministers and other state representatives, lodged in the city.
• The Congress lasted eight months, and business was conducted through informal discussions and by means of ten special committees which dealt with particular issues.
• There were no full sessions and the participants only met together in June 1815 to sign what was thought to be the final agreement.
• In practice, the participants was reconvened after Waterloo.
• While in Vienna, the participants enjoyed lavish entertainment: balls, baquets, concerts, theatres, ballet, hunting parties and sleigh rides.
• The whole affair cost Francis I the equivalent of £7 million.

Question 11

What was the period of ‘The Hundred Days’?

Answer 11

• On 11 March 1815, as Congress was in session, news came that Napoleon had escaped from Elba and landed in France.
• Two days later, on 13 March, the major powers signed a declaration making Napoleon an outlaw and offered Louis XVIII their assistance to resist any attempt by Napoleon to regain power.
• The period from 20 March 1815, when Napoleon resumed rule after his escape from Elba, until 22 June 1815 when he signed his 2nd abdication.
• It was, strictly speaking, a period of 94 days inclusive.

Question 12

How did Napoleon return to power during the Hundred Days?

Answer 12

• Napoleon had landed on the south coast of France near Cannes on 1 March with under 1,000 men.
• He had already attracted a huge following of workers and peasants alike, as he made his way northwards through France.
• The troops may well have been duped into believing Napoleon’s falsehood that he had been summoned to Paris by the allies.
• Napoleon’s old friend Marshal Ney, who had sworn oath of allegiance to Louis XVIII, had been despatched to arrest napoleon.
• He promised to bring Napoleon back to France ‘in an iron cage’.
• The story is told that he was so overcome by seeing his former commander that he declared his personal loyalty to him, saying to his soldiers ‘Let him among you who wants to kill his emperor, fire!’.
• At this, it is said that his men cheered and brought out their hidden tricolore cockades.
• Whether this is true, Ney joined Napoleon.
• Napoleon made a series of triumphal entries into towns and cities, acquiring ever-increasing forces.
• A rising against the bourbons broke out in Lyons before Napoleon even reached it on 9 March.
• By time news reached Vienna, he had 120,000 supporters.
• On 19 March, the ‘royal’ army stationed outside Paris defected to Napoleon.

Question 13

What was Louis XVIII’s initial response to the hundred days?

Answer 13

• Louis XVIII (whose vulnerabilities made all too clear) left capital and fled to Ghent.

Question 14

Why had Louis XVIII failed to prevent Napoleon from returning?

Answer 14

• Haste with which Napoleon returned a reflection of Louis XVIII’s failure to win loyalty and respect…

1. Army officers disgruntled with half-pay: Louis XVIII had not purged Bonapartists from the army and there were consequently mass desertions when soldiers saw their old commander again.
2. Taxes high: promises to reduce taxes on tobacco and salt had not be honoured due to french debts.
3. Hostility to continued conscription.
4. There were (unfounded) rumours that the biens nationaux would be seized and given back to original owners; peasants, in particular, fearful of losing land gains.

Question 15

How did Napoleon try to cement his power during the hundred days upon returning to Paris?

Answer 15

• In Paris, Napoleon made many promises in bid to regain trust.
• Promised ‘peace’ and spoke so persuasively that the French Pres, shortly before referring to him as a ‘scoundrel’, changed to ‘our great and beloved Emperor’.
• Put forward new constitution by proclamation of Acte Additionel (additional act).
• Promised free elections, free press and constitutional monarchy with two-chamber government.
• Designed to appeal to liberals.
• Asked Benjamin Constant to prepare it.

Question 16

Describe the content of the ‘Acte Additionel’.

Answer 16

• By it, legislative power lay with the emperor and a two-chamber parliament, made up of:
Peers: hereditary members appointed by the Emperor.
Representatives: 629 citizens elected for 5-year terms by electoral colleges in the départements.
Ministers to be responsible to Parliament, there were guarantees of rights.
This arrangement lasted only one month, until Napoleon overthrown and abdicated.

Question 17

What was the plebiscite reaction to Napoleon’s return?

Answer 17

• However, plebiscite for constitution very low turnout of 22%.
• Of these, 1.5 million in favour and nearly 6,000 were against.
• Around 10,000 took opportunity to give verdicts on Napoleonic Regime: justifying or qualifying their verdicts.

Question 18

What were the main disagreements at the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 18

• Conflicting interests of ‘Great Powers’.
• Russia’s desire to take Poland, Prussia’s desire for Saxony and German-speaking Alsace and Lorraine aroused much suspicion among other powers.

Question 19

How did Napoleon plan to try and fight the coalition prior to Waterloo?

Answer 19

• Napoleon raised army of 300,000 men to oppose British, Dutch and Prussian forces of 4th coalition gathering on northern border.
• Although this force couldn’t match joint numbers of his allies, he hoped that they would be unable to co-operate (likely given their disagreements at Vienna) and that he would be able to pick them off and conduct peace separately.

Question 20

Describe the events leading up to the Battle of Waterloo?

Answer 20

• On 12th June Napoleon left Paris for French Army, preparing to cross the River Sambre into new Kingdom of Netherlands (Belgium).
• Aim to prevent Wellington and Blucher’s Prussians joining up.
• On 16th June at Lingy, Napoleon defeated the Prussians, although he didn’t follow through and they retreated in good order.
• Assuming the Prussians had fled, he attacked some of Wellington’s forces at Quatre Bras, the same day, in an inconclusive fight.

Question 21

Describe the events of the Battle of Waterloo?

Answer 21

• Wellington himself stood his ground in a good position at Waterloo.
• Hid some of his army behind the ridge of a hill.
• Despite Napoleon’s confident attack on 18th June, French struggled to destroy British.
• Thanks to timely arrival of Prussians (81,000) in late afternoon, allies secured victory.
• Even Napoleon’s Imperial Guard forced to retreat.
• Their steadfast loyalty even in defeat a mark of Napoleon’s ‘spell’ over his men.

Question 22

What did Napoleon do after Waterloo?

Answer 22

• Napoleon made his way back to Paris.
• To avoid civil war, on 22 June 1815 he gave in to clamours for his abdication.
• He tried to promote his son as his successor: this rejected.

Question 23

Who did Napoleon surrender to exactly, and what did they do with him?

Answer 23

• On 15 July, believing the British to be the ‘most generous’ of his enemies, he surrendered to the British Captain Maitland of HMS Bellerophon, who took him to Plymouth.
• From there he was exiled to the remote British Island of St Helena – 5000 miles away in the mid-atlantic Ocean.
• Here, guarded by the British until his death six years later in 1821, he wrote his memoirs.

Question 24

How did Louis XVIII return to Paris?

Answer 24

• With Napoleon’s defeat, Louis XVIII returned to france in ‘baggage train of the enemy’.
• Some french fortresses, which refused to surrender, persuaded to do so for the king.
• At Cambrai on 26 June, Louis issued proclamation promising pardon to all but the ‘instigators’ of those who served the Emperor during the Hundred Days.
• On 8 July, Louis XVIII entered Paris, where, according to the Duke of Wellington, thousands of Parisians turned out to greet him and cheer.

Question 25

What were the terms of the the Second Peace of Paris and why were these harsher than the first?

Answer 25

• The degree of support Napoleon got in hundred days made allies rethink their formerly generous treatment of France.
• Vienna congress hastily reconvened.
• Victors more determined to ensure France would never again threaten European peace.
• New Paris peace of November 1815 thus more punitive…
1. French frontiers reduced to those of 1790, not 1792.
2. Indemnity of 700 million francs, as well as costs of defensive fortifications in neighbouring countries.
3. France had to return all looted artworks.
4. Would have an army of occupation under the Duke of Wellington for five years, or until indemnity paid; costs of this met by French.

Question 26

How did the rest of Europe ensure that Napoleon could never return?

Answer 26

• At the same time, basis for future European diplomacy laid down.
• Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia agreed to work together in quadruple alliance.
• They renewed their pledge to hold regular meetings to preserve the peace of Europe.
• To resist any further attempt by Napoleon or his family to return to France.
• This backed by guarantee of 60,000 men each, should there be any attempt to overturn the peace settlement.

Question 27

How was the containment of France planned by the Treatment of France by the Vienna Settlement?

Answer 27

• Settlement produced as result of Vienna Congress and 2nd Peace of Paris recast Europe.
• An important aim of allies to contain France by series of buffer states around it.
• The Cordon Sanitaire.
• Been suggested decisions at Vienna shaped by determination to restore traditional values of monarchy and control at expense of democracy or nationality.
• Indeed, given issues of ‘nationality’ had helped to rally peoples (in Germany and Poland) to overthrow Napoleonic rule, it seems surprising so little account was taken of this.
• The participants (men who had spent most of their lives fighting the French) more concerned with issues of compensation to the victors, punishing France and its allies, and ensuring ‘strong rule’ to maintain peace.
• The settlement thus based on conservative principles and fear of revolution pushed the clock back, not forwards.

Question 28

How was the map of Europe altered by the Congress of Vienna? Give any three points.

Answer 28

• Belgium (old Austrian Netherlands) and Holland (united provinces) made one kingdom under Dutch king.
• Luxembourg (with Prussian garrison) part of this new kingdom, frontier to be reinforced with restoration of old barrier fortresses.
• Prussia made ‘protector’ of Germany, able to provide support to Netherlands if necessary by being given back territory on the left Rhine bank and in old Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia along lower and middle Rhine.
• Bavaria and Baden also strengthened.
• Independence and neutrality of Swiss confederation of 22 Cantons recognised by the Great Powers, including France.
• The ‘Republic of Genoa’ incorporated into the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to strengthen SW border. Piedmont given Nice and most of Savoy from France, while Italian Lombardy controlled by Austria as military back-up in this area.
• Further agreements allowed Britain to expand its overseas empire.
• Rivers running through several countries declared open to commerce of all, France agreed to prohibit slave trade.
• Denmark, loyal to Napoleon, lost Norway to Sweden (which gave Finland to Russia).
• HRE, formerly comprised 360 separate states, replaced with loose union of 38 states, known as the German Bund (Confederation). Included most of Prussia, Austria, and the kingdom of Bohemia and had a central Diet (assembly) at Frankfurt under an Austrian president. It was hoped that this would provide greater cohesion to resist any future aggression.
• A compromise reached over Poland and Saxony, Russia gained most of Poland, most of Galicia went to Austria, Prussia got Posen. Prussia received only 2/5th of Saxony but was compensated by its gains in Rhineland and Pomeria.
• Italy divided into separate states again, with Austria taking the north and eastern Italian states of Lombardy and Venetia (in lieu of Austrian Netherlands), rules related to Austrian Royal Family the Hapsburgs placed in charge of central Italian Duchies, Parma, Modena and Tuscany. Pope returned to Papal States (with help of Austrian troops) and Ferdinand I restored to Naples.

Question 29

What was the position of France after 1815?

Answer 29

• Superficially, it might appear that France had come full circle.
• The many years of exile made it hard for Louis, and those who returned with him, to appreciate how deep Republican and Bonapartist sentiment had run in France.
• Some early decisions (to reinstate white flag of Bourbons and to reform the Household Guard under new officers drawn from ranks of former nobility) appeared provocative, and assumed a disproportionate importance in the eyes of those opposed to a royalist restoration.
• The France that emerged in 1815 very different from the AR.
• The Charter of 1814 an acknowledgement of that.
• The administrative system of départements, prefects, tax system and Bank of France, the courts and the Napoleonic Civil Code, all remained and this uniform system of law, together with careers open to talent, ensured that the bourgeoisie professional classes continued to dominate political and social life.
• Those who had benefitted from the revolution and Napoleonic era among the bureaucrats, professionals and wealthier peasants all continued to do well.

Question 30

Why did the restoration fail to bring back the Ancien Regime?

Answer 30

• Despite Louis’ appointment of nobles as ministers, the restoration failed to reserve decline of noble influence.
• Clergy had to accept loss of their lands, as did many returned emigres.
• Louis sensible enough to rely on moderate advisors from 1815 (Talleyrand and Fouché) at expense of ‘ultras’, led by king’s younger brother Charles.
• However, these ‘ultras’ came to dominate the new Chamber of Deputies (dubbed ‘la chamber introuvable’ or the ‘impossible chamber’ by Louis).
• Their demands made his political life difficult.

Question 31

How did the French economy begin to recover after 1815?

Answer 31

• Louis assisted by a general economic recovery after 1815.
• French industry prospered from this; benefited from more positive economic reforms of Napoleonic era and from end of continental system.
• Although indemnity needed paying off, France itself had escaped much of the devastation of European wars and agriculture also thrived.

Question 32

Describe the new constitution under the restoration regime?

Answer 32

• Most influential group in constitutional regime of Louis XVIII known as the pays legal.
• Its members received the right to vote; restricted to property owners over 30 years old who paid over 300 francs a year in direct taxation.
• Mostly large landowners, senior government officials, and high-earning bankers, merchants and lawyers.
• The electorate comprised 100,000 men from population of 29 million.
• To sit on Chamber of Deputies, man had to be over 40 and pay 1,000 francs a year in taxes; only 12,000 eligible.
• Only king or ministers could propose laws.
• Chamber could refuse to pass them or grant taxes.
• Second Chamber of peers nominated by the King.

Question 33

How did Napoleon try to protect his reputation and legacy in exile?

Answer 33

• In memoirs Napoleon wrote on St Helena, portrayed himself as the ‘heir’ to the Revolution.
• Created a legend which was provoked debate ever since.
• Those who see Napoleon as fulfilling revolutionary principles would point to his constitutional, administrative, legal, judicial and religious reforms and policies, which continued and complemented the work of the revolutionary governments.
• In the structure of his state, from education to high appointments, he followed the principle of equality of opportunity and he promoted ‘liberty’ in ensuring religious toleration and avoiding the grant of any special privileges.
• His empire was established in the name of the revolution and everywhere he went, he ensured that written constitutions and the Civil Code were established and that enlightened reforms, such as the abolition of serfdom, were carried through.

Question 34

Why was Napoleon’s attempt to portray himself as a liberal highly questionable, even with France?

Answer 34

• However, the Napoleonic state was authoritarian.
• System of election so indirect that it made ‘one man, one vote’ meaningless and elected bodies where, in any case, almost a sham.
• Plebiscites rigged, procedure of senatus consultum allowed napoleon to ignore law-making bodies and he re-established hereditary rule, with ‘subjects’ not citizens.
• His quest for strong central authority meant powerful prefects, secret police, censorship, propaganda, spies and informers.
• The judiciary was placed in the hands of appointed judges; law codes protected the male and property, and the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’, with which the revolution had begun, was abandoned in Napoleon’s successive constitutions.

Question 35

Why was Napoleon’s attempt to portray himself as a liberal highly questionable, given his management of the empire?

Answer 35

• Napoleon’s conquests in Europe and string of titles given to various members of his own family would suggest personal or familial aggrandisement may have mattered more to him than fulfilling the revolution.
• While people of Europe may have benefitted from some of the ‘enlightened’ principles of Napoleonic Government, with these came an arrogant disregard for democracy and the imposition of centralised administration in the hands of his trusted notables.