the french revolution and napoleons empire Flashcards
what is the old regime?
a system which gave every person an economical status at birth, divided into three estates
who was in the first estate?
1% of the population, the clergy of the church
- provided education and relief services
who was in the second estate?
2% of the population, the rich nobles
- held 20% of the land
who was in the third estate?
97% of the population, consisted of merchants, workers, and peasants
what was the bourgeoisie?
a middle class, people that were well off, but enough to be in the first or second estate
what were the economic problems before the revolution?
too many taxes, weather ruining crops, inflation, king and queen spending the money
what were problems about louis xvi?
a lazy king who allowed matters to drift and was indecisive, did not benefit the economy or government
what was the estates general?
a meeting of all three estates
- each estate had one vote
why did the third estate dislike the estates general?
the two votes of the other estates always outvoted the third estate
what did the third estate do to gain power?
established the national assembly to begin a representative government
what did the national assembly do?
pass laws for the people
what was the tennis court oath?
a plead for a constitutional government, and to write a future constitution
what was the bastille?
a prison which hold gunpowder and many peasants
why did the citizens storm the bastille?
in case of a war, they needed gunpowder, so they destroyed the bastille in order to get it
what was the great fear?
many were still worried that they were not free, so peasants purged into nobles manors to get rid of feudal dues
why were the woman angry over the queen?
prices of bread were increasing, along with horrible economy
what was the womans march to versailles?
a riot, killing guards and parading using the heads of the guards
who made louis xvi and the queen sign the declaration?
the woman
what was the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen?
a, inspired by the u.s. constitution, constitution to give all the people rights and freedom
why was the church destroyed?
to boost economy and give the national assembly more power
why were peasants worried about the national assembly?
did not like the destroying of the church
what did the first constitution consist of?
constitutional monarchy with three branches, and the legislative assembly
why did the legislative assembly split into groups?
opinions based on fixing old problems
what were the three groups in the legislative assembly?
radicals, moderates, conservatives
what was the sans-culottes?
parisan workers who wanted to bring big changes to france
what was the voting rights act?
only people who paid taxes can vote
who was harmed by the voting rights act?
the nobles, who did not pay any taxes
why did france go to war with austria in 1792?
austria did not like the radical changes france was making
why was france losing the war against austria in 1792?
frances prisoners tried to escape and take control, and austria was able to massacre france and the royalty
what was the national convention?
a discussion to create a new legislature during the france vs austria war
what is popular sovereignity?
people have the power
what was the guillotine?
a harmful way to decapitate people, to execute them
why was louis xvi executed?
sentenced to death for treason
what was the battle of valmy?
the battle which gave france victory over austria
who was ropespierre?
a jacobin who wanted to get rid of all traces of old france, and a new leader of france
why did people call ropespierres reign the reign of terror?
executed people for small matters, and was a big dictator
what did the national convention do to finish the reign of terror?
used the guillotine to execute him
what was the directory?
an executive body of five men
who was napoleon bonaparte?
a leader of france, who led france through many wars.
why was napoleon a savior to france?
at a very young age, he led frances soldiers through many wars, and won the majority of them
why did people begin to dislike the directory?
they began to lose control of the government
what was the coup detat?
seizing the power of the directory, and chose napoleon to be first consul of the new leadership
why did france, austria, and russia continue to be at war after napoleon was chosen leader?
wanted to dismay has power due to them being intimidated by him
what is a plebiscite?
a vote of the people
what did napoleon do to recover the economy?
set up tax collection, national banking system
what did napoleon do to recover the government?
removed corrupt officials, set up lycees to provide the government with well trained soldiers
what did napoleon do to recover the church?
signed a concordat with the pope pius vii, to give the church recognition, but not political power
what was the napoleonic code?
a system of laws to give more order and authority to france
why did napoleon want to expand the french empire?
he was getting greedy for power
what places in the west did napoleon want to have control over?
louisiana territory, florida, french guiana, the french west indies
which sugar producing colony did napoleon also want?
haiti
why was haiti mad at napoleon?
they did not get the same privledges as the people of france
what happened due to haiti being mad at napoleon?
a civil war which made africans take control of haiti, but france got it back under control
why was france not able to keep haiti?
many of the french living in haiti died of disease
after losing haiti, what did napoleon do with the rest of the western territory?
sold them, with the louisiana territory going to the u.s.
what did napoleon first do to gain control over europe?
annexed austrian netherlands and parts of italy, and set up a government in switzerland
what did european nations do to stop napoleon from conquering the whole of europe?
conquer a series of battles, but eventually lost
after the european nations lost against europe, what happened?
napoleon continued creating his empire
what was the battle of trafalgar?
a french loss which ensured britains navy supremacy, and napoleon could not invade britain after the loss
what was the continental system?
a policy which created a blockade between france and britain
why did napoleon want to create the continental system?
to ruin britains economy, and make the empire more self sufficient
why did the continental system not work?
many allies and britain rebelled and continued trading
what did britain do to respond to the continental system?
formed a stronger blockade, blocking american ships and the french
what was the war of 1812 about?
americans were mad over britains blockade
why did the peninsular war begin?
napoleon sent an invasion force through spain to try and get portugal to accept the continental system
why was spain mad over the invasion force?
france also overthrew the spanish king, and they were frightened the spanish church could be demolished too
what is guerrila warfare?
a war tactic where swarms of people individually fight
why was spain able to win the war against france?
britain teamed up with spain to take the first hit on france
why did napoleon invade russia?
due to many trust issues between the two allies
why did people continue dying during the march to russia?
horrible weather and drowning
what was the battle of borodino?
a collision of russia and france army, to stop frances conquering to russia
what happened when france got to moscow?
found the city in flames, and never got to talk with the czar
how many people died during the spanish and french war, and the invasion to russia?
712000, 300000 from the war, 412000 from the invasion
why did many european nations decide to go to war with france after the invasion?
napoleon lost all his soldiers, leading to his new army being weak
what happened after the european nations killed the untrained army of napoleon?
napoleon gave up his throne, and was banished
who was made king after napoleon?
louis xvis brother, louis xviii
why did people dislike louis xviii?
he wanted to bring back old france
why did napoleon escape form his banishment and become king?
disliked what louis xviiis plan was, and overthrew him
what was the battle of waterloo?
a battle after napoleon became king again, where britain and prussia teamed up to seal napoleons fate
what happened after napoleon lost the battle of waterloo?
britain shipped napoleon to st helena in exile, and he died after six years
what is the congress of vienna?
a series of meeting to establish peace in the european nations
what were the five great powers in the congress?
russia, prussia, britain, france, austria
who was the most influential in the congress?
prince klemens von metternich
what was metternichs goals?
prevent french aggression, restore a balance of power, bring back europes old monarchy
how did metternich end french aggression?
made the weak countries around france stronger
what did metternich do to restore a balance of power?
got rid of lots of frances power
what is legitimacy?
a belief that the rulers before napoleon should come back into the throne
what were britain and frances government like after the congress?
constitutional monarchy
what was the holy alliance?
an alliance formed by prussia, russia, and austria to prevent casualties in europe
what was the concert of europe?
alliances formed by metternich to ensure the countries help each other in future battles
what is a creole and what did they do when napoleon overthrew the king of spain?
colonists born in south america seizing control of many colonies in the americas
what is a peninsulare and what did they do after the congress of vienna?
colonists born in spain tried to regain control over the colonies in america
what happened after the congress of vienna which made spain lose their control in the americas?
the latin revolution
after the congress of vienna, what happened to the power of france and britain?
frances power decreased while britains power increased
why did italy, greece, and germany go into revolutions after the congress of vienna?
nationalism and the beliefs from the french revolution
