WORLD HISTORY: Chapter 22 Lecture Notes
The French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire
Age of Revolution: An intense period of political and social upheaval which led to the development of democratic governments in Europe and America.
- dates: late 1600s-1800s
Rebellion: Organized, open and armed resistance against a government or authority.
(Basically a revolt against the government that did not succeed.)
- examples: various slave rebellions
Whiskey Rebellion: a revolt of settlers in western Pennsylvania in 1794
against a federal excise tax on whiskey: suppressed by militia called out
by President George Washington to establish the authority of the federal
government.
Pontiac's Rebellion: 1763–66, Native American uprising against the British just after the close of the French and Indian Wars, so called after one of its leaders, Pontiac.
Shay's Rebellion: armed insurrection by farmers in western Massachusetts against the state government. Debt-ridden farmers, struck by the economic depression that followed the American Revolution, petitioned the state senate to issue paper money and to halt foreclosure of mortgages on their property and their own imprisonment for debt as a result of high land taxes.
- civil war: war between two parts of the same country.
revolution: A sudden or momentous change in a situation; often the overthrow of a
government. A person who engages in activities to bring about a revolution
is called a revolutionary (Basically a revolt against the government that is
accomplished.)
- examples: American Revolution, French Revolution, Russian Revolution
Glorious Revolution: the events of 1688–89 by which James II was
expelled and the sovereignty conferred on William and
Mary. Also called the Bloodless Revolution
Industrial Revolution: the social and economic changes that mark the
transition from a stable agricultural and commercial
society to a modern industrial society relying on
complex machinery rather than tools. It is used
historically to refer primarily to the period in British
history from the middle of the 18th century to the
middle of the 19th century.
6 major causes of revolutions
1.) Unpopular methods of rule - People do not like the manner in which they
are being ruled (most cases it was by an absolute monarchy).
2.) Enlightenment ideas - The writing of the Enlightenment thinkers show new
and better ways of doing things, especially in ways to govern.
3.) Religious Intolerance - People feel that they are being treated unfairly
because their religion is being discriminated against.
4.) Economic Distress - There are problems dealing with money - usually not
enough money, high taxes, lots of government waste.
5.) Social Injustice - Certain groups of people are being treated unfairly.
6.) Nationalism - wanting to rule one's one country.
ANATOMY OF A REVOLUTION
Conditions which seem to be present as causes of major revolutions
1. People from all social classes are discontented.
2. People feel restless and held down by unacceptable restrictions in society,
religion, the economy or the government.
3. People are hopeful about the future, but they are being forced to accept less
than they had hoped for.
4. People are beginning to think of themselves as belonging to a social class, and
there is a growing bitterness between social classes.
5. The social classes closest to one another are the most hostile.
6. The scholars and thinkers give up on the way their society operates.
7. The government does not respond to the needs of its society.
8. The leaders of the government and the ruling class begin to doubt themselves.
Some join with the opposition groups.
9. The government is unable to get enough support from any group to save itself.
10. The government cannot organize its finances correctly and is either going
bankrupt or trying to tax heavily and unjustly.
THE COURSE THAT REVOLUTIONS SEEM TO TAKE:
1. Impossible demands made of government which, if granted, would mean its end.
2. Unsuccessful government attempts to suppress revolutionaries.
3. Revolutionaries gain power and seem united.
4. Once in power, revolutionaries begin to quarrel among themselves, and unity begins
to dissolve.
5. The moderates gain the leadership but fail to satisfy those who insist on further
changes.
6. Power is gained by progressively more radical groups until finally a lunatic fringe
gains almost complete control.
7. A strong man emerges and assumes great power.
8. The extremists try to create a "heaven on earth" by introducing their whole
program and by punishing all their opponents.
9. A period of terror occurs.
10. Moderate groups regain power. The revolution is over.
THE STRUCTURE OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE ANCIEN REGIME (Old Order France)
(From Modern Western Civilization Course Lecture by Paul Halsall)
Chronology and period: 16th century to mid-18th century.
- Time frame: Early Modern Europe - before transformation of material life
following Ind. Rev.
Population:
- Mortality rates: death rate
* infant mortality rates: Infant Mortality rates very high at least
1/5, 1/3 in rural areas, plus a high death
rate in later childhood.
- Average life span: Add youngest and oldest living people and divided by 2.
* 1700: 25 years (many lived longer)
* 1800: 35 years (many lived longer)
- Growth in population:
* 1500’s: Doubles possibly due to recovery from late Middle Age
plagues.
* 1600’s: Less growth in 17th Century, but still some. (Possibly to
do to all the deaths from the 30 Years War).
* 1700’s: Explosive growth in 18th Century possibly due to
agricultural changes. Of course it was also possible that
it was due less plague outbreaks and the beginning of using
the potato as a staple food. This growth took place
before the Industrial Revolution.
- What effects population?
* Food
^ famine: Famine works really well as a population control.
^ famine foods: bark, chestnuts, grass leads to dysentery and other
diseases: people die quickly.
^ what rich/poor ate:
Rich people ate more meat and wine, less fruit and vegetables than
poor + white bread - not a healthy diet.
Poor people ate better bread - but few green vegetables. The
potato improves diet in early modern period especially in Ireland
and Prussia. Little sugar and few processed foods in the diet
^ 5 new foods: potato, tomato, squash, maize (corn), chocolate
Up to 50% of the current world calories provided by
foods domesticated by Americans.
* Disease
^ plague: in 1720, the Bubonic Plague killed 40,000 of Marseilles,
France’s 90,000 population. This was the last time plague
fell on West or Central Europe. They used quarantine in
Mediterranean Ports. Around 1600, they drove out more
infectious black rat and its human loving flees
^ sanitation: Very few people were clean and few took baths regularly.
^ medication: They didn't have any so it's not a major factor until later
in history. They still believed that if you got sick it was
because of evil spirits. They did have some homeopathic
remedies. They did not have any anesthetics
* War: In the 1700's it involved population less. They didn't attack towns
any more, but used small armies who met in pitched battles.
* Birth control: Basically nonexistent. Abstaining from sex was really the
only method.
^ infanticide: Leaving a child outside to die because you couldn't
feed/take care of it. Infanticide was illegal, but
commonly practiced.
People began leaving infants on the church steps in hopes
that they would find someone to care for the child.
^ % of babies left to foundling hospitals in 1770: 33%
+ foundling hospitals: An orphanage where you could leave
a child instead of letting it die.
+ % of babies that died in foundling hospitals: 50 to 90%
* Family structure: Changing during this time.
^ nuclear family: Mom, dad and kids.
^ extended family: Mom, dad, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins.
^ marriage: Easy for the rich, but harder for the poor. Some people
could not pay the marriage tax.
^ illegitimacy: Lots of illegitimacy now.
^ children: Major division between adults and children Their concept
of childhood was much different than ours. Children were
truly to be "seen and not heard". Parents did love their
children - many letters show parents grieving the loss of
children. Child rearing was strict - and in many poor
families' children had to work. As soon as you began to
work, and live on your own, you were considered an adult.
+ education: not very frequent since it was not mandatory. It was
probably best in Calvinist countries - Scotland and
Holland. Schools became more popular in the 1700s
in Prussia and England.
+ literacy rate growth: Even without schools people knew that
being able to read and write was
important.
- 1600: 1/6 literate in France and Scotland
- 1800: 90% in Scotland, 66% literate in France
- Women’s position: Major differences between gender roles.
* woman’s life: Aim of many women was maintenance of her parents, then her
own household. Women had to be part of a household to be
safe - they would be too vulnerable outside.
* women and children: Most poor women reared their children, most rich
women had nannies to do the job. Fathers contributed
little to the actual day-to-day childcare.
* oppression: The majority of women (both rich and poor) had a hard life,
were considered property of their husbands, and had zero
political rights.
- Social Status/Class: Society was divided among social classes based on heredity,
not solely on economics as we do today. Most class
structures were very rigid… in other words it was virtually
impossible to change social class.
* Estates: French social classes
^ 1st Estate: Clergy
^ 2nd Estate: Nobility - landed wealth
^ 3rd Estate: Everyone else
+ reality of the Third Estate: Only politically active groups
really counted. Third Estate not important politically
until 1700's, and then they were mostly divided into
urban and country, rich and poor.
* Growth of the Bourgeoisie: Merchants, the people with money in towns,
were all of a sudden more important as money
economy took off.
^ Bourgeoisie: French middle class - merchants, traders
- Work: was divided between industrial and agricultural
* Agricultural: Living off the land; farming
^ % living on land in 1700: At least 80% of the people
^ Open (Three) field system: 1/3 fallow - not in all areas strip farming.
^ common land: land outside a town for community use
Enclosures in England set up for crop rotation marked
the beginning of Agricultural Revolution of later 18th
Century. This displaced many poor people and their
livelihood.
^ farmer’s problems: The agricultural world was in turmoil.
+ bad weather: Weather colder than now until about 1850.
(the Thames River used to freeze.)
+ harvests: Cold weather = small harvests. Food was expensive.
* Peasant life: Serfdom grows in early modern period. Life was just hard
work, little food, and no political rights. In some areas, nobles
could inflict death penalty on peasants for any reason.
Peasants were often considered scarcely human. Towns
offered a better life to you. Many times peasants felt it was
worth the risk to flee.
* Industrial work: As industrial work grew people began to move from the
rural areas to urban ones to work in the textile mills.
Mostly they produced woolen items. Hard work, but better
pay. Most workers were treated better than peasants…. at
least a little bit better!
^ importance of commoner: The commoner (town dwelling worker) now
played a key role in the economy of the
country. Once they know of their
importance, the workers begin to demand
political rights. The importance of
commerce leads to the Industrial
Revolution later.
- Towns: Vast population shift from rural areas to urban ones.
* Growth in 1500-1800: In 1500, only 4 cities with over 100,000 in
population (Paris, Venice, Milan, Naples). By 1800 there were about 17
cities at 100,000+, and 363 over 10,000. Most urban development was
near the Atlantic. There was migration from countryside to the towns,
this was a main cause of the population growth. Cities energize
populations (encourage education) and accelerate social change.
* Market cities: Commercial & Shipping cities
* Commercial cities: Large centers of trade
* Capital cities: Political hot spots
* Social class structure in cities:
^ middle class: Merchants; they were not landed money – want rights
^ artisans: largest group in a city – making money and they want rights.
- What divisions in society led to the problems and change?
* Class division: No important political place for newly socially
important urban middle class. Peasants resented their lives and
heavy tax burden. This leads to rebellion. The division between
the taxed and the untaxed creates class division in another way.
* Political division: Huge division between kings and subjects.
Absolutism only works for certain very competent
rulers. Big problems arise even when you get not
just bad, but average rulers.
* Gender division: No changes here. Still very separate and unequal.
This issue was not addressed until very much later.
* Age division: Still major issues between adults and children, but
people who struck out on their own were considered
adults. Many were very young – age 15+
* Eastern and Western Europe divisions: Geography led to different
development. Eventually there was more explosive change
in East in early 20th Century. They stayed with autocratic
types of governments because they had no democratic
tradition. In the West we see the development of
democratic governments.
CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION GRAPHIC ORGANIZER HANDOUT
WORLD HISTORY: Chapter 22 Lecture Notes
The French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire
22-1: The Old Order
French absolute monarchy at its height: Controlled the richest and most powerful state in