C H A P T E R

19
A Revolution
in Politics:
The Era of
the French
Revolution CHAPTER OUTLINE

• The Beginnings of the Revolutionary Era: The American Revolution

and Napoleon • Background to the French Revolution
• The French Revolution
• The Age of Napoleon
• Conclusion

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What were the causes and results of the American Revolution, and what
impact did it have on Europe?
• What were the long-range and immediate causes of the French Revolution?
• What were the main events of the French Revolution between 1789 and
1799?
• What role did each of the following play in the French Revolution:
lawyers, peasants, women, the clergy, the Jacobins, the sans-culottes,
L

the French Revolutionary Army, and the Committee of Public Safety?

• What aspects of the French Revolution did Napoleon preserve, and
which did he destroy?

O N THE MORNING of July 14, 1789, a Parisian mob of some

8,000 people in search of weapons streamed toward the
Bastille, a royal armory filled with arms and ammunition. The Bastille
was also a state prison, and, although it now contained only seven pris-
oners, in the eyes of these angry Parisians it was a glaring symbol of the
government’s despotic policies. The armory was defended by the mar-
quis de Launay and a small garrison of 114 men. The attack began
in earnest in the early afternoon, and after three hours of fighting, de
Launay and the garrison surrendered. Angered by the loss of ninety-
eight of their members, the victorious mob beat de Launay to death, cut
off his head, and carried it aloft in triumph through the streets of Paris.
When King Louis XVI was told the news of the fall of the Bastille by the
duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, he exclaimed, “Why, this is a
revolt.” “No, Sire,” replied the duc, “It is a revolution.”
Historians have long assumed that the modern history of Europe
began with two major transformations—the French Revolution and the
Industrial Revolution (on the latter, see Chapter 20). Accordingly, the

550
French Revolution has been portrayed as the major France in the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), known as
turning point in European political and social history the French and Indian War in the American colonies. The
when the institutions of the “old regime” were destroyed colonists were not pleased when British policymakers
and a new order was created based on individual asked them to contribute new revenues to pay the
rights, representative institutions, and a concept of expenses the British army incurred in defending the
colonies. In 1765, the British Parliament enacted
loyalty to the nation rather than the monarch. This
the Stamp Act, which attempted to levy new taxes on the
perspective does have certain limitations, however.
colonies, but riots quickly led to the statute’s repeal.
France was only one of a number of areas in the The immediate crisis had ended, but the funda-
Western world where the assumptions of the old order mental cause of the dispute had not been resolved. In
were challenged. Although some historians have used the course of the eighteenth century, significant differences
the phrase “democratic revolution” to refer to the had arisen between the American and British political
upheavals of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth worlds. The property requirement for voting—voters had
centuries, it is probably more appropriate to speak not to possess property that could be rented for at least forty
of a “democratic movement,” but of a liberal movement shillings a year—was the same in both areas, but the num-
to extend political rights and power to the bourgeoisie ber of voters differed markedly. In Britain, fewer than one
“possessing capital,” namely, those besides the aristoc- in five adult males had the right to vote. In the colonies,
racy who were literate and had become wealthy through where a radically different economic structure led to an
enormous group of independent farmers, the property
capitalist enterprises in trade, industry, and finance.
requirement allowed over 50 percent of adult males
The years preceding and accompanying the French
to vote.
Revolution included attempts at reform and revolt in the Although both the British and Americans had rep-
North American colonies, Britain, the Dutch Republic, resentative governments, different systems had evolved.
some Swiss cities, and the Austrian Netherlands. The Representation in Britain was indirect; the members of
success of the American and French Revolutions makes Parliament did not speak for local interests but for the
them the center of attention for this chapter. entire kingdom. In the colonies representation was direct;
Not all of the decadent privileges that character- representatives were expected not only to reside in and
ized the old European regime were destroyed in 1789, own property in the communities electing them, but also
however. The revolutionary upheaval of the era, espe- to represent the interests of those local districts.
cially in France, did create new liberal and national This divergence in political systems was paralleled
political ideals, summarized in the French revolution- by conflicting conceptions of the British Empire. The
British envisioned the empire as a single unit with Par-
ary slogan, “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,” that
liament as the supreme authority throughout. All the peo-
transformed France and were then spread to other
ple in the empire, including the American colonists, were
European countries through the conquests of represented indirectly by members of Parliament, whether
Napoleon. After Napoleon’s defeat, however, the they were from the colonies or not. Colonial assemblies in
forces of reaction did their best to restore the old the British perspective were only committees that made
order and resist pressures for reform. “temporary by-laws”; the real authority to make laws for
the empire resided in London.
The Americans had developed their own peculiar
view of the British Empire. To them, the empire was com-
◆ The Beginnings of the posed of self-regulating parts. Though they conceded that
as British subjects they owed allegiance to the king and
Revolutionary Era: The that Parliament had the right to make laws for the peace
American Revolution and prosperity of the whole realm, they argued, never-
theless, that neither king nor Parliament had any right to
The revolutionary era began in North America when the interfere in the internal affairs of the colonies since they
thirteen British colonies along the eastern seaboard had their own representative assemblies. American
revolted against their mother country. Despite their dif- colonists were especially defensive about property and
ferences, the colonists found ways to create a new gov- believed strongly that no tax could be levied without the
ernment based on liberal principles that made an impact consent of an assembly whose members actually repre-
on the “old world” European states. sented the people.
By the 1760s, the American colonists had developed
a sense of a common identity. It was not unusual for Amer-
l Reorganization, Resistance,
ican travelers to Britain in the eighteenth century to see
and Rebellion
British society as old and decadent in sharp contrast to the
The immediate causes of the American Revolution youthfulness and vitality of their own. This sense of supe-
stemmed from Great Britain’s response to its victory over riority made Americans resentful of British actions that

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 551
seemed to treat them like children. Resentment eventually Concord, more than a year passed before the colonists
led to a desire for independence. decided to declare their independence from the British
Crisis followed crisis in the early 1770s. The Tea Act Empire. An important factor in mobilizing public pressure
of 1773, which was an attempt by Parliament to help the for that decision was Common Sense, a pamphlet pub-
financially hard-pressed East India Company by allowing lished in January 1776 by Thomas Paine, a recently
it to bypass American wholesalers and sell its tea directly arrived English political radical. Within three months, it
to distributors, was roundly denounced by Americans as had sold 120,000 copies. Paine’s pamphlet argued that it
an attempt to ruin colonial businesses. In Boston, protest was ridiculous for “a continent to be perpetually governed
took a destructive turn when 150 Americans dressed as by an island.” On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental
Indians dumped the East India Company’s tea into Boston Congress approved a Declaration of Independence writ-
harbor. Parliament responded vigorously with the Coercive ten by Thomas Jefferson (see the box on p. 553). A stirring
Acts, which closed the port of Boston until compensation political document, the Declaration of Independence
for the destroyed tea was paid, restricted town meetings, affirmed the Enlightenment’s natural rights of “life, liberty,
and strengthened the power of the royal governor of Mas- and the pursuit of happiness” and declared the colonies
sachusetts. Designed to punish radical Massachusetts as to be “free and independent states absolved from all alle-
an example to the other colonies, the Coercive Acts back- giance to the British crown.” The war for American inde-
fired. Colonial assemblies everywhere denounced the pendence had formally begun.
British action, and the colonies’ desire to take collective The war against Great Britain was a great gamble.
action led to the First Continental Congress, which met at Britain was a strong European military power with enor-
Philadelphia in September 1774. The more militant mem- mous financial resources; by 1778 Britain had sent 50,000
bers refused to compromise and urged the colonists to regular British troops and 30,000 German mercenaries
“take up arms and organize militias.” When the British to America. The Second Continental Congress had autho-
army under General Gage attempted to stop rebel mobi- rized the formation of a Continental Army under George
lization in Massachusetts, fighting between colonists and Washington as commander-in-chief. Washington, who
redcoats erupted at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. had political experience in Virginia and military experi-
ence in the French and Indian War, was a good choice for
the job. As a southerner, he brought balance to an effort
l The War for Independence that up to now had been led by New Englanders. Never-
Despite the outbreak of hostilities, the colonists did not theless, compared to the British forces, the Continental
rush headlong into rebellion and war. After Lexington and Army consisted of undisciplined amateurs whose terms

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. John Trumbull’s Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson,
famous painting, The Signing of the Declaration, shows and Benjamin Franklin) standing before John Hancock,
members of the committee responsible for the Declara- president of the Second Continental Congress.
tion of Independence (from left to right, John Adams,

552 CHAPTER 19
 L
The Argument for Independence
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress governed, That whenever any Form of Government
adopted a resolution declaring the independence of the becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
American colonies. Two days later the delegates approved People to alter or to abolish it and to institute new Gov-
the Declaration of Independence, which gave the reasons ernment, laying its foundation on such principles and
for their action. Its principal author was Thomas Jefferson organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
who basically restated John Locke’s theory of revolution seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
(see Chapter 15). Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
established should not be changed for light and tran-
sient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown,
l The Declaration of Independence
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
When in the course of human events it becomes neces- sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long
have connected them with another, and to assume train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
mankind requires that they should declare the causes for their future security.—Such has been the patient
which impel them to the separation. sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the neces-
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men sity which constrains them to alter their former Systems
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Cre- of government. The history of the present King of Great
ator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to all having in direct object the establishment of an abso-
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among lute Tyranny over these States.
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the

of service were usually very brief. The colonies also had complicated by French and Spanish aims that often con-
militia units, but they likewise tended to be unreliable. flicted with American desires, the Treaty of Paris was
Although 400,000 men served in the Continental Army signed in 1783. It recognized the independence of the
and the militias during the course of the war, Washing- American colonies and granted the Americans control of
ton never had more than 20,000 troops available for any the western territory from the Appalachians to the Mis-
single battle. sissippi River. By playing off the mutual fears of the Euro-
Of great importance to the colonies’ cause was the pean powers, the Americans had cleverly gained a peace
assistance provided by foreign countries that were eager settlement that stunned the Europeans. The Americans
to gain revenge for their defeats in earlier wars at the hands were off to a good start but soon showed signs of politi-
of the British. The French were particularly generous in cal disintegration.
supplying arms and money to the rebels from the begin-
ning of the war. French officers also served in Washing-
ton’s army. Uncertain of the military outcome, however, l Toward a New Nation
France was at first unwilling to recognize the new repub-
lic. The defeat of the British at Saratoga in October 1777 Although the thirteen American colonies agreed to “hang
finally led the French to grant diplomatic recognition to the together” to gain their independence from the British, a
American state. When Spain and the Dutch Republic fear of concentrated power and concern for their own inter-
entered the war against Great Britain in 1779 and 1780, ests caused them to have little enthusiasm for establish-
respectively, and Russia formed the League of Armed Neu- ing a united nation with a strong central government. The
trality in 1780 to protect neutral shipping from British Articles of Confederation, proposed in 1777 but not com-
attacks, the British were faced with war against much of pletely ratified until 1781, did little to provide for a strong
Europe as well as the Americans. Despite having won central government. A series of economic, political, and
most of the battles, the British were in danger of losing the international problems soon led to a movement for a dif-
war. When the army of General Cornwallis was forced to ferent form of national government. In the summer of
surrender to a combined American and French army and 1787, fifty-five delegates attended a convention in
French fleet under Washington at Yorktown in 1781, the Philadelphia that was authorized by the Confederation
British decided to call it quits. After extensive negotiations, Congress “for the sole and express purpose of revising the

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 553
 L L L L L L L L L L L L LL
margin of victory was quite slim. Important to their suc-
C H R O N O L O G Y cess was a promise to add a Bill of Rights to the Consti-
tution as the new government’s first piece of business.
The American Revolution Accordingly, in March of 1789, the new Congress pro-
Stamp Act 1765 posed the first ten amendments to the Constitution; they
Tea Act—Boston Tea Party 1773 went into effect in 1791 after ratification by the states.
First Continental Congress 1774 Ever since known as the Bill of Rights, these amendments
Battle at Lexington and Concord 1775 guaranteed freedom of religion, speech, press, petition,
Second Continental Congress 1775 and assembly, as well as the right to bear arms, protec-
Declaration of Independence 1776 tion against unreasonable searches and arrests, trial by
Battle of Saratoga 1777 jury, due process of law, and the protection of property
Battle of Yorktown 1781 rights. Although many of these guarantees had their
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation 1781 origins in English law, others were derived from the
Treaty of Paris 1783 natural rights philosophy of the eighteenth-century
Constitutional Convention 1787
philosophes and American experience. Is it any wonder
that many European intellectuals saw the American
Ratification of the Constitution 1788
Revolution as the embodiment of the Enlightenment’s
Bill of Rights adopted 1791
political dreams?

l The Impact of the American Revolution

on Europe
Articles of Confederation.” The convention’s delegates— The year 1789 witnessed two far-reaching events, the
wealthy, politically experienced, well educated, and beginning of a new United States of America and the erup-
nationalistically inclined—rejected revision and decided tion of the French Revolution. Was there a connection
to devise a new constitution. between the two great revolutions of the last half of the
The proposed Constitution created a central gov- eighteenth century?
ernment distinct from and superior to the governments There is no doubt that the American Revolution had
of the individual states. The national government was an important impact on Europeans. Books, newspapers,
given the power to levy taxes, raise a national army, reg- and magazines provided a newly developing reading pub-
ulate domestic and foreign trade, and establish a lic with numerous accounts of American events. To many
national currency. Though the states were not elimi- in Europe, it seemed to portend an era of significant
nated, their powers were noticeably diminished. Fol- changes, including new arrangements in international pol-
lowing Montesquieu’s principle of a “separation of itics. The Venetian ambassador to Paris astutely observed
powers” to provide a system of “checks and balances,” in 1783 that “if only the union of the [American]
the central or federal government was divided into three provinces is preserved, it is reasonable to expect that, with
branches, each with some power to check the function- the favorable effects of time, and of European arts and sci-
ing of the others. A president, elected by the indirect sys- ences, it will become the most formidable power in the
tem of an electoral college, would serve as the chief world.”1 But the American Revolution also meant far more
executive with the power to execute laws, veto the leg- than that. It proved to many Europeans that the liberal
islature’s acts, make judicial and executive appoint- political ideas of the Enlightenment were not merely the
ments, supervise foreign affairs, and direct military vapid utterances of intellectuals. The rights of man, ideas
forces. Legislative power was vested in the second of liberty and equality, popular sovereignty, freedom of
branch of government, a bicameral legislature composed religion, thought, and press, and the separation of pow-
of a Senate elected by the state legislatures and a House ers were not merely utopian ideals. The Americans had
of Representatives elected directly by the people. The created a new social contract, embodied it in a written
federal judiciary, embodied in a Supreme Court and constitution, and made concepts of liberty and represen-
other courts “as deemed necessary” by Congress, pro- tative government a reality. The premises of the Enlight-
vided the third branch of government. With judges nom- enment seemed confirmed; a new age and a better world
inated by the executive and approved by the legislative could be achieved. As a Swiss philosophe expressed it: “I
branch, the federal judiciary would enforce the Consti- am tempted to believe that North America is the coun-
tution as the “supreme law of the land.” try where reason and humanity will develop more rapidly
The Constitutional Convention stipulated that the than anywhere else.”2
new Constitution would have to be ratified by popularly Europeans obtained much of their information about
chosen conventions in nine of the thirteen states before America from returning soldiers, especially the hundreds
it would take effect. After fierce contests, the Federalists, of French officers who had served in the American war.
who favored the new Constitution, won, although the One of them, the aristocratic marquis de Lafayette, had

554 CHAPTER 19
 Hudson Hudson
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Boundary of French
British Spanish French Russian U.S.A.
Louisiana, 1800–1803

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Bay Bay

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Boston Boston
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MAP 19.1 North America, 1700–1803.

volunteered for service in America in order to “strike a to many it has remained the political movement that truly
blow against England,” France’s old enemy. Closely asso- inaugurated the modern political world.
ciated with Washington, Lafayette returned to France with
ideas of individual liberties and notions of republican-
ism and popular sovereignty. He became a member of the
Society of Thirty, a club composed of people from the Paris
◆ Background to the
salons. These “lovers of liberty” were influential in the French Revolution
early stages of the French Revolution. The Declaration of
the Rights of Man and the Citizen (see The Destruction of Although we associate events like the French Revolution
the Old Regime later in this chapter) showed unmistakable with sudden changes, the causes of such events involve
signs of the influence of the American Declaration of Inde- long-range problems as well as immediate, precipitating
pendence as well as the American state constitutions. Yet, forces. Revolutions, as has been repeatedly shown, are not
for all of its obvious impact, the American Revolution necessarily the result of economic collapse and masses of
proved in the long run to be far less important to Europe impoverished people hungering for change. In fact, in the
than the French Revolution. The French Revolution was fifty years before 1789, France had experienced a period
more complex, more violent, and far more radical with of economic growth due to an expansion of foreign trade
its attempt to construct both a new political order and a and an increase in industrial production, although many
new social order. The French Revolution provided a model people, especially peasants, no doubt failed to share in the
of revolution for Europe and much of the rest of the world; prosperity. Thus, the causes of the French Revolution must

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 555
be found in a multifaceted examination of French soci- / THE THIRD ESTATE
ety and its problems in the late eighteenth century. The third estate, or the commoners of society, constituted
the overwhelming majority of the French population. They
were divided by vast differences in occupation, level of
l Social Structure of the Old Regime
education, and wealth. The peasants who alone consti-
Although France experienced an increase in economic tuted 75 to 80 percent of the total population were by far
growth in the eighteenth century, the wealth was not the largest segment of the third estate. They owned about
evenly distributed. The long-range or indirect causes of the 35 to 40 percent of the land, although their landholdings
French Revolution must first be sought in the condition of varied from area to area and over half had no or little land
French society. Before the Revolution, French society was on which to survive. Serfdom no longer existed on any
grounded in the inequality of rights or the idea of privilege. large scale in France, but French peasants still had obli-
The population of 27 million was divided, as it had been gations to their local landlords that they deeply resented.
since the Middle Ages, into legal categories known as the These “relics of feudalism,” survivals from an earlier age,
three orders or estates. included the payment of fees for the use of village facili-
ties, such as the flour mill, community oven, and wine-
/ THE FIRST AND SECOND ESTATES press, as well as tithes to the clergy. The nobility also
The first estate consisted of the clergy and numbered about maintained the right to hunt on peasants’ land.
130,000 people. The church owned approximately 10 per- Another part of the third estate consisted of skilled
cent of the land. Clergy were exempt from the taille, artisans, shopkeepers, and other wage earners in the cities.
France’s chief tax, although the church had agreed to pay Although the eighteenth century had been a period of
a “voluntary” contribution every five years to the state. rapid urban growth, 90 percent of French towns had fewer
Clergy were also radically divided, since the higher clergy, than 10,000 inhabitants; only nine cities had more than
stemming from aristocratic families, shared the interests 50,000. In the eighteenth century, consumer prices rose
of the nobility while the parish priests were often poor faster than wages, with the result that these urban groups
commoners. experienced a noticeable decline in purchasing power. In
The second estate was the nobility, composed of no Paris, for example, income lagged behind food prices and
more than 350,000 people who nevertheless owned about especially behind a 140 percent rise in rents for working
25 to 30 percent of the land. Under Louis XV and Louis people in skilled and unskilled trades. The economic dis-
XVI, the nobility had continued to play an important and content of this segment of the third estate—and often
even crucial role in French society, holding many of the simply their struggle for survival—led them to play an
leading positions in the government, the military, the law important role in the Revolution, especially in the city of
courts, and the higher church offices. Much heavy indus- Paris. Insubordination, one observer noted, “has been vis-
try in France was controlled by nobles, either through ible among the people for some years now and above all
investment or by ownership of mining and metallurgical among craftsmen.” One historian has charted the ups and
enterprises. The French nobility was also divided. The downs of revolutionary riots in Paris by showing their cor-
nobility of the robe derived their status from officeholding, relation to changes in bread prices. Sudden increases in
a pathway that had often enabled commoners to attain the price of bread, which constituted three-fourths of an
noble rank. These nobles now dominated the royal law ordinary person’s diet and cost one-third to one-half of his
courts and important administrative offices. The nobility or her income, immediately affected public order. People
of the sword claimed to be descendants of the original expected bread prices to be controlled. They grew des-
medieval nobility. As a group, the nobles sought to expand perate when prices rose, and their only recourse was mob
their privileges at the expense of the monarchy—to defend action to try to change the situation. The towns and cities
liberty by resisting the arbitrary actions of monarchy, as were also home to large groups of unskilled workers. One
some nobles asserted—and to maintain their monopolis- magistrate complained that “misery ... has thrown into the
tic control over positions in the military, church, and towns people who overburden them with their uselessness,
government. In 1781, in reaction to the ambitions of aris- and who find nothing to do, because there is not enough
tocrats newly arrived from the bourgeoisie, the Ségur Law for the people who live there.” 3
attempted to limit the sale of military officerships to fourth- About 8 percent or 2.3 million people constituted the
generation nobles, thus excluding newly enrolled mem- bourgeoisie or middle class who owned about 20 to 25 per-
bers of the nobility. cent of the land. This group included merchants, indus-
Although there were many poor nobles, on the whole trialists, and bankers who controlled the resources of
the fortunes of the wealthy aristocrats outstripped those trade, manufacturing, and finance and benefited from the
of most others in French society. Generally, the nobles economic prosperity after 1730. The bourgeoisie also
tended to marry within their own ranks making the nobil- included professional people—lawyers, holders of public
ity a fairly closed group. Although their privileges varied offices, doctors, and writers. Many members of the bour-
from region to region, the very possession of privileges geoisie sought security and status through the purchase of
remained a hallmark of the nobility. Common to all were land. They had their own set of grievances because they
tax exemptions, especially from the taille. were often excluded from the social and political privileges

556 CHAPTER 19
monopolized by the nobles. These resentments of the shoes or stockings; and the plowmen at their work have
middle class were for a long time assumed to be a major neither sabots nor stockings to their feet. This is a poverty
cause of the French Revolution. But although these ten- that strikes at the root of national prosperity.”4
sions existed, the situation was not a simple case of a uni- Increased criticism of existing privileges as well as
fied bourgeoisie against a unified noble class. As is evident, social and political institutions also characterized the
neither group was monolithic. Nobles were separated by eighteenth century. Although the philosophes did not
vast differences in wealth and importance. A similar gulf advocate revolution, their ideas were widely circulated
separated wealthy financiers from local lawyers in French among the literate bourgeois and noble elites of France.
provincial towns. The actual influence of the ideas of the philosophes is dif-
Remarkable similarities existed at the upper levels ficult to prove, but once the Revolution began, the revo-
of society between the wealthier bourgeoisie and the nobil- lutionary leaders frequently quoted Enlightenment writers,
ity. It was still possible for wealthy middle-class individ- especially Rousseau.
uals to enter the ranks of the nobility by obtaining public The French Parlements often frustrated efforts at
offices and entering the nobility of the robe. In fact, reform. Responsible for registering royal decrees, these
between 1774 and 1789, the not insignificant number of thirteen law courts could block royal edicts by not regis-
2,500 wealthy bourgeoisie entered the ranks of the nobil- tering them. Although Louis XIV had forced them into sub-
ity. Over the century as a whole, 6,500 new noble families mission, the Parlements had gained new strength in the
were created. In addition, as we saw in Chapter 18, the eighteenth century as they and their noble judges assumed
aristocrats were also engaging in capitalist activities on the role of defenders of “liberty” against the arbitrary
their landed estates, such as mining, metallurgy, and glass- power of the monarchy. As noble defenders, however, they
making, and were even investing in foreign trade. Viewed often pushed their own interests as well, especially by
in terms of economic function, many members of the bour- blocking new taxes. This last point reminds us that one
geoisie and nobility formed a single class. Finally, the new of the fundamental problems facing the monarchy was
and critical ideas of the Enlightenment proved attractive financial.
to both aristocrats and bourgeoisie. Members of both The immediate cause of the French Revolution was
groups shared a common world of liberal political thought. the near collapse of government finances. French gov-
The old view that the French Revolution was the result ernmental expenditures continued to grow due to costly
of the conflict between two rigid orders, the bourgeoisie wars and royal extravagance. Since the government
and nobility, has been enlarged and revised. Both aristo- responded by borrowing, by 1788 the interest on the debt
cratic and bourgeois elites, long accustomed to a new alone constituted half of the government’s spending. The
socioeconomic reality based on wealth and economic king’s finance ministry wrestled with the problem but
achievement, were increasingly frustrated by a monarchi- met with resistance. In 1786, Charles de Calonne, the
cal system resting on privileges and on an old and rigid controller-general of finance, proposed a complete revamp-
social order based on the concept of estates. The opposi- ing of the fiscal and administrative system of the state.
tion of these elites to the old order ultimately led them to To gain support, Calonne convened an Assembly of Nota-
take drastic action against the monarchical regime, bles early in 1787. This gathering of nobles, prelates, and
although they soon split over the question of how far to magistrates refused to cooperate, and the government’s
proceed in eliminating traditional privileges. In a real attempt to go it alone brought further disaster. On the verge
sense, the Revolution had its origins in political grievances. of a complete financial collapse, the government was
finally forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General, the
French parliamentary body that had not met since 1614.
l Other Problems Facing the
By calling the Estates-General, the government was virtu-
French Monarchy
ally admitting that the consent of the nation was required
Although the long-range causes of the French Revolution to raise taxes.
can thus be found in part in the growing frustration at
the monarchy’s inability to deal with new social realities
and problems, other factors were also present. The failure
of the French monarchy was exacerbated by specific prob- ◆ The French Revolution
lems in the 1780s. Although the country had enjoyed fifty
years of growth overall, periodic economic crises still In summoning the Estates-General, the government was
occurred. Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 and the begin- merely looking for a way to solve the immediate finan-
nings of a manufacturing depression resulted in food short- cial crisis. Certainly, the monarchy had no wish for a major
ages, rising prices for food and other necessities, and reform of the government. Nor did the delegates who
unemployment in the cities. The number of poor, esti- arrived at Versailles come with plans for the revolutionary
mated by some at almost one-third of the population, changes that ultimately emerged. Yet, over the next years,
reached crisis proportions on the eve of the Revolution. through the interplay of the deputies meeting in vari-
An English traveler noted the misery of the poor in the ous legislative assemblies, the common people in the
countryside: “All the country girls and women are without streets of Paris and other cities, and the peasants in the

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 557
THE TENNIS COURT OATH.
Finding themselves locked out of
their regular meeting place on
June 20, 1789, the deputies of the
Third Estate met instead in the
nearby tennis courts of the Jeu de
Paume and committed themselves
to continue to meet until they
established a new constitution
for France. In this painting, the
Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David
presents a dramatic rendering of
the Tennis Court Oath.

countryside, much of the old regime would be destroyed, two, thus guaranteeing aristocratic control over reforms.
and Europe would have a new model for political and But opposition to the Parlement of Paris’s proposal had
social change. arisen from a group calling themselves the patriots or
“lovers of liberty.” Although they claimed to be the nation,
they consisted primarily of bourgeoisie and nobles. One
l From Estates-General to a
group of patriots known as the Society of Thirty drew most
National Assembly
of its members from the salons of Paris. Some of this
The Estates-General consisted of representatives from the largely noble group had been directly influenced by the
three orders of French society. In the elections for the American Revolution, but all had been affected by the
Estates-General, the government had ruled that the Third ideas of the Enlightenment and favored reforms made in
Estate should get double representation (it did, after all, the light of reason and utility.
constitute 97 percent of the population). Consequently,
while both the First Estate (the clergy) and the Second (the / THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
nobility) had about 300 delegates each, the commoners The failure of the government to assume the leadership at
had almost 600 representatives. Two-thirds of the latter the opening of the Estates-General created an opportunity
were people with legal training, and three-fourths were for the Third Estate to push its demands for voting by
from towns with over 2,000 inhabitants, giving the Third head. Since it had double representation, with the assis-
Estate a particularly strong legal and urban representation. tance of liberal nobles and clerics, it could turn the three
Of the 282 representatives of the nobility, about 90 were estates into a single-chamber legislature that would reform
liberal minded, urban oriented, and interested in the France in its own way. One representative, the Abbé
enlightened ideas of the century; half of them were under Sieyès, issued a pamphlet in which he asked, “What is the
forty years of age. The activists of the Third Estate and third estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the
reform-minded individuals among the First and Second political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become
Estates had common ties in their youth, urban back- something.” Sieyès’s sentiment, however, was not repre-
ground, and hostility to privilege. The cahiers de doléances, sentative of the general feeling in 1789. Most delegates still
or statements of local grievances, which were drafted wanted to make changes within a framework of respect for
throughout France during the elections to the Estates- the authority of the king; revival or reform did not mean
General, advocated a regular constitutional government the overthrow of traditional institutions. When the First
that would abolish the fiscal privileges of the church and Estate declared in favor of voting by order, the Third Estate
nobility as the major way to regenerate the country. felt compelled to respond in a significant fashion. On June
The Estates-General opened at Versailles on May 5, 17, 1789, the Third Estate voted to constitute itself a
1789. It was divided from the start over the question of “National Assembly” and decided to draw up a constitu-
whether voting should be by order or by head (each del- tion. Three days later, on June 20, the deputies of the Third
egate having one vote). The Parlement of Paris, consisting Estate arrived at their meeting place, only to find the doors
of nobles of the robe, had advocated voting by order locked; thereupon they moved to a nearby indoor tennis
according to the form used in 1614. Each order would vote court and swore (hence, the Tennis Court Oath) that they
separately; each would have veto power over the other would continue to meet until they had produced a French

558 CHAPTER 19
 L
The Fall of the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, Parisian crowds in search of weapons meanwhile cannon fire was hurriedly directed against
attacked and captured the royal armory known as the the second drawbridge, which it pierced, breaking the
Bastille. It had also been a state prison, and its fall chains; in vain did the cannon on the tower reply, for
marked the triumph of “liberty” over despotism. This inter- most people were sheltered from it; the fury was at its
vention of the Parisian populace saved the Third Estate height; people bravely faced death and every danger;
from Louis XVI’s attempted counterrevolution. women, in their eagerness, helped us to the utmost;
even the children, after the discharge of fire from the
fortress, ran here and there picking up the bullets and
l A Parisian Newspaper Account
shot; [and so the Bastille fell and the governor, de
of the Fall of the Bastille
Launey, was captured]. . . . Serene and blessed liberty,
First, the people tried to enter this fortress by the Rue for the first time, has at last been introduced into this
St.—Antoine, this fortress, which no one has even pene- abode of horrors, this frightful refuge of monstrous
trated against the wishes of this frightful despotism and despotism and its crimes.
where the monster still resided. The treacherous gover- Meanwhile, they get ready to march; they leave
nor had put out a flag of peace. So a confident advance amidst an enormous crowd; the applause, the outbursts
was made; a detachment of French Guards, with per- of joy, the insults, the oaths hurled at the treacherous
haps five to six thousand armed bourgeois, penetrated prisoners of war; everything is confused; cries of
the Bastille’s outer courtyards, but as soon as some six vengeance and of pleasure issue from every heart; the
hundred persons had passed over the first drawbridge, conquerors, glorious and covered in honor, carry their
the bridge was raised and artillery fire mowed down arms and the spoils of the conquered, the flags of vic-
several French Guards and some soldiers; the cannon tory, the militia mingling with the soldiers of the father-
fired on the town, and the people took fright; a large land, the victory laurels offered them from every side, all
number of individuals were killed or wounded; but then this created a frightening and splendid spectacle. On
they rallied and took shelter from the fire . . . meanwhile, arriving at the square, the people, anxious to avenge
they tried to locate some cannon; they attacked from the themselves, allowed neither de Launey nor the other
water’s edge through the gardens of the arsenal, and officers to reach the place of trial; they seized them from
from there made an orderly siege; they advanced from the hands of their conquerors, and trampled them
various directions, beneath a ceaseless round of fire. It underfoot one after the other. De Launey was struck by
was a terrible scene. . . . The fighting grew steadily more a thousand blows, his head was cut off and hoisted on
intense; the citizens had become hardened to the fire; the end of a pike with blood streaming down all
from all directions they clambered onto the roofs or sides. . . . This glorious day must amaze our enemies,
broke into the rooms; as soon as an enemy appeared and finally usher in for us the triumph of justice and
among the turrets on the tower, he was fixed in the liberty. In the evening, there were celebrations.
sights of a hundred guns and mown down in an instant;

constitution. These actions of June 17 and June 20 con- Estates-General and retain its privileges. This war was not
stitute the first step in the French Revolution since the what the deputies of the Third Estate had planned.
Third Estate had no legal right to act as the National The most famous of the urban risings was the fall
Assembly. This revolution, largely the work of the lawyers of the Bastille (see the box above). The king’s attempt to
of the Third Estate, was soon in jeopardy, however, as take defensive measures by increasing the number of
the king sided with the First Estate and threatened to dis- troops at the arsenals in Paris and along the roads to Ver-
solve the Estates-General. Louis XVI now prepared to use sailles served not to intimidate but rather to inflame pub-
force. The revolution of the lawyers appeared doomed. lic opinion. Increased mob activity in Paris led Parisian
leaders to form a Permanent Committee to keep order.
/ THE COMMON PEOPLE INTERVENE Needing arms, they organized a popular force to capture
The intervention of the common people, however, in a the Invalides, a royal armory, and on July 14 attacked
series of urban and rural uprisings in July and August of the Bastille, another royal armory. But the Bastille had also
1789 saved the Third Estate from the king’s attempt to stop been a state prison, and though it now contained only
the revolution. From now on, the common people would seven prisoners (five forgers and two insane people), its
be mobilized by both revolutionary and counterrevolu- fall quickly became a popular symbol of triumph over
tionary politicians and used to support their interests. The despotism. Paris was abandoned to the insurgents, and
common people had their own interests as well and would Louis XVI was soon informed that the royal troops were
use the name of the Third Estate to wage a war on the rich, unreliable. Louis’s acceptance of that reality signaled the
claiming that the aristocrats were plotting to destroy the collapse of royal authority; the king could no longer

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 559
STORMING OF THE BASTILLE. Louis XVI planned to use vented this action. The fall of the Bastille, pictured here
force to dissolve the Estates-General, but a number of in an anonymous painting, is perhaps the most famous of
rural and urban uprisings by the common people pre- the urban risings.

enforce his will. Louis then confirmed the appointment occurred in five major areas of France. Patterns varied.
of the marquis de Lafayette as commander of a newly cre- In some places, peasants simply forced their lay and
ated citizens’ militia known as the National Guard. The ecclesiastical lords to renounce dues and tithes; else-
fall of the Bastille had saved the National Assembly. where they burned charters listing their obligations. The
At the same time, independently of what was going peasants were not acting in blind fury; they knew what
on in Paris, popular revolutions broke out in numerous they were doing. Many also believed that the king sup-
cities. In Nantes, Permanent Committees and National ported their actions. As a contemporary chronicler wrote:
Guards were created to maintain order after crowds had “For several weeks, news went from village to village.
seized the chief citadels. This collapse of royal authority They announced that the Estates-General was going to
in the cities was paralleled by peasant revolutions in the abolish tithes, quitrents and dues, that the King agreed
countryside. but that the peasants had to support the public authori-
A growing resentment of the entire seigneurial sys- ties by going themselves to demand the destruction of
tem with its fees and obligations, greatly exacerbated titles.”5
by the economic and fiscal activities of the great estate The agrarian revolts served as a backdrop to the
holders—whether noble or bourgeois—in the difficult Great Fear, a vast panic that spread like wildfire through
decade of the 1780s, created the conditions for a popu- France between July 20 and August 6. Fear of invasion by
lar uprising. The fall of the Bastille and the king’s appar- foreign troops, aided by a supposed aristocratic plot,
ent capitulation to the demands of the Third Estate now encouraged the formation of more citizens’ militias and
encouraged peasants to take matters into their own permanent committees. The greatest impact of the agrar-
hands. From July 19 to August 3, peasant rebellions ian revolts and Great Fear was on the National Assem-

560 CHAPTER 19
 L
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
One of the important documents of the French Revolution, through their representatives in its formation; it
the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, was must be the same for all, whether it protects or
adopted in August 1789 by the National Assembly. The punishes. All citizens being equal in its eyes are
declaration affirmed that “Men are born and remain free equally admissible to all honors, positions, and
and equal in rights,” that governments must protect these public employments, according to their capabili-
natural rights, and that political power is derived from the ties and without other distinctions than those of
people. their virtues and talents.
7. No man can be accused, arrested, or detained
except in cases determined by the law, and accord-
l Declaration of the Rights of Man
ing to the forms which it has prescribed. . . .
and the Citizen
10. No one may be disturbed because of his opinions,
The representatives of the French people, organized as a even religious, provided that their public demon-
national assembly, considering that ignorance, neglect, stration does not disturb the public order estab-
and scorn of the rights of man are the sole causes of lished by law.
public misfortunes and of corruption of governments, 11. The free communication of thoughts and opinions
have resolved to display in a solemn declaration the is one of the most precious rights of man: every
natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man, so that citizen can therefore freely speak, write, and
this declaration, constantly in the presence of all mem- print. . . .
bers of society, will continually remind them of their 12. The guaranteeing of the rights of man and citizen
rights and their duties. . . . Consequently, the National necessitates a public force; this force is therefore
Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence and instituted for the advantage of all, and not for the
under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following private use of those to whom it is entrusted. . . .
rights of man and citizen: 14. Citizens have the right to determine for themselves
or through their representatives the need for taxa-
1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights;
tion of the public, to consent to it freely, to investi-
social distinctions can be established only for the
gate its use, and to determine its rate, basis,
common benefit.
collection, and duration.
2. The aim of every political association is the con-
15. Society has the right to demand an accounting of
servation of the natural and imprescriptible rights
his administration from every public agent.
of man; these rights are liberty, property, security,
16. Any society in which guarantees of rights are not
and resistance to oppression.
assured nor the separation of powers determined
3. The source of all sovereignty is located in essence
has no constitution.
in the nation; no body, no individual can exercise
17. Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no
authority which does not emanate from it
one may be deprived of it unless public necessity,
expressly.
legally determined, clearly requires such action,
4. Liberty consists in being able to do anything that
and then only on condition of a just and prior
does not harm another person. . . .
indemnity.
6. The law is the expression of the general will; all
citizens have the right to concur personally or

bly meeting in Versailles. We will now examine its attempt seigneurial rights as well as the fiscal privileges of nobles,
to reform France. clergy, towns, and provinces.

/ THE DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS

l The Destruction of the Old Regime OF MAN AND THE CITIZEN
One of the first acts of the National Assembly, which was On August 26, the assembly provided the ideological foun-
also called the Constituent Assembly because from 1789 dation for its actions and an educational device for the
to 1791 it was writing a new constitution, was to destroy nation by adopting the Declaration of the Rights of Man
the relics of feudalism or aristocratic privileges. To some and the Citizen (see the box above). This charter of basic
deputies, this measure was necessary to calm the peasants liberties reflected the ideas of the major philosophes of the
and restore order in the countryside, although many urban French Enlightenment and also owed much to the Amer-
bourgeoisie were willing to abolish feudalism as a matter ican Declaration of Independence and American state
of principle. On the night of August 4, 1789, the National constitutions. The declaration began with a ringing affir-
Assembly in an astonishing session voted to abolish mation of “the natural and imprescriptible rights of man”

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 561
to “liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.” the Parisian National Guard under Lafayette to follow their
It went on to affirm the destruction of aristocratic privileges lead and march to Versailles. The crowd now insisted that
by proclaiming an end to exemptions from taxation, free- the royal family return to Paris. On October 6, the king
dom and equal rights for all men, and access to public complied. As a goodwill gesture, he brought along wag-
office based on talent. The monarchy was restricted, and onloads of flour from the palace stores. All were escorted
all citizens were to have the right to take part in the leg- by women armed with pikes (some of which held the sev-
islative process. Freedom of speech and press were cou- ered heads of the king’s guards) singing, “We are bring-
pled with the outlawing of arbitrary arrests. ing back the baker, the baker’s wife, and the baker’s boy”
The Declaration also raised another important issue. (the king, queen, and their son). The king now accepted
Did the proclamation’s ideal of equal rights for all men also the National Assembly’s decrees; it was neither the first
include women? Many deputies insisted that it did, at least nor the last occasion when Parisian crowds would affect
in terms of civil liberties, provided that, as one said, national politics. The king was virtually a prisoner in Paris,
“women do not aspire to exercise political rights and func- and the National Assembly, now meeting in Paris, would
tions.” Olympe de Gouges, a playwright and pamphleteer, also feel the influence of Parisian insurrectionary politics.
refused to accept this exclusion of women from political The Catholic church was viewed as an important pil-
rights. Echoing the words of the official declaration, she lar of the old order, and it soon also felt the impact of
penned a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the reform. Because of the need for money, most of the lands
Female Citizen, in which she insisted that women should of the church were confiscated, and assignats, a form of
have all the same rights as men (see the box on p. 563). paper money, were issued based on the collateral of the
The National Assembly ignored her demands. newly nationalized church property. The church was also
secularized. In July 1790, a new Civil Constitution of the
/ THE KING AND THE CHURCH Clergy was put into effect. Both bishops and priests of
In the meantime, Louis XVI had remained inactive at Ver- the Catholic church were to be elected by the people and
sailles. He did refuse, however, to promulgate the decrees paid by the state. All clergy were also required to swear an
on the abolition of feudalism and the Declaration of oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution. Since the pope
Rights, but an unexpected turn of events soon forced the forbade it, only 54 percent of the French parish clergy took
king to change his mind. On October 5, after marching the oath, and the majority of bishops refused. This was a
to the Hôtel de Ville, the city hall, to demand bread, critical development because the Catholic church, still
crowds of Parisian women numbering in the thousands set an important institution in the life of the French people,
off for Versailles, twelve miles away, to confront the king now became an enemy of the Revolution. The Civil Con-
and the National Assembly. One eyewitness was amazed stitution has often been viewed as a serious tactical blun-
at the sight of “detachments of women coming up from der on the part of the National Assembly for, by arousing
every direction, armed with broomsticks, lances, pitch- the opposition of the church, it gave counterrevolution a
forks, swords, pistols and muskets.” After meeting with a popular base from which to operate.
delegation of these women, who tearfully described how
their children were starving from a lack of bread, Louis XVI / A NEW CONSTITUTION
promised them grain supplies for Paris, thinking that this By 1791, the National Assembly had finally completed a
would end the protest. But the women’s action had forced new constitution that established a limited, constitutional

THE WOMEN’S MARCH TO

VERSAILLES. On October 5,
1789, thousands of Parisian
women marched to Versailles
to confront King Louis XVI
and to demand bread for their
starving children. This contem-
porary print shows a group of
dedicated marchers armed
with pikes and other weapons
and pulling an artillery piece.

562 CHAPTER 19
 L
Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
Olympe de Gouges (a pen name for Marie Gouze) was a female citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law,
butcher’s daughter who wrote plays and pamphlets. She must be equally admitted to all honors, positions,
argued that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the and public employment according to their capacity
Citizen did not apply to women and composed her own and without other distinctions besides those of
Declaration of the Rights of Woman in 1791. their virtues and talents.
7. No woman is an exception; she is accused,
arrested, and detained in cases determined by law.
l Declaration of the Rights of Woman
Women, like men, obey this rigorous law.
and the Female Citizen
10. No one is to be disquieted for his very basic opin-
. . . Mothers, daughters, sisters and representatives of ions; woman has the right to mount the scaffold;
the nation demand to be constituted into a national she must equally have the right to mount the ros-
assembly. Believing that ignorance, omission, or scorn trum, provided that her demonstrations do not
for the rights of woman are the only causes of public disturb the legally established public order.
misfortunes and of the corruption of governments, the 11. The free communication of thought and opinions
women have resolved to set forth in a solemn declara- is one of the most precious rights of woman, since
tion the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of woman that liberty assured the recognition of children by
in order that this declaration, constantly exposed before their fathers. . . .
all the members of the society, will ceaselessly remind 12. The guarantee of the rights of woman and the
them of their rights and duties. . . . female citizen implies a major benefit; this guaran-
Consequently, the sex that is as superior in beauty as tee must be instituted for the advantage of all, and
it is in courage during the sufferings of maternity recog- not for the particular benefit of those to whom it is
nizes and declares in the presence and under the aus- entrusted.
pices of the Supreme Being, the following Rights of 14. Female and male citizens have the right to verify,
Woman and of Female Citizens. either by themselves or through their representa-
tives, the necessity of the public contribution. This
1. Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her
can only apply to women if they are granted an
rights. Social distinctions can be based only on the
equal share, not only of wealth, but also of public
common utility.
administration, and in the determination of the
2. The purpose of any political association is the
proportion, the base, the collection, and the dura-
conservation of the natural and imprescriptible
tion of the tax.
rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty,
15. The collectivity of women, joined for tax purposes
property, security, and especially resistance to
to the aggregate of men, has the right to demand
oppression.
an accounting of his administration from any pub-
3. The principle of all sovereignty rests essentially
lic agent.
with the nation, which is nothing but the union of
16. No society has a constitution without the guaran-
woman and man; no body and no individual can
tee of rights and the separation of powers; the
exercise any authority which does not come
constitution is null if the majority of individuals
expressly from it [the nation].
comprising the nation have not cooperated in
4. Liberty and justice consist of restoring all that
drafting it.
belongs to others; thus, the only limits on the exer-
17. Property belongs to both sexes whether united or
cise of the natural rights of woman are perpetual
separate; for each it is an inviolable and sacred
male tyranny; these limits are to be reformed by
right; no one can be deprived of it, since it is the
the laws of nature and reason.
true patrimony of nature, unless the legally deter-
6. The law must be the expression of the general will;
mined public need obviously dictates it, and then
all female and male citizens must contribute either
only with a just and prior indemnity.
personally or through their representatives to its
formation; it must be the same for all: male and

monarchy. There was still a monarch (now called king of hands of the more affluent members of society. A distinc-
the French), but he enjoyed few powers not subject to tion was drawn between active and passive citizens.
review by the new Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Although all had the same civil rights, only active citizens
Assembly, in which sovereign power was vested, was to sit (those men over the age of twenty-five paying taxes equiv-
for two years and consist of 745 representatives chosen by alent in value to three days’ unskilled labor) could vote.
an indirect system of election that preserved power in the The active citizens probably numbered 4.3 million in 1790.

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 563
These citizens did not elect the members of the Legisla- Because the National Assembly had passed a “self-
tive Assembly directly, but voted for electors (those men denying ordinance” that prohibited the reelection of its
paying taxes equal in value to ten days’ labor). This rela- members, the composition of the Legislative Assembly
tively small group of 50,000 electors chose the deputies. To tended to be quite different from that of the National
qualify as a deputy, one had to pay at least a “silver mark” Assembly. The clerics and nobles were largely gone. Most
in taxes, an amount equivalent to fifty-four days’ labor. of the representatives were men of property; many were
The National Assembly also undertook an adminis- lawyers. Although lacking national reputations, most had
trative restructuring of France. In 1789, it abolished all the gained experience in the new revolutionary politics and
old local and provincial divisions and divided France into prominence in their local areas through the National
eighty-three departments, roughly equal in size and pop- Guard, the Jacobin clubs, and the many elective offices
ulation. In turn, departments were divided into districts and spawned by the administrative reordering of France. The
communes, all supervised by elected councils and officials king made what seemed to be a genuine effort to work with
who oversaw financial, administrative, judicial, and eccle- the new Legislative Assembly, but France’s relations with
siastical institutions within their domains. Although both the rest of Europe soon led to Louis’s downfall.
bourgeoisie and aristocrats were eligible for offices based
on property qualifications, few nobles were elected, leav- / OPPOSITION FROM ABROAD
ing local and departmental governments in the hands of Over a period of time, some European countries had
the bourgeoisie, especially lawyers of various types. become concerned about the French example and feared
By 1791, France had moved into a revolutionary that revolution would spread to their countries. On August
reordering of the old regime that had been achieved by a 27, 1791, Emperor Leopold II of Austria and King Fred-
revolutionary consensus that was largely the work of the erick William II of Prussia issued the Declaration of Pill-
wealthier bourgeoisie. By mid-1791, however, this con- nitz, which invited other European monarchs to take “the
sensus faced growing opposition from clerics angered by most effectual means . . . to put the king of France in a
the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, lower classes hurt by state to strengthen, in the most perfect liberty, the bases of
the rise in the cost of living resulting from the inflation a monarchical government equally becoming to the rights
of the assignats, peasants who remained opposed to dues of sovereigns and to the wellbeing of the French Nation.”6
that had still not been abandoned, and political clubs But European monarchs were too suspicious of each other
offering more radical solutions to the nation’s problems. to undertake such a plan, and in any case French enthu-
The most famous were the Jacobins, who first emerged siasm for war led the Legislative Assembly to declare war
as a gathering of more radical deputies at the beginning of on Austria on April 20, 1792. But why take such a step
the Revolution, especially during the events of the night of in view of its obvious dangers? Many people in France
August 4, 1789. After October 1789, they occupied the for- wanted war. Reactionaries hoped that a preoccupation
mer Jacobin convent in Paris. Jacobin clubs also formed with war would cool off the Revolution; French defeat,
in the provinces where they served primarily as discussion which seemed likely in view of the army’s disintegration,
groups. Eventually, they joined together in an extensive might even lead to the restoration of the old regime. Left-
correspondence network and, by spring 1790, were seek- ists hoped that war would consolidate the Revolution at
ing affiliation with the Parisian club. One year later, there home and spread it to all of Europe.
were 900 Jacobin clubs in France associated with The French fared badly in the initial fighting, and
the Parisian center. Members were usually the elite of loud recriminations were soon heard in Paris. A frantic
their local societies, but they also included artisans and search for scapegoats began; as one observer noted:
tradespeople. “Everywhere you hear the cry that the king is betraying
In addition, by mid-1791, the government was still us, the generals are betraying us, that nobody is to be
facing severe financial difficulties due to massive tax eva- trusted; . . . that Paris will be taken in six weeks by the
sion. Despite all of their problems, however, the bourgeois Austrians . . . we are on a volcano ready to spout
politicians in charge remained relatively unified on the flames.”7 Defeats in war coupled with economic short-
basis of their trust in the king. But Louis XVI disastrously ages in the spring reinvigorated popular groups that had
undercut them. Quite upset with the whole turn of revo- been dormant since the previous summer and led to
lutionary events, he sought to flee France in June 1791 and renewed political demonstrations, especially against the
almost succeeded before being recognized, captured at king. Radical Parisian political groups, declaring them-
Varennes, and brought back to Paris. Though radicals selves an insurrectionary commune, organized a mob
called for the king to be deposed, the members of the attack on the royal palace and Legislative Assembly in
National Assembly, fearful of the popular forces in Paris August 1792, took the king captive, and forced the Leg-
calling for a republic, chose to ignore the king’s flight and islative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for
pretended that he had been kidnapped. In this unsettled a National Convention, chosen on the basis of universal
situation, with a discredited and seemingly disloyal male suffrage, to decide on the future form of govern-
monarch, the new Legislative Assembly held its first ses- ment. The French Revolution was about to enter a more
sion in October 1791. radical stage as power passed from the assembly to the

564 CHAPTER 19
new Paris Commune, composed of many who proudly
called themselves the sans-culottes, ordinary patriots
without fine clothes. Although it has become customary
to equate the more radical sans-culottes with working
people or the poor, many were merchants and better-off
artisans who were often the elite of their neighborhoods
and trades.

l The Radical Revolution

Before the National Convention met, the Paris Commune
dominated the political scene. Led by the newly appointed
minister of justice, Georges Danton (1759–1794), the sans-
culottes sought revenge on those who had aided the king
and resisted the popular will. Thousands of presumed
traitors were arrested and then massacred as ordinary
Parisian tradespeople and artisans solved the problem of
overcrowded prisons by mass executions of their inmates.
In September 1792, the newly elected National Conven-
tion began its sessions. Although it was called to draft a
new constitution, it also acted as the sovereign ruling body
of France.
Socially, the composition of the National Conven-
tion was similar to its predecessors. Dominated by
lawyers, professionals, and property owners, it also in-
cluded for the first time a handful of artisans. Two-thirds
of the deputies were under age forty-five, and almost all EXECUTION OF THE KING. At the beginning of 1793, the
National Convention decreed the death of the king, and
had had political experience as a result of the Revolution.
on January 21 of that year, Louis XVI was executed. As
Almost all were also intensely distrustful of the king and seen in this engraving by Carnavalet, the execution of the
his activities. It was therefore no surprise that the con- king was accomplished by the new revolutionary device
vention’s first major step on September 21 was to abol- of the guillotine.
ish the monarchy and establish a republic. But that was
about as far as members of the convention could agree, of its leaders from the city’s artisans and shopkeepers. The
and the National Convention soon split into factions over Commune favored radical change and put constant pres-
the fate of the king. The two most important were the sure on the National Convention, pushing it to ever more
Girondins and the Mountain. Both were members of the radical positions. As one man warned his fellow deputies:
Jacobin club. “Never forget that you were sent here by the sans-
Representing primarily the provinces, the Girondins culottes.”8 At the end of May and the beginning of June
came to fear the radical mobs in Paris and were disposed 1793, the Commune organized a demonstration, invaded
to keep the king alive as a hedge against future eventu- the National Convention, and forced the arrest and
alities. The Mountain, on the other hand, represented the execution of the leading Girondins, thus leaving the
interests of the city of Paris and owed much of its strength Mountain in control of the convention. The National Con-
to the radical and popular elements in the city, although vention itself still did not rule all France. The authority of
the members of the Mountain themselves were middle the convention was repudiated in western France, par-
class. The Mountain won out at the beginning of 1793 ticularly in the department of the Vendée, by peasants
when they passed a decree condemning Louis XVI to who revolted against the new military draft (see A Nation
death, although by a very narrow margin. On January 21, in Arms later in this chapter). The Vendéan rebellion soon
1793, the king was executed and the destruction of the escalated into a full-blown counterrevolutionary appeal:
old regime was complete. Now there could be no turn- “Long live the king and our good priests. We want our
ing back. But the execution of the king produced new king, our priests and the old regime.” Some of France’s
challenges by creating new enemies for the Revolution major provincial cities, including Lyons and Marseilles,
both at home and abroad while strengthening those who also began to break away from the central authority. Argu-
were already its enemies. ing as Marseilles did that “it is time for the anarchy of a
Factional disputes between Girondins and the few men of blood to stop,”9 these cities favored a decen-
Mountain were only one aspect of France’s domestic cri- tralized republic to free themselves from the ascendancy
sis in 1792 and 1793. Within Paris the local government of Paris. In no way did they favor breaking up the “indi-
was controlled by the Commune, which drew a number visible Republic.”

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 565
 L L L L L L L L L L L L LL
ment, the convention gave broad powers to an executive
C H R O N O L O G Y committee known as the Committee of Public Safety,
which was dominated initially by Danton. Maximilien
The French Revolution Robespierre (1758–1794) eventually became one of its
The National Assembly most important members. For a twelve-month period, from
(Constituent Assembly) 1789–1791 1793 to 1794, virtually the same twelve members were
Meeting of Estates-General May 5, 1789 reelected and gave the country the leadership it needed to
Formation of National weather the domestic and foreign crises of 1793.
Assembly June 17, 1789
Tennis Court Oath June 20, 1789
/ A NATION IN ARMS
Fall of the Bastille July 14, 1789
To meet the foreign crisis and save the Republic from its
Great Fear Summer 1789
foreign enemies, the Committee of Public Safety decreed
Abolition of feudalism August 4, 1789
a universal mobilization of the nation on August 23, 1793:
Declaration of the Rights of
Man and the Citizen August 26, 1789 Young men will fight, young men are called to conquer.
Women’s march to Married men will forge arms, transport military baggage and
Versailles; the king’s guns and will prepare food supplies. Women, who at long
return to Paris October 5–6, 1789 last are to take their rightful place in the revolution and
Civil Constitution of follow their true destiny, will forget their futile tasks: their
the Clergy July 12, 1790 delicate hands will work at making clothes for soldiers; they
Flight of the king June 20–21, 1791 will make tents and they will extend their tender care to
Declaration of Pillnitz August 27, 1791 shelters where the defenders of the Patrie [nation] will
The Legislative Assembly 1791–1792 receive the help that their wounds require. Children will
make lint of old cloth. It is for them that we are fighting:
France declares war
children, those beings destined to gather all the fruits of the
on Austria April 20, 1792
revolution, will raise their pure hands toward the skies. And
Attack on the royal palace August 10, 1792 old men, performing their missions again, as of yore, will be
The National Convention 1792–1795 guided to the public squares of the cities where they will
Abolition of the monarchy September 21, 1792 kindle the courage of young warriors and preach the doc-
Execution of the king January 21, 1793 trines of hate for kings and the unity of the Republic.11
Universal mobilization
of the nation August 23, 1793 In less than a year, the French revolutionary government
Execution of Robespierre July 28, 1794 had raised an army of 650,000; by September 1794, it
The Directory 1795–1799
numbered 1,169,000. The Republic’s army was the largest
Constitution of 1795 ever seen in European history. It now pushed the allies
is adopted August 22, 1795 back across the Rhine and even conquered the Austrian
Netherlands. By May 1795, the anti-French coalition of
1793 was breaking up.
Historians have focused on the importance of the
Domestic turmoil was paralleled by a foreign crisis. French revolutionary army in the creation of modern
By the beginning of 1793, after the king had been exe- nationalism. Previously, wars had been fought between
cuted, much of Europe—an informal coalition of Austria, governments or ruling dynasties by relatively small armies
Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Repub- of professional soldiers. The new French army, however,
lic—was pitted against France. Carried away by initial suc- was the creation of a “people’s” government; its wars were
cesses and their own rhetoric, the French welcomed the now “people’s” wars. The entire nation was to be involved
struggle. Danton exclaimed to the convention: “They in the war. But when dynastic wars became people’s wars,
threaten you with kings! You have thrown down your warfare increased in ferocity and lack of restraint. Although
gauntlet to them, and this gauntlet is a king’s head, the innocent civilians had suffered in the earlier struggles, now
signal of their coming death.”10 Grossly overextended, the carnage became appalling at times. The wars of the
the French armies began to experience reverses, and by French revolutionary era opened the door to the total war
late spring some members of the anti-French coalition of the modern world.
were poised for an invasion of France. If successful, both
the Revolution and the revolutionaries would be destroyed / THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY
and the old regime reestablished. The Revolution had AND THE REIGN OF TERROR
reached a decisive moment. To meet the domestic crisis, the National Convention and
To meet these crises, the program of the National the Committee of Public Safety established the “Reign of
Convention became one of curbing anarchy and coun- Terror.” Revolutionary courts were organized to protect the
terrevolution at home while attempting to win the war by revolutionary Republic from its internal enemies, those
a great national mobilization. To administer the govern- “who either by their conduct, their contacts, their words

566 CHAPTER 19
 CITIZENS ENLIST IN THE NEW FRENCH
ARMY. To save the Republic from its for-
eign enemies, the National Convention
created a new revolutionary army of unprec-
edented size. In this painting, citizens
joyfully hasten to sign up at the recruit-
ment tables set up in the streets. On this
occasion, officials are distributing coins to
those who have enrolled.

or their writings, showed themselves to be supporters of former patricians were in ruins. When I came to the guillo-
tyranny or enemies of liberty,” or those “who have not con- tine, the blood of those who had been executed a few hours
stantly manifested their attachment to the revolution.”12 beforehand was still running in the street . . . I said to a
group of sansculottes that it would be decent to clear away
Victims of the Terror ranged from royalists, such as Queen
all this human blood. Why should it be cleared? one of
Marie Antoinette, to former revolutionary Girondins, them said to me. It’s the blood of aristocrats and rebels.
including Olympe de Gouges, the chief advocate for polit- The dogs should lick it up.13
ical rights for women, and even included thousands of
peasants. Many victims were persons who had opposed In the Vendée, Revolutionary Armies were also bru-
the radical activities of the sans-culottes (see the box on tal in defeating the rebel armies. After destroying one army
p. 568). In the course of nine months, 16,000 people were on December 12, the commander of the Revolutionary
officially killed under the blade of the guillotine, the lat- Army ordered that no quarter be given: “The road to Laval
ter a revolutionary device for the quick and efficient sep- is strewn with corpses. Women, priests, monks, children,
aration of heads from bodies. But the true number of the all have been put to death. I have spared nobody.” The
Terror’s victims was probably closer to 50,000. The bulk of Terror was at its most destructive in the Vendée. Forty-two
the Terror’s executions took place in the Vendée and in percent of the death sentences during the Terror were
cities such as Lyons and Marseilles, places that had been passed in territories affected by the Vendée rebellion. Per-
in open rebellion against the authority of the National haps the most notorious act of violence occurred in Nantes
Convention. where victims were executed by sinking them in barges
Military force in the form of Revolutionary Armies in the Loire River.
was used to bring recalcitrant cities and districts back Contrary to popular opinion, the Terror demon-
under the control of the National Convention. Marseilles strated no class prejudice. Estimates are that the nobles
fell to a Revolutionary Army in August. Starving Lyons sur- constituted 8 percent of its victims; the middle classes, 25
rendered early in October after two months of bombard- percent; the clergy, 6; and the peasant and laboring
ment and resistance. Since Lyons was France’s second city classes, 60. To the Committee of Public Safety, this blood-
after Paris and had defied the National Convention dur- letting was only a temporary expedient. Once the war and
ing a time when the Republic was in peril, the Commit- domestic emergency were over, “the republic of virtue”
tee of Public Safety decided to make an example of it. By would ensue, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man
April 1794, 1,880 citizens of Lyons had been executed. and the Citizen would be fully established. Although
When guillotining proved too slow, cannon fire and grape theoretically a republic, the French government during
shot were used to blow condemned men into open graves. the Terror was led by a group of twelve men who ordered
A German observed: the execution of people as enemies of the Republic. But
how did they justify this? Louis Saint-Just, one of the
. . . whole ranges of houses, always the most handsome, younger members of the Committee of Public Safety,
burnt. The churches, convents, and all the dwellings of the explained their rationalization in a speech to the

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 567
 L
A Victim of the Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror created a repressive environment in tee [of the section], where I was called a counterrevolu-
which even quite innocent people could be accused of tionary and was told I was asking for the guillotine
crimes against the Republic. As seen in this letter by Anne- because I told them I preferred death to being treated
Félicité Guinée, wife of a wig maker, merely insulting an ignominiously the way he was treating me. . . . I was
official could lead to arrest and imprisonment. asked if I knew whom I had called a despot. I answered,
“I didn’t know him,” and I was told that he was the
commander of the post. I said that he was more [a com-
l Letter of Anne-Félicité Guinée
mander] beneath his own roof than anyone, given that
Citizen Anne-Félicité Guinée, twenty-four years old . . . he was there to maintain order and not to provoke bad
informs you that she was arrested at the Place des feelings. . . . I was told that I had done three times more
Droits de l’Homme, where I had gone to get butter. I than was needed to get the guillotine and that I would
point out to you that for a long time I have had to feed be explaining myself before the Revolutionary Tribunal.
the members in my household on bread and cheese and The next day, I was taken to the Revolutionary Commit-
that, tired of complaints from my husband and my boys, tee, which, without waiting to hear me, had me taken to
I was compelled to go wait in line to get something to the Mairie, where I stayed for nine days without a bed
eat. For three days I had been going to the same market or a chair with vermin and with women addicted to all
without being able to get anything, despite the fact that I sorts of crimes. . . .
had waited from 7 or 8 A.M. until 5 or 6 P.M. After the On the ninth day I was transferred to the prison of La
distribution of butter on the twenty-second, . . . a citizen Force. . . . In the end I can give you only the very slight-
came over to me and said that I was in a very delicate est idea of all the horrors that are committed in these
condition. To that I answered, “You can’t be delicate terrible prisons. . . . I was thrown together not with
and be on your legs for so long. I wouldn’t have come if women but with monsters who gloried in all their crimes
there were any other food.” He replied that I needed to and who gave themselves over to all the most horrible
drink milk. I answered that I had men in my house who excesses. One day, two of them fought each other with
worked and that I couldn’t nourish them with milk, that knives. Day and night I lived in mortal fear. The food
I was convinced that if he, the speaker, was sensitive to that was sent in to me was grabbed away immediately.
the difficulty of obtaining food, he would not vex me so, That was my cruel situation for seventeen days. My
and that he was an imbecile and wanted to play despot, whole body was swollen from . . . the poor treatment I
and no one had that right. Here, on the spot, I was had endured. . . . [Anne-Félicité Guinée was discharged
arrested and brought to the guard house. I wanted to provisionally after the authorities realized that she was
explain myself. I was silenced and dragged off to prison. pregnant.]
. . . About 7 P.M., I was led to the Revolutionary Commit-

convention: “Since the French people has manifested its The committee also attempted to provide some eco-
will, everything opposed to it is outside the sovereign. nomic controls, especially since members of the more rad-
Whatever is outside the sovereign is an enemy.”14 Clearly, ical working class were advocating them. They established
Saint-Just was referring to Rousseau’s concept of the gen- a system of requisitioning food supplies for the cities
eral will, but it is equally apparent that these twelve men, enforced by the forays of Revolutionary Armies into the
in the name of the Republic, had taken to themselves the countryside. The Law of the General Maximum estab-
right to ascertain the sovereign will of the French people lished price controls on goods declared of first necessity
(see the box on p. 569) and to kill their enemies as “out- ranging from food and drink to fuel and clothing. The con-
side the sovereign.” trols failed to work very well because the government
lacked the machinery to enforce them.
/ THE “REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE” Women continued to play an active role in this rad-
Along with the Terror, the Committee of Public Safety took ical phase of the French Revolution. As spectators at
other steps both to control France and to create a new sessions of revolutionary clubs and the National Con-
republican order and new republican citizens. By spring vention, women made the members and deputies aware
1793, they were sending “representatives on mission” as of their demands. When on Sunday, February 25, 1793,
agents of the central government to all departments to a group of women appealed formally to the National
explain the war emergency measures and to implement Convention for lower bread prices, the convention
the laws dealing with the wartime emergency. reacted by adjourning until Tuesday. The women

568 CHAPTER 19
 L
Robespierre and Revolutionary Government
In its time of troubles, the National Convention, under the The object of constitutional government is to preserve
direction of the Committee of Public Safety, instituted a the Republic; the object of the revolutionary government
Reign of Terror to preserve the Revolution from its internal is to establish it.
enemies. In this selection, Maximilien Robespierre, one of Revolution is the war waged by liberty against its
the committee’s leading members, tries to justify the vio- enemies; a constitution is that which crowns the edifice
lence to which these believers in republican liberty of freedom once victory has been won and the nation is
resorted. at peace.
The revolutionary government has to summon
extraordinary activity to its aid precisely because it is
l Robespierre, Speech on
at war. It is subjected to less binding and less uniform
Revolutionary Government
regulations, because the circumstances in which it finds
The theory of revolutionary government is as new as the itself are tempestuous and shifting above all because it
Revolution that created it. It is as pointless to seek its is compelled to deploy, swiftly and incessantly, new
origins in the books of the political theorists, who failed resources to meet new and pressing dangers.
to foresee this revolution, as in the laws of the tyrants, The principal concern of constitutional government is
who are happy enough to abuse their exercise of author- civil liberty; that of revolutionary government, public
ity without seeking out its legal justification. And so this liberty. Under a constitutional government little more is
phrase is for the aristocracy a mere subject of terror or a required than to protect the individual against abuses by
term of slander, for tyrants an outrage and for many an the state, whereas revolutionary government is obliged
enigma. It behooves us to explain it to all in order that to defend the state itself against the factions that assail
we may rally good citizens, at least, in support of the it from every quarter.
principles governing the public interest. To good citizens revolutionary government owes the
It is the function of government to guide the moral full protection of the state; to the enemies of the people
and physical energies of the nation toward the purposes it owes only death.
for which it was established.

responded bitterly by accosting the deputies: “We are

adjourned until Tuesday; but as for us, we adjourn our-
selves until Monday. When our children ask us for milk,
we don’t adjourn them until the day after tomorrow.”15
In 1793, two women—an actress and a chocolate
manufacturer—founded the Society for Revolutionary
Republican Women. Composed largely of working-class
women, this Parisian group viewed themselves as a “fam-
ily of sisters” and vowed “to rush to the defense of the
Fatherland.”
Despite the importance of women to the revolution-
ary cause, male revolutionaries reacted disdainfully to
female participation in political activity. In the radical
phase of the Revolution, the Paris Commune outlawed
women’s clubs and forbade women to be present at its
meetings. One of its members explained why:

It is horrible, it is contrary to all laws of nature for a woman

to want to make herself a man. The Council must recall
WOMEN PATRIOTS. Women played a variety of roles in
that some time ago these denatured women, these viragos,
the events of the French Revolution. This picture shows
wandered through the markets with the red cap to sully that
a women’s patriotic club discussing the decrees of the
badge of liberty and wanted to force all women to take off National Convention, an indication that some women
the modest headdress that is appropriate for them [the had become highly politicized by the upheavals of the
bonnet]. . . . Is it the place of women to propose motions? Is Revolution.
it the place of women to place themselves at the head of our
armies?16

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 569
 SWEDEN

North Sea
DENMARK
a
Se
ic
GREAT B a lt
BRITAIN
BATAVIAN
REPUBLIC Berlin
London

Rhi n
BELGIUM GERMAN
STATES

R e
.
Paris

AUSTRIA
Dan u
b e
Atlantic FRANCE Vienna
.

R
Lyons HELVETIC
Ocean
M ts.
Bordeaux REPUBLIC Budapest
ps
SAVOY Al Campo Formio
PIEDMONT Milan Venice
Pyr Po R .
CISALPINE
e ne Genoa
es Marseilles REPUBLIC
Eb

M OTTOMAN
ts.
ro

LIGURIAN TUSCANY
ROMAN EMPIRE
R.

REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC
SPAIN Corsica Rome

0 125 250 375 Kilometers

Naples
0 125 250 Miles
Sardinia
French Republic PARTHENOPEAN
Mediterranean Sea REPUBLIC
French satellites
MAP 19.2 French Conquests during
the Revolutionary Wars.

Most men—whether radical or conservative—agreed that Yet another manifestation of dechristianization was
a woman’s place was in the home and not in military or the adoption of a new republican calendar on October 5,
political affairs. As one man asked: “Since when is it con- 1793. Years would no longer be numbered from the birth
sidered normal for a woman to abandon the pious care of Jesus but from September 22, 1792, the day the French
of her home, the cradle of her children, to listen to Republic was proclaimed. Thus, at the time the calendar
speeches in the public forum?”17 was adopted, the French were already living in year two.
In its attempt to create a new order, the National The calendar contained twelve months; each month con-
Convention also pursued a policy of dechristianiza- sisted of three ten-day weeks (décades) with the tenth day
tion. The word “saint” was removed from street names, of each week a rest-day (décadi). This eliminated Sundays
churches were pillaged and closed by Revolutionary and Sunday worship services and put an end to the order-
Armies, and priests were encouraged to marry. In Paris, ing of French lives by a Christian calendar that empha-
the cathedral of Notre Dame was designated a Temple of sized Sundays, saints’ days, and church holidays and
Reason. In November 1793, a public ceremony dedicated festivals. The latter were to be replaced by revolutionary
to the worship of reason was held in the former cathedral; festivals. Especially important were the five days (six in
patriotic maidens adorned in white dresses paraded before leap years) left over in the calendar at the end of the year.
a temple of reason where the high altar once stood. At the These days were to form a half-week of festivals to cele-
end of the ceremony, a female figure personifying Liberty brate the revolutionary virtues—Virtue, Intelligence, Labor,
rose out of the temple. As Robespierre came to realize, Opinion, and Rewards. The sixth extra day in a leap year
dechristianization backfired because France was still over- would be a special festival day when French citizens
whelmingly Catholic. In fact, dechristianization created would “come from all parts of the Republic to celebrate lib-
more enemies than friends. erty and equality, to cement by their embraces the national

570 CHAPTER 19
fraternity.” Of course, ending church holidays also reduced In addition to its anti-Christian function, the revo-
the number of nonworking holidays from fifty-six to thirty- lutionary calendar had also served to mark the Revolution
two, a goal long recommended by eighteenth-century eco- as a new historical beginning, a radical break in time.
nomic theorists. Revolutionary upheavals often project millenarian expec-
The anti-Christian purpose of the calendar was rein- tations, the hope that a new age is dawning. The revolu-
forced in the naming of the months of the year. The months tionary dream of a new order presupposed the creation
were given names that were supposed to evoke the seasons, of a new human being freed from the old order and its
the temperature, or the state of the vegetation: Vendémiaire symbols, a new citizen surrounded by a framework of new
(harvest—the first month of thirty days beginning Septem- habits. Restructuring time itself offered the opportunity to
ber 22), Brumaire (mist), Frimaire (frost), Nivôse (snow), forge new habits and create a lasting new order.
Pluviôse (rain), Ventôse (wind), Germinal (seeding), Floréal But maintaining the revolutionary ideals was not
(flowering), Prairial (meadows), Messidor (wheat harvest), easy. By the Law of 14 Frimaire (passed on December 4,
Thermidor (heat), and Fructidor (ripening). 1793), the Committee of Public Safety sought to central-
The new calendar faced intense popular opposition, ize the administration of France more effectively and to
and the revolutionary government relied primarily on coer- exercise greater control in order to check the excesses of
cion to win its acceptance. Journalists, for example, were the Reign of Terror. The activities of both the represen-
commanded to use republican dates in their newspaper tatives on mission and the Revolutionary Armies were
articles. But many people refused to give up the old cal- scrutinized more carefully, and the campaign against
endar, as one official reported: Christianity was also dampened. Finally, in 1794, the
Committee of Public Safety turned against its radical
Sundays and Catholic holidays, even if there are ten in a Parisian supporters, executed the leaders of the revolu-
row, have for some time been celebrated with as much tionary Paris Commune, and turned it into a docile tool.
pomp and splendor as before. The same cannot be said of
This might have been a good idea for the sake of order, but
décadi, which is observed by only a small handful of citi-
zens. The first to disobey the law are the wives of public in suppressing the people who had been its chief sup-
officials, who dress up on the holidays of the old calendar porters, the National Convention alienated an important
and abstain from work more religiously than anyone else.18 group. At the same time, the French had been successful
against their foreign foes. The military successes meant
The government could hardly expect peasants to follow
that the Terror no longer served much purpose. But the
the new calendar when government officials were ignoring
Terror continued because Robespierre, now its dominant
it. Napoleon later perceived that the revolutionary calen-
figure, had become obsessed with purifying the body
dar was politically unpopular, and he simply abandoned
politic of all the corrupt. Only then could the Republic of
it on January 1, 1806.
Virtue follow. Many deputies in the National Convention

ROBESPIERRE. Maximilien Robespierre

eventually came to exercise much control
over the Committee of Public Safety.
Robespierre and the committee worked to
centralize the administration of France and
curb the excesses of the Reign of Terror.
However, fear of Robespierre led many in
the National Convention to condemn him,
and on July 28, 1794, he was executed.

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 571
feared, however, that they were not safe while Robespierre and an insurrection at the beginning of October that was
was free to act. An anti-Robespierre coalition in the dispersed after fierce combat by an army contingent under
National Convention, eager now to destroy Robespierre the artillery general Napoleon Bonaparte. This would be
before he destroyed them, gathered enough votes to con- the last time in the great French Revolution that the city
demn him. Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794, of Paris would attempt to impose its wishes on the cen-
beginning a reaction that brought an end to this radical tral government. Even more significant and ominous was
stage of the French Revolution. this use of the army, which made it clear that the Direc-
The National Convention and its Committee of Pub- tory from the beginning had to rely upon the military for
lic Safety had accomplished a great deal. By creating a survival.
nation in arms, they preserved the French Revolution and The period of the Directory was an era of stagnation,
prevented it from being destroyed by its foreign enemies, corruption, and graft, a materialistic reaction to the suf-
who, if they had been successful, would have re- ferings and sacrifices that had been demanded in the Reign
established the old monarchical order. Domestically, the of Terror and the Republic of Virtue. Speculators made for-
Revolution had also been saved from the forces of coun- tunes in property by taking advantage of the government’s
terrevolution. The committee’s tactics, however, provided severe monetary problems. Elaborate fashions, which had
an example for the use of violence in domestic politics that gone out of style because of their identification with the
has continued to bedevil the Western world until this day. nobility, were worn again. Gambling and roulette became
popular once more.
The government of the Directory was faced with
l Reaction and the Directory
political enemies from both the left and the right of the
After the death of Robespierre on July 28, 1794, revolu- political spectrum. On the right, royalists who dreamed of
tionary fervor began to give way to the Thermidorean restoring the monarchy continued their agitation; some still
Reaction, named after the month of Thermidor. The Ter- toyed with violent means. On the left, Jacobin hopes of
ror began to abate. The National Convention curtailed power were revived by continuing economic problems,
the power of the Committee of Public Safety, shut down especially the total collapse in the value of the assignats.
the Jacobin club, and attempted to provide better pro- Some radicals even went beyond earlier goals, especially
tection for its deputies against the Parisian mobs. Gracchus Babeuf who raised the question “What is the
Churches were allowed to reopen for public worship, and French Revolution? An open war between patricians and
a decree of February 21, 1795, gave freedom of worship plebeians, between rich and poor.” Babeuf, who was
to all cults. Economic regulation was dropped in favor of appalled at the misery of the common people, wanted to
laissez-faire policies, another clear indication that mod- abolish private property and eliminate private enterprise.
erate forces were again gaining control of the Revolution. His Conspiracy of Equals was crushed in 1796, and he
In addition, a new constitution was created in August was executed in 1797.
1795 that reflected this more conservative republicanism New elections in 1797 created even more uncer-
or a desire for a stability that did not sacrifice the ideals tainty and instability. Battered by the left and right, unable
of 1789. to find a definitive solution to the country’s economic prob-
To avoid the dangers of another single legislative lems, and still carrying on the wars left from the Commit-
assembly, the Constitution of 1795 established a national tee of Public Safety, the Directory increasingly relied
legislative assembly consisting of two chambers: a lower on the military to maintain its power. This led to a coup
house, known as the Council of 500, whose function was d’etat in 1799 in which the successful and popular general
to initiate legislation, and an upper house of 250 mem- Napoleon Bonaparte was able to seize power.
bers, the Council of Elders, composed of married or wid-
owed members over age forty, which accepted or rejected
the proposed laws. The 750 members of the two legisla- ◆ The Age of Napoleon
tive bodies were chosen by electors who had to be own-
ers or renters of property worth between 100 and 200 Napoleon dominated both French and European history
days’ labor, a requirement that limited their number to from 1799 to 1815. The coup d’etat that brought him to
30,000, an even smaller base than the Constitution of power occurred exactly ten years after the outbreak of the
1791 had provided. The electors were chosen by the French Revolution. In a sense, Napoleon brought the Rev-
active citizens, now defined as all male taxpayers over olution to an end in 1799, but Napoleon was also a child
twenty-one. The Council of Elders elected five directors of the Revolution; he called himself the son of the Revo-
from a list presented by the Council of 500 to act as the lution. The French Revolution had made possible his rise
executive authority or Directory. To ensure some conti- first in the military and then to supreme power in France.
nuity from the old order to the new, the members of the Even beyond this, Napoleon had once said, “I am the rev-
National Convention ruled that two-thirds of the new olution,” and he never ceased to remind the French that
members of the National Assembly must be chosen from they owed to him the preservation of all that was benefi-
their ranks. This decision produced disturbances in Paris cial in the revolutionary program.

572 CHAPTER 19
 NAPOLEON AS A YOUNG OFFICER. Napoleon
had risen quickly through the military ranks,
being promoted to the rank of brigadier
general at the age of twenty-five. This paint-
ing of Napoleon by the Romantic painter
Baron Gros presents an idealized, heroic
image of the young Napoleon.

l The Rise of Napoleon into an effective fighting force and, in a series of stunning
victories, defeated the Austrians and dictated peace
Napoleon was born in Corsica in 1769, only a few months to them in 1797. Throughout his Italian campaigns,
after France had annexed the island. The son of a lawyer Napoleon won the confidence of his men by his energy,
whose family stemmed from the Florentine nobility, the charm, and ability to comprehend complex issues quickly
young Napoleon obtained a royal scholarship to study at and make decisions rapidly. These qualities, combined
a military school in France. His education in French mil- with his keen intelligence, ease with words, and supreme
itary schools led to his commission in 1785 as a lieu- confidence in himself, enabled him throughout the rest
tenant, although he was not well liked by his fellow of his life to influence people and win their firm support
officers because he was short, spoke with an Italian (see the box on p. 575).
accent, and had little money. For the next seven years, In 1797, Napoleon returned to France as a con-
Napoleon spent much of his time reading the works of the quering hero and was given command of an army in train-
philosophes and educating himself in military matters by ing to invade England. Believing that the French were
studying the campaigns of great military leaders from unready for such an invasion, he proposed instead to
the past. The French Revolution and the European war strike indirectly at Britain by taking Egypt and threatening
that followed broadened his sights and presented him India, a major source of British wealth. But the British con-
with new opportunities. trolled the seas and, by 1799, had cut off supplies from
Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks. In 1792, Napoleon’s army in Egypt. Seeing no future in certain
he became a captain and in the following year performed defeat, Napoleon did not hesitate to abandon his army
so well as an artillery commander that he was promoted and return to Paris where he participated in the coup
to the rank of brigadier general in 1794, when he was only d’etat that ultimately led to his virtual dictatorship of
twenty-five. In October 1795, he saved the National Con- France. He was only thirty years old at the time.
vention from the Parisian mob and in 1796 was made With the coup d’etat of 1799, a new form of the
commander of the French army in Italy (see the box on Republic was proclaimed with a constitution that estab-
p. 574). There he turned a group of ill-disciplined soldiers lished a bicameral legislative assembly elected indirectly

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 573
 L
Napoleon and Psychological Warfare
In 1796, at the age of twenty-seven, Napoleon Bonaparte endured what you have endured. Soldiers, you have our
was given command of the French army in Italy where he thanks! The grateful Patrie [nation] will owe its prosper-
won a series of stunning victories. His use of speed, decep- ity to you. . . .
tion, and surprise to overwhelm his opponents is well The two armies which but recently attacked you with
known. In this selection from a proclamation to his troops audacity are fleeing before you in terror; the wicked men
in Italy, Napoleon also appears as a master of psychologi- who laughed at your misery and rejoiced at the thought
cal warfare. of the triumphs of your enemies are confounded and
trembling.
But, soldiers, as yet you have done nothing compared
l Napoleon Bonaparte, Proclamation to the
with what remains to be done. . . . Undoubtedly the
French Troops in Italy (April 26, 1796)
greatest obstacles have been overcome; but you still
Soldiers: have battles to fight, cities to capture, rivers to cross. Is
In a fortnight you have won six victories, taken there one among you whose courage is abating? No. . . .
twenty-one standards, fifty-five pieces of artillery, several All of you are consumed with a desire to extend the
strong positions, and conquered the richest part of Pied- glory of the French people; all of you long to humiliate
mont [in northern Italy]; you have captured 15,000 those arrogant kings who dare to contemplate placing us
prisoners and killed or wounded more than 10,000 men. in fetters; all of you desire to dictate a glorious peace,
. . . You have won battles without cannon, crossed rivers one which will indemnify the Patrie for the immense
without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, sacrifices it has made; all of you wish to be able to say
camped without brandy and often without bread. Sol- with pride as you return to your villages, “I was with the
diers of liberty, only republican troops could have victorious army of Italy!”

to reduce the role of elections. Executive power in the In 1801, Napoleon made peace with the oldest and
new government was vested in the hands of three con- most implacable enemy of the Revolution, the Catholic
suls although as Article 42 of the constitution said, “The church. Napoleon himself was devoid of any personal
decision of the First Consul shall suffice.” As first con- faith; he was an eighteenth-century rationalist who
sul, Napoleon directly controlled the entire executive regarded religion at most as a convenience. In Egypt,
authority of government. He had overwhelming influ- he called himself a Muslim; in France, a Catholic. But
ence over the legislature, appointed members of the Napoleon saw the necessity to come to terms with the
bureaucracy, controlled the army, and conducted foreign Catholic church in order to stabilize his regime. In 1800,
affairs. In 1802, Napoleon was made consul for life and he had declared to the clergy of Milan: “It is my firm
in 1804 returned France to monarchy when he crowned intention that the Christian, Catholic, and Roman reli-
himself as Emperor Napoleon I. This step undoubtedly gion shall be preserved in its entirety. . . . No society can
satisfied his enormous ego but also stabilized the regime exist without morality; there is no good morality with-
and provided a permanency not possible in the con- out religion. It is religion alone, therefore, that gives to
sulate. The revolutionary era that had begun with an the State a firm and durable support.”19 Soon after mak-
attempt to limit arbitrary government had ended with a ing this statement, Napoleon opened negotiations with
government far more autocratic than the monarchy of Pope Pius VII to reestablish the Catholic church in
the old regime. As his reign progressed and the demands France.
of war increased, Napoleon’s regime became ever more Both sides gained from the Concordat that Napoleon
dictatorial. arranged with the pope in 1801. Although the pope gained
the right to depose French bishops, this gave him little real
control over the French Catholic church since the state
l The Domestic Policies of
retained the right to nominate bishops. The Catholic
Emperor Napoleon
church was also permitted to hold processions again and
Napoleon often claimed that he had preserved the gains reopen the seminaries. But Napoleon gained more than
of the Revolution for the French people. The ideal of the pope. Just by signing the Concordat, the pope acknowl-
republican liberty had, of course, been destroyed by edged the accomplishments of the Revolution. Moreover,
Napoleon’s thinly disguised autocracy. But were revolu- the pope agreed not to raise the question of the church
tionary ideals maintained in other ways? An examina- lands confiscated during the Revolution. Contrary to the
tion of his domestic policies will enable us to judge the pope’s wishes, Catholicism was not reestablished as the
truth or falsehood of Napoleon’s assertion. state religion; Napoleon was only willing to recognize

574 CHAPTER 19
 L
The Man of Destiny
Napoleon possessed an overwhelming sense of his own This guardian angel a great nation harbors in its
importance. Among the images he fostered, especially as bosom at all times; yet sometimes he is late in making
his successes multiplied and his megalomaniacal tenden- his appearance. Indeed, it is not enough for him to exist:
cies intensified, were those of the man of destiny and the he also must be known. He must know himself. Until
great man who masters luck. then, all endeavors are in vain, all schemes collapse.
The inertia of the masses protects the nominal govern-
ment, and despite its ineptitude and weakness the
l Selections from Napoleon
efforts of its enemies fail. But let that impatiently
When a deplorable weakness and ceaseless vacillations awaited savior give a sudden sign of his existence, and
become manifest in supreme councils; when, yielding in the people’s instinct will divine him and call upon him.
turn to the influences of opposing parties, making shift The obstacles are smoothed before his steps, and a
from day to day, and marching with uncertain pace, a whole great nation, flying to see him pass, will seem to
government has proved the full measure of its impotence; be saying: “Here is the man!”
when even the most moderate citizens are forced to admit . . . A consecutive series of great actions never is the
that the State is no longer governed; when, in fine, the result of chance and luck; it always is the product of
administration adds to its nullity at home the gravest planning and genius. Great men are rarely known to fail
guilt it can acquire in the eyes of a proud nation—I mean in their most perilous enterprises. . . . Is it because they
its humiliation abroad—then a vague unrest spreads are lucky that they become great? No, but being great,
through the social body, the instinct of self-preservation is they have been able to master luck.
stirred, and the nation casts a sweeping eye over itself, as
if to seek a man who can save it.

Catholicism as the religion of a majority of the French peo- over their children (they could no longer have their children
ple. The clergy would be paid by the state, but to avoid the put in prison arbitrarily), and allowed all children (includ-
appearance of a state church, Protestant ministers were ing daughters) to inherit property equally. Napoleon’s Civil
also put on the state payroll. As a result of the Concor- Code undid most of this legislation. The control of fathers
dat, the Catholic church was no longer an enemy of the over their families was restored. Divorce was still allowed,
French government. At the same time, the agreement reas- but made more difficult for women to obtain. A wife caught
sured those who had acquired church lands during the in adultery, for example, could be divorced by her husband
Revolution that they would not be stripped of them, an and even imprisoned. A husband, on the other hand, could
assurance that obviously made them supporters of the only be accused of adultery if he moved his mistress into
Napoleonic regime. his home. Women were now “less equal than men” in other
Before the Revolution, France did not have a single ways as well. When they married, their property was
set of laws, but rather virtually 300 different legal systems. brought under the control of their husbands. In lawsuits
During the Revolution, efforts were made to prepare a cod- they were treated as minors, and their testimony was
ification of laws for the entire nation, but it remained for regarded as less reliable than that of men.
Napoleon to bring the work to completion in seven codes Napoleon also worked on rationalizing the bureau-
of law, of which the most important was the Civil Code (or cratic structure of France by developing a powerful, cen-
Code Napoléon). This preserved most of the revolution- tralized administrative machine. During the Revolution,
ary gains by recognizing the principle of the equality of all the National Assembly had divided France into eighty-
citizens before the law, the right of individuals to choose three departments and replaced the provincial estates,
their professions, religious toleration, and the abolition nobles, and intendants with self-governing assemblies.
of serfdom and feudalism. Property rights continued to be Napoleon kept the departments but eliminated the locally
carefully protected while the interests of employers were elected assemblies and instituted new officials, the most
safeguarded by outlawing trade unions and strikes. The important of which were the prefects. As the central
Civil Code clearly reflected the revolutionary aspirations government’s agents, appointed by the first consul
for a uniform legal system, legal equality, and protection (Napoleon), the prefects were responsible for supervis-
of property and individuals. ing all aspects of local government. Yet they were not
But the rights of some people were strictly curtailed local men and their careers depended on the central
by the Civil Code. During the radical phase of the French government.
Revolution, new laws had made divorce an easy process for As part of Napoleon’s overhaul of the administrative
both husbands and wives, restricted the rights of fathers system, tax collection became systematic and efficient

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 575
 THE CORONATION OF NAPOLEON.
In 1804, Napoleon restored monarchy
to France when he crowned himself
as emperor. In the coronation scene
painted by Jacques-Louis David,
Napoleon is shown crowning the
empress Josephine while the pope
looks on. Shown seated in the box
in the background is Napoleon’s
mother, even though she was not
at the ceremony.

(which it had never been under the old regime). Taxes were and the use of conscription for the military make it clear
now collected by professional collectors employed by the that much equality had been lost. Liberty had been
state who dealt directly with each individual taxpayer. No replaced by an initially benevolent despotism that grew
tax exemptions due to birth, status, or special arrangement increasingly arbitrary. Napoleon shut down sixty of
were granted. In principle these changes had been intro- France’s seventy-three newspapers and insisted that all
duced in 1789, but not until Napoleon did they actually manuscripts be subjected to government scrutiny before
work. In 1802, the first consul proclaimed a balanced they were published. Even the mail was opened by gov-
budget. ernment police. One prominent writer—Germaine de
Administrative centralization required a bureau- Staël—refused to accept Napoleon’s growing despotism.
cracy of capable officials, and Napoleon worked hard Educated in Enlightenment ideas, Madame de Staël wrote
to develop one. Early on, the regime showed its prefer- novels and political works that denounced Napoleon’s
ence for experts and cared little whether that expertise rule as tyrannical. Napoleon banned her books in France
had been acquired in royal or revolutionary bureaucra- and exiled her to the German states, where she contin-
cies. Promotion, whether in civil or military offices, was ued to write.
to be based not on rank or birth but only on demon-
strated abilities. This was, of course, what many bour-
l Napoleon’s Empire and the
geoisie had wanted before the Revolution. Napoleon,
European Response
however, also created a new aristocracy based on merit
in the state service. Napoleon created 3,263 nobles When Napoleon became consul in 1799, France was at
between 1808 and 1814; nearly 60 percent were military war with a second European coalition of Russia, Great
officers, and the remainder came from the upper ranks of Britain, and Austria. Napoleon realized the need for a
the civil service and other state and local officials. pause. He remarked to a Prussian diplomat “that the
Socially, only 22 percent of Napoleon’s aristocracy came French Revolution is not finished so long as the scourge
from the nobility of the old regime; almost 60 percent of war lasts. . . . I want peace, as much to settle the pres-
were bourgeois in origin. ent French government, as to save the world from
In his domestic policies, then, Napoleon both chaos.”20 The peace he sought was achieved at Amiens in
destroyed and preserved aspects of the Revolution. March 1802 and left France with new frontiers and a
Although equality was preserved in the law code and the number of client territories from the North Sea to the Adri-
opening of careers to talent, the creation of a new aris- atic. But the peace did not last because the British and
tocracy, the strong protection accorded to property rights, French both regarded it as temporary and had little inten-

576 CHAPTER 19
 NORWAY
SWEDEN

S ea
Moscow
N orth Borodino 1812

tic
Copenhagen

al
Tilsit
Sea DENMARK B Smolensk
GREAT Danzig
BRITAIN Friedland 1807
PRUSSIA RUSSIAN
London Berlin Eylau 1807
Rhine
SAXONY GRAND DUCHY EMPIRE

R.
Brussels Warsaw
Leipzig 1813
At l a n ti c Waterloo 1815 Auerstädt 1806
OF WARSAW
Paris Jena 1806 Kiev
WURTTEM-CONFEDERATION OF
Oc e a n BERG Austerlitz 1805 D
nie
Dn
i e pe
rR
THE RHINE s te .
GRAND DUCHY Vienna Pressburg r
OF BADEN Ulm 1805
SWITZERLAND BAVARIA AUSTRIAN

R.
Zürich Mts. EMPIRE
FRENCH lps
Po R. A Milan
EMPIRE
Danu
Eb Py Genoa KINGDOM be
ro re OF
R.
PORTUGAL n ee Marseilles
ILLYRIAN
R.

sM ITALY Blac k S e a
Madrid ts. PROVINCES
Lisbon Elba
Corsica Rome

SPAIN KINGDOM OTTOMAN

ds Sardinia OF NAPLES
Islan EMPIRE
B a l e a ric
Trafalgar 1805

KINGDOM
Tau s.
OF SICILY
ru s Mt
0 250 500 750 Kilometers Malta

Crete Cyprus
0 250 500 Miles
M e dite rrane an Se a
French empire Napoleon’s route, 1812

Under French control Battle site

Cairo
Allied to France EGYPT

MAP 19.3 Napoleon’s Grand Empire.

tion of adhering to its terms. In 1803, war was renewed Empire varied outside its inner core, Napoleon considered
with Britain, which was soon joined by Austria, Russia, himself leader of the whole: “Europe cannot be at rest
and Prussia in the Third Coalition. In a series of battles except under a single head who will have kings for
at Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, and Eylau from 1805 to 1807, his officers, who will distribute his kingdom to his
Napoleon’s Grand Army defeated the continental mem- lieutenants.”
bers of the coalition, giving him the opportunity to cre- Within his empire, Napoleon demanded obedience,
ate a new European order. The Grand Empire was in part because he needed a common front against
composed of three major parts: the French empire, a the British and in part because his growing ego-
series of dependent states, and allied states. The French tism required obedience to his will. But as a child of
empire, the inner core of the Grand Empire, consisted of the Enlightenment and Revolution, Napoleon also
an enlarged France extending to the Rhine in the east and sought acceptance everywhere of certain revolution-
including the western half of Italy north of Rome. Depen- ary principles, including legal equality, religious tolera-
dent states included Spain, Holland, the kingdom of Italy, tion, and economic freedom. As he explained to his
the Swiss Republic, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and the brother Jerome after he had made him king of the new
Confederation of the Rhine, the latter a union of all Ger- German state of Westphalia:
man states except Austria and Prussia. Allied states were
those defeated by Napoleon and forced to join his strug- What the peoples of Germany desire most impatiently is
gle against Britain; they included Prussia, Austria, and that talented commoners should have the same right to
Russia. Although the internal structure of the Grand your esteem and to public employments as the nobles,

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 577
 LLLLLLLLLLLLLL
that any trace of serfdom and of an intermediate hierarchy
between the sovereign and the lowest class of the people C H R O N O L O G Y
should be completely abolished. The benefits of the Code
Napoléon, the publicity of judicial procedure, the creation The Napoleonic Era, 1799–1815
of juries must be so many distinguishing marks of your
Napoleon as first consul 1799–1804
monarchy. . . . What nation would wish to return under
the arbitrary Prussian government once it had tasted the Concordat with Catholic church 1801
benefits of a wise and liberal administration? The peoples Peace of Amiens 1802
of Germany, the peoples of France, of Italy, of Spain all Emperor Napoleon I 1804–1815
desire equality and liberal ideas. I have guided the affairs Battles of Austerlitz; Trafalgar; Ulm 1805
of Europe for many years now, and I have had occasion
Battle of Jena 1806
to convince myself that the buzzing of the privileged
classes is contrary to the general opinion. Be a constitu- Continental System established 1806
tional king.21 Battle of Eylau 1807
Invasion of Russia 1812
In the inner core and dependent states of his Grand War of liberation 1813–1814
Empire, Napoleon tried to destroy the old order. Nobility Exile to Elba 1814
and clergy everywhere in these states lost their special Battle of Waterloo; exile to
privileges. He decreed equality of opportunity with offices Saint Helena 1815
open to talent, equality before the law, and religious tol- Death of Napoleon 1821
eration. This spread of French revolutionary principles
was an important factor in the development of liberal tra-
ditions in these countries. These reforms have led some
historians to view Napoleon as the last of the enlight-
ened absolutists. hated oppressors and thus arousing the patriotism of
Like Hitler 130 years later, Napoleon hoped that his others in opposition to French nationalism, and by show-
Grand Empire would last for centuries; like Hitler’s empire, ing the people of Europe what nationalism was and what
it collapsed almost as rapidly as it had been formed. Two a nation in arms could do. The lesson was not lost on other
major reasons help to explain this, the survival of Great peoples and rulers. A Spanish uprising against Napoleon’s
Britain and the force of nationalism. Britain’s survival was rule, aided by British support, kept a French force of
primarily due to its seapower. As long as Britain ruled the 200,000 pinned down for years.
waves, it was almost invulnerable to military attack. The beginning of Napoleon’s downfall came in 1812
Although Napoleon contemplated an invasion of England with his invasion of Russia. The latter’s defection from the
and even collected ships for it, he could not overcome Continental System left Napoleon with little choice.
the British navy’s decisive defeat of a combined French- Although aware of the risks in invading such a large coun-
Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. Napoleon then turned try, he also knew that if the Russians were allowed to chal-
to his Continental System to defeat Britain. Put into effect lenge the Continental System unopposed, others would
between 1806 and 1807, it attempted to prevent British soon follow suit. In June 1812, a Grand Army of more than
goods from reaching the European continent in order to 600,000 men entered Russia. Napoleon’s hopes for victory
weaken Britain economically and destroy its capacity to depended on quickly meeting and defeating the Russian
wage war. But the Continental System failed. Allied states armies, but the Russian forces refused to give battle and
resented the ever-tightening French economic hegemony; retreated for hundreds of miles while torching their own
some began to cheat and others to resist, thereby opening villages and countryside to prevent Napoleon’s army from
the door to British collaboration. New markets in the Le- finding food and forage. When the Russians did stop to
vant and in Latin America also provided compensation for fight at Borodino, Napoleon’s forces won an indecisive and
the British. Indeed, by 1809–1810 British overseas exports costly victory. When the remaining troops of the Grand
were at near-record highs. Army arrived in Moscow, they found the city ablaze. Lack-
A second important factor in the defeat of Napoleon ing food and supplies, Napoleon abandoned Moscow late
was nationalism. This political creed had arisen during the in October and made the “Great Retreat” across Russia in
French Revolution in the French people’s emphasis on terrible winter conditions. Only 40,000 out of the origi-
brotherhood (fraternité) and solidarity against other peo- nal army managed to straggle back to Poland in January
ples. Nationalism involved the unique cultural identity 1813. This military disaster then led to a war of libera-
of a people based on common language, religion, and tion all over Europe, culminating in Napoleon’s defeat in
national symbols. The spirit of French nationalism had April 1814.
made possible the mass armies of the revolutionary and The defeated emperor of the French was allowed to
Napoleonic eras. But Napoleon’s spread of the principles play ruler on the island of Elba, off the cost of Tuscany,
of the French Revolution beyond France inadvertently while the Bourbon monarchy was restored to France in the
brought a spread of nationalism as well. The French person of Louis XVIII, brother of the executed king. But
aroused nationalism in two ways: by making themselves the new king had little support, and Napoleon, bored on

578 CHAPTER 19
 the island of Elba, slipped back into France. The troops attack the nearest allied forces stationed in Belgium. At
sent to capture him went over to his side, and Napoleon Waterloo on June 18, Napoleon met a combined British
entered Paris in triumph on March 20, 1815. The powers and Prussian army under the duke of Wellington and suf-
that had defeated him pledged once more to fight this per- fered a bloody defeat. This time the victorious allies exiled
son they called the “Enemy and Disturber of the Tran- him to Saint Helena, a small and forsaken island in the
quility of the World.” Having decided to strike first at his South Atlantic. Only Napoleon’s memory would continue
enemies, Napoleon raised yet another army and moved to to haunt French political life.

1776 1784 1792 1800 1808 1816

National and Legislative Assemblies The Directory

National Convention The Age of Napoleon

American Declaration of Independence

The War for Independence

America under the Articles of Confederation

Ratification of the Constitution

Fall of the Bastille Reign of Terror

Napoleon becomes emperor of France Battle of Waterloo

Conclusion L L L L L L L L L L L L sion of the revolutionaries to go to war “revolutionized

the Revolution,” opening the door to a more radical,
The revolutionary era of the late eighteenth century democratic, and violent stage. The excesses of the
witnessed a dramatic political transformation. Revolu- Reign of Terror, however, led to a reaction, first under
tionary upheavals, beginning in North America and the Directory and then under Napoleon, when men of
continuing in France, produced movements for political property were willing to give up liberty in exchange for
liberty and equality. The documents created by these order, security, and economic opportunity. Napoleon,
revolutions, the Declaration of Independence and the while diminishing freedom by establishing order and
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, centralizing the government, shrewdly preserved equal-
embodied the fundamental ideas of the Enlightenment ity of rights and the opening of careers to talent and
and set forth a liberal political agenda based on a belief integrated the bourgeoisie and old nobility into a
in popular sovereignty—the people are the source of new elite of property owners. For despite the anti-
political power—and the principles of liberty and aristocratic revolutionary rhetoric and the loss of their
equality. Liberty, frequently limited in practice, meant, privileges, nobles remained important landowners.
in theory, freedom from arbitrary power as well as the Though the nobles lost some of their lands during the
freedom to think, write, and worship as one chose. Revolution, they were still the largest proprietors in the
Equality meant equality in rights and equality of early 1800s. The great gainers from the redistribution
opportunity based on talent rather than birth. In of clerical and noble property, however, had been the
practice, equality remained limited; those who owned bourgeoisie, who also gained dramatically when
property had greater opportunities for voting and office- important government and military positions were
holding, and there was certainly no equality between opened to men of talent. After 1800, an elite group of
men and women. property owners, both noble and middle class, domi-
The leaders of France’s liberal revolution, nated French society.
achieved between 1789 and 1791, were men of prop- The French Revolution created a modern revolu-
erty, both bourgeois and noble, but they were assisted tionary concept. No one had foreseen or consciously
by commoners, both sans-culottes and peasants. Yet planned the upheaval that began in 1789, but after
the liberal revolution, despite the hopes of the men of 1789 “revolutionaries” knew that the proper use of
property, was not the end of the Revolution. The deci- mass uprisings could succeed in overthrowing

A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon 579
unwanted governments. The French Revolution became SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING L L L L
the classical political and social model for revolution.
At the same time, the liberal and national political A well-written, up-to-date introduction to the French Revolu-
tion can be found in W. Doyle, The Oxford History of the
ideals created by the Revolution and spread through
French Revolution (Oxford, 1989). For the entire revolutionary
Europe by Napoleon’s conquests dominated the politi- and Napoleonic eras, see O. Connelly, The French Revolution
cal landscape of the nineteenth and early twentieth and Napoleonic Era, 2d ed. (Fort Worth, 1991); and D. M. G.
centuries. A new European era had begun and Europe Sutherland, France 1789–1815: Revolution and Counter-
would never again be the same. Revolution (New York, 1986). Two brief works are A. Forrest,
The French Revolution (Oxford, 1995); and J. M. Roberts, The
French Revolution, 2d ed. (New York, 1997). A different
approach to the French Revolution can be found in E. Ken-
NOTES L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L nedy, A Cultural History of the French Revolution (New Haven,
Conn., 1989). Three comprehensive reference works are S. F.
1. Quoted in R. R. Palmer, The Age of the Democratic Scott and B. Rothaus, eds., Historical Dictionary of the French
Revolutions (Princeton, N.J., 1959), 1:239. Revolution, 2 vols. (Westport, Conn., 1985); F. Furet and
2. Quoted in ibid., p. 242. M. Ozouf, A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution, trans.
3. Quoted in O. J. Hufton, “Toward an Understanding of A. Goldhammer (Cambridge, Mass., 1989); and O. Connelly,
the Poor of Eighteenth Century France,” in J. F. Bosher, et al., Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799–1815
ed., French Government and Society, 1500–1850 (Lon- (Westport, Conn., 1985).
don, 1973), p. 152. The origins of the French Revolution are examined in
4. Arthur Young, Travels in France during the Years 1787, W. Doyle, Origins of the French Revolution (Oxford, 1988). See
1788 and 1789 (Cambridge, 1929), p. 23. also R. Chartier, The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution
5. Quoted in D. M. G. Sutherland, France 1789–1815: (Durham, N.C., 1991). On the early years of the Revolution,
Revolution and Counter-Revolution (New York, 1986), see M. Kennedy, The Jacobin Clubs in the French Revolution:
p. 74. The First Years (Princeton, N.J., 1982); N. Hampson, Prelude to
6. Quoted in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the Terror (Oxford, 1988); T. Tackett, Becoming a Revolutionary
French Revolution (Oxford, 1989), p. 156. (Princeton, N.J., 1996), on the deputies to the National Assem-
7. Quoted in ibid., p. 184. bly; and J. Markoff, The Abolition of Feudalism: Peasants, Lords,
8. Quoted in J. Hardman, ed., French Revolution Documents and Legislators in the French Revolution (University Park, Pa.,
(Oxford, 1973), 2:23. 1996). Important works on the radical stage of the French
9. Quoted in W. Scott, Terror and Repression in Revolution- Revolution include N. Hampson, The Terror in the French
ary Marseilles (London, 1973), p. 84. Revolution (London, 1981); A. Soboul, The Sans-Culottes (New
10. Quoted in H. Morse Stephens, The Principal Speeches of York, 1972); R. R. Palmer, Twelve Who Ruled (New York,
the Statesmen and Orators of the French Revolution 1965); and R. Cobb, The People’s Armies (London, 1987). For a
(Oxford, 1892), 2:189. biography of Robespierre, one of the leading figures of this
11. Quoted in Leo Gershoy, The Era of the French Revolution period, see N. Hampson, The Life and Opinions of Maximilien
(Princeton, N.J., 1957), p. 157. Robespierre (London, 1974). The importance of the revolution-
12. Quoted in J. M. Thompson, French Revolution Docu- ary wars in the radical stage of the Revolution is underscored in
ments (Oxford, 1933), pp. 258–259. T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787–1802
13. Quoted in Doyle, The Oxford History of the French (New York, 1996). The importance of the popular revolutionary
Revolution, p. 254. crowds is examined in the classic work by G. Rudé, The Crowd
14. Quoted in R. R. Palmer, Twelve Who Ruled (New York, in the French Revolution (Oxford, 1959); and D. Roche,
1965), p. 75. The People of Paris: An Essay in Popular Culture (Berkeley,
15. Quoted in Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Apple- 1987). On the Directory, see M. Lyons, France under the
white, and Mary Durham Johnson, eds., Women in Directory (Cambridge, 1975); and R. B. Rose, Gracchus Babeuf
Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795 (Urbana, Ill., 1979), (Stanford, 1978).
p. 132. The religious history of the French Revolution is covered
16. Ibid., pp. 219–220. in J. McManners, The French Revolution and the Church (Lon-
17. Quoted in Elizabeth G. Sledziewski, “The French Revo- don, 1969). On the Great Fear, there is the classic work by
lution as the Turning Point,” in Geneviève Fraisse and G. Lefebvre, The Great Fear of 1789: Rural Panic in Revolution-
Michelle Perrot, eds., A History of Women in the West ary France (London, 1973). On the role of women in revolu-
(Cambridge, 1993), 4:39. tionary France, see O. Hufton, Women and the Limits of
18. Quoted in François Furet and Mona Ozouf, A Critical Citizenship in the French Revolution (Toronto, 1992); J. Landes,
Dictionary of the French Revolution, trans. Arthur Gold- Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolu-
hammer (Cambridge, Mass., 1989), p. 545. tion (Ithaca, N.Y., 1988); and the essays in G. Fraisse and
19. Quoted in Felix Markham, Napoleon (New York, 1963), M. Perrot, eds., A History of Women in the West, vol. 4 (Cam-
pp. 92–93. bridge, Mass., 1993). There is a good collection of essays in
20. Quoted in Doyle, The Oxford History of the French S. E. Melzer and L. Rabine, eds., Rebel Daughters: Women and
Revolution, p. 381. the French Revolution (New York, 1992).
21. Quoted in J. Christopher Herold, ed., The Mind of The best, brief biography of Napoleon is F. Markham,
Napoleon (New York, 1955), pp. 74–75. Napoleon (New York, 1963). Also valuable are G. J. Ellis,

580 CHAPTER 19
Napoleon (New York, 1997); M. Lyons, Napoleon Bonaparte
and the Legacy of the French Revolution (New York, 1994); and
For additional reading, go to InfoTrac
the recent massive biographies by F. J. McLynn, Napoleon: A
College Edition, your online research
Biography (London, 1997); and A. Schom, Napoleon Bonaparte
(New York, 1997). On Napoleon’s wars, see S. J. Woolf,
library at http://web1.infotrac-college.com
Napoleon’s Integration of Europe (New York, 1991). Enter the search terms French Revolution using Key Terms.
A history of the revolutionary era in America can be
Enter the search terms American Revolution using Key Terms.
found in R. Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American
Revolution, 1763–1789 (New York, 1982); and C. Bonwick, The Enter the search term Napoleon using Key Terms.
American Revolution (Charlottesville, Va., 1991). The impor-
Enter the search terms Napoleonic Wars using Key Terms.
tance of ideology is treated in G. Wood, The Radicalism of the
American Revolution (New York, 1992). A comparative study
that puts the American Revolution into a larger context is R. R.
Palmer, The Age of the Democratic Revolutions: A Political His-
tory of Europe and America, 1760–1800, 2 vols. (Princeton,
N.J., 1959–64).

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