| 1

The Age of Revolution

A. Intellectual Background

1. Absolutism

a. Rise of nation-states
- Definition of a nation-state
Country formed by one people sharing the same heritage and
language
- End of feudalism
Ruler taking back power from the lords
Centralised rule
- Decline of the church
Pope no longer controlled kings and emperors

b. Absolute monarchs
- Characteristic:
Kings/Emperors
Took power from the lords
Became the final authority
Centralised in the capital city
Military
Took control of the army
Religion
In some cases took control of the church
Source of Power:
Believed they were chosen by God

i. France
- Louis XIV, 1643-1715
- Centralised French government
- Made all his lords live in the Palace of Versailles
- Demanded absolute unity and loyalty to the Sate
- Fought numerous wars to gain superiority

ii. Britain
- James I (1566-1625)
1

Please tell me all mistakes I have made. Thank you very much.
E-mail:saps0809@gmail.com Facebook: Winston Panda Ching
Phone:61422342 Address:censored
Key:



Highlighted on lesson

Notes!(according to
Mr. Haack)
Authors annotation
Capital: where the
government sits
Monarch

Absolute Constitutional

Change of
government
system

Absolute monarch: do not
need to obey her own law
(eg. Saudi Arabia)
Constitutional monarch:
answer to parliament or
government

Hall of Mirror
The Sun King
2 |

- Unified England and Scotland
- Believer and author of the Devine Right of Kings
1

- Theory that the king was appointed by God and only responsible to God
- Forced to share power with Parliament

2. The Age of Reason

a. Meaning
- A time of independent thinking
- Questioning of old beliefs and superstitions
- Quest for knowledge
- Time of scientific analysis
Newton (physics)
Discovered gravity
Harvey (medicine)
Discovered blood circulation

b. Enlightenment

i. John Locke (1632-1704)
- English
- Believed in the Social Contract
- Governments power comes from the people
- People had the right to overthrow governments that suppressed their
rights
- People had rights to life, liberty and property
- Father of Liberalism

ii. Montesquieu (1689-1755)
- French
- Believed in the three divisions of government
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
- Stop absolute rule
- Protection of peoples rights

iii. Voltaire (1694-1776)
1: Mr. Haacks mistake. Should be Divine Right of Kings
Execution: due
process of law
| 3

- French
- Believed in the Rights of Man
Freedom of the speech
Freedom of the press
Freedom of religion
Right to liberty and property
- Constitutional monarchy

iv. Rousseau (1712-1778)
- French
- Believed all people were free and equal
- Kings right to rule came from the people not God
- People had the right to overthrow absolute monarchs

c. Influence of the Enlightenment
- Changed the thinking style of Europeans
- Lead to the American and French Revolutions
B.
C. The French Revolution (1789)

1. Causes

a. Discount with the King
- Louis XVI was corrupt and incompetent
- His wife was ignorant and foolish
- Popular dissatisfaction with the French government

b. Economic causes
- Foreign wars
Conant warfare was expensive
- Court expenditure:
King and queen lived in incredible luxury
- Corruption:
Tax officials accepted bribes
Reduced real income of the country
- Famine:
1780, series of crop failures
Tax revenue reduced
Merchants
dissatisfy his
corruption
People have no bread
~ Marie Antoinette:
Well, let them eat cake
4 |

- 1789, France was on the edge of bankruptcy

c. Social inequality
- 1789, no sense of social class equality
- Divided between lords, priests, merchants and peasants
- Lords and priests had privileges and freedom
- Merchants and peasants paid the taxes

d. Effects of the Enlightenment
- Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau attacked the government
- Opposed Absolutism
- Opened the idea to liberal thinking
- Because more popular among the French merchant class

e. Effects of the American War of Independence
- French soldiers returning to France from the United States Brought in
ideas of republicanism and democracy

2. Course and Development of the Revolution

a. Definition of the Estates-General
- Form of assembly or parliament in France
- Could only be brought together by the kings wish
- Had no real power
- Divided into three groups:
1
st
estate nobility (lords)
2
nd
estate priests and bishops (church)
3
rd
estate merchants and peasants

b. Calling of the Estates-General
- 5 may 1789, called to solve economic problem
- 3
rd
estate left the assembly
- Decided to create their own National Assembly
- National Assembly declared illegal by the King

c. The Tennis Court Oath
- National Assembly regrouped at a nearby tennis court
- Swore an oath that they would not give up until the king granted France
Lords, priests: fat and wealthy but pay
no tax
Merchants, peasants: pay tax
Parliament origin:
<French> parlement
-: from parle ment
<French> parle = <English> parley
the biggest group
Louis XVI
| 5

a constitution
- Now known as the Tennis Court Oath


































d. Fall of the Bastille
- 12 July 1789, Louis rejected idea of a constitution; created a uproar in

The Tennis Court Oath
6 |

Paris
- 14 July 1789
- A place holding political prisoners
- Attacked and destroyed the Bastille by the people of Paris
- The revolution had begun























e. Declaration of the Rights of Man
- Issued in August 1789
- People were born equal and free
- Freedom of speech, press, religion
- Democracy
- Government was given the responsibility of protecting these rights

3. The Republic of France

a. Escape of Louis XVI

Prise de la Bastille (Fall of the Bastille)
| 7

- Louis refused to accept the Declaration of the Rights of Man
- Tried to escape to Austria with his family
- Austria was Frances enemy
- Forced to accept the constitution
- Taken into prison

b. Execution of Louis XVI
- Went to his death with great courage
- Proclaimed his love for France
- Forgave his executioner



























c. Revolutionary Wars
In name of treason

Marie Antoinette's execution on 16 October 1793.
1

1: For unknown reason, Mr. Haack put this picture on this slide
8 |

- Austria and Prussia were frightened
- Neighbours of France
- Feared the revolution would spread to their own merchant and peasant
classes
- Formed a coalition army against France

d. 1
st
French Republic (1792-1804)
- Establish in September 1792
- 1793, executed Louis XVI
- Aimed to eliminate all counter-revolutionary elements
- 40,000 people sent to the guillotine; 200,000 imprisoned
- 1794, Robespierre sent to the guillotine

e. The directory (1795-1799)
- Moderate revolutionaries to replace the excesses of Robespierre
- Stabilized France
- Paved the way for Napoleon to come to power

4. France under Napoleon

a. Rise of Napoleon
- 1769, born on the island of Corsica
- Brilliant military strategist
- 1797, defeated the Austrians
- 1799, overthrow the Directorate
- Set up the consulate and became First Consul

b. The 1
st
French Empire

i. Napoleon Reforms
- Social
Abolished feudalism
Peasants were given land from the nobility and the church
- Economic
Established a new tax system
- Legal
Introduced the Napoleonic Code
Everyone equal before the law
Used to be Italy, then France
2
nd
December, 1804
Napoleon abolishes the Republic
Declares himself Emperor
| 9

- Military
Created military schools
- Religious
1801, makes treaty with the Pope
Roman Catholicism to be the national religion

c. The napoleon wars

i. The Third Coalition, 1805
- 1806, Britain, Russia, Sweden, the German states, and Austria join
together to attack France
- Napoleon defeats Austria, Russia and Prussia

ii. The continental System, 1806-1812
- 1806, Britain destroys the French and Spanish navy at the Battle of
Trafalgar
- Napoleon forbade all European nations from trading with Britain
- Was a failure

iii. The Peninsular Wars, 1808
- Napoleon invades Portugal
- Portugal was continuing to trade with Britain
- Britain came to the aid of Portugal and Spain
- 1814, Napoleon defeated

iv. The Russian Campaign, 1812
- Napoleon invades Russia
- Russia refused to submit to French authority
- Total disaster
- Many French soldiers died of starvation and cold

v. Battle of Nations, 1813
- Napoleon defeated by a coalition formed by Russia, Austria, Britain and
Prussia
- Captured Paris
- Exiled Napoleon to the island of Elba

vi. Battle of Waterloo, 1815
Mr. Haack celebrates the Battle of Austerlitz
10 |

- Napoleon escaped from Elba
- Returned to power
- Created a new army
- Defeated at Waterloo by a combined Anglo-Prussian army
- Exiled to St. Helena
- Died in 1821

5. Legacy of the French Revolution

a. For France
- Absolute rule came to an end
- Liberalism
Belief that all people were free and equal
Freedom of speech, press and religion
- Nationalism
Belief that peoples loyalty is to the state not to the ruler
France became extremely nationalistic

b. For Europe

i. Spread of liberalism and nationalism
- Napoleon gave people under his rule equality and freedom
- Problem:
Did not give him self-government
Rose up against him

ii. Restoring order
- Congress of Vienna, 1814
- Aimed to
Stop the spread to liberalism and nationalism
Prevent the expansion France
- Method:
Restore absolute rulers
Keep France weak
Restore the power of Austria
Put most of the Italian states under foreign powers

iii. Revolutions in 19
th
Century Europe
Last until 1914 (WWI)
| 11

- Liberalism and nationalism deeply rooted in Europe
- 1820s, most revolutions suppressed
- 1830s, Belgium and France had successful revolutions
- 1848, Europe exploded into revolution

iv. Unification movements
- 1870, Italy becomes a unified country
- 1871, Germany becomes a unified country