The Age of RevolutionsThe Age of RevolutionsThe French Revolution

Remember?Remember?

• Louis XV– “The Beloved”

• Corrupt morals• Overspending,

bankrupting his country• Not reforming his

government – allowing the bluebloods to do whatever they wanted.

Louis XVLouis XV

• Died of smallpox in 1774.

• Last words: “After me, comes the flood.”

Louis XVI: The last “real” king of France

Louis XVI: The last “real” king of France

• The wrong king for the wrong time. – Became king when only 14.

• Well educated• Indecisive• Wanted to keep the old

absolutism– Ancien Regime

• Honest, but not up to the tasks needed to be done.– Not willing to rule like an

absolute king, but not willing to share the power.

Louis le Denier (the Last)Louis le Denier (the Last)• Had a very sheltered

childhood with his grandmother.– Kept away from the

“corrupting influences” of his grandfather at Versailles.

– Parents neglected the younger son.

– Raised until he was eleven years old to be a Catholic priest.

• Preferred working on locks and had an interest in astronomy.

Louis the LastLouis the Last

• Didn’t participate in the Las Vegas-like atmosphere of Versailles.

• But didn’t try to stop or control any of the “activities” at Versailles.

• No efforts to reform.

Louis XVI’s Wife:Louis XVI’s Wife:

• Marie-Antoinette• The last born of

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (Hapsburg).

• After 16 children, her parents were not that active in her life.

Marie Antoinette: Growing UpMarie Antoinette: Growing Up• Didn’t get that good of an

education.• Didn’t have that much

supervision.• Wasn’t really encouraged

to “grow up.”• Watched over by her

mother’s “vice police” and letters from her mother about how a princess should behave.– Gave Marie Antoinette a

dislike for older and wiser women.

Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette

• Grew up knowing she’d be married to the King of France.

Louis and Marie Antoinette: Disaster in the Making

Louis and Marie Antoinette: Disaster in the Making

• Imagine turning a 14 year old girl loose as a queen in a place like Versailles.

• Imagine that girl without a lot of intelligence and sense.

• Imagine that girl who had had a very restrictive upbringing now loose in Versailles.

• Imagine a husband that doesn’t really know how to handle her.

Does this sound like someone we know?

Does this sound like someone we know?

Louis and Marie AntoinetteLouis and Marie Antoinette

• NOT a good marriage.

• Married in 1770• No children until

1778.

Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette

• She was failing in her primary duty of being a queen.– No children!– A Hapsburg who didn’t

have children?

• NEVER!

Marie Antoinette’s Reaction to her “failure”

Marie Antoinette’s Reaction to her “failure”

• More excessive living!– Three day gambling

sprees.– More elaborate clothes– More costume parties– More opera

performances– More $$$$$$$$$$ that

France didn’t have.• Scenes from the 2006

movie Marie Antoinette

Louis was unable and unwilling to stop Marie Antoinette’s

spending

Louis was unable and unwilling to stop Marie Antoinette’s

spending• He didn’t particularly like

her.• He retreated more into

doing things away from his wife’s party scene.– Studying languages– Making locks– Looking at the stars– Raising more taxes to pay

for his wife’s “pleasures.”

Marie Antoinette’s worst “folly”Marie Antoinette’s worst “folly”

• Petit Trianon• Her “farmhouse”

away from Versailles.• She took this getaway

and tried to make it mimic how she thought peasant people lived.

While people in France starved:While people in France starved:• A grown up play house.• Marie Antoinette would

have her ladies in waiting dressing up like milkmaids.

• Brought peasants in to be a “village” for her.

• Had it so servants weren’t seen in the house. – Trap doors would open and

tables loaded with food would “appear.”

Intervention comes in 1777Intervention comes in 1777

• Marie Antoinette’s second brother Maximilian comes to visit.

• Offered marriage counseling to both Louis and his sister.– Letters between Maximilian

and his oldest brother Joseph II of Austria tell us what the problems were between Marie Antoinette and Louis.

1778: Motherhood1778: Motherhood• Marie Antoinette and

Louis had four children – only one survived childhood and the coming Revolution.

• Marie Antoinette became a model of motherhood.

• But her reputation was too fixed with people.

• While she tamed down some of her wild ways – the merry-go-round of Versailles continued.

Can you imagine what John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson thought about France when they

arrived in 1777 to get France to support our Revolution? … or Abigail?

Can you imagine what John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson thought about France when they

arrived in 1777 to get France to support our Revolution? … or Abigail?

Financial Troubles for Louis XVI

Financial Troubles for Louis XVI

• DEFICIT SPENDING = government spending more than it takes in.

• By Louis XVI – France was BROKE.– Too many wars– Too much spending on the

good life– Bad harvests and not

spending any money on the people had no improvements happening.

Any leader’s choices when debt is too much …

Any leader’s choices when debt is too much …

• Raise Taxes• Reduce Spending• Or both.

– But the nobles and Church don’t want to pay taxes!

– Marie Antoinette doesn’t want to trim her spending either!

King Louis’ “lifeline”King Louis’ “lifeline”

• Jacques Necker• Became finance

minister.– Proposed reducing

extravagant spending at Versailles.

– Reforms of government to help people.

– Make the First and Second Estate pay taxes.

1788: Necker is dismissed!1788: Necker is dismissed!

• The nobles and Church screamed against royal “tyranny” that wanted them to pay taxes.

• Bad harvests, high prices, and high taxes meant the peasants didn’t have enough food. – Food riots start happening

On the Eve of Revolution1789

On the Eve of Revolution1789

• France was divided into three social classes (estates) during the Middle Ages.– First Estate– Second Estate– Third Estate

First Estate: The ClergyFirst Estate: The Clergy• The Catholic Church

enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege.

• Owned 10% of France and collected taxes from the people.

• Paid no taxes to the king.• Upper churchmen lived

like princes. – Lower churchmen did offer

some social services:• Schools, hospitals,

orphanages.

The Second EstateThe Second Estate

• The Nobility• Paid no taxes• Some competed for

royal appointments while others were idle aristocrats.

• Were still collecting rents from the lands many hadn’t seen for three generations.

The Third EstateThe Third Estate

• Everyone else in France.• Didn’t matter if you were

a successful merchant, shopkeeper, sailor, farmer, peasant, doctor, beggar.

• You paid the taxes for everyone else. – BOURGEOISIE: the upper

class of the Third Estate.• Bankers, lawyers, doctors,

etc.

The Three Estates used to advise kings

The Three Estates used to advise kings

• Kind of a “parliament” – where they would all talk.

• Louis XIII had abolished the Estates General and they had not met for 175 years.– But now King Louis

XVI needed to know how to get more money.

The Estates General: 1789The Estates General: 1789

• King Louis XVI was truly shocked and mystified by all the rage that people had when they came to the Assembly.– He just wanted more

money.

The First Estate WantsThe First Estate Wants

• Keep their tax-free status.

• Some reform-minded clerics wanted the government to give them money to help their projects for the poor.

The Second Estate Wants:The Second Estate Wants:• Nobles who had been

influenced by the Enlightenment and the American Revolution wanted to end absolute monarchy and put the monarch under their control. – The Marquis de Lafayette,

a Frenchman who served with our American Revolution, who now wanted reforms in France

The Third Estates Wants:The Third Estates Wants:

• Came with Cahiers (kah YAYZ) – notebooks with all their grievances.– Fairer taxes– Freedom of the press– Regular meetings of

the Estates General

Third Estate Wants:Third Estate Wants:• Take taxes off leather so

shoemakers could afford leather.

• Servants wanting the right to leave service of an unfair employer.

• If the servants stayed – they wanted some sort of social security for their old age.

• Get rid of the “vampires” and “Bloodsuckers”?– Who?

• TAX COLLECTORS!

Delegates arriveDelegates arrive

• Armed with lessons from the PHILOSOPHES of the Enlightenment – they wanted more than the end of the financial crisis.

• They wanted reform!

Louis XVI: Wrong MoveLouis XVI: Wrong Move

• Decided that only propertied men could vote.

How to Vote?How to Vote?• Usually the Estates met

separately and voted and then the three came together to share their votes.– 2-1 splits usually. Those

would probably favor the king’s wants.

• But the Third Estate said that since they were the largest population – their votes should count for 95% of France.

June 1789: The Tennis Court Oath

June 1789: The Tennis Court Oath

• Louis locked the doors of the meeting hall and posted guards.

• The reform-minded nobles, clergy and Third Estate went to the nearest big place – a tennis court – to meet.

The Tennis Court OathThe Tennis Court Oath

• They all agreed to never separate and meet whenever circumstances might require until they had established a sound and just constitution.

1789: The Rights of Man1789: The Rights of Man

• Modeled on the Declaration of Independence and the English Bill of Rights.– Called for freedom and

equality of all males before the law.

Louis XVI’s reaction?Louis XVI’s reaction?

• Reluctantly accepted it.

• Still didn’t get how mad people were.

• Didn’t know what to do – and let others take the lead.– BIG MISTAKE!

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams in 1776:

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams in 1776:

• My Dear Friend,– “Either you ride the

horse of this revolution, or it will ride you.”

The Storming of the BastilleThe Storming of the Bastille

• July 14, 1789• Rumors that the king was

going to take over Paris and turn the guns on the people.

• 800 Parisians went to the Bastille – a prison and where they thought weapons were kept.– Meant to take the

weapons, so they couldn’t be used against them.

The Storming of the BastilleThe Storming of the Bastille

• The Captain of the fortress refused to let the crowd in and ordered his men to fire on them.

• They broke through the defenses and killed the captain and five guards.

• No weapons were found and only a few prisoners.– And they deserved to be in

prison!

Bastille DayBastille Day

• French Liberation Day, celebrated every July 14.

• The Bastille was everything the French hated about royal abuse.

• This is where the French Revolution starts.

The French Revolution Unfolds:THE GREAT FEAR

The French Revolution Unfolds:THE GREAT FEAR

• Rumors that French troops were attacking villages and towns.

• Rumors of French troops taking food from the poor during the terrible famine in 1789.

• Rumors that the nobles meant to reimpose old taxes on the poor peasants.– None were true!

Inflamed by famine and fear the peasants react!

Inflamed by famine and fear the peasants react!

• Burned chateaus• Burned records so

there were no tax records to go on.

• Murders of unjust nobles started.

• Murders of unjust clergy began as well.

The Rise of the CommuneThe Rise of the Commune

• Paris was also in turmoil.• A Guard of troops loyal to

the National Assembly are put together by the Marquis de Lafayette.

• First to wear the “tricolor”• Became the symbol of

France.

Estates General is now called the National Assembly

Estates General is now called the National Assembly

• Vote out the nobility on August 4, 1789

• The Church is placed under State Control– Abolished papal control.– Priests served the state,

not the church.

• Constitution in 1791 establishes a new government.

Where are Louis and Marie Antoinette in all this?

Where are Louis and Marie Antoinette in all this?

• October 5, 1789: Angry and hungry women in Paris marched 13 miles in the pouring rain to Versailles demanding to see the king. – They wanted bread.

Did Marie Antoinette say “Let them eat cake!”

Did Marie Antoinette say “Let them eat cake!”

• Much debate if she did say that in response to a courtier telling her the women were angry because they had no bread.– Did she say it at all?– Did she mean it as eating

cake?– Did she mean it as “cake”

an oatmeal mixture often given to pigs?

The Women Take the King and Queen Prisoner

The Women Take the King and Queen Prisoner

• Particular hatred for Marie Antoinette.– Foreign– Stories about her

extravagant lifestyle while people starved.

– Her charities seemed too little too late.

The Women Bring Louis and Marie Antoinette back to ParisThe Women Bring Louis and

Marie Antoinette back to Paris• “Now we don’t have to go

far when we want to see our king.”

• Forced the king to wear the tricolor.

• For three years the king, queen and their two children would be prisoners in the Tuileries Palace.– The women found the king,

queen and their children hiding in the king’s bedroom.

1791: Louis tries to escape1791: Louis tries to escape• Encouraged by Marie

Antoinette they tried to get away.

• Riding in a coach, Louis disguised as a servant and Marie Antoinette as a governess and the royal children.

• They got caught when in a small town, someone recognized Louis from his coins.

1791: Louis XVI1791: Louis XVI

• Because Louis had tried to escape – he was looked at as a traitor to the Revolution.

1791: Radicals take over1791: Radicals take over

• Rulers in other countries feared the revolution would spread.– Catherine the Great burned

Voltaire’s letters and locked up her “enemies.”

– Marie Antoinette’s brother Joseph II threatened war, if France hurt his sister and brother-in-law.

The Radicals Don’t Care!The Radicals Don’t Care!

• Radicals “sans-coullotes” take over.

• Demand a republic.• Turn on moderate

reformers like Lafayette as not moving fast enough.

• Outlaw the Monarchy.• Declare war on other

European countries.

Radicals execute the kingRadicals execute the king

• They thought that Louis XVI was working with his brother-in-law to defeat France.

• Executed him with the “new” device the guillotine.

• January 1793.

Marie Antoinette followedMarie Antoinette followed

• October 1793, she was guillotined.

The Terror Comes to FranceThe Terror Comes to France

• Guillotine “Etiquette”– Imprisonment– Maybe a trial

Execution DayExecution Day

• Cutting hair and binding people to the tumbrils.

• Two hour ride through Paris so people could see who was being executed and hurl some last insults at the condemned.

The GuillotineThe Guillotine

Heads would be shown to the crowd and then dropped in baskets and bodies rolled off into other baskets.

In between crowds would come and dip handkerchiefs in blood as souvenirs and get the execution squads to sweep the blood off the platform onto them.

An invention by a doctor!An invention by a doctor!

• 15,000 – 40,000 died over three years by the guillotine or dying in prisons.

Interesting TriviaInteresting Trivia

• It became popular to make “death masks” of famous people who died.

• Wax was a quick way to do this.

A woman got the idea to create a wax museum for the dead!

A woman got the idea to create a wax museum for the dead!

• Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museums are all over the world today!– Wax copies of live

people as well!

Also: New styles from the Guillotine!

Also: New styles from the Guillotine!

• Men and women began to wear their hair short.

• Women and men took to wearing red ribbons around their throats and lacing over their clothes.

• Kept their necks exposed.• Had “Victims Balls” to

celebrate executions or their survival.

Also a custom still with us:Also a custom still with us:

• Instead of bowing and curtseying in greeting – a quick jerk of the head became a way to say “Hello.”– Imitating the moment

of decapitation.

Fashions Changed TooFashions Changed Too

Phase II of the RevolutionPhase II of the Revolution• The Reign of Terror• 1793 – 1794• France is under attack

from European countries.• The people are attacking

anything and anyone that appear at all pro-noble.

• Food shortages and inflation.

• The National Assembly is bitterly divided between Jacobins and Girondins.

The Rise of Robespierre in the Reign of Terror

The Rise of Robespierre in the Reign of Terror

• “The Incorruptible”• Put in charge of a new

“Committee of Public Safety”

• Duty to create a taxing system that was fair and oversee trials and executions.

• But he took his committee and made it the power of France.

RobespierreRobespierre

• Cold and humorless personality.

• Believed “Liberty cannot be secured, unless criminals lose their heads.”

• Wanted to create a “Republic of Virtue” by using terror to get people to do what he wanted.

The Reign of TerrorThe Reign of Terror

• Over 300,000 were arrested and accused of crimes.

• The guillotine was very busy.

• Robespierre thought that this was necessary to purify the people of France.

The End of RobespierreThe End of Robespierre

• In the end Robespierre was accused of crimes and arrested.

• One day trial and executed the next day in July 1794.

So whatever happened to Louis and Marie-Antoinette’s

children?

So whatever happened to Louis and Marie-Antoinette’s

children?

Louis-CharlesLouis-Charles

1785-1795(?)

After his parents tried and failed to escape he was taken away from them for “reeducation.”

Louis-CharlesLouis-Charles• His jailor would “sell” the

boy to people that wanted to say they had hit a blueblood.– And worse happened to the

eight year old boy too.

• He was taught to curse his parents and that his mother had sexually molested him.

• He testified about this “abuse” at her trial.

Louis XVII Louis XVII

• With his father’s execution, royal sympathizers called him Louis XVII.

• The Revolutionary Guards did not want another king.

Louis XVII – dead?Louis XVII – dead?

• A doctor was summoned to a prison and told to do an autopsy on a young boy’s corpse.– Starvation– Multiple scars on his back,

front and feet from abuse– Suffered from venereal

disease– Was an alcoholic, from the

damage to his liver

The doctor suspected who the dead boy was

The doctor suspected who the dead boy was

• He secretly removed the heart before the body was taken and thrown into a common grave with other people that had died in the prison.

• He took that heart home and embalmed it and kept it hidden.

1975: The doctor’s descendents offered the heart to the descendents of Louis XVI

1975: The doctor’s descendents offered the heart to the descendents of Louis XVI

• But was it real? • There were many

stories over the centuries about boys who had escaped the prison and went on to live normal lives.

• Where was the “Lost Dauphin” at?

2004: Technology catches up2004: Technology catches up

• Using Marie Antoinette’s hair that had been cut and saved as a young girl, technology let scientists compare the embalmed heart to Marie Antoinette.

No DoubtNo Doubt

• The heart belonged to a son of Marie Antoinette.

• The heart is now buried near his parents’ grave.

What about the daughter?What about the daughter?

• Marie-Therese• She was 12 years old

when her parents were guillotined.

• When she was 13, her aunt that had stayed with her was guillotined.

• A former princess, alone, in a terrible prison.

What happened to Marie-Therese in prison?

What happened to Marie-Therese in prison?

• The records are very, very quiet.

• But based on what was happening in the prison to other prisoners – abuses probably happened to her.

Robespierre comes to visitRobespierre comes to visit

• There is no record of what they talked about for over an hour.

• He never authorized her death warrant.

Uncle Joseph II comes to her rescue

Uncle Joseph II comes to her rescue

• Her uncle, the King of Austria, paid a ransom for her return.

• At 15 she was brought to Vienna and raised by her uncle.

• Could not bear to be around any Frenchman that had been involved with the Revolution or Napoleon.

• Was quite uncomfortable at being touched at all.

Marie-ThereseMarie-Therese

• Married a cousin.• No children• Was always wanting

to be part of a family.• Spent most of her life

in the shadow of her parents.

• Died in 1851 and is buried in what is today Slovenia.

Phase III: The Rise of the Directory

Phase III: The Rise of the Directory

• 1795-1799• Mostly bourgeoisie land

owners.• Corrupt, making deals

that made themselves rich, at the expense of the people.

• Had many people wanting a return to royalism, Catholicism.

• The Directory turned to a general to help them.

NAPOLEONNAPOLEON

• The greatest French General.

• OH! WAIT!– Napoleon wasn’t FRENCH!

– He was Corsican, an island

in the Mediterranean that the French had taken over when Napoleon was a boy!

– He spoke French with an accent and never could spell the French way.

Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte

• In a time of revolution, smart and ambitious men (and women) can find opportunities to get ahead.

• Napoleon Bonaparte was smart and ambitious.

Napoleon the GeneralNapoleon the General

• In one day went from being a captain of artillery to a brigadier general.

• Good at creating diversions on the battlefield to hide his real actions.

• Good at using cannons to support infantry.

Napoleon the GeneralNapoleon the General

• Good at using spies to discover weaknesses in the enemy.

• Good at getting publicity about his successes out to the public.

• Good at hiding his losses.

Napoleon the PoliticianNapoleon the Politician

• Made the jump to politics by becoming part of the Directory.

• 1799, made a deal that made the Directory just three men.

• 1802. Made himself First Consul and knocked out the other two Directors.

1804: Crowns himself Emperor1804: Crowns himself Emperor

• Did away with many of the French Revolution ideas of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”

• Replaced those ideas with “Order, Security, and Efficiency”

Napoleon wasn’t alone in his rise to fame and power

Napoleon wasn’t alone in his rise to fame and power

• His “Lucky Star”• Josephine• A widow who had

survived the Reign of Terror.

• Mixed politics with love.• Napoleon did the

unthinkable – married his mistress! – And had been a number of

other men’s mistresses as well!

Josephine and Napoleon had a “different” kind of relationshipJosephine and Napoleon had a “different” kind of relationship

Napoleon Reforms FranceNapoleon Reforms France

• Restored SOME of the rights of the Catholic Church.

• Won support across class lines.

• Controlled prices• Encouraged new

businesses• Built roads and

canals.

Napoleon Reforms FranceNapoleon Reforms France

• System of public schools – that had strict government control about what was taught.

• Opened up jobs to all, based on talent.

Napoleonic Code: His lasting accomplishment

Napoleonic Code: His lasting accomplishment

• Created a law code that embodied the Enlightenment.

• Equality before the law• Religious toleration• Abolition of feudalism• But women lost rights

they had during the Revolution.– Regarded as property of

their fathers or husbands.

1804-1812: Napoleon Builds and Empire

1804-1812: Napoleon Builds and Empire

• Napoleon was good at always coming up with new strategy for each battlefield.

• Enemies never knew what to anticipate.

• “Napoleon’s presence on the battlefield was worth 40,000 troops.”

1804-18121804-1812

• Napoleon ANNEXED Netherlands, Belgium, parts of Italy and Germany, halved Prussia, and took over Poland.

• Austria and Spain also became part of his new empire.

Securing these new parts of his empire ..

Securing these new parts of his empire ..

• Napoleon made his brothers and sisters into kings and queens.

• His family’s fortunes depended on Napoleon staying emperor.– Made his brothers and

sisters loyal to him.– Viewed by many as no-

class upstarts.

Who stood in Napoleon’s way of complete European domination?Who stood in Napoleon’s way of complete European domination?

Only England!

England’s safety depended on keeping Napoleon from getting a navy.

Horatio Nelson: Naval Hero that stopped Napoleon from invading

England

Horatio Nelson: Naval Hero that stopped Napoleon from invading

England

• Burned the Danish fleet rather than let Napoleon steal it

• Battle of the Nile• Battle of Trafalgar

– Nelson died in that battle.– Brought back to England in

the “unusual way.”• Barrel of Brandy

Where was America at this time?

Where was America at this time?

• President John Adams had not wanted our country involved with Napoleon.

• President Jefferson wanted our country involved with Napoleon.

The Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase

• President Jefferson saw the chance to get money to Napoleon and make our country bigger.– Win-Win situation!

Blockade Running Blockade Running

• American ships tried to slip by English ships blockading France to get supplies and trade with the French.

• The British launched the War of 1812 to get us to stop helping Napoleon.– It worked.

Napoleon has troubles at homeNapoleon has troubles at home

• Josephine has failed to have a child.

• They have a love-hate relationship.

• But she is his good luck charm.

Napoleon Divorces JosephineNapoleon Divorces Josephine

• Marries the niece of Marie Antoinette.

• A Hapsburg.• Divorced Josephine in

1809• Married Marie Louise

in 1810.• Had a son in 1811.

Napoleon by 1812Napoleon by 1812

• He has an heir• But he has lost his

good luck charm.

Napoleon’s ChallengesNapoleon’s Challenges

• Nationalism in conquered countries.

• Not everyone wanted to become “French”

• Rome, Netherlands, German states, all revolted.

SpainSpain

• Napoleon had easily defeated the King of Spain.

• But Spanish “guerillas” (little war) attacked him and kept his troops bogged down in Spain and unable to wage the war they were good at.

• Both sides committed atrocities.

RussiaRussia

• Catherine the Great’s grandson had taken over.

• He thought Napoleon was his “friend” and they could divide up Europe between them.

• SURPRISE, ALEXANDER!!!

Napoleon invades RussiaNapoleon invades Russia

• 600,000 men and 50,000 horses.

• Russians responded with their SCORCHED EARTH policy.– Destroyed their own

crops, roads, bridges so the French couldn’t use them.

Napoleon makes it to MoscowNapoleon makes it to Moscow

• But he has no food for his troops.

• He begins a 1,000 mile trek back home in a Russian winter.

Napoleon returns to ParisNapoleon returns to Paris

• Only 20,000 men survived.

• Napoleon’s reputation for success is shattered.

Napoleon is weakNapoleon is weak

• England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia create an ALLIANCE to defeat Napoleon.

• Napoleon ABDICATES and agrees to go into exile.– He only stays in exile

for 15 months.

A new king is chosen for France

A new king is chosen for France

• Louis XVI’s brother.• Takes name Louis

XVIII.• TERRIBLE king.

– Always terrified of being beheaded.

– Economic collapse– Problems with who

gets the land when exiles return.

Napoleon sees a chance to come back!

Napoleon sees a chance to come back!

• March 1815 – Paris cheers Napoleon’s return.

• Soldiers return to fight again for their general.

• Louis XVIII runs away.

Napoleon’s End: WaterlooNapoleon’s End: Waterloo

• Napoleon only ruled for 100 days.

• June 18, 1815 • The English general

The Duke of Wellington scrambled to put together an army to stand against Napoleon.

WaterlooWaterloo

• DESPERATE one day battle between the French and the English.– The Prussians showed

up at the end of the day.

– Napoleon was completely defeated.

– 47,000 men died in one day.

What to do with Napoleon?What to do with Napoleon?

• Sent him to an exile in the middle of nowhere.

• South Atlantic island of St. Helena.

• He never escaped.• Died of stomach

cancer in 1821.

Napoleon’s wife and sonNapoleon’s wife and son

• Napoleon wanted his son with him.

• Marie Louise instead took their son and returned to her family in Austria.– Napoleon’s son died

when he was 21 of tuberculosis.

• Suspicions of poison.

Josephine?Josephine?

• She wanted to join Napoleon in exile.

• Met with Czar Alexander I to persuade him to let her go.– Wore a special outfit.– Caught pneumonia

and died.

Napoleon and JosephineNapoleon and Josephine

• Both of their last words were to each other.

Napoleon’s LegacyNapoleon’s Legacy

• Was he “the Revolution on Horseback”?

• Was he the traitor of the Revolution?

Napoleon’s LegacyNapoleon’s Legacy• Created a centralized

state with a constitution.• More people had

elections• More people had wealth

and access to education.• The Napoleonic Code

had written laws for all.• BUT:

– He failed to make Europe French

– He created more revolutions in the world.

Trying to Turn Back Time:The Congress of Vienna

Trying to Turn Back Time:The Congress of Vienna

• 1815:• European countries meet

to:– Reestablish monarchies in

Europe as they were in 1792.

• But did put some limits on them.

– Work to suppress nationalist movements of small countries.

– Worked for almost 100 years.