Lesson 20 French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire

The crisis of the old system

At the beginning of the 18th century, the French feudal system entered a period of decay and decline, the "old system". King Louis XV hindered the development of capitalism by increasing taxes and other measures. During this period, an intellectual and cultural movement against the old system was launched in France and Europe. Progressive thinkers wrote books, promoted freedom, equality and democracy, and advocated enlightenment of the people to dispel the darkness of ignorance by the light of reason, hence the name "Enlightenment". The Enlightenment was a great intellectual liberation movement, and it was an important theoretical preparation for the French Revolution.

The French Revolution

The constraints of the old system on economic development led to the intensification of various social conflicts in France. The support for the American War of Independence made the French government heavily indebted and the financial crisis even more serious. For this reason, King Louis XVI had to convene a three-tier council in May 1789 to discuss the issue of taxation.

In accordance with the original method, the three levels met separately in three classes, each of which, regardless of the number of representatives, had only one vote. In this meeting, the third class insisted on increasing its political rights and advocated that the three classes should meet together and have a one-person-one-vote system. Thereafter, the representatives of the third class formed a "National Assembly" as the sole representative of the people, and demanded a constitution. On the one hand, the king agreed to change the name of the National Assembly to the "Constituent Assembly" and asked the representatives of the first and second classes to join it, but on the other hand, he secretly mobilized the army and tried to control the situation by force. As the news spread, the Parisians gathered and armed themselves to support the Constituent Assembly. On July 14, at the cost of nearly 100 dead and wounded, the Parisians seized the Bastille, the symbol of the king's rule, thus triggering riots in cities and villages throughout the country, and the French Revolution began.

In August 1789, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaimed the basic principles of human rights, rule of law, freedom, separation of powers, equality and protection of private property rights.

In 1791, the Constituent Assembly drafted a constitution, which basically implemented the principles of the Declaration of Human Rights, abolished the old system and established the basic framework of the new system.

King Louis XVI was forced to accept the Constitution, but secretly wrote to the European monarchs calling for armed intervention in France. Austria and Prussia formed an allied army and pushed their way into Paris. The people of France took up arms and organized volunteer armies to rescue Paris. The French army repulsed the invaders at Valmy and drove the enemy out of the country. Subsequently, France declared the abolition of the monarchy and established the First French Republic. The king's letters calling for the military intervention of foreign monarchs were then discovered, and the Parisian public demanded that the king be punished, and in 1793 King Louis XVI was guillotined for treason.

The French Revolution shook the European monarchs, who, fearing the spread of the revolution, decided to round up the French executioners. England, Holland, Spain and Prussia and Austria formed an anti-French alliance and attacked France from several directions. The royalist forces in France took advantage of the opportunity to raise their heads and attempted to restore the monarchy. Under the extremely serious situation, the Jacobins led by Robespierre formed the Committee of National Salvation and took a series of severe measures to quell the domestic rebellion, repel the anti-French alliance and bring the French Revolution to a climax. However, the Jacobins' strikes were too broad and put everyone at risk. As a result, Robespierre and others were also guillotined in the coup d'état. Soon after, new anti-French allies came back with a vengeance. The French Revolution destroyed the monarchical rule in France, spread the bourgeois liberal democratic ideas and had worldwide influence.

Napoleonic Empire

In November 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup d'état and formed a new government, which soon built an efficient state apparatus. In order to organize the legislative achievements since the revolution, Napoleon presided over the formulation of a civil code, called the Napoleonic Code, which embodied the principles of freedom and equality and the sanctity of private property. This code has been revised several times and is still in force in France today. Later, the civil law of many countries took the Napoleonic Code as a model.

On the battlefield, Napoleon once again defeated the Anti-French League, and his personal prestige was at its peak. In 1804, by referendum, France became an empire, known as the First French Empire, and Napoleon was crowned emperor.

Although Napoleon became the emperor, he was still the successor of the revolution in the eyes of European monarchs. The Anti-French League fought against France time and again, and lost to Napoleon time and again. Napoleon's army was invincible and almost swept across the European continent, abolishing feudal privileges everywhere and at the same time oppressing and plundering the local people. In 1812, Napoleon's expedition to Russia was defeated, and in 1815, the First French Empire was destroyed.

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