G. Mick Smith, PhD: WH II: 15 October 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

WH II: 15 October 2009

Prayer:

Make-Up Test, 20 Question, multiple-choice Test on Chapter 10.

Current events:

We will consider Part II of this interview.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

The online version of a portion of the Textbook is available.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Sr. has advised students to check online teaching materials (as we have been doing since the first day of school).

We can consider the results of the Slideshare assignment.

Map of France

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Chapter 11 (newer edition Ch. 18): The French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789–1815

Chapter Overviews

Poverty, social divisions, and economic crisis led to the French Revolution and a reign of terror. Napoleon Bonaparte took power in a coup d'etat and tried to overthrow Europe's old order. After his costly military campaigns, he was defeated at Waterloo, Belgium, and exiled.
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Section 1 The French Revolution Begins

Poverty and deep social divisions were the backdrop of the French Revolution. On the eve of the revolution, financial crisis gripped the government of Louis XVI. Rather than accept higher taxes, the commoners in France's legislative body, the Estates-General, broke off to form a National Assembly. Anticipating an attack by the king's forces, commoners then stormed the Bastille prison, marking the start of the Revolution. The new Assembly took control of the Catholic Church and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The document was inspired in part by the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Assembly then wrote a constitution establishing a limited monarchy and a Legislative Assembly. France was soon at war with Austria, where some feared the revolution might spread. Louis XVI was taken captive by the Paris Commune. The Commune called for a National Convention and forced the revolution into a more violent phase.

Section 2 Radical Revolution and Reaction

During the first years of the revolution, a republic was established, Louis XVI was executed, and thousands of people were killed on suspicion of opposing the revolution. While factions fought over control within France, European states fearing the spread of revolution made plans to invade France. The National Convention responded by forming a Committee of Public Safety. The committee led a 12-month Reign of Terror, executing close to 40,000 suspected enemies and expunging signs of Catholic influence. The committee also raised the largest army in European history and repelled the invading armies. With the crisis past, the National Convention ended the Reign of Terror and executed its zealous leader, Maximilien Robespierre. Power shifted into the hands of more moderate middle-class leaders who produced a constitution in 1795. The constitution called for a two-house legislative body and an executive committee, called the Directory. The Directory faced mounting problems. In 1799 a popular General, Napoleon Bonaparte, seized power in a coup d'état.

Section 3 The Age of Napoleon

Napoleon formed a new government, the consulate, in which he held absolute power. In 1802 he was crowned emperor and signed a peace treaty with Russia, Great Britain, and Austria. At home, he made peace with the Catholic Church and created a functioning bureaucracy. His Napoleonic Code preserved many of the rights gained in the revolution. War was soon renewed. By 1807, Napoleon had created a French empire. In parts of the empire, Napoleon sought to spread the revolution. However, his invasions had contributed to the spread of nationalism as well. This, along with British sea power, would spell his defeat. After a disastrous invasion of Russia, other European nations attacked Napoleon's army and captured Paris. Napoleon was exiled from France, and the monarchy was restored. Napoleon returned to power briefly, only to face final military defeat against a combined Prussian and British force at Waterloo and to be exiled once again.

After surveying the Chapter, we begin in Section 1 The French Revolution Begins

We can consider the "Causes of the French Revolution."

To cover the entire French Revolution is a lofty task but to deal with the subject as best we can there is a good reference in the "Detailed Guide to the Revolution."

One of the most interesting characters of the period is "Marie Antoinette," sometimes referred to as the Teen Queen, not to be confused with later teen queens.

Or, alternatively, we can listen to "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution" in song.

If someone is studying French, perhaps they can translate the anthem of the republican Revolution:

The Marseillaise (War Song for the Army of the Rhine)

Marseillaise
( Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin)

Allons enfants de la patrie!
Le jour de gloire est arrivé;
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé.
L'étendard sanglant est levé.

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes!

Refrain:

Aux armes, citoyens, formez vos bataillons,
Marchez, marchez, qu'un sang impur
abreuve nos sillons.

Que veut cet horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés?
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés?

Francais! Pour nous, ah quel outrage!
Quels transports il doit exciter!
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage?

Refrain

Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie!
Combats avec tes défenseurs
Combats avec tes défenseurs

Sous nos drapeaux que la Victoire
Accourt à tes mâles accents:
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire

Refrain

Refrain
One of the most arresting images of the Revolution, no pun intended, is the guillotine.

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Chapter 11 Section 1 The French Revolution Begins

Objectives

*Describe the social divisions of France’s old order.
*List reasons for France’s economic troubles in 1789.
*Explain why Louis XVI called the Estates-General and summarize what resulted.
*Understand why Parisians stormed the Bastille.

Witness History

The Loss of Blood Begins (Audio)

On July 14, 1789, after a daylong hunting expedition, King Louis XVI returned to his palace in Versailles. Hours earlier, armed Parisians had attacked the Bastille. They had cut the chains of the prison drawbridge, crushing a member of the crowd, and poured into the courtyard. Chaos ensued as shots rang out, blood was spattered, and heads were paraded down the streets on spikes. When Louis heard the news, he exclaimed, “Then it’s a revolt?” “No, sire,” replied the duke bearing the news, “it’s a revolution!” The French Revolution had begun. Witness History relates the fall of the Bastille.

The Conquerors of the Bastille before the Hotel de Ville, painted by Paul Delaroche

Preview

Chapter Focus Question

What were the causes and effects of the French Revolution, and how did the revolution lead to the Napoleonic era?

Background to the Revolution

The Three Estates

French Society Divided (Audio)

In 1789, France, like the rest of Europe, still clung to an outdated social system that had emerged in the Middle Ages. Under this ancien régime, or old order, everyone in France was divided into one of three social classes, or estates. The First Estate was made up of the clergy; the Second Estate was made up of the nobility; and the Third Estate comprised the vast majority of the population.
The Clergy Enjoy Wealth

During the Middle Ages, the Church had exerted great influence throughout Christian Europe. In 1789, the French clergy still enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege. The Church owned about 10 percent of the land, collected tithes, and paid no direct taxes to the state. High Church leaders such as bishops and abbots were usually nobles who lived very well. Parish priests, however, often came from humble origins and might be as poor as their peasant congregations.

The First Estate did provide some social services. Nuns, monks, and priests ran schools, hospitals, and orphanages. But during the Enlightenment, philosophes targeted the Church for reform. They criticized the idleness of some clergy, the Church’s interference in politics, and its intolerance of dissent. In response, many clergy condemned the Enlightenment for undermining religion and moral order.

Nobles Hold Top Government Jobs

The Second Estate was the titled nobility of French society. In the Middle Ages, noble knights had defended the land. In the 1600s, Richelieu and Louis XIV had crushed the nobles’ military power but had given them other rights—under strict royal control. Those rights included top jobs in government, the army, the courts, and the Church.

At Versailles, ambitious nobles competed for royal appointments while idle courtiers enjoyed endless entertainments. Many nobles, however, lived far from the center of power. Though they owned land, they received little financial income. As a result, they felt the pinch of trying to maintain their status in a period of rising prices.

Many nobles hated absolutism and resented the royal bureaucracy that employed middle-class men in positions that once had been reserved for them. They feared losing their traditional privileges, especially their freedom from paying taxes.

Analyzing Political Cartoons
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The Old Regime

This cartoon represents the social order in France before the French Revolution. While a member of the Third Estate is beginning to express anger and rise up, a nobleman representing the Second Estate and a priest, representing the First Estate, recoil in surprise and fear.

1. How does the cartoonist portray the Third Estate? Explain why.

2. What were the differences among the social classes in pre-revolutionary France?

Third Estate Is Vastly Diverse

The Third Estate was the most diverse social class. At the top sat the bourgeoisie (boor zhwah zee), or middle class. The bourgeoisie included prosperous bankers, merchants, and manufacturers, as well as lawyers, doctors, journalists, and professors. The bulk of the Third Estate, however, consisted of rural peasants. Some were prosperous landowners who hired laborers to work for them. Others were tenant farmers or day laborers.

The poorest members of the Third Estate were urban workers. They included apprentices, journeymen, and others who worked in industries such as printing or cloth making. Many women and men earned a meager living as servants, stable hands, construction workers, or street sellers of everything from food to pots and pans. A large number of the urban poor were unemployed. To survive, some turned to begging or crime.

Vocabulary Builder

urban—(ur bun) adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a city

From rich to poor, members of the Third Estate resented the privileges enjoyed by their social “betters.” Wealthy bourgeois families in the Third Estate could buy political office and even titles, but the best jobs were still reserved for nobles. Urban workers earned miserable wages. Even the smallest rise in the price of bread, their main food, brought the threat of greater hunger or even starvation.

Because of traditional privileges, the First and Second Estates paid almost no taxes. Peasants were burdened by taxes on everything from land to soap to salt. Though they were technically free, many owed fees and services that dated back to medieval times, such as the corvée (kawr vay), which was unpaid labor to repair roads and bridges. Peasants were also incensed when nobles, hurt by rising prices, tried to reimpose old manor dues.

Infographic

What Is the Third Estate?

In towns and cities, Enlightenment ideas led people to question the inequalities of the old regime. Why, people demanded, should the first two estates have such great privileges at the expense of the majority? Throughout France, the Third Estate called for the privileged classes to pay their share.

Checkpoint

What was the social structure of the old regime in France?

Financial Crisis (Audio)

Economic woes in France added to the social unrest and heightened tensions. One of the causes of the economic troubles was a mushrooming financial crisis that was due in part to years of deficit spending. This occurs when a government spends more money than it takes in.

National Debt Soars

Louis XIV had left France deeply in debt. The Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution strained the treasury even further. Costs generally had risen in the 1700s, and the lavish court soaked up millions. To bridge the gap between income and expenses, the government borrowed more and more money. By 1789, half of the government’s income from taxes went to paying the interest on this enormous debt. Also, in the late 1780s, bad harvests sent food prices soaring and brought hunger to poorer peasants and city dwellers.

To solve the financial crisis, the government would have to increase taxes, reduce expenses, or both. However, the nobles and clergy fiercely resisted any attempt to end their exemption from taxes.

Economic Reform Fails

The heirs of Louis XIV were not the right men to solve the economic crisis that afflicted France. Louis XV, who ruled from 1715 to 1774, pursued pleasure before serious business and ran up more debts. Louis XVI was well-meaning but weak and indecisive. He did, however, wisely choose Jacques Necker, a financial expert, as an advisor. Necker urged the king to reduce extravagant court spending, reform government, and abolish burdensome tariffs on internal trade. When Necker proposed taxing the First and Second Estates, however, the nobles and high clergy forced the king to dismiss him.

As the crisis deepened, the pressure for reform mounted. The wealthy and powerful classes demanded, however, that the king summon the Estates-General, the legislative body consisting of representatives of the three estates, before making any changes. A French king had not called the Estates-General for 175 years, fearing that nobles would use it to recover the feudal powers they had lost under absolute rule. To reform-minded nobles, the Estates-General seemed to offer a chance of carrying out changes like those that had come with the Glorious Revolution in England. They hoped that they could bring the absolute monarch under the control of the nobles and guarantee their own privileges.

Primary Source