French Revolution Dbq

The French Revolution began with a negligible crisis and soon intensified into a revolution. Louis XVI was crowned as the King of France in 1775. Louis was an absolute king meaning that he had all the power above the government. There were many components that helped lead France towards the revolution.

The king was incompetent in the responsibility of managing state finances. Funding wars from the midcentury and involvement in the American Revolution was costly. The government had no other choice than to raise taxes. This raise was hard on the economy because the tax was dispersed unevenly among social classes. Even with the raise of taxes the state failed to have enough money for state expenses and required loans to be taken out. These loans

only furthered the debt of France because as each loan was taken out the state was forced to pay interest on the loans. In an attempt to keep the debt from rising Louis went to the nobles and churchmen for financial support. Before they agreed to support the king, they requested to view royal accounts, but the king refused and saw the request as undermining his absolute power. With nowhere else to turn the king went to the Parlement of Paris. The court was unwilling to support the king and wanted to control over policy. In 1788, the feud between Louis and the Parlement of Paris caused pro-Parlement demonstrators and royal troops to fight all over areas of the kingdom.
On May 4, 1789, Louis called together the meeting of the Estates-General to deal with financial crisis.

The Estates-General was divided into three Estates: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. Louis did not take initiative and the deputies were left to figure it out on their own. In June, the Third Estate confirmed them to be the National Assembly. After this event Louis called a royal session and banned the deputies from continuing their meetings. This information did not reach the deputies. On June 21, 1789, when the National Assembly went to meet they found the doors had been locked by royal troops. Moving to a nearby tennis court, the group took the Tennis Court Oath. This oath swore that they would not disperse until they had written France a constitution. A few days later the royal session was held and he ordered all members of the clergy and nobility to join the National Assembly. Then, weeks later he ordered his army to separate the National Assembly by force. When this was discovered Paris became filled with fear, panic, and tension. People began breaking into arsenals for weapon and ammunition. On July 14, a crowd headed to Bastille. The crowd was armed with cannons. They went to negation with the governor to receive ammunition, but they resorted to taking Bastille by force. In the process of seizing Bastille prisoners were released and the governor was murdered. Out of fear the king ordered his troops to dismiss his original

order.

Briefly describe the life of Napoleon Bonaparte with regard to his military successes and failures.

Napoleon Bonaparte was part of a minor noble family. By the age of ten, he attended a French military school. He was successful in his studies, but he did not fit in with other students. When the French Revolution began he was only a lieutenant in the royal army. The revolution opened up the opportunity for career advancements.

In 1793, he became a general and in 1795, he helped in disbanding a royalist uprising in Paris. This accomplishment landed him the title of commander of the Army of Italy. During this time he fell in love with a woman named Josephine de Beauharnais. Soon they were married, but the marriage did not last. He heard rumors, after the marriage, of her love affairs. This incident caused him to avoid building close relationships with other people. Napoleon’s focus was now only on his career moves. He also drove Austria out of Italy and negotiated a treaty in 1797. These actions brought a period of peace to Europe for the first time since

1792.
In 1798, Napoleon set his sights to Egypt. The French went near Alexandria and conquered Cario. Horatio Nelson, leader of the British navy, destroyed the French army near Alexandria. During this time a war also broke out, France was fighting against Russia and Austria. That same year Napoleon Bonaparte took power as the French Emperor. In the beginning of his reign he reorganized the French state, reformed state finances, created peace with the Catholic Church, ended the war, and instituted a new code of law. These endeavors gave him support from the people, but he created many limitations.
In 1802, the British and French were at war after Napoleon’s empire had experienced a time of peace for at least fourteen months. By 1815 France had multiplied victories in wars with Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Each war gave the empire a new territorial gain. By 1807 his empire stretched from the Atlantic to Russia. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia and his downfall began. During the retreat from Russia, Austria and Prussia were reforming their armies. This war also resulted in a loss for Napoleon. These setbacks caused Germans to create an anti-French revolt. Napoleon decided it was time for him to return to Paris. When he got to Paris he did his best to gain the provision of his generals and ministers, but they refused. In 1814, Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to Elba, a small island. Louis XVIII was left as the King of France.