France: The Revolution and Napoleon I

In 1788, after neither Calonne nor Loménie de Brienne could get the necessary financial measures enacted, Necker was called back to office to attempt to repair the irreparable, and the States-General were convoked for the first time since 1614. Thus began the upheaval that shook Europe from 1789 to 1815 (see French Revolution; French Revolutionary Wars; Directory; Consulate; Napoleon I). The States-General were transformed into the National Assembly (1789); a constitutional monarchy was created (1791); war with much of Europe began, accompanied by violence and the growth of radical factions in France (1792); the king and queen were beheaded (1793); Robespierre presided over the Reign of Terror (1793–94) until his own execution.

A reaction ushered in the Directory (1795–99), terminated by Napoleon Bonaparte's coup. Napoleon made himself emperor (1804) and led his armies as far as Moscow. After his defeat at Waterloo (1815) virtually nothing remained for France from the Napoleonic conquests except the basis for a powerful legend. But Napoleonic administration and law (see Code Napoléon) left a permanent impact on France. From the ancien régime there reemerged the church (1801 Concordat with the Vatican) and an aristocracy less affluent and shorn of its feudal privileges but still influential.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Contemporary Era
• Gaullist France
• The Fourth Republic and Postwar France
• The World Wars
• Royalism, Reform, and the Birth of Modern France
• The Revolution and Napoleon I
• The Ancien Régime and Attempts at Reform
• The Reformation and its Aftermath
• The Making of a Nation
• The Birth of France
• Ancient Gaul to Feudalismthe Birth of France
• Government
• Economy
• People
• Land
• Bibliography

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