How Did The Third Estate Influence The French Revolution

During this tumultuous era in US History over the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Napoleon and his troops were in a heated battle with Great Britain. The Napoleonic Wars (1779-1815est.) were fought mainly between France, under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, and a number of European countries as a continuation of The French Revolution. The 1812 war, although it did not involve the French and

Napoleon’s self-defeating actions were more important for his defeat. Napoleon lost because: (1) he relentlessly pursued a flawed campaign of economic warfare against Great Britain; (2) he refused to acknowledge strategic overreach during the Peninsular War; and (3) he failed to accept culmination during the invasion of Russia in 1812. These actions served to thwart Napoleon’s interests and did not achieve their intended results. More importantly, it will be seen that they combined to create a momentum against France that Napoleon could not overcome.

During the Napoleonic Era, from 1799 to 1815, France became a military power gaining and controlling land throughout Europe. While some historians believe Napoleon Bonaparte was a ruthless dictator, his military accomplishments far outweigh any atrocities he committed. He helped France gain stability after the French Revolution and he also abolished the Feudal contract. Napoleon was a brilliant strategist using military tactics to cause fear and to defeat whatever enemies stood in his way. Throughout his rule, Napoleon continually gained ground, and by the end of his reign, his empire encompassed all of Spain, Italy, and a small portion of land by Russia and Austria. (see map) He is one of

Napoleon's Conflict with Russia Napoleon was one of the greatest military leaders of all time. By 1812 Napoleon had expanded the territory of France all over Europe including Spain, Italy, Holland, and Switzerland. The countries that Napoleon did not directly control, he was usually allied with. The turning point of Napoleon's career also came in 1812 when war broke out between France and Russia because of Alexander I's refusal to enforce the continental.

By 1812, the only areas in Europe free from France's powerful rule were, Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon controlled many independent countries such as, Spain, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and a number of German kingdoms in Central Europe, these countries were Napoleon's puppets. There were also a few powerful countries such as Russia, Prussia, and Austria, that we're loosely attached to France. Napoleon was only capable to control this empire for five years from 1807-1812. Eventually, Napoleon's extravagant efforts to destroy Britain led to his own undoing.

If Britain was drawn into another war, this took money, time and effort away from their empire’s expansion. So, in 1815, the Quadruple Alliance formed the Concert of Europe. During these meetings, the countries would discuss issues of the world and ways to prevent another war. Thirty-nine years later, in 1854, the Crimean War threatened the stability of Europe. The Crimean war first began between the Russians and the Ottoman Empire. However, Britain joined because they did not want Russia to gain the Ottoman territory, the French feared Russian influence. A diplomatic solution to this war was made impossible by Britain because they wanted to humiliate Russia. Thus, the Concert of Europe was shattered and relationship between the countries were bitter. Austria and Russia became enemies, and Russia was humiliated by its defeat. As a result, several countries were weakened, but the situation led to the unification of Germany and

To be able to pay off their debt, France increased taxes. The Social Structure of the Old Regime separated everyone in social classes called estates. The First Estate, the Clergy, made up .5% of the population. They led very lavish lives and owned land.

Napoleon Bonaparte (r. 1804-1815) had his fair share of hardships while attempting to build to his empire before his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. After a brutal defeat in the Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon realized that he had little hope in taking over Britain and instead, turned his attention to the East. In December of 1805, Napoleon defeated the combined Austrian and Russian forces and formed the Confederacy of the Rhine soon after. The defeat over Russia was short lived and Tsar Alexander (r. 1801-1825) came back at Napoleon with a vengeance. Napoleon soon ruled all of Germany and Russia was soon unable to fight any longer against Napoleon’s forces.

In the 1770s there were three estates (social classes). The first two estates had many privileges as in access to high offices and exemptions from paying taxes, these were not granted to the third estate. The Roman Catholic Church, whose clergy formed the first estate, they owned ten percent of the land in France. They provided education to the poor and contributed two percent of its income to the government. The second estate was made up of rich nobles. They only took up two percent of the population, but owned twenty percent of the land and paid basically no taxes. Ninety-seven percent of the population was in the third estate.

Napoleon Bonaparte and the wars he fought against Great Britain, the conveniently named Napoleonic Wars had a lasting and profound impact on British citizens and society. Napoleon for a brief period had transformed a nation of anarchy and instability into the most powerful empire in Europe and posed a serious threat to Britain’s perceived dominance and invulnerability. The fear of a Napoleonic invasion spread across Britain, an event that had it been realised may have been welcomed by many within the nation. The French general turned emperor was unquestionably the British governments most imposing enemy but there were many individual Britons who held Napoleon in much higher esteem than their own monarch/Regent. The British nation was divided

The French had three different estates and each one was used for different things.The first one was made up of clergymen(A Male Priest,Prime Minister,or A

In France, before the French Revolution, the governing body was called the Old Regime. Under Louis XIV and his queen Marie Antoinette, the French society was divided up into three groups. These groups were called the three estates. In this system, the first two estates lived very well while the third estate was very impoverished. This paired with the lack of a strong leader (Louis XIV) caused rising tensions in the third estate. This eventually led to revolution. The main cause of this was the layout of the Old Regime. The Old Regime was made up of three estates that were very different in their governmental abilities and their amount of money.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia was a major factor in his downfall. In 1812, Napoleon, whose alliance with Alexander I had disintegrated, launched an invasion into Russia that ended in a disastrous retreat from Moscow. Thereafter, all of Europe, including his own allies, Austria and Prussia, united against him. Although he continued to fight, the odds he faced were impossible. In April 1814, Napoleon’s own marshals refused to continue the struggle and stepped down from their positions. During the actual Russian campaign, there were many key factors that greatly impacted his downfall.

France was one of the many countries who had class division/caste system. The french were separated into 3 estates: first, second, and third. First estate including the clergy which were members of the church. Second including the rich nobles and Third estate, which is the largest estate (26.5 million of 27 million), included peasants, farmers, and the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie were well educated and strongly believed in the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality.

Napoleon’s problem was that overtaking all of Europe was too difficult a task for any man. He was forced to divide rule over some of the states that he conquered and he was not intelligent in giving Spain to his brother. Spain revolted allowing a England to have a country to land on in Europe. This decision hurt Napoleon and ended with England uniting the remaining European countries against Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. Napoleons ego and greed in expansion probably stemmed from his want for war as a militaristic person, but this became the end of his reign.