- member of the First Estate
- member of the Second Estate
- member of the Third Estate
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- King Louis XVI
- Marie Antoinette
- Parisian woman rioting over bread prices
- radical member of Legislative Assembly
- moderate member of Legislative Assembly
- conservative member of Legislative Assembly
- Jean-Paul Marat
- Charlotte Corday
- Jacobin
- Georges Danton
- Maximilien Robespierre
- Napoleon Bonaparte
The Political Spectrum - From Left to Right and In-Between Remember that the terms "left" and "right" to describe political views dates back to factions that sat together in the Legislative Assembly hall. Then, the "radicals" sat on the left, a term used today for those who typically are more in favor of change, the liberals. On the right were the "conservatives," the term we still use today for those more likely to want fewer changes. In the center were the moderates.
Let's take a minute to see where you fall. First, I'll show you a political spectrum and invite you to guess where you will end up. Then, you can take a quiz and see where your answers place you. There are many versions on-line, but we'll take the "World's Smallest Political Quiz." (Note that the survey is hosted on a libertarian political site. The survey itself, however, is developed to be non-partisan and has been taken more than 11 million times. If you want to read a lot more about the methodology of the survey, go to their Frequently Asked Questions.) We'll walk through the questions together to make sure everyone understands them.
Napoleon: PBS Video - I've mentioned it before, but PBS really does an excellent job with their websites that accompany shows they produce. Here are some of the features from their series on Napoleon that you should check out.
Napoleon's Russia Campaign: As you read, Napoleon's invasion of Russia was perhaps his greatest military error. It took a tremendous toll, both actual and psychological, on his Grand Army. Fewer than 1 in 40 soldiers returned to France. The Russians, of course, also suffered great damage, both from the French forces and their own strategy of scorching the earth.
We're going to take a look at the invasion by considering a single "information graphic," or chart, produced by Charles Minard in 1869. Edward Tufte of Yale University, perhaps the world's expert in information design, considers it "the best statistical graphic ever drawn."
Image of Napoleon's Russia Campaign: Yes, this is in French. However, you should still be able to figure some things out from looking at this version.
Here's Tufte's description of what is happening.
"Beginning at the left on the Polish-Russian border near the Niemen River, the thick band shows the size of the army (422,000 men) as it invaded Russia in June 1812. The width of the band indicates the size of the army at each place on the map. In September, the army reached Moscow, which was by then sacked and deserted, with 100,000 men. The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow is depicted by the darker, lower band, which is linked to a temperature scale and dates at the bottom of the chart. It was a bitterly cold winter, and many froze on the march out of Russia. As the graphic shows, the crossing of the Berezina River was a disaster, and the army finally struggled back into Poland with only 10,000 men remaining. Also shown are the movements of auxiliary troops, as they sought to protect the rear and the flank of the advancing army. Minard's graphic tells a rich, coherent story with its multivariate data, far more enlightening than just a single number bouncing along over time. Six variables are plotted: the size of the army, its location on a two-dimensional surface, direction of the army's movement, and temperature on various dates during the retreat from Moscow" (p. 40).
Here are some "revisions" done to the graphic to try and show additional information or to clarify the information already there.
- An English version with temperature clarified
- Clarification of place names
- Animated GIF image - repeats 10 times
- Animated GIF placed over a map of Russia
Napoleon in Acrostic: An acrostic is a poem or other writing where the first letters of each line (or paragraph, etc. in some cases) spell out another message. For example:
Recently gave birth to her second son
Your job: As you've probably guessed, you'll do one for Napoleon Bonaparte. Here's the wrinkle. "Napoleon" should all be about his background and/or rise to power. "Bonaparte" should all be about his decline and fall from power and/or his historical impact. You should post your acrostic as a comment on this entry.
HOMEWORK for next session - Monday, November 17th
To keep on schedule, we're going to do something different with the final section from Chapter 23. I'm going to give you the quiz for Section 5, "The Congress of Vienna." (pp. 672 - 675) This quiz will be do at the beginning of the hour on Monday.
Please begin your reading in Chapter 24, "Nationalist Revolutions Sweep the West," with Section 1, "Latin American Peoples Win Independence." (pp. 681 - 686) Of course, there will be a quiz you take during class.
Your Napoleon Bonaparte acrostic should be posted before class time on Monday. Post as a comment to this entry.
We're still looking at the Unit #5 Exam on Monday, November 24th and Tuesday, November 25th. I'll have more information about the format by Monday's class.
Never back down
After first exile he ruled France again
Promised enlightenment concepts
Obtuse land fighter
Lost battle of Trafalgar
Expanded reign of France
Owned much of Europe
Napoleon
Brought back religion
Oppressed no-one
Nack for getting into wars
Absolute power
Pope crowned him at Notre Dame
An insanely clever general
Religious man
Totally short
Emperor
Not very tall
Artillery Lieutenant
Pawned Royalists at Nation Convention
Order is restored
Lycees - government run public schools
Emperor and Dictator
Once big power house
Napoleonic Code
Blockade
Over confident
Nationalism on the rise
Appetite for power and land (maybe a little too much..)
Peasant farmers - Guerrillas creamed Napoleon's men
Angry Great Britain and Prussia win battle of Waterloo
Russians used scorched-earth method
The Peninsular War set Napoleon back 300,000 men
Everything has to end sometime - Hundred Days, then exiled to St. Helena
New to France because he was Corsican.
Artillery lieutenant when he was sixteen
Presents American Territories to the United State for purchase.
Overpowered Europe.
Lycées were started by him. These were government run public schools.
Emperor, as appointed by the pope.
Once he was exiled he came back for his last attempt at power called the Hundred Days.
Never gave up, even when the odds were against him.
Battle of Trafalgar was a naval loss.
One too many lands that were conquered, he had a large empire but it was very weak.
Napoleonic Code
Adorned by the French.
Peninsula War against Spain
Advances to power by the coup d'etat.
Russia is invaded by Napoleon and his army looses many soldiers because of the harsh Russian conditions.
The Continental System was started by him. It basically set up a blockade of British goods in an attempt to harm them.
Elba was where he was exiled to for the first time.
Nation Convention defender
Ambitious
Proud
Original
Lycée creator
Emperor
Omnipotent
Nonstop
Bold
Oblivious
Noxious
Arrogant
Punchy
Agressive
Reckless
Tenacious
Exilee
Napoleon took the title of the first consul
A plebiscite was held to approve a new constitution, which gave all power to Napoleon
Paris’ savior of the French republic
Overly ambitious
Lyceés were made by him
Established a national banking system
Overconfident
Never lost major battles, except for the Battle of Trafalgar
Blockade
On June 18, 1815, Napoleon attacked Britain and Prussia, but lost
Napoleon married Marie Louise
Alexander destroyed Moscow instead of surrendering it to the French
Peninsular War was set up by Napoleon
April 1814 Napoleon gave up his throne
Russians practiced a scorched-earth policy to leave no food for the French to eat
Tried to make Europe self-sufficient
Exiled twice
Notre Dame Cathedral crowned him emperor of France
Answer to the military needs of France
Power over church
Offered to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the U.S.
Lycées (government ruled schools)
Empire creator / Emperor
Only lost one major battle (Battle of Trafalgar)
Napoleonic Code (uniform set of some-what restrictive laws)
Blockade
Obsession with war
Not capable of keeping an empire for more than five years
Attacks from the guerrillas
Peninsular War
Accepted terms to surrender his throne
Relentless
Terrible losses of French soldiers
Exiled him twice for his actions
Nine years old, sent to military school;
After that, defended National Convention, given some power;
Planned coup d'état, the people elected him leader;
Order was restored, signed a concordat, and made a system of laws;
Limited freedom, brought back slavery, crowned self...
Emperor; sold Louisiana, conquered Europe;
Ottoman Empire was out of his reach; lost the battle of Trafalgar;
Now he had a large empire!
But he began began to make some blunders;
Oh, the continental system was the least of his worries
Now the blockade is failing, the guerillas are coming
And the scorched-earth policy cost him dearly
Peninsular War, Battle of Borodino, the Russian campaign...
All of it leading to his doom!
Russia invaded? Napoleon defeated?
Trounced.
Exiled. Goodbye, Napoleon...Nine years old, sent to military school;
Napoleon is born near Corsica in 1769.
A very ambitious fellow who was benign,
Pushed off to military school at age 15.
Older now, he protects the National Convention with tactics that are mean,
Leads an army against Austria and Sardinia afterward.
Egypt based Napoleon traveled back to his herd.
On arriving he was urged by his friends to take power.
Now on one night in 1799 Napoleon begins his reign so sour.
Bonaparte was his last name
Of his rule there is much that was lame
Napoleonic code was invented for France’s laws
A plebiscite gave the people the right to vote, pshaw!
Public schools know as lycées were created as well.
Apart from those all he did was lose some wars that forced him to leave and France to say farewell
Restoring his power after his escape
The people of France endorse Napoleon to help reshape
Everyone in the land of France, but, of course he loses the final war.
Not one expected greatness from him
Aspired to be famous
Proud and never let anyone get to him
Obtained the title of first consul, then emperor
Lycées were his invention
Eventually conquered most of Europe
Offered to sell the Louisiana Territory
Napoleonic Code was, in his mind, his greatest work
Battle of Trafalgar started the downward spiral
Only maintained the empire for five years
Nationalism was awakened when the conquered people rebelled
Attempted to blockade Britain, but failed miserably
Peninsular War was a disastrous mistake
Attacked Russia, and the scorched-earth tactic defeated him
Returned to France for the Hundred Days after he was exiled
Trumped at Waterloo by the British Army
Exiled again, and never returned
National Convention was defended by Napoleon (the officer) and he became a hero
Assumed the position of first consul and later crowned himself emperor
Put in place policy changes (taxes), institutions (lycées) and agreements (concordat)
Overthrown were the French slave owners (caused Napoleon to lose Haiti)
Largest European empire since the Romans is what Napoleon created
Even Napoleon lost a battle or two and that was the Battle of Trafalgar (against Britain)
Only Britain, Portugal, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire were not under his control
Napoleon was able to maintain his empire (at its greatest extent) for only five years
Blockade weakened by smuggling and the British responded with its own blockade
Outraged, Spanish guerillas caused the French to lose about 300,000 in the Peninsular War
Napoleon’s worst mistake was the invasion of Russia
As the snow fell, Napoleon’s soldiers died one after another (10,000 left after retreat from Moscow)
Prussia, Britain, Russia, Sweden and even Austria joined forces against him
A new king (Louis XVIII) was chosen after Napoleon’s exile to Elba
Really unpopular, Louis XVIII was replaced by Napoleon after his escaped from Elba
The battle of Waterloo (Belgium), which ended in defeat, ended Napoleon’s reign for good
Exile, to St. Helena this time, was Napoleon’s fate (he lived in lonely exile until death)
National Convention
Artillery
Political power
Order in government
Lycées
Emperor
Offers to sell Louisiana
New Empire unstable
Blockade
Overly aggressive
Napoleon
Alexander attacks retreating French
Parade through Paris
Arrives back on French soil
Retreat from Waterloo
Tag team of Britain and Prussia attack French
Exiled to St. Helena
Nothing standing in the way
A trusted man
Peoples guy
Over the top
Land for France
Everything going right
Owner of wold
Nowhere is safe from his conquering
Born to thrive
Over the top
Now losing things
An unwanted leader
Please going away
Anything is better then him
Ran out of office
Trapped forever
Everything is fell apart
DESMOND M
NEW RULER
ABSOLUTE POWER
PEOPLE’S CONSENT
ORDER AT HOME
LYCEES FOR MALES
EMPEROR
ON TOP OF THE WORLD (EUROPE)
NEVER BACK DOWN
BLOCKADE
ONGOING HATE FOR BRITAIN
NEW WARS
ANXIETY OVER HEIR
PENNINSULAR WAR
ALEXANDER I LIKES GRAIN
RUSSIA!
THE DEFEAT AT LEIPZIG
ELBA TO THE SOUTH ATLANTIC
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