Event Summary:
At the end of the 18th century, the Bourgeois Revolution broke out in France, and in 1792 the monarchy was overthrown and a bourgeois regime was established. But internal contradictions have also intensified.
In 1793, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, Russia and other countries formed the first anti-French alliance and supported the royalist rebellion in France.
Under the conditions of internal and external troubles, the big bourgeoisie can only turn to the revolutionary Jacobins, but in the end it is not a long-term solution.
The big bourgeoisie wants to establish a new regime that will both prevent dynastic restoration and vigorously suppress the people's revolutionary movement.
Then
Napoleon became the object of choice of the big bourgeoisie. Barlow, the great banker of Paris, offered 500,000 francs to support him in the coup d'état.
With the support of the big bourgeoisie, Napoleon used the pretext of relieving the Jacobin radicalist threat to the Republic. in
On November 9, 1799, he led his cronies to disperse the Legislative Yuan, overthrow the Governorate, and establish an executive government headed by Napoleon, after which a 15-year dictatorship began
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First, the turbulent political situation in France
The 18th century was an era when the French economy was deteriorating due to inflation, which reduced the purchasing power of society, and the largest landlord in the country, the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, imposed a tithe on grain. (In the 6th century, the church began advocating tithes, using the biblical claim that one-tenth of agricultural and pastoral products belonged to God.) ）
At that time, the total french national debt was as high as 2 billion francs, which was undoubtedly exacerbated by the social burden of years of war debts, coupled with the incompetence of the army under the monarchy, the luxurious life of the royal family and the unreasonable tax system.
By this time, capitalism was already quite developed in parts of France, and many workshops of artisans had emerged, individual enterprises employed thousands of workers and had advanced equipment, and financial capital was abundant.
The bourgeoisie has become the richest class in the economy, but remains politically powerless.
French titles of nobility were open-ended, giving some capable and wealthy third-class people the opportunity to become aristocrats. But as the country's finances fell into crisis, the price of knighthood became higher and higher. The fallen aristocracy was also very dissatisfied with these new nobles, and the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the nobility became increasingly serious.
finally
In 1789, the French Revolution broke out. As the alarm bells rang in Paris, workers, craftsmen, and the urban poor poured into the streets, seized weapons, and began an armed uprising.
The French people have long hated kings, clergy and nobles. Armed crowds took one position after another, and the city of Paris was full of insurgent barricades.
This year, through the famous Declaration of the Rights of Man, the principle of "personal freedom and equal rights" was solemnly proclaimed to the whole world.
2. The French Republic is established
On September 22, 1792, the newly elected parliament, the National Convention, opened. The National Convention passed a bill abolishing the monarchy and proclaimed the establishment of the French Republic, historically known as the First French Republic.
Through the power of the Girondins, representing the interests of the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie, and the dictatorship of the Jacobins.
However, the Jacobins, who had disappointed the French people, had adopted a policy of terror against dissent, resulting in an increasingly sharp internal divide of opinion and a shift from unity to division. After the National Convention repelled the counter-revolutionary forces at home and abroad, it suppressed the strike struggle of the workers for higher wages.
And the law was reduced, the law was punished against the enemy of the people", and the decree (adopted on June 10, 1794), the procedure for pre-trial of the defendant was abolished, the court did not need witnesses to testify, and the defendant could be determined to be guilty or not on the basis of "inner conviction". There is a penalty for all crimes against the Republic - the death penalty. This decree lacked a democratic spirit and was widely opposed by the contemporaries and future generations, which was the embodiment of extreme fear and the loss of the mass base.
On July 26, 1794, Robespierre, one of the actual leaders of the Jacobins, gave a speech in the National Convention, saying that "there are still members of the National Convention who have not yet been purged", but the parliamentarians asked Robespierre to say the names of the deputies, but Robespierre did not say them, causing panic among the parliamentarians, everyone endangered themselves, and the big bourgeoisie began to quietly brew a conspiracy.
On 27 July, Robespierre was arrested and sent to the guillotine the next day. The event is also known as the "Thermidorian Coup". The coup d'état overthrew the Jacobin rule, proclaimed the end of the citizens' revolution in the French Revolution, and established a regime represented by the Thermidorians in the coup. French history entered a period of preserving the achievements of the Revolution.
Third, the anti-French alliance, the rebellion of the royal party, and the internal and external troubles in France
In the spring of 1793, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Russia, Prussia, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Naples formed the first anti-French alliance, and vigorously supported the rebellion of the royal party throughout France, subverted the revolutionary regime, and restored the absolute monarchy in France.
The National Convention was dissolved, a new government agency was formed, the period of terror ended, but the political situation remained unstable.
The French big bourgeoisie and the big bankers oppose both monarchy and bourgeois revolutionaries, and are particularly afraid of the revolutionary masses. They have struck at the bourgeois revolutionaries and the broad masses, overthrown the revolutionary Jacobin dictatorship and established the reactionary rule of the big bourgeoisie.
However, in the summer of 1795, the reactionary royal party rebelled again, and the big bourgeoisie had to turn back to the revolutionary Jacobins against the royal party. After the suppression of the royal rebellion, the Jacobins became active again, and the big bourgeois governor's government, which oscillated left and right, was unable to maintain stable rule, and the domestic political situation was turbulent.
The big bourgeoisie wants to establish a new regime that will both prevent dynastic restoration and vigorously suppress the people's revolutionary movement. Thus the big bourgeoisie began to choose its subjects, and they set their sights on the military genius Napoleon.
In 1793, the young Major Napoleon defeated the royalists and the British army to win the Battle of Toulon and was promoted to brigadier general.
In 1795, he was entrusted by the Governor of Paris, Barras, to successfully suppress the armed rebellion of the royalists, which is known as the battle to suppress the royalists. Napoleon was promoted overnight to brigadier general and commander of the Paris garrison, and began to emerge in military and political circles.
In 1797, Napoleon was appointed commander-in-chief of the "Italian Front", fighting a deadly struggle against the feudal forces in Europe and greatly preserving the victorious achievements of the revolutionary regime.
Fourth, the hero triumphs, the fog moon weeps blood
In 1798, Napoleon led an expedition to Egypt. At that time, Egypt was occupied by the British, and with the support of the British, the invading Egyptian and Syrian people dealt a strong blow to the French invaders.
Napoleon was in a dilemma and it was difficult to make an immediate decision. At this time, the Tsarist Russian army organized the other anti-French countries in Europe to form a second anti-French alliance and launch an attack on France in an attempt to completely eliminate the French Revolution.
Seeing this, the Royalists in France were also eager to overthrow bourgeois rule from within and restore their old order of rule.
The domestic political situation is turbulent. Even within the Nationalist government, dissatisfaction with the government's rule, many people demanded that the government take effective measures to launch an offensive against enemies at home and abroad.
In this situation, the sober-minded Napoleon immediately realized what was about to happen. So he left the French Expeditionary Force behind, and in October 1799, with only a small number of entourage, he secretly left Egypt and hurried back to Paris in the starry night.
As soon as Napoleon entered Paris, his supporters rushed to tell each other, and immediately passed ten, ten hundred, and Paris boiled. The people cheered and chanted Napoleon's name with great excitement. Napoleon also did not expect that he would be able to get the enthusiastic support of so many people, and he immediately gathered the people around him to discuss the next plan.
Seeing these people's emotions soaring, they are confident in supporting their seizure of power.
He smiled slightly, and said to these ministers who were loyal to him: "Good! I accede to your request, and we act immediately. However, we need to discuss concrete action measures very well. My request is that we only succeed, not fail! ”
Bruce also reported to Napoleon that domestic bankers had agreed to provide adequate funding for Napoleon's army.
Napoleon already had the idea of seizing power, otherwise how could bruce and the bankers negotiate the problem of funds in advance, but it was inconvenient to take the initiative to say it, so when everyone elected Napoleon as the leader to seize power, it was exactly what he wanted.
On November 9, 1799, Napoleon began to act, sending troops to take control of the Governorate and take over all the affairs of the revolutionary government. This day happens to be the 18th day of the fog month of the French republican calendar, so this coup is also called the "fog moon coup".
The next day, he dissolved the French parliament, the Senate and the 500-member house, seized power in parliament, and announced the establishment of an executive government. In the executive government, he took over as the first ruler and monopolized power, beginning a 15-year dictatorship.
epilogue
In the Coup d'état of the Misty Moon, Napoleon's seizure of power was inevitable and accidental, and the French bourgeois revolution belonged to the early bourgeois revolution, and its economic basis was the workshop handicraft industry. Thus the power of the bourgeoisie is relatively weak. It is bound to be desperately resisted by domestic feudal forces, and then collude with the anti-French alliance to counterattack.
In this balance of forces, the bourgeoisie needs more powerful figures to maintain their rule through power and ensure the security of the people of the country, while military dictatorship has become a historical necessity, and in order to repel the anti-French alliance, excellent military command skills are needed, and Napoleon has precisely these, and naturally becomes the best candidate for the bourgeoisie to maintain its rule.
Reference: History of France
The French Revolution
History of France
Napoleonic Wars