Ari Gilder, 2-406!

Homework #7

1. Define/identify:

• Universal manhood suffrage: gave every man the right to vote, regardless if he owned land or not.
• National Convention: Governmental assembly of delegates from France who ruled the country for three years. It ended the rule of the monarchy and began the rule of a republic. It was an equivalent of the United States’ Congress. Made up of Girondists and Jacobins.
• Committee of Public Safety: set up in order to direct the French army in defending the country and subduing foreign invaders. Established the Revolutionary Tribunal to put enemies of the French Revolution on trial.
• Conscription: Drafting, adopted by the Committee of Public Safety. Men between the ages of 18 and 45 had to serve in the military.
• Reign of Terror: The period of time between September 1793 and July 1794 in which the National Convention began a systematic process in eliminating any and all enemies of the republic.
• Directory: This was the name of the government created by the revised Constitution in 1795. This government was run by five executives called directors. It ruled France for four years. The Directory displeased many people, and the five directors were always arguing. The Directory was a weak form of government and experienced protests and riots. Eventually it went bankrupt.

2. Napoleon was popular with the French people because he was an amazing tactical genius. He had completely transformed the French army into a “lean, mean, fighting machine”. He had won two victories against Austria and forced them to sign a peace treaty, as well as invaded Italy.

3. Napoleon became a leader by the way of a coup d’état. In 1799, three directors resigned and the other two were arrested. Following this, troops surrounded members of the legislature and forced them to resign as well.

4. People accepted Napoleon’s dictatorship because they had seen the results of his leadership, which turned out to be very beneficial to France. They believed that Napoleon would be able to restore peace and order to the French people. They also believed that he would succeed in military victories abroad Europe and conquer land for France.