1.
Lubersac
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Lubersac is a commune in the Corrèze département in central France near Arnac-Pompadour and Uzerche. Formerly called Louparsat, named from the legend of a knight who killed a wolf with a blow of his sword to save his beloved, the commune is located on the river Auvézère. Joseph, Count Souham was born in Lubersac on 30 April 1760 and he died on 28 April 1837 at Versailles. He was a French general of the First French Empire, communes of the Corrèze department INSEE Website of the commune of Lubersac
2.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
3.
Versailles (city)
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
4.
French Army
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The French Army, officially the Land Army is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army is General Jean-Pierre Bosser, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997, as of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel. In addition, the element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years War and these units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies dordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century, stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also made for Francs-archers units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes. The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in 1480s Swiss instructors were recruited and these men would be paid and contracted and receive training. Henry II further regularised the French army by forming standing Infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure, the first of these the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne were called the Les Vieux Corps. It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the Kings own Household Troops the Maison du Roi being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so called after the region in which they were raised, or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. In 1684 there was a reorganisation of the French infantry and again in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIVs plans. This reshuffle created many of the regiments of the French Army and standardised their equipment. The army of the Sun King tended to wear coats with coloured linings. There were exceptions and the troops, recruited from outside France. In addition to these regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units, the Swiss Guards, French Guards, the revolution split the army with the main mass losing most of its officers to aristocratic flight or guillotine and becoming demoralised and ineffective. The French Guard joined the revolt and the Swiss Guards were massacred during the storming of the Tuileries palace, under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars
5.
Divisional General
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Divisional general is a rank of general in command of a division. Examples would include the Spanish general de división, the French général de division, for convenience such ranks are often translated into English as major-general, the equivalent rank used by most English-speaking nations. The corresponding NATO code is OF-7, or a two-star rank, some countries of Latin America such as Brazil and Chile use divisional general as the equivalent of lieutenant-general. This corresponding NATO code is OF-8, or a rank for these countries. In Japan and Taiwan the rank of lieutenant-general is equivalent to divisional general, the rank is mostly used in countries where it is used as a modern alternative to a previous older rank of major-general. The rank is almost always above a rank corresponding to command of a brigade, a French Army général de division translates as a general of division. The French Air Force equivalent is général de division aérienne, rank insignia is that of 3 white stars on the epaulette, sleeve mark or shoulder board. As well as commanding a division, a général de division may be appointed as général de corps darmée commanding a corps, or as a général darmée. These are not ranks, but appointments of the same rank, the insignia of a général de corps darmée is four stars in a diamond formation, and that of a général darmée is five stars in a cross-shaped arrangement. The arrangement for the air force is the same, but the ranks are called général de corps darmée aérien, the Italian army and Carabineer rank of generale di divisione translates as divisional general. The air force equivalent is generale di divisione aerea, the Polish equivalent is generał dywizji. The symbols of rank are the generals wavy line and two stars, featured both on the rogatywka, on the sleeves of the uniform and above the breast pocket of a field uniform. The Brazilian rank general-de-divisão translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army and this rank is equivalent to lieutenant-general. The air force equivalent is major-brigadeiro. The Spanish rank general de división translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army, the air force, the Swiss military use 4 languages, German, French, Romansh and Italian. The names of the OF-7 rank are divisionär, divisionnaire, divisiunari, in all cases, these are abbreviated as Div, and in all cases represent the head of a division, and hence can be translated as divisional general
6.
French Revolutionary Wars
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The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts, lasting from 1792 until 1802, resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted the French First Republic against Britain, Austria and several other monarchies and they are divided in two periods, the War of the First Coalition and the War of the Second Coalition. Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension as the political ambitions of the Revolution expanded, French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe. The Revolutionary Wars began from increasing political pressure on King Louis XVI of France to prove his loyalty to the new direction France was taking. In the spring of 1792, France declared war on Prussia and Austria, the victory rejuvenated the French nation and emboldened the National Convention to abolish the monarchy. A series of victories by the new French armies abruptly ended with defeat at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793, by 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and knocked Spain and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. A hitherto unknown general called Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy in April 1796, in less than a year, French armies under Napoleon decimated the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With French forces marching towards Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio, the War of the Second Coalition began with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by Napoleon, in 1798. The Allies took the opportunity presented by the French strategic effort in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for the Allies in Europe, where they pushed the French out of Italy and invaded Switzerland—racking up victories at Magnano, Cassano. However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September 1799, meanwhile, Napoleons forces annihilated a series of Egyptian and Ottoman armies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor, and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleons popularity back in France, however, the Royal Navy had managed to inflict a humiliating defeat on the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean. Napoleons arrival from Egypt led to the fall of the Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon then reorganized the French army and launched a new assault against the Austrians in Italy during the spring of 1800. This latest effort culminated in a decisive French victory at the Battle of Marengo in June 1800, another crushing French triumph at Hohenlinden in Bavaria forced the Austrians to seek peace for a second time, leading to the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. With Austria and Russia out of the war, the United Kingdom found itself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens with Napoleons government in 1802, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. The lingering tensions proved too difficult to contain, however, in 1789–1792, the entire governmental structure of France was transformed to fall into line with the Revolutionary principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. As a result, one of the first major elements of the French state to be restructured was the army, the transformation of the army was best seen in the officer corps. Before the revolution 90% had been nobility, compared to only 3% in 1794, Revolutionary fervour was high, and was closely monitored by the Committee of Public Safety, which assigned Representatives on Mission to keep watch on generals
7.
Napoleonic Wars
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The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
8.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
9.
General of division
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Divisional general is a rank of general in command of a division. Examples would include the Spanish general de división, the French général de division, for convenience such ranks are often translated into English as major-general, the equivalent rank used by most English-speaking nations. The corresponding NATO code is OF-7, or a two-star rank, some countries of Latin America such as Brazil and Chile use divisional general as the equivalent of lieutenant-general. This corresponding NATO code is OF-8, or a rank for these countries. In Japan and Taiwan the rank of lieutenant-general is equivalent to divisional general, the rank is mostly used in countries where it is used as a modern alternative to a previous older rank of major-general. The rank is almost always above a rank corresponding to command of a brigade, a French Army général de division translates as a general of division. The French Air Force equivalent is général de division aérienne, rank insignia is that of 3 white stars on the epaulette, sleeve mark or shoulder board. As well as commanding a division, a général de division may be appointed as général de corps darmée commanding a corps, or as a général darmée. These are not ranks, but appointments of the same rank, the insignia of a général de corps darmée is four stars in a diamond formation, and that of a général darmée is five stars in a cross-shaped arrangement. The arrangement for the air force is the same, but the ranks are called général de corps darmée aérien, the Italian army and Carabineer rank of generale di divisione translates as divisional general. The air force equivalent is generale di divisione aerea, the Polish equivalent is generał dywizji. The symbols of rank are the generals wavy line and two stars, featured both on the rogatywka, on the sleeves of the uniform and above the breast pocket of a field uniform. The Brazilian rank general-de-divisão translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army and this rank is equivalent to lieutenant-general. The air force equivalent is major-brigadeiro. The Spanish rank general de división translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army, the air force, the Swiss military use 4 languages, German, French, Romansh and Italian. The names of the OF-7 rank are divisionär, divisionnaire, divisiunari, in all cases, these are abbreviated as Div, and in all cases represent the head of a division, and hence can be translated as divisional general
10.
Siege of Dunkirk (1793)
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Following a Coalition defeat at the Battle of Hondshoote they were forced to raise the siege and withdraw northeast. The plan to besiege Dunkirk was taken not by military commanders, right from the beginning of the campaign Dundas had considered the possession of Dunkirk as desirable, both as a bargaining counter in peace negotiations and as a potential British base in Europe. Nevertheless, York obediently followed instructions and through the days of August 1793 moved rapidly north-west. The Advance Guard consisting of the Austrian Sztáray Infantry Regiment Nr.33, not only were the French surprised by Yorks advance, Dunkirks defences were in a dilapidated condition. The town would most likely have fallen quickly had the promised Royal Navy fleet arrived on time, an English civilian witness wrote to the Public Advertiser that the town would have surrendered outright had it not been for Commissioners arriving from Paris to prevent it. Meanwhile, in Paris the election of Lazare Carnot and Pierre Louis Prieur to the Committee of Public Safety was to have beneficial consequences for the Republican field armies. Historian Burne indicates these reinforcements were the former garrison of Valenciennes. Jourdan was then transferred to command troops at the Cassel entrenched camp, with the able assistance of his chief of staff, the young Lazare Hoche, Souham, and later Jacques Ferrand were able to act vigorously to bolster the demoralised defenders. On the 24th Yorks reserve column under the Austrian Feldmarschall-Leutnant Graf Eduard dAlton took the suburb of Rosenthal, fortescue says York lost almost 400 casualties, though the Officer of the Guards gives returns as Austrians 170, British 74 and Hessians 55 killed and wounded. The casualties included dAlton, who was shot and killed towards the end of the day, thereafter Yorks command began entrenching in a line from Tetteghem to the sea. Confidence was high, however York was about to face a number of disappointments, Dundas had omitted to provide York with adequate equipment for a siege, and most importantly no heavy siege artillery. Siege guns had been due to arrive at Nieuport on the 26th, on 27 August, transports arrived to disembark the gun crews but no guns. On 30 August Admiral John MacBride arrived to coordinate naval operations, though he could ill afford it, York dispatched six squadrons of Hessian cavalry to bolster the Dutch line. York was in a difficult position, Souham had opened the town sluices, which slowly inundated the fields connecting York to Freytag and filled British trenches on the dunes with two feet of water. In the end the British were only able to find ordnance by disarming a frigate at Furnes, on 6 September Houchard led the French forces at the Cassel entrenched camp against Freytags covering Hanoverian corps at the Battle of Hondshoote. On the same day the defenders of Dunkirk made a sally in order to pin down Yorks command. One of the killed this day was Yorks chief of Engineers Colonel James Moncrief, on Yorks left flank Freytags Hanoverians were eventually driven back to the town of Hondschoote. Since Freytag was wounded and briefly captured by the French before being rescued, Johann Ludwig, on the 8th Houchard attacked and forced Wallmoden to withdraw in the Battle of Hondschoote after a very hard defence
11.
Battle of Tourcoing
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The Battle of Tourcoing saw a Republican French army directed by Joseph Souham defend against an attack by a Coalition army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French army was led by Souham in the absence of its normal commander Jean-Charles Pichegru. The War of the First Coalition action was fought near the town of Tourcoing, the Coalition battle plan drawn up by Karl Mack von Leiberich launched six columns that attempted to envelop a part of the French army holding an awkward bulge at Menen and Kortrijk. The action is referred to as the Battle of Turcoine. Under the temporary leadership of Souham, Maj-Gen Charles Pichegrus Army of the North encountered an Austro-British-German force at Tourcoing, despite a slight advantage in numbers, the 74,000 Allied troops under Saxe-Coburg were out-led and out-fought by Souhams 70,000 French troops. Meanwhile, part of Moreaus command held off the assault of the Count of Clerfayt from the north and it was a sprawling engagement fought out over many square miles of countryside just west of the Scheldt River in Flanders. The Army of the North included the divisions of Souham, Moreau, Jacques Philippe Bonnaud, saxe-Coburgs army consisted of three Austrian columns commanded by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, the François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt and Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky. Von dem Bussche commanded the Hanoverians, the Duke of York led the British, Hessen-Darmstadt and Hessen-Kassel contingents. The Army of the North had thrust eastward so that the divisions of Souham and Moreau, Bonnaud held the center with units at Lannoy, Tressin and Sainghin. In addition, Compères brigade held Tourcoing and Thierrys brigade held Mouscron, ostens division defended Pont-à-Marcq on the right flank. These dispositions straddle the current French-Belgian border, saxe-Coburgs chief-of-staff, General Karl Mack von Leiberich proposed enveloping and annihilating the 50, 000-strong mass formed by Souham and Moreau. Clerfayts detached corps was to march along the bank of the Lys from Tielt through Menin. At Werwick, Clerfayt would force a crossing to the south bank, the Duke of Yorks three columns would advance to the northwest from Tournai toward Tourcoing. This force would pin the divisions of Souham and Moreau against the Lys, to the south, Archduke Charles and Kinsky would brush Osten and Bonnaud aside and wheel northwest, linking with Clerfayt and trapping the French left flank. The movement began on 16 May, on 17 May, Clerfayt found his crossing resisted by Brig-Gen Dominique Vandamme, who had a brigade of Moreaus division. The Duke of Yorks right column under Bussche captured Mouscron, but it was out again. The center column led by Otto seized Tourcoing, with the British Guards brigade under Henry Fox leading the attack, the Duke of Yorks left column under Ralph Abercromby, stormed into Lannoy, Willems and Mouvaux. Kinskys column crossed the Marque River at Bouvines but made little progress beyond there, Archduke Charles column got a late start and barely made it to Pont-à-Marcq
12.
Siege of Ypres (1794)
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French troops under Joseph Souham fended off three relief attempts by the corps of François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt. Meanwhile, the French besiegers led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau compelled the Coalition defenders to surrender the city, the fighting occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. In 1794 Ypres was part of the Austrian Netherlands, but today it is a municipality in Belgium, in the Flanders Campaign of 1794, the Coalition army made its main drive against the French center while the French attacked on the two flanks. The Coalition was successful at first but the French soon seized the initiative with persistent attacks, when the Coalition forces shifted east to defend the line of the Sambre River at the end of May, the left wing of Pichegrus Army of the North laid siege to Ypres. Clerfayts outnumbered corps found itself unable to defend the western flank, a week after Ypres fell, the French won a critical victory on the eastern flank at the Battle of Fleurus. On Frances northeast frontier in March 1794 the Army of the North fielded 126,035 troops or 194,930 if all the garrisons were added. The subordinate Army of the Ardennes numbered only 6,757 soldiers ready for action but 32,773 men when all its garrisons were counted, the combined total was 227,703 men, far too large a number for any one general to manage at that time. Against these, the Coalition fielded 150,000 troops to defend the Austrian Netherlands, the Coalition plan was to press hard against the French defenses and perhaps open the way to Paris. General of Division Jean-Charles Pichegru commanded the Army of the North which held the frontier from Dunkirk on the west, through Lille, the Army of the Ardennes was posted on its right. The French armies were more numerous but lacked the discipline of the Coalition armies, lazare Carnot drew up the French strategic plan which was to attack on the two flanks, a pet theory of his. Meanwhile, the Coalition armies under Austrian Feldmarschall Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld struck in the center with 85,000 soldiers, after repelling two fumbling attempts at relief, Coburg successfully concluded the Siege of Landrecies on 30 April 1794. On the east flank, Pichegru simplified his problems in mid-April by placing three divisions between Cambrai and Maubeuge under General of Division Jacques Ferrand. A few weeks later, the French started attacking the line of the Sambre River and these were the battles of Grandreng and Erquelinnes. Coburgs main army attacked the Army of the North on 17 and 18 May, because the attacking columns were poorly coordinated, the French repelled the Coalition army with heavy losses at the Battle of Tourcoing. General of Division Joseph Souham led the French army in Pichegrus absence, Pichegru was bloodily repulsed by Coburg at the Battle of Tournay on 22 May. Relations between Coburg and the British Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany became strained and the two could not decide on a common strategy. On the east flank, the French attacked across the Sambre for the time at the end of May but were forced to pull back in the Battle of Gosselies. When he placed his right wing divisions under a leader in mid-April
13.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
14.
Jean-Charles Pichegru
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Jean-Charles Pichegru was a distinguished French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front and his subsequent involvement in a royalist conspiracy to remove Napoleon from power led to his arrest and death. Despite his defection, his surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, Pichegru was born in a peasant family at Arbois, in the Jura department of France. The friars of Arbois were entrusted with his education, and sent him to the school of Brienne-le-Château. There, he taught mathematics, and among his pupils was the young Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1783, he entered the 1st regiment of artillery, where he rapidly rose to the rank of adjutant-second lieutenant, and briefly served in the American Revolutionary War. In 1793, Lazare Carnot and Louis de Saint-Just were sent to find roturier generals who could prove successful, Carnot discovered Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and Saint-Just discovered Louis Lazare Hoche and Pichegru. At first, Pichegru was appointed general of division and commander of the Division of the Upper Rhine, appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine, Pichegru attacked the Coalition army of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser in the Battle of Haguenau in 1793. Over a period of weeks the Coalition Forces were driven back step by step in bitter fighting, the intervention of the Army of the Moselle under Hoche at the Battle of Froeschwiller in late December finally caused Wurmser to abandon Alsace. For the Second Battle of Wissembourg, Pichegru was placed under the command of Hoche, nevertheless, the French again won the battle, compelling Wurmser to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine and the Prussian army to withdraw toward Mainz. In December 1793, Hoche was arrested, probably owing to his colleagues denunciations and he was summoned to succeed Jourdan in the Army of the North in February 1794, subsequently fighting three major campaigns within the year. The forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Pichegru began his second campaign by crossing the Meuse on 18 October, and, after taking Nijmegen, drove the Austrians beyond the Rhine. The Anglo-Hanoverian army withdrew behind the Waal, then, while Pichegrus troops prepared to go into winter quarters, the Convention ordered the Army of the North to mount a winter campaign. On 27 December two brigades crossed the Meuse on the ice, and stormed the Bommelerwaard, on 10 January Pichegrus army crossed the ice of the Waal between Zaltbommel and Nijmegen, then, on 13 January, entered Utrecht, which surrendered on the 16th. The Anglo-Hanoverian army retreated behind the IJssel and then withdrew to Hanover, Pichegru, who had successfully penetrated the frozen Hollandic Water Line, arrived in Amsterdam on 20 January, after the Batavian Revolution had taken place. The French occupied the rest of the Dutch Republic in the next month, Pichegru then took command of the armies of the North, the Sambre-and-Meuse, and the Rhine, and, crossing the Rhine in force, took Mannheim in May 1795. The plans were suspected, and, when he offered his resignation to the Directory in October 1795 and he retired in disgrace, but secured his election to the Council of Five Hundred in May 1797 as a leader of the Royalists. Pichegru planned a coup known as the Coup of 18 Fructidor. He and seven others escaped and fled to Paramaribo, the gouverneur De Friderici allowed them to get on board a ship to the United States
15.
Jean Victor Marie Moreau
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Jean Victor Marie Moreau was a French general who helped Napoleon Bonaparte to power, but later became a rival and was banished to the United States. Moreau was born at Morlaix in Brittany and his father was a successful lawyer, and instead of allowing Moreau to enter the army, as he attempted to do, insisted on Moreau studying law at the University of Rennes. Young Moreau showed no inclination for law, but reveled in the freedom of student life, instead of taking his degree, he continued to live with the students as their hero and leader, and formed them into a sort of army, which he commanded as their provost. When 1789 came, he commanded the students in the daily affrays which took place at Rennes between the young noblesse and the populace, in 1791, Moreau was elected a lieutenant colonel of the volunteers of Ille-et-Vilaine. Lazare Carnot promoted Moreau to be general of division early in 1794, the Battle of Tourcoing established Moreaus military fame, and in 1795 he was given the command of the Army of the Rhine-and-Moselle, with which he crossed the Rhine and advanced into Germany. He was at first completely successful and won victories and penetrated to the Isar. It was at time he found a traitorous correspondence between his old comrade and commander Charles Pichegru and the émigré Prince de Condé. Too late to clear himself, he sent the correspondence to Paris, joubert fell in the battle, and Moreau then conducted the retreat of the army to Genoa, where he handed over the command to Jean Étienne Championnet. In reward, Napoleon again gave him command of the Army of the Rhine, on his return to Paris he married 19-year-old Eugénie Hulot, born in Mauritius and friend of Joséphine de Beauharnais, an ambitious woman who gained a complete ascendancy over him. After spending a few weeks with the army in Germany and winning the battle of Hohenlinden. His wife collected around her all who were discontented with the aggrandisement of Napoleon, all this was well known to Napoleon, who seized the conspirators. In 1804, Moreau passed through Spain and embarked for America, Moreau arrived with his wife in New York City, in August 1805. He lived there till 1813, dividing his time fishing, hunting, and social intercourse. His abode was the refuge of all political exiles, and representatives of foreign powers tried to induce him to raise his sword against Napoleon, at the outbreak of the War of 1812, President Madison offered him the command of the U. S. troops. Moreau was willing to accept, but after hearing the news of the destruction of the Grande Armée in Russia, Charles John and Tsar Alexander I of Russia were now together with the Prussians and the Austrians leading an army against Napoleon. Moreau, who wished to see Napoleon defeated and a republican government installed, gave advice to the Swedish, Moreau was mortally wounded in the Battle of Dresden on 27 August 1813 while he was talking to the tsar and died on 2 September in Louny. After Moreau was shot down at his side, the observed to Metternich. Moreau was buried in the Catholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg
16.
Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
17.
Battle of Vich
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The Battle of Vich or Battle of Vic on 20 February 1810 saw a Spanish force under Henry ODonnell suddenly attack a 5, 500-man Imperial French division led by Joseph Souham. After bitter fighting the French prevailed, forcing ODonnells men to retreat, the engagement occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Vic is located 60 kilometres north of Barcelona in the province of Catalonia, one month after his lieutenant Luis González Torres de Navarra, Marquess of Campoverde scored a victory in the Battle of Mollet, ODonnell found that Souhams division was isolated at Vic. He assembled an army of 7,000 regular infantry and 500 cavalry at Moià. On 19 February,3,500 miquelets led by Francesc Rovira i Sala, the next day, ODonnell led his regulars to the assault from a different direction. While a French force in the town held off Rovira and Milans, the contest hung in the balance until the 1, 500-saber Imperial cavalry contingent overwhelmed ODonnells right wing. The French lost 600 casualties, including Souham badly wounded, while inflicting losses of 800 killed and wounded, the Spanish Ulcer, A History of the Peninsular War. A History of the Peninsular War Volume III
18.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britains military heroes. Wellesley was born in Dublin, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland and he was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons and he was a colonel by 1796, and saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and, as a newly appointed major-general, following Napoleons exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the army which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellesleys battle record is exemplary, he participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career. Wellington is famous for his defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, after ending his active military career, Wellington returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party, from 1828 to 1830 and he oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, but opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued as one of the figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. As such, he belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy and his biographers mostly follow the contemporary newspaper evidence in saying that he was born 1 May 1769, the day that he was baptised. He was most likely born at his parents townhouse,24 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, but his mother Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin. He spent most of his childhood at his familys two homes, the first a house in Dublin and the second Dangan Castle,3 miles north of Summerhill on the Trim Road in County Meath. In 1781, Arthurs father died and his eldest brother Richard inherited his fathers earldom and he went to the diocesan school in Trim when at Dangan, Mr Whytes Academy when in Dublin, and Browns School in Chelsea when in London. He then enrolled at Eton, where he studied from 1781 to 1784, moreover, Eton had no playing fields at the time. In 1785, a lack of success at Eton, combined with a shortage of funds due to his fathers death, forced the young Wellesley. Until his early twenties, Arthur showed little sign of distinction and his mother grew concerned at his idleness, stating. A year later, Arthur enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, where he progressed significantly, becoming a good horseman and learning French, upon returning to England in late 1786, he astonished his mother with his improvement
19.
Battle of Tordesillas (1812)
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After its failed Siege of Burgos, the 35, 000-man Allied army withdrew to the west, pursued by Souhams 53,000 French soldiers. On 23 October, French cavalry attacked the Allied rear guard in the inconclusive Battle of Venta del Pozo, the Allies pulled back behind the Pisuerga and Carrión Rivers and took up a defensive position. Beginning on the 25th there were clashes at Palencia and Villamuriel de Cerrato as Souham sought to turn the Allied north flank, Wellington then adopted an unorthodox defensive position, prompting Souham to pause for two days. The stalemate was broken on 29 October when a party of naked French soldiers swam the Duero River at Tordesillas with their weapons on a raft, upon reaching the far bank, they took up their guns and routed the Brunswick defenders of a key bridge. With an intact bridge in French hands, Wellington was forced to continue his retreat toward Portugal, meanwhile, Wellingtons subordinate Rowland Hill withdrew from Madrid. The two British commanders united their armies near Alba de Tormes on 8 November, by this time the combined French armies were led by Nicolas Soult. Though 80,000 French faced 65,000 Allies on the old Salamanca battlefield neither commander initiated a battle, after a retreat in miserable conditions during which hundreds of soldiers were captured or died of hunger and exposure, the Allied army went into winter quarters. The actions were fought during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars, on 22 July 1812, General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess Wellingtons won a great victory over Marshal Auguste Marmonts Army of Portugal at the Battle of Salamanca. Marmont was badly wounded, two of his commanders were killed, and his army severely mauled with 10,000 killed and wounded. An additional 4,000 soldiers,20 cannons, two eagles, and six colors were captured for Allied losses of 4,762 men, king Joseph Bonaparte evacuated Madrid and its forts surrendered to the Allies on 13 August. One major consequence of Salamanca was that Marshal Nicolas Soult raised the two and one-half year Siege of Cadiz on 25 August 1812 and abandoned the province of Andalusia, hoping to exploit the summers successes, Wellington began the Siege of Burgos on 19 September 1812. Burgos 2, 000-man garrison was led by General of Brigade Jean-Louis Dubreton who supervised a very able, during their futile siege, the Allies suffered 2,100 casualties before withdrawing on 21 October. While Wellington was attempting to reduce Burgos, the French reacted promptly to the crisis, to oppose his 35, 000-man army, General of Division Joseph Souham assembled 53,000 men in the north of Spain. This force included 41,000 men of the reconstituted Army of Portugal,6,500 infantry and 2,300 cavalry from the Army of the North, in the south, Soult and Joseph advanced on Madrid with 61,000 soldiers and 84 guns. To oppose these masses, Lieutenant General Rowland Hill had 31,000 Anglo-Portuguese and 12,000 Spaniards, Wellingtons host included 24,000 Anglo-Portuguese and 12,000 Spanish troops under General José María Santocildes. Wellington stole a march on Souham and the Frenchman did not discover the Allied retreat until late on 22 October, Souham immediately launched almost 6,000 cavalry in pursuit of his enemies. On the 23rd, the Allied main body crossed the Pisuerga River at Torquemada, the same day, the French cavalry fought Wellingtons rear guard in the drawn Battle of Venta del Pozo. The Allies counted 230 casualties while the French lost about 200 men, on 25 October, Souham advanced on Wellingtons center and left flank which were posted along the Pisuerga and Carrión Rivers with his right flank at Valladolid
20.
Battle of Leipzig
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The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813, at Leipzig, Saxony. Napoleons army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine, the battle was the culmination of the 1813 German campaign and involved nearly 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Being decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Coalition hurried to keep their momentum, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814. However, the Russian Tsar refused to even as the French occupied the city. With this string of defeats, the armies of France were in retreat on all fronts across Europe, anti-French forces joined Russia as its troops pursued the remnants of the virtually destroyed Grande Armée across central Europe. He sought to regain the offensive by re-establishing his hold in Germany, the victories led to a brief armistice. He then won a victory at the Battle of Dresden on 27 August. This policy led to victories at Großbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach, after these defeats, the French emperor could not easily follow up on his victory at Dresden. With the intention of knocking Prussia out of the war as soon as possible, Oudinot was defeated at the Battle of Großbeeren, just south of the city. With the intact Prussian force threatening from the north, Napoleon was compelled to withdraw westward and he deployed his army around the city, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz, where he placed his command. The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden, the coalition had some 380,000 troops along with 1,500 guns, consisting of 145,000 Russians,115,000 Austrians,90,000 Prussians, and 30,000 Swedes. This made Leipzig the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, surpassing Borodino, Wagram, Jena and Auerstadt, Ulm, Napoleon conscripted these men to be readied for an even larger campaign against the newly formed Sixth Coalition and its forces stationed in Germany. While he won several battles, his army was being steadily depleted as Coalition commanders, closely following the Trachenberg Plan. The Swedes also had under their command a company of the British Rocket Brigade armed with Congreve rockets, despite being outnumbered, Napoleon planned to take the offensive between the Pleisse and the Parthe rivers. The position at Leipzig held several advantages for his army and his battle strategy, the rivers that converged there split the surrounding terrain into many separate sectors. The northern front was defended by Marshals Michel Ney and Auguste de Marmont, the artillery reserve and parks, ambulances, and baggage stood near Leipzig, which Napoleon made his supply base for the battle. The bridges on the Pleisse and White Elster rivers were defended by infantry, the main battery stood in reserve, and during battle was to be deployed on the Gallows Height. This battery was to be commanded by the artillery expert Antoine Drouot, the western flank of the French positions at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz was defended by Prince Joseph Poniatowski and Marshal Pierre Augereau and his young French conscripts
21.
Hundred Days
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The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleons return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815. This period saw the War of the Seventh Coalition, and includes the Waterloo Campaign, the phrase les Cent Jours was first used by the prefect of Paris, Gaspard, comte de Chabrol, in his speech welcoming the king back to Paris on 8 July. Napoleon returned while the Congress of Vienna was sitting, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars pitted France against various coalitions of other European nations nearly continuously from 1792 onward. The overthrow and subsequent public execution of Louis XVI in France had greatly disturbed other European leaders, rather than leading to Frances defeat, the wars allowed the revolutionary regime to expand beyond its borders and create client republics. The success of the French forces made an out of their best commander. In 1799, Napoleon staged a successful coup détat and became First Consul of the new French Consulate, five years later, he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I. The rise of Napoleon troubled the other European powers as much as the revolutionary regime had. Despite the formation of new coalitions against him, Napoleons forces continued to conquer much of Europe, the tide of war began to turn after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 that resulted in the loss of much of Napoleons army. The following year, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, Coalition forces defeated the French in the Battle of Leipzig, following its victory at Leipzig, the Coalition vowed to press on to Paris and depose Napoleon. In the last week of February 1814, Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher advanced on Paris, the Battle of Reims went to Napoleon, but this victory was followed by successive defeats from increasingly overwhelming odds. Coalition forces entered Paris after the Battle of Montmartre on 30 March 1814, on 6 April 1814, Napoleon abdicated his throne, leading to the accession of Louis XVIII and the first Bourbon Restoration a month later. The defeated Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, Napoleon spent only nine months and 21 days in uneasy retirement on Elba, watching events in France with great interest as the Congress of Vienna gradually gathered. He had been escorted to Elba by Sir Neil Campbell, who remained in there while performing other duties in Italy. Equally threatening was the situation in Europe which had been stressed and exhausted during the previous decades of near constant warfare. The conflicting demands of major powers were for a time so exorbitant as to bring the Powers at the Congress of Vienna to the verge of war with each other. Thus every scrap of news reaching remote Elba looked favourable to Napoleon to retake power as he reasoned the news of his return would cause a popular rising as he approached. So threatening were the symptoms that the royalists at Paris and the plenipotentiaries at Vienna talked of deporting him to the Azores or to Saint Helena, at the Congress of Vienna the various participating nations had very different and conflicting goals. Tsar Alexander of Russia had expected to absorb much of Poland and to leave a Polish puppet state, the renewed Prussian state demanded all of the Kingdom of Saxony
22.
Revolution
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Aristotle described two types of political revolution, Complete change from one constitution to another Modification of an existing constitution. Revolutions have occurred through history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions, scholarly debates about what does and does not constitute a revolution center on several issues. Several generations of scholarly thought on revolutions have generated many competing theories, the word revolucion is known in French from the 13th century, and revolution in English by the late fourteenth century, with regards to the revolving motion of celestial bodies. Revolution in the sense of representing abrupt change in an order is attested by at least 1450. Political usage of the term had been established by 1688 in the description of the replacement of James II with William III. The process was termed The Glorious Revolution, there are many different typologies of revolutions in social science and literature. One of several different Marxist typologies divides revolutions into pre-capitalist, early bourgeois, bourgeois, bourgeois-democratic, early proletarian, Charles Tilly, a modern scholar of revolutions, differentiated between a coup, a top-down seizure of power, a civil war, a revolt and a great revolution. Other types of revolution, created for other typologies, include the social revolutions, proletarian or communist revolutions, failed or abortive revolutions, the term revolution has also been used to denote great changes outside the political sphere. Such revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed in society, culture, philosophy and technology much more than political systems, some can be global, while others are limited to single countries. One of the examples of the usage of the word revolution in such context is the Industrial Revolution. Note that such revolutions also fit the slow revolution definition of Tocqueville, a similar example is the Digital Revolution. Perhaps most often, the revolution is employed to denote a change in socio-political institutions. Jeff Goodwin gives two definitions of a revolution, political and socioeconomic revolutions have been studied in many social sciences, particularly sociology, political sciences and history. Scholars of revolutions, like Jack Goldstone, differentiate four current generations of scholarly research dealing with revolutions, the scholars of the first generation such as Gustave Le Bon, Charles A. Second generation theorists sought to develop detailed theories of why and when revolutions arise and they can be divided into three major approaches, psychological, sociological and political. The works of Ted Robert Gurr, Ivo K. Feierbrand, Rosalind L. Feierbrand, James A. Geschwender, David C. Schwartz, the second group, composed of academics such as Chalmers Johnson, Neil Smelser, Bob Jessop, Mark Hart, Edward A. As in the school, they differed in their definitions of what causes disequilibrium
23.
Battle of Jemappes
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The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The French, who outnumbered their opponents by about three-to-one, launched a series of enthusiastic, at length, the French seized a portion of the ridge and the Austrians were unable to drive them away. Saxe-Teschen conceded defeat by ordering a withdrawal, Dumouriez, intent on invading the Austrian Netherlands, advanced late in the season and attacked the Austrians with greatly superior forces. Jemappes was won by costly but effective charges against the Austrians prepared position, Dumouriez overran the Austrian Netherlands within a month, but lost it at the Battle of Neerwinden in March. The French would not reconquer the Austrian Netherlands until the summer of 1794 and this left Dumouriez free to move north, to first lay siege to Lille in late September and into early October, and then to launch his long-planned invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. The Austrian army was commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Although he had more than 20,000 troops available, they were scattered in a defensive line. With this power, he tried to defend the 5-mile long Cuesmes ridge which ran from Mons in the Austrian left to Jemappes on the right side. The Austrian right was commanded by Franz Freiherr von Lilien, the center by Franz Sebastian de Croix Count Clerfayt, two other companies were further to the left around Mont Palisel and an infantry battalion was at Mons. The Austrian army positioned themselves on the marshes around the Trouille groves and rivers, the only other way for a retreat was via Mons. Dumouriez had twice as many men as the Austrians and his own Armée du Nord contained 32,000 infantry,3,800 cavalry and 100 guns and was supported in Jemappes by a further 4,000 men and 15 guns under General François Harville. Dumouriezs infantry battalions contained thirteen volunteers from 1792, harvilles men were also volunteers, but most of the older commanders were either experienced soldiers or aristocrats. The most obvious example was the commander of the French center, the Duke of Chartres, who had assumed the name of General Egalite, the right wing was commanded by General Pierre de Riel, Marquis de Beurnonville and left of General Louis Marie de la Caussade Ferrand. Harville was to reinforce the right, Dumouriez planned to use his armys numbers to overtake the Austrian position. The plan was for Harville and Beurnonville to attack first, Ferrand would then capture Quaregnon before Jemappes. Beurnonville would then attack the Austrian center while Harville moved to Mont Palisel to cut off the Austrian retreat, see Jemappes 1792 Order of Battle for details of the Austrian and French organizations. Saxe-Teschen entrenched his 11,628 infantry,2,168 cavalry and 56 guns along the Cuesmes Ridge just a few kilometers west of Mons, the Austrian artillery included fourteen 12-lb cannon, thirty-six 6-lb and 3-lb cannon and six 7-lb howitzers. The north end of the position, defended by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Freiherr von Lilien, was anchored on the village of Jemappes, feldzeugmeister Count Clerfayt commanded the center and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann Peter Beaulieu led the left wing
24.
Flanders Campaign
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The Flanders Campaign was conducted from 6 November 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the French Revolutionary Wars. A coalition of states mobilised military forces all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France. The largest of these forces assembled on the Franco-Flemish border, the Allies enjoyed several early victories, but were unable to advance beyond the French border fortresses and were eventually forced to withdraw by a series of French counter-offensives. The Allies established a new front in the south of the Netherlands and Germany, the Austrians pulled back to the lower Rhine and the British to Hanover from where they were eventually evacuated. Austria and Prussia had been at war with France since 1792, although Britain, only after the execution of the French king Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 and the declaration of war by the Revolutionary Government did they finally mobilize. Allied armies mobilised along all of the French frontiers, the largest and most important in the Flanders Franco-Belgian border region. In the north, the immediate aim was to eject the French from the Dutch Republic. Austria and Prussia broadly supported this aim, but both were short of money, initially, just fifteen hundred troops landed with York in February 1793. The Duke of York was obliged to follow objectives set by Pitts Foreign Minister Henry Dundas, thus Allied military decisions in the campaign were tempered by political objectives from Vienna and London. The defences of the Dutch Republic were in condition, its States Army not having fought in a war for 45 years. Williams main concern therefore was the preservation of the House of Orange, many of the old officer class had emigrated, leaving the cavalry in particular in chaotic condition. Only the artillery arm, less affected by emigration, had survived intact, the problems would become even more acute following the introduction of mass conscription, the Levée en Masse, in 1793. The price of failure or disloyalty was the guillotine, as the Austrians retreated, Dumouriez saw an opportunity with the Patriot exiles to overthrow the weak Dutch Republic by making a bold move north. A second French Division under Francisco de Miranda manoeuvred against the Austrians and Hanoverians in eastern Belgium, on 16 February Dumouriezs republican Armée du Nord advanced from Antwerp and invaded Dutch Brabant. Dutch forces fell back to the line of the Meuse abandoning the fortress of Breda after a siege. Within nine days an initial British guards brigade had assembled and dispatched across the English Channel, landing at Hellevoetsluis under the command of general Lake. Meanwhile, while Dumouriez moved north into Brabant, a army under Francisco de Miranda laid siege to Maastricht on 23 February. However the Austrians had been reinforced to 39,000 and, now commanded by Saxe-Coburg, crossed the Ruhr River on 1 March, the next day the Austrians took Aachen before reaching Maastricht on the Meuse and forcing Miranda to lift the siege
25.
Battle of Tourcoing (1794)
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The Battle of Tourcoing saw a Republican French army directed by Joseph Souham defend against an attack by a Coalition army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French army was led by Souham in the absence of its normal commander Jean-Charles Pichegru. The War of the First Coalition action was fought near the town of Tourcoing, the Coalition battle plan drawn up by Karl Mack von Leiberich launched six columns that attempted to envelop a part of the French army holding an awkward bulge at Menen and Kortrijk. The action is referred to as the Battle of Turcoine. Under the temporary leadership of Souham, Maj-Gen Charles Pichegrus Army of the North encountered an Austro-British-German force at Tourcoing, despite a slight advantage in numbers, the 74,000 Allied troops under Saxe-Coburg were out-led and out-fought by Souhams 70,000 French troops. Meanwhile, part of Moreaus command held off the assault of the Count of Clerfayt from the north and it was a sprawling engagement fought out over many square miles of countryside just west of the Scheldt River in Flanders. The Army of the North included the divisions of Souham, Moreau, Jacques Philippe Bonnaud, saxe-Coburgs army consisted of three Austrian columns commanded by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, the François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt and Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky. Von dem Bussche commanded the Hanoverians, the Duke of York led the British, Hessen-Darmstadt and Hessen-Kassel contingents. The Army of the North had thrust eastward so that the divisions of Souham and Moreau, Bonnaud held the center with units at Lannoy, Tressin and Sainghin. In addition, Compères brigade held Tourcoing and Thierrys brigade held Mouscron, ostens division defended Pont-à-Marcq on the right flank. These dispositions straddle the current French-Belgian border, saxe-Coburgs chief-of-staff, General Karl Mack von Leiberich proposed enveloping and annihilating the 50, 000-strong mass formed by Souham and Moreau. Clerfayts detached corps was to march along the bank of the Lys from Tielt through Menin. At Werwick, Clerfayt would force a crossing to the south bank, the Duke of Yorks three columns would advance to the northwest from Tournai toward Tourcoing. This force would pin the divisions of Souham and Moreau against the Lys, to the south, Archduke Charles and Kinsky would brush Osten and Bonnaud aside and wheel northwest, linking with Clerfayt and trapping the French left flank. The movement began on 16 May, on 17 May, Clerfayt found his crossing resisted by Brig-Gen Dominique Vandamme, who had a brigade of Moreaus division. The Duke of Yorks right column under Bussche captured Mouscron, but it was out again. The center column led by Otto seized Tourcoing, with the British Guards brigade under Henry Fox leading the attack, the Duke of Yorks left column under Ralph Abercromby, stormed into Lannoy, Willems and Mouvaux. Kinskys column crossed the Marque River at Bouvines but made little progress beyond there, Archduke Charles column got a late start and barely made it to Pont-à-Marcq
26.
Georges Cadoudal
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Georges Cadoudal, sometimes called simply Georges, was a Breton politician, and leader of the Chouannerie during the French Revolution. He was named a Marshal of France in 1814, Cadoudal means in Breton language warrior returning from the fight. Born in Brech, in Brittany, after completing his education, he remained true to his Royalist, from 1793 he organized a rebellion in the Morbihan against the National Convention of the First Republic. It was quickly suppressed, and he joined the army of the Vendée insurrection, taking part in the battles of Le Mans. Returning to Morbihan, he was arrested, and imprisoned at Brest and he succeeded, however, in escaping, and began again the struggle against the Revolution. In 1799 he was a visitor at Mont Orgueil, Jersey where he would meet Philippe dAuvergne. He refused to come to any understanding with the government, although offers were made to him by Napoleon Bonaparte, from 1800 it was impossible for Cadoudal to continue to wage open war, so he centered his efforts on conspiracies. He was indirectly involved in Pierre Saint-Regents attempt on the life of the First Consul, in December, on the night of 23 August 1803, HMS Vincejo landed Georges and several other Chouans at the foot of the cliffs of Biville. The conspirators wanted to undertake a new kidnap or assassination attempt on Bonaparte whilst on the road to Malmaison, although under nominal police surveillance, he succeeded in eluding pursuit for six months, but was arrested for long periods. Found guilty and sentenced to death, he refused to ask for pardon and was guillotined in Paris, before being executed, he shouted to the crowd, And now, its time to show to the Parisians how Christians, Royalists and Bretons die. During the Restoration, in 1814, Cadoudal was made a Marshal of France posthumously, Cadoudal features as a main character in the 1940 Rafael Sabatini novel, Marquis of Carabas. He is also portrayed in The Companions of Jehu and The Knight of Sainte-Hermine by Alexandre Dumas and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Cadoudal, Georges. Lenotre, Tournebut Jean Rohu, Mémoires Alexandre Dumas, The Last Cavalier
27.
Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
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Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr was a French commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who rose to Marshal of France and Marquis. He was born Laurent Gouvion in Toul, Three Bishoprics, the eldest child of Jean-Baptiste Gouvion, a tanner and he adopted the name Saint-Cyr after his mother, who had abandoned him at an early age. He went to Rome when he was eighteen in order to study painting, in 1792 he was chosen a captain in a volunteer battalion, and served on the staff of General Custine. Promotion rapidly followed, and in the course of two years he became a general of division and he commanded the centre division of Jean Victor Marie Moreaus army in the Rhine Campaign of 1796, aiding in the celebrated retreat from Bavaria to the Rhine. In 1798 he succeeded André Masséna in the command of the army of Italy, Moreau disliked Saint-Cyr for his sense of righteousness and incorruptibility. Rumours were soon spreading that Saint-Cyr was a bad bed fellow, Moreau also accused him of not supporting his brother generals though General Ney and Davout often thanked him for support after battles. When Moreau, in 1800, was appointed to the command of the army of the Rhine, Gouvion Saint-Cyr was named his principal lieutenant and he was not, however, on good terms with his commander and retired to France after the first operations of the campaign. In 1801 he was sent to Spain to command the army intended for the invasion of Portugal, when a treaty of peace was shortly afterwards concluded with Portugal, he succeeded Lucien Bonaparte as ambassador at Madrid. Saint-Cyr was a stoic in an age of pragmatism and glory, for the whole of his life Saint-Cyr believed that Napoleon deliberately refused him troops just to disgrace him. In 1803 he was appointed to the command of a corps in Italy, in 1805 he served with distinction under Masséna. When he returned to Paris to protest his treatment in Naples and he was still a général de division, having been excluded from the first list of marshals. On the opening of the Russian campaign, Saint-Cyr received command of the VI Corps, the Russians, under Barclay de Tolly, were burning everything as they retreated back towards Moscow, and had just burned nearby Smolensk. It was just prior to the victory at Polotsk on the banks of the Daugava river, however, that Oudinot was wounded, in October 1812 Saint-Cyr was driven out of Polotsk. He received a wound in one of the battles during the general retreat. In this year, Saint Cyrs relation with the Emperor warmed as Napoleon commented that Saint Cyr had no match in all of the marshalate and was the equal of Napoleon himself in defence. On the day he received his long overdue baton he wrote a letter to his wife. On the Bourbon Restoration he was created a Peer of France, and in July 1815 was appointed War Minister, but resigned his office in the following November. In June 1817 he was appointed Marine Minister a pretext for him to resume the place of War Minister, during this time he initiated many reforms, particularly in respect of measures tending to make the army a national rather than a dynastic force
28.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
29.
Vic
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Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vics location is 69 km from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, vics position has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia. Vic lies in the middle of the Plain of Vic, equidistant from Barcelona, Vic is famous for its persistent fog in winter as a result of a persistent thermal inversion with temperatures as low as -10 °C and an absolute record of -24 °C. Episodes of cold and severe snowstorms are noticeable, in summer, storms are very common during the dry season, typical of the Mediterranean climate of coastal Catalonia. For that reason the natural vegetation includes the pubescent oak typical of the climates of eastern France, Northern Italy. In past times it was called Ausa by the Romans, iberian coins bearing this name have been found there. Sewage caps on sidewalks around the city will also read Vich, during the 8th and 9th centuries, Vic sat in the Spanish Marches that separated Frankish and Islamic forces. It was destroyed in 788 during a Muslim incursion, afterwards only one quarter was rebuilt, which was called Vicus Ausonensis, from which the name Vic was derived. It was repopulated by Wilfred the Hairy in 878 who gained control over the part of the city. From then on, the city was ruled by the count of Barcelona, at a council in Toulouges in 1027, the bishop of Vic established the first Peace and Truce of God that helped reduce private warfare. During the 18th century the city was the first focus of the rebellion against the centralist policy of King Philip V of Spain, the conflict became the War of the Spanish Succession. In the early 20th century Vic had 9500 inhabitants, and in 1992 it hosted Roller Hockey events of the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics and it lies within the four Catalonian provinces, but the greater part of it in that of Barcelona. None, however, is mentioned by name until 516 when Cinidius is named as assisting at the provincial Council of Tarragona and Girona, with this bishop ends the history of the Church of Ausona before the Saracen invasion. In 826 Vic fell once more into the hands of the Moors and was reconquered by Wilfred the Hairy. Count Wilfred dedicated the monastery of Ripoll to the Blessed Virgin. Bishop Atton is worthy of mention as a promoter of education. Many persons availed themselves of the advantages offered by his reforms, among them Gerbert, the monk of Aurillac, afterwards Pope Sylvester II, who was distinguished for his learning. Another of the most illustrious bishops of Vic was Oliva, son of the Count of Besalú, the dedication took place 15 January 1032
30.
Auguste Marmont
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Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of France and was awarded the title Duke of Ragusa. Marmont was born at Châtillon-sur-Seine, the son of an ex-officer in the army who belonged to the petite noblesse, for this he was at once made general of division. In 1801 he became inspector-general of artillery, and in 1804 grand officer of the Legion of Honour, in 1805 he received the command of a corps, with which he did good service at Ulm. He was then directed to take possession of Dalmatia with his army, for the next five years he was military and civil governor of Dalmatia, and traces of his beneficent régime still survive both in great public works and in the memories of the people. In 1808 he was duke of Ragusa. In the War of the Fifth Coalition, he defeated an Austrian holding force in the Dalmatian Campaign of May 1809, breaking out of Dalmatia, he reached Ljubljana in early June. After he defeated Ignaz Gyulais corps in the Battle of Graz and he arrived in time to fight in the Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July. In the subsequent pursuit of Archduke Charles, Marmont got his corps into a spot and was rescued only by the arrival of Napoleon with heavy reinforcements. Napoleon made him a Marshal of France, though he said, Between ourselves, of the three marshals created after Wagram, the French soldiers said, MacDonald is Frances choiceOudinot is the armys choice Marmont is friendships choice. He was appointed governor-general of all the Illyrian provinces of the empire, in July 1810 Marmont was hastily summoned to succeed Masséna in the command of the French army in the north of Spain. His relief of Ciudad Rodrigo in the autumn of 1811 in spite of the presence of the British army was a great feat, but Wellington more than retrieved his position in the battle, and inflicted a severe defeat on the French. Marmont and his deputy commander Comte Jean-Pierre François Bonet were both struck by very early in the battle. Marmont was gravely wounded in the arm and side and command of the battle passed to Bertrand Clausel. He retired to France to recover, in April 1813 Napoleon gave him the command of a corps, which he led at the battles of Lützen, Bautzen and Dresden. He then fought throughout the defensive campaign of 1814 until the last battle before Paris. Marmonts forces fought a retreat back to the commanding position of Essonne. Marmont then took upon himself a role, seeking to halt what he now saw as a pointless prolonging of a war which France would now assuredly lose. Marmont contacted the Allies and reached an agreement with them
31.
Battle of Salamanca
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A Spanish division was also present but took no part in the battle. These attacks resulted in a rout of the French left wing, both Marmont and his deputy commander, General Bonet, received shrapnel wounds in the first few minutes of firing. Confusion amongst the French command may have been decisive in creating an opportunity, General Bertrand Clausel, third in seniority, assumed command and ordered a counterattack by the French reserve toward the depleted Allied centre. The move proved successful but with Wellington having sent his reinforcements to the centre. Allied losses numbered 3,129 British and 2,038 Portuguese dead or wounded, the Spanish troops took no part in the battle as they were positioned to block French escape routes and as such suffered just six casualties. The French suffered about 13,000 dead, wounded and captured, as a consequence of Wellingtons victory, his army was able to advance to and liberate Madrid for two months, before retreating to Portugal. The French were forced to abandon Andalusia permanently while the loss of Madrid irreparably damaged King Josephs pro-French government, following Marmont’s retreat to Salamanca Wellington took position behind the Agueda and Coa rivers. In May, acting on Wellington’s orders General Hill took a force of 7,000 men to destroy the bridge at Almaraz, on 13 June Wellington crossed the Agueda and advanced eastward to Salamanca, a town that was a major supply depot for the French army. The French had converted three convents into powerful forts to defend the town and the bridge across the river Tormes. On 19 June the first battery opened fire but it was not until 27 June that, for several weeks Wellington found his movements north of Salamanca blocked by Marmonts army, which was constantly swelled by reinforcements. With the armies often marching close together, separated by the river, moving east, the French crossed to the south bank of the Tormes across another bridge at Huerta and by marching south then west hoped to turn the flank of Wellingtons army. The Duke immediately ordered the part of his army to attack the overextended French left wing. Marshal Marmonts 50, 000-man Army of Portugal contained eight infantry, pierre François Joseph Boyer led 1,500 dragoons and Jean-Baptiste Theodore Curto commanded 1,900 light cavalry. Louis Tirlet directed 3,300 artillerymen and there were also 1,300 engineers, military police, Wellingtons 48, 500-man army included eight infantry divisions, formed mainly by British and Portuguese units, and two independent brigades, five cavalry brigades and 54 cannons. The infantry divisions were Henry Frederick Campbells 1st, Edward Pakenhams 3rd, Lowry Coles 4th, James Leiths 5th, Henry Clintons 6th, John Hopes 7th, carlos de España commanded a 3, 400-man Spanish division, while Denis Pack and Thomas Bradford led the independent Portuguese brigades. Stapleton Cotton supervised the cavalry brigades, hoylet Framingham commanded eight British and one Portuguese six-gun artillery batteries. Marmonts army moved south early on 22 July, its leading elements reaching an area southeast of Salamanca, to the west, the Marshal could see Wellingtons 7th Division deployed on a ridge. Spotting a dust cloud in the distance, Marmont assumed that most of the British army was in retreat and he planned to move his French army south, then west to turn the British right flank
32.
Burgos
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Burgos is a city in northern Spain and the historic capital of Castile. It is situated on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries and it has about 180,000 inhabitants in the actual city and another 20,000 in the metropolitan area. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the community of Castile. A large number of churches, palaces and other buildings from the medieval age remain, the city is surrounded by the Fuentes Blancas and the Paseo de la Isla parks. The city forms the principal crossroad of northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago and it has a well-developed transportation system, forming the main communication node in northern Spain. In 2008, the international Burgos Airport started to offer commercial flights, furthermore, AVE high speed trains are planned to start service in the near future, stopping at the newly-built Rosa de Lima train station. The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2010, unique in its kind across the world, the museum features the first Europeans, which lived in this area 800,000 years ago. Burgos was selected as the Spanish Gastronomy Capital of 2013, there are several possible origins for the toponymy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the country moved into the fortified village. The city began to be called Caput Castellae, early humans occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800,000 years ago. When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, in Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. The region came to be known as Castile, i. e. land of castles, the city began to be called Caput Castellae. The county of Burgos, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was extended, one of these counts, Fernán González. In the 11th century, the city became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burgos, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it, the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works, the alguacil was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements. On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men. In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishorpic, Burgos has been the scene of many wars, with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession Burgos was the scene of a battle
33.
Salamanca
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Salamanca is an ancient Celtic city in northwestern Spain that is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River and its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Salamanca attracts thousands of students, generating a diverse environment. It is situated approximately 200 kilometres west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km east of the Portuguese border, with its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city, with the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata and its Roman bridge dates from the 1st century, and was a part of this road. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Alans established in Lusitania, later the city was conquered by the Visigoths and included in their territory. The city was already an episcopal see, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the Councils of Toledo, Salamanca surrendered to the Moors, led by Musa bin Nusair, in the year 712 AD. For years, this area between the south of Duero River and the north of Tormes River, became the battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim Al-Andalus rulers. The constant fighting of the Kingdom of León first, and the Kingdom of Castile and León later against the Caliphate depopulated Salamanca, after the battle of Simancas the Christians resettled this area. After the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085, raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe, during the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour. During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time, in 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted, Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque Cathedral and main square were finished, the battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history, many thousands of men were slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours. During the devastating Spanish Civil War the city went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital. The Nationalists soon moved most of the departments to Burgos. Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural Leon and Old Castile regions, Salamanca was a supporter of the Nationalist side
34.
Michel Ney
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Michel Ney, 1st Duc dElchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, popularly known as Marshal Ney, was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon and he was known as Le Rougeaud by his men and nicknamed le Brave des Braves by Napoleon. Michel Ney was born in the town of Sarrelouis, in the French province of the Three Bishoprics and he was the second son of Pierre Ney, a master barrel-cooper and veteran of the Seven Years War, and his wife Margarethe Grewelinger. He was the grandson of Matthias Ney and wife Margarethe Becker. His hometown at the time of his birth comprised a French enclave in a predominantly German region of Saarland and he was educated at the Collège des Augustins, became a notary in Saarlouis and then subsequently became an overseer of mines and forges. Life as a civil servant did not suit Ney, and he enlisted in the Colonel-General Hussar Regiment in 1787, under the Bourbon Monarchy entry to the officer corps of the French Army was restricted to those with four quarterings of nobility. However, Ney rapidly rose through the officer ranks. He served in the Army of the North from 1792 to 1794, with which he saw action at the Cannonade of Valmy, the Battle of Neerwinden, and other engagements. After the dissolution of the monarchy in September of 1792, Ney was commissioned as an officer in October, transferred to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse in June 1794, Ney was promoted to général de brigade in August 1796, and commanded cavalry on the German fronts. On 17 April 1797, during the Battle of Neuwied, Ney led a charge against Austrian lancers trying to seize French cannons. The lancers were beaten back, but Ney’s cavalry were counter-attacked by heavy cavalry, during the mêlée, Ney was thrown from his horse and captured in the vicinity of the municipality of Dierdorf, on 8 May he was exchanged for an Austrian general. Following the capture of Mannheim, Ney was promoted to géneral de division in March 1799, later in 1799, Ney commanded cavalry in the armies of Switzerland and the Danube. At Winterthur Ney received wounds in the thigh and wrist, after recovering he fought at Hohenlinden under General Moreau in December 1800. From September 1802, Ney commanded French troops in Switzerland and performed diplomatic duties, on 19 May 1804, Ney received his Marshals baton, emblematic of his status as a Marshal of the Empire, the Napoleonic eras equivalent of Marshal of France. In the 1805 campaign, Ney took command of VI Corps of the Grande Armée and was praised for his conduct at Elchingen, in November 1805, Ney invaded the Tyrol, capturing Innsbruck from Archduke John. In the 1806 campaign, Ney fought at Jena and then occupied Erfurt, later in the campaign, Ney successfully besieged Magdeburg. In the 1807 campaign, Ney arrived with reinforcements in time to save Napoleon from defeat at Eylau, later in the campaign, Ney fought at Güttstadt and commanded the right wing at Friedland. On 6 June 1808, Ney was created Duke of Elchingen, in August 1808, he was sent to Spain in command of VI Corps and won a number of minor actions
35.
Louis XVIII of France
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Louis XVIII, known as The Desired, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1814 to 1824 except for a period in 1815 known as the Hundred Days. Until his accession to the throne of France, Louis held the title of Count of Provence as brother of King Louis XVI, on 21 September 1792, the National Convention abolished the monarchy and deposed King Louis XVI, who was later executed by guillotine. When the young Louis XVII, Louis XVIs son, died in prison in June 1795, during the French Revolution and Napoleonic era, Louis XVIII lived in exile in Prussia, the United Kingdom and Russia. When the Sixth Coalition finally defeated Napoleon in 1814, Louis was placed in what he, Napoleon escaped from his exile in Elba, however, and restored his French Empire. Louis XVIII fled and a Seventh Coalition declared war on the French Empire, defeated Napoleon, Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade. The Bourbon Restoration regime was a constitutional monarchy, as a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIIIs royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814, Frances new constitution. Louis had no children, therefore, upon his death, the passed to his brother, Charles. Louis XVIII was the last French monarch to die while reigning, as his successor Charles X abdicated and both Louis Philippe I and Napoléon III were deposed. Louis Stanislas Xavier, styled Count of Provence from birth, was born on 17 November 1755 in the Palace of Versailles, the son of Louis, Dauphin of France and he was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV. As a son of the Dauphin he was a Fils de France, Louis Stanislas was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being nameless before his baptism. By this act, he also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir to their father until the Dauphins own premature death in 1765, the two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while Louis Auguste acquired the title Dauphin. Louis Stanislas found comfort in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France, as he was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was taken away from his governess when he turned seven, Antoine de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon, a friend of his father, was named his governor. Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in classics and his education was of the same quality and consistency as that of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact that Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Louis Stanislas education was religious in nature, several of his teachers were men of the cloth. La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers the way he thought princes should know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work, and to know how to reason correctly. In the same month his household was founded, Louis was granted titles by his grandfather, Louis XV, Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche
36.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
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Causes of the French Revolution
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Financial, Frances debt, aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution, led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges. Political, Louis XVI faced virulent opposition from provincial parlements which were the spearheads of the privileged classes resistance to royal reforms, economic, The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, resulted in an increase in bread prices. In period of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt, all these factors created a revolutionary atmosphere and a tricky situation for Louis XVI. The essence of the situation which existed in France in the 1780s was the bankruptcy of the king. This economic crisis was due to the increasing costs of government. These costs could not be met from the sources of state revenue. Since the 1770s, several attempts by different ministers to introduce financial stability had failed, the taxation system was burdensome upon the middle class and the more prosperous peasants, given that the nobles were largely able to exempt themselves from it. As a result, there was an insistent demand for reform of abuses of privilege, for an equitable means of taxation. The population of France in the 1780s was about 26 million, few of these owned enough land to support a family and most were forced to take on extra work as poorly paid labourers on larger farms. There were regional differences but, by and large, French peasants were better off than those in countries like Russia or Poland. Even so, hunger was a problem which became critical in years of poor harvest. The clergy numbered about 100,000 and yet they owned 10% of the land, the Catholic Church maintained a rigid hierarchy as abbots and bishops were all members of the nobility and canons were all members of wealthy bourgeois families. As an institution, it was rich and powerful. As with the nobility, it paid no taxes and merely contributed a grant to the state five years. The upper echelons of the clergy had considerable influence over government policy, dislike of the nobility was especially intense. The American Revolution demonstrated that it was plausible for Enlightenment ideas about how a government should be organized to actually be put into practice. Some American diplomats, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, had lived in Paris, furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French troops who served in North America helped spread revolutionary ideas to the French people. France in 1787, although it faced difficulties, was one of the most economically capable nations of Europe
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French First Republic
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In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. The foreign threat exacerbated Frances political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion, in the violence of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the Kings Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king. A renewed fear of action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the citys prisons. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed and this became known as the September Massacres. The resulting Convention was founded with the purpose of abolishing the monarchy. The Conventions first act, on 10 August 1792, was to establish the French First Republic, the King, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. The Committees laws and policies took the revolution to unprecedented heights, after the arrest and execution of Robespierre in July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III and they reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established, the period known as the French Consulate began with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of the government as the First Consul. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire
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French Directory
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It gave its name to the final four years of the French Revolution. The Directory was continually at war with foreign coalitions which at different times included Britain, Austria, Prussia, the Kingdom of Naples, Russia and it annexed Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine, while Bonaparte conquered a large part of Italy. The Directory established six short-lived sister republics modelled after France, in Italy, Switzerland, the conquered cities and states were required to send to France huge amounts of money, as well as art treasures, which were used to fill the new Louvre museum in Paris. An army led by Bonaparte conquered Egypt and marched as far as Saint-Jean-dAcre in Syria, the French economy was in continual crisis during the Directory. At the beginning, the treasury was empty, the money, the Assignat, had fallen to a fraction of its value. The Directory stopped printing assignats and restored the value of the money, but this caused a new crisis, prices and wages fell, and economic activity slowed to a standstill. The Jacobin political club was closed and the government crushed an uprising planned by the Jacobins. The Jacobins took two seats in the Directory, hopelessly dividing it. In 1799, after several defeats, French victories in the Netherlands and Switzerland restored the French military position, Bonaparte returned from Egypt in October, and was engaged by the Abbé Sieyès and other moderates to carry out a parliamentary coup détat on 8–9 November 1799. The coup abolished the Directory, put the French Consulate led by Bonaparte in its place, Robespierre and his leading followers were declared outside the law, and on 28 July were arrested, and guillotined the same day. The Terror quickly came to a halt, the Revolutionary Tribunal, which had sent thousands to the guillotine, ceased meeting and its head, Fouquier-Tinville, was arrested and imprisoned, and after trial was himself guillotined. More than five hundred suspected counter-revolutionaries awaiting trial and execution were immediately released, in the wake of these events, the members of the Convention began planning an entirely new form of government. They wished to continue the Revolution, but without its excesses and this executive will have a force concentrated enough that it will be swift and firm, but divided enough to make it impossible for any member to even consider becoming a tyrant. A single chief would be dangerous, each member will preside for three months, he will have during this time the signature and seal of the head of state. By the slow and gradual replacement of members of the Directory, you will preserve the advantages of order and continuity and will have the advantages of unity without the inconveniences. To assure that the Directors would have some independence, each would be elected by one portion of the legislature, the members of this legislature had a term of three years, with one-third of the members renewed every year. The Ancients could not initiate new laws, but could veto those proposed by the Council of Five Hundred, the new Constitution required the Council of 500 to prepare, by secret ballot, a list of candidates for the Directory. The Council of the Ancients then chose, again by secret ballot, the Constitution required that Directors be at least forty years old
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French Consulate
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The Consulate was the government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804. By extension, the term The Consulate also refers to period of French history. Due to the institutions established during these years, Robert B. Holtman has called the Consulate one of the most important periods of all French history, Napoleon brought authoritarian personal rule which has been viewed as military dictatorship. French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, an irregularity emerged in the election of Jean Baptiste Treilhard, who retired in favor of Louis Jérôme Gohier. Within days, Philippe-Antoine Merlin and Louis-Marie de La Revellière were driven to resign, Baron Jean-François-Auguste Moulin, the three new directors were generally seen as non-entities. A few more military disasters, royalist insurrections in the south, Chouan disturbances in a dozen departments of the part of France, Orléanist intrigues. In order to soothe the populace and protect the frontier, more than the French Revolutions usual terrorist measures was necessary, the new Directory government, led by Sieyès, decided that the necessary revision of the constitution would require a head and a sword. Jean Victor Moreau being unattainable as his sword, Sieyès favoured Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, but, success was reserved for Bonaparte, suddenly landing at Fréjus with the prestige of his victories in the East, and now, after Hoches death, appearing as sole master of the armies. In the coup of 18 Brumaire Year VIII, Napoleon seized French parliamentary and military power in a two-fold coup détat, the initial 18 Brumaire coup seemed to be a victory for Sieyès, rather than for Bonaparte. Sieyès was a proponent of a new system of government for the Republic, Bonapartes cleverness lay in counterposing Pierre Claude François Daunous plan to that of Sieyès, and in retaining only those portions of both which could serve his ambition. Ultimate executive authority was vested in three consuls, who were elected for ten years, popular suffrage was retained, though mutilated by the lists of notables. Napoleon vetoed Sieyès original idea of having a single Grand Elector as supreme executive, Sieyès had intended to reserve this important position for himself, and by denying him the job Napoleon helped reinforce the authority of the consuls, an office which he would assume. Nor was Napoleon content simply to be part of an equal triumvirate, by consolidating power, Bonaparte was able to transform the aristocratic constitution of Sieyès into an unavowed dictatorship. On 7 February 1800, a referendum confirmed the new constitution. It vested all of the power in the hands of the First Consul. A full 99. 9% of voters approved the motion, according to the released results and he gave everyone a feeling that France was governed once more by a real statesman, and that a competent government was finally in charge. Bonaparte had now to rid himself of Sieyès and of those republicans who had no desire to hand over the republic to one man, particularly of Moreau and Masséna, his military rivals
41.
Day of the Tiles
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The Day of the Tiles is an event that took place in the French town of Grenoble on the 7th of June in 1788. It was one of the first disturbances which preceded the French Revolution, Grenoble was the scene of popular unrest due to financial hardship from the economic crises. The causes of the French Revolution affected all of France, tensions in urban populations had been rising already due to poor harvests and the high cost of bread in France. These tensions were exacerbated by the refusal of the classes, the Church. They insisted on retaining the right to collect feudal and seignorial royalties from their peasants and this acted to block reforms attempted by the kings minister Charles Alexandre de Calonne and the Assembly of Notables that he convoked in January 1787. Added to this, Brienne, appointed the kings Controller-General of Finance on 8 April 1787, was regarded as being a manager without experience or imagination. Shortly prior to the 7th of June in 1788, in a meeting at Grenoble those who attended the meeting decided to call together the old Estates of the province of Dauphiné. The government responded by sending troops to the area to put down the movement. At roughly 10 in the morning of Saturday, June 7, merchants closed down their shops as groups of 300 to 400 men and women formed, armed with stones, sticks, axes, bars. They rushed to the city gates to prevent the departure of judges who took part in the Gernoble meeting, some rioters attempted to cross the Isère but faced a picket of 50 soldiers at the St. Lawrence bridge, while others headed to the Rue Neuve. The cathedral’s bells were seized by French peasants at noon, the crowd swiftly grew, as the bells provoked the influx of neighboring peasants to creep in the city, climbing the walls, using boats on the Isere and for some, pushing open the city gates. Other insurgents boarded the ramparts and rushed to the hotel the Duke of Clermont-Tonnerre was staying in at the time. The Duke had two regiments in Grenoble, the Regiment of the Royal Navy whose colonel was Marquis dAmbert. The Royal Navy was the first to respond to the growing crowds, however, as the mob stormed the hotel entrance, the situation escalated. Soldiers sent to quell the disturbances forced the townspeople off the streets, some sources say that the soldiers were sent to disperse parliamentarians who were attempting to assemble a parlement. During an attack, Royal Navy soldiers injured a 75 year old man with a bayonet, at the sight of blood, the people became angry and started to tear up the streets. Townspeople climbed onto the roofs of buildings around the Jesuit College to hurl down a rain of roof-tiles on the soldiers in the streets below, many soldiers took refuge in a building to shoot through the windows, while the crowd continued to rush inside and ravage everything. A noncommissioned officer of the Royal Navy, commanding a patrol of four soldiers, one civilian was killed and a boy of 12 wounded
42.
Assembly of Vizille
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The Assembly of Vizille was the result of a meeting of various representatives in Grenoble. Its purpose was to discuss the events of The Day Of The Tiles, on 7 June 1788, riots broke out all over the town of Grenoble. Soldiers sent to quell the disturbances forced the townspeople off the streets, some sources say that the soldiers were sent to disperse parliamentarians, who were attempting to assemble a parliament. However, the townspeople climbed onto the roofs of buildings, hurling roof-tiles at the soldiers in the streets below and this drove royal troops out of the city in the first outbreak of political violence that became the revolution. Almost 500 men gathered that day at the banquet hosted by Claude, in attendance there were many notables including churchmen, businessmen, doctors, notaries, municipal officials, lawyers, and landed nobility. Demanded at this meeting, the Convocation in Paris of an Estates-General and this meeting marked the first portion of the French Revolution. Opposition to absolutist monarchy finally came out into the open, with increasing support for its demands, culminating in the meeting of the Estates General
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What Is the Third Estate?
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Is a political pamphlet written in January 1789, shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution, by the French thinker and clergyman Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès. The pamphlet was Sieyès response to finance minister Jacques Neckers invitation for writers to state how they thought the Estates-General should be organized. Sieyès stated that the people wanted genuine representatives in the Estates-General, equal representation to the two orders taken together, and votes taken by heads and not by orders. These ideas came to have an influence on the course of the French Revolution. The pamphlet is organized around three hypothetical questions and Sieyès responses, the questions are, What is the Third Estate. What has it been hitherto in the political order, what does it desire to be. He advocates equal representation of all three orders in government, and asserts that taxes and government policy should affect all portions of society equally, thus, he asserts, it should replace the other two estates entirely. The Third Estate has to pay tax, the idea of the pluralistic state theory was led by English political philosophers such as G. D. H. Cole, J. N. Figgis and H. J. A comprehensive collection of writings was released under Pluralist Theory of the State, modern equivalent theories building upon the ideas within pluralistic state theory is libertarian socialism and free-market anarchism. An example of the former is guild socialism, one of the founders of which is G. D. H. Cole, estates of the realm Pluralism Modernism Excerpts from What is the Third Estate. Internet History Sourcebooks – Fordham University
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Estates-General of 1789
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The estates general, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. It was brought to an end when the Third Estate formed into a National Assembly and this signals the outbreak of the French Revolution. The suggestion to summon the Estates General came from the Assembly of Notables installed by the King on 22 February 1787 and it had not met since 1614. The usual business of registering the Kings edicts as law was performed by the Parlement of Paris, in this year it was refusing to cooperate with Charles Alexandre de Calonnes programme of badly needed financial reform, due to the special interests of its noble members. Calonne was the Controller-General of Finances, appointed by the King to address the state deficit, as a last measure, Calonne was hoping to bypass them by reviving an archaic institution. The initial roster of Notables included 137 nobles, among them many revolutionaries, such as the Comte de Mirabeau. Lafayette had served in George Washingtons army, much of the debt had been incurred on behalf of the Americans. The final defeat of Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown was due in part to the participation of the French army. If Calonne thought he would find more cooperation by changing the assembly and he proposed a land tax, Subvention Territoriale, to be imposed on all land-holders, rich or poor. Calonne was dismissed on 8 April 1787, and then was exiled and he commented on the French political scene from London. Calonnes replacement was Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, President of the Assembly of Notables and he was offered the post of Prime Minister, which was to include being Controller. They made a number of proposals but they would not grant the King money, Lafayette suggested that the problem required a national assembly. Brienne asked him if he meant the Estates General, on receiving an affirmative answer, Brienne recorded it as a proposal. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, the King staged a day-long harangue and their proposals reverted to the Parlement. Turning again to the Parliament, the King found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had raised in the Assembly of Notables. Unless registered, the edicts were not lawful, on 6 July 1787, Loménie forwarded the Subvention Territoriale and another tax, the Edit du Timbre, or Stamp Act, based on the American model, for registration. Parlement refused, an act, demanding accounting statements, or States. It was the Kings turn to refuse, the members of the Parlement began to jest that they required either the accounting States or the Estates General
45.
National Assembly (French Revolution)
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The Estates-General had been called on Dec 4,1789 to deal with Frances financial crisis, but promptly fell to squabbling over its own structure. Its members had elected to represent the estates of the realm, the 1st Estate, the 2nd Estate. They refused this and proceeded to meet separately, on June 13, this group began to call itself the National Assembly. This newly created assembly immediately attached itself onto the capitalists — the sources of the credit needed to fund the national debt — and to the common people. They consolidated the public debt and declared all existing taxes to have been illegally imposed and this restored the confidence of the capitalists and gave them a strong interest in keeping the Assembly in session. As for the people, the Assembly established a committee of subsistence to deal with food shortages. Jacques Necker, finance minister to Louis XVI, had proposed that the king hold a Séance Royale in an attempt to reconcile the divided Estates. The king agreed, but none of the three orders were formally notified of the decision to hold a Royal Session, all debates were to be put on hold until the séance royale took place. Events soon overtook Neckers complex scheme of giving in to the Communes on some points while holding firm on others. On June 19, he ordered the Salle des États, the hall where the National Assembly met, closed, when, on June 23, in accord with his plan, the king finally addressed the representatives of all three estates, he encountered a stony silence. He concluded by ordering all to disperse, the nobles and clergy obeyed, the deputies of the common people remained seated in a silence finally broken by Mirabeau, whose short speech culminated, A military force surrounds the assembly. Where are the enemies of the nation, I demand, investing yourselves with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till you have formed a constitution, Necker, conspicuous by his absence from the royal party on that day, found himself in disgrace with Louis, but back in the good graces of the National Assembly. The French military began to arrive in numbers around Paris. This move failed, soon part of the deputies of the nobles who still stood apart joined the National Assembly at the request of the king. Louis offered to move the assembly to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, public outrage over this troop presence precipitated the Storming of the Bastille, beginning the Revolution. This article incorporates text from the public domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. French Revolution. Http, //www. assemblee-nationale. fr/english/8am. asp History of the National Assembly http, //www. saylor. org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/National-Assembly-French-Revolution. pdf National Assembly
46.
Tennis Court Oath
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It was a pivotal event in the early days of the French Revolution. On 17 June, the Third Estate, led by the comte de Mirabeau, on the morning of 20 June, the deputies were shocked to discover that the chamber door was locked and guarded by soldiers. There,576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate took an oath not to separate. The only person who did not join was Joseph Martin-Dauch from Castelnaudary and this oath would come to have major significance in the revolution as the Third Estate would constantly continue to protest to have more representation. The oath was both an act, and an assertion that political authority derived from the people and their representatives rather than from the monarch himself. Their solidarity forced Louis XVI to order the clergy and the nobility to join with the Third Estate in the National Assembly in order to give the illusion that he controlled the National Assembly. This oath would prove vital to the Third Estate as a step of protest that would lead to more power in the Estates General. The Oath signified for the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI, and it was foreshadowed by, and drew considerably from, the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence, especially the preamble. The Oath also inspired a variety of revolutionary activity in the months afterwards. Likewise, it reinforced the Assemblys strength and forced the King to formally request that voting occur based on head, not power. The Tennis Court Oath, which was taken in June 1789, preceded the 4 August 1789 abolition of feudalism and the 26 August 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Souham, Joseph, Count". Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 435.
