The French revolution brought a short period of excitement to the common people of France because there was a promise of greater freedom and there were many idealistic changes, but they were difficult to sustain because France was financially in trouble and the new order was not really united in their aims and outlook. Some revolutionary leaders, like Robespierre, were more radical than others and eventually there was a period of violent clamping down, the reign of terror, that left many people in France feeling very disillusioned and almost eager to go back to the way things had been.
This often happens when there has been a revolution. Some historians and politicians call it reactionism. After the fall of the Jacobins under Robespierre there was considerable disorder and a lack of strong clear leadership. This led to an increase in lawlessness and provided an opportunity for the army to step in and take some control.
When the army takes over the running of the government and seizes power it is called a coup d’etat. This is also often something that happens after revolutions and is especially common in places that were previously colonies.
At the head of the military leadership in France then was a Corsican officer called Napoleon Bonaparte. His gradual rise to power, the (often long-lasting) changes he introduced in France, and his eventual decline make an interesting study. He extended France’s territory to become one of the largest empires in history and his story has some very interesting lessons about leadership.
The worksheet below has links to some interesting media and gives you some challenging tasks to get you thinking and researching. Do take time to study the articles in the links before answering the questions.
https://www.history.com/topics/france/napoleon
https://www.sahistory.org.za/jquery_ajax_load/get/article/napoleon-bonaparte
Coming next: Toussaint l’Ouverture and the slave revolution in Haiti.