4 A NEW RELIGION?
In 1794, Robespierre
organized a festival of the
Supreme Being. Although he
was not an atheist, he disliked
the rituals and doctrines of
the Church.WHERE DID NAPOLEON’S ARMIES MARCH?
Napoleon was a brilliant soldier. He defeated Austria.
He invaded Spain in 1808 and his armies reached
Moscow in 1812, only to be beaten back by
the harsh winter weather. He made his relatives
rulers in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.
He was finally defeated by Britain and
Prussia at Waterloo, Belgium, in 1815.
WHAT WAS
NAPOLEON’S LEGACY?
Napoleon (1769–1821) died in exile. He is remembered
as the man who brought the French Revolution to a
close and as a military genius. He was a skilled
administrator whose system of law, the Code
Napoléon, gave the poor people of France some of the
rights they had demanded in the revolution. The Code
was also welcomed in many of the lands he invaded.The Enlightenment
Scientific advances of the 17th and 18th centuries
encouraged new ideas, and this led European philosophers
to declare that humans progressed by using reason and
logic, rather than faith or superstition. This period became
known as The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason.
WHO PUT TOGETHER A GREAT BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE?
New information systems were needed for this new
age. Dictionaries began to appear and a 28-volume
encyclopedia, edited by Denis Diderot, was published
in France in by 1772. Its contributors included thinkers
such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire.WHO ABOLISHED CHRISTMAS?
In 1793, the French National Convention passed
a series of anti-Christian laws and forbade what it
regarded as superstitious festivals. A new calendar was
drawn up which did not begin with the birth of Christ
but with a current human event, the French Revolution.A CORSICAN HERO 3
Napoleon Bonaparte came from the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
He was a hero to his followers and his troops, but aroused fear
among his enemies in countries such as Britain.A statue
of Wisdom
replaced a
statue of
Atheism1805 French victory
at Austerlitz
1805 British victory
at Trafalgar
1808– Peninsular War
18141812 France invades
Russia
1815 Napoleon
defeatedEUROPE AT WARFIND OUT MORE. Scientific Revolution 411
Napoleonic Wars
During the French Revolution, France was at
war with its neighbours in Europe. These wars
resumed in 1799 under the leadership of
Napoleon, who was crowned as French
emperor in 1804. A series of great victories
soon brought much of Europe under his control.
FIND OUT MORE. French Revolution 415
EnlightenmentNapoleonic
Wars