Assignment #1
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. What was the Thermidorian Reaction?
  2. Identify the problems that faced the new government, the Directory, in 1795.
  3. How did the Directory try to "turn a new [political] page" when it first came to power?
  4. What were the provisions of the new French Constitution of the Year III?
  5. Identify the weaknesses of the Directory.  In what areas was it somewhat successful?
  6. Why were the poor worse off under the Directory than before the Revolution?
  7. Why have some historians described the Directory government as "the mirage of the moderates?"  Is this an accurate label?
  8. What were some of the characteristics of Napoléon's earlier life and career that laid the groundwork for his later rise to power?
  9. What were some of Napoléon's earlier military successes?  failures?
  10. To what extent was his dramatic political/military ascent a product of the French Revolution?
  11. Why was the Brumaire coup in 1799 successful?  What were its political goals?
  12. How did the Brumaire coup help install a dictatorship, even though that was not its original intent?
 
  Assignment #2
 

Sources:
  • textbook:  pg. 622 - 624.   
 

Questions:
  1. How did the French Revolution make it easier for Napoléon to come to power and rule France?
  2. What were the provisions of France's new Constitution of 1800?  of the first revision in 1802?  of the second revision of 1804?
  3. Why was the new political body, the Council of State, different from meaningful parliamentary democracy in France?
  4. How did the system of local government established by Napoléon in 1800 resemble royal centralization?
  5. Identify the ways in which Napoléon depoliticized France.
  6. Regarding the Concordat of 1801:
    - Why did Napoléon negotiate a Concordat with the Catholic Church in 1801? 
    - What were the advantages and disadvantages for Napoléon and for the Church in concluding this agreement? 
    - Who got the better of the deal and why?
  7. How did Napoléon treat Jews and Protestants within his Empire?
  8. What were some of the legal rights/principles established in the Code Napoléon?  Identify some of its less "democratic" features.
  9. Describe the types of social organization provided by the Code Napoléon and through Napoleon's creation of a new political and serve elite.
  10. How did Napoléon undo many of the civil rights established during the Revolution for women and children?
  11. To what extent was centralization an important characteristic of all of Napoléon's initiatives?
 
  Assignment #3
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Amiens?  Why did it fail to keep the peace in Europe?
  2. What were the objectives of the Third Coalition?  How successful were they?
  3. Why was the Battle of Trafalgar such an important military loss for Napoléon?
  4. Why did the Peninsular War prove so costly?  Why was Napoleon not able to divide Spain?
  5. How did Napoléon's policies in Central Europe aid in the development of German nationalism?
  6. How was Napoléon's "Empire" organized?  What revolutionary principles were incorporated into the states which France now governed?
  7. What did the Tsar and Napoléon agree to in the Treaty of Tilsit?
  8. Why did Napoléon divorce Josephine and marry the Habsburg princess, Marie Louis?
  9. In regard to the Continental System:
    - What was it?
    - What was its purpose?
    - How successful was it?
    - Who suffered the most from it?
    - What was its weakest link?
  10. How did Napoléon attempt to solve the problem of replenishing his army?
  11. Who were the members of the Third Coalition against Napoléon?  Why did France go to war in 1805?  What were the military and political results of this new confrontation?
 
  Assignment #4
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. Why did the Spanish-French alliance bring about troubles for Spain?
  2. How did Spain react to the incursion of French troops on their soil?
  3. What was Britain's response to the Dos de Mayo uprising in Spain?
  4. Identify some of the provisions of the Spanish liberals' draft of a Constitution in 1812 [see doc. on pg. 761].
  5. How did the Spanish government revert back to its old conservative, monarchist tendencies after Wellington drove the French out of Spain in 1814?
  6. How did the Napoleonic Wars in Europe aid the independence of several Latin American countries?
  7. What were some of the characteristics of the Napoleonic War [War of 1812] as it played itself out in North America?
  8. Why was Napoléon's decision to invade Russia the biggest mistake of his military career?
  9. What were some of the reforms introduced by the Prussian government after its defeat by France in 1806?
  10. Why didn't Napoléon negotiate a peace in 1813?
  11. Regarding the Congress of Vienna:
    - Who were the main representatives there?
    - What were its guiding principles?
    - What territorial/dynastic changes were agreed to or recognized there?
    - What role, if any, did France play at Vienna?
  12. How were the terms of the original peace treaty regarding France altered after Napoléon was defeated a second time and shipped off to St. Helena in 1815?
 
  Assignment #5
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  • Read and analyze the information in the document packet.  Pay particular attention to the different points of view of Napoléon's contemporaries and of modern-day historians regarding Napoléon's personality, tactics, and legacy.
 
                
 
 
 

                
 
Quizzes:
  1. Textbook Quiz --> chapter 21
  2. Other Quizzes:  A   B 
Outlines / Lecture Notes:
  1. "1300-1815" (Mr. Mercado)
  2. "Napoleon" (Paul Halsall, Fordham University)
Review Sheets:
  1. Mine
  2. Giant EHAP Review Sheet by a student from the class of '04, Horace Greeley HS
  3. chart --> "Social History Study Guide" (Mr. Mercado)
    4.

 


   
 

Ten Commandments of Good Historical Writing

College Board A. P. European History Course Description (.pdf file)