The Valley of the Fallen

Source: http://www.elpais.com/fotografia/english/The/Valley/of/the/Fallen/elpdiaeng/20110608elpeng_3/Ien/

In today´s lesson we have dedicated  some minutes to comment on yesterday´s news about the Valley of the Fallen and the conclusions of the report of the commission in charge of studying what to do with this controversial monument. Here you have some links, just in case you want to have more information about the monument, the people buried there and what the commission proposes to do with it.

- A short report about the Valley of the Fallen, with basic information about this place: 

http://www.globetrips.com/travelblog/2011/04/the-valley-of-the-fallen-a-controversial-monument/

- Two articles in English about the report presented by the commission yesterday: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15941687

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Government/says/Franco/s/body/should/be/exhumed/elpepueng/20111129elpeng_7/Ten

- And this is the news in Spanish: 

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Gobierno/funciones/propone/exhumar/Franco/quiere/Iglesia/elpepiesp/20111130elpepinac_15/Tes

30th November

Source: http://www.ttanttak.com/2011/10/marquesa-de-montehermoso.html

Today we have started the class corrected exercise 14. It was about why was Spanish foreign policy subordinated to the French interest during Charles IV’ reign.

We have been spoke that all Europe was against France except Spain because they have a common enemy.

We have also spoke about Godoy, Maria Luisa, Charles IV and Ferdinand.

Ferdinand proposed a Munity against Godoy when the king went to Aranjuez and the citizens were with Ferdinand and Godoy tried to hide under a bed. At the end Charles abdicated and his son started to reigning as Ferdinand. Charles IV regretted his decisions and sent a letter to Napoleon asking for his help to get the crown back. In May Napoleon called Charles and Ferdinand to Bayonne (France)

On the 2nd of May 1808 some people of Madrid observed that the members of the royal family were going out of the Royal Palace escorted by French soldiers. They thought that the royal family was being abducted by the French and a revolt against they started. The French troops strongly repressed the revolt by protests spread through and out all the country.

Francisco de Goya, the painter, witnessed the events in Madrid and reflected them on his painting the 2nd and the 3rd of May 1808.

The 2nd was the Spanish against the French people.

The 3rd was the revolutionary people was killed.

After that we have started to talk about the abdications of Bayonne ( 5th of May 1808): Meanwhile in Bayonne Napoleon obliged Ferdinand VII to give the crown of Spain back to his father Charles IV. He gave it to Napoleon and Napoleon gave the crown to his elder brother, Joseph, who became Joshep I.

We have copied a scheme about the Peninsular War (1808-1813)

1)1808:First Months: Initial disorganization, sieges and unexpected victory in Bailén.

2)END OF THE 1808 TO 1812: Almost total French control of the country and only resitants: Gurrilla

3)APRIL 1812 END OF 1813: Retirement of French Troops for the Compaign of Russia and Hispano-British offensive from Portugal.

At the end of the class we have spoken about el Valle de los Caidos. Because now some political people want to put away Franco’s cadaver.

Also we have spoken about the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Initial disorganization of the Spanish army, commanded by nobles and poorly prepared to fight against French. Unexpected victory in Bainlén. (19th of July 1808). The Spanish troops commanded by General Castaños defeated the French troops commanded by Dupout. The Spanish troops took advantages of their knowledge of the ground.

1.000.000 soldier occupied all Spain except Cádiz. Only Guerrilla fighters resisted the French. We have learnt new words like the different between kipnap and abduct kipnap is ask for a ranson and abduct is because you want without a ranson also to siege a city: sitiar una cuidad and ambush: emboscada.

For homework we have to do exercise 15 except the last concept

From our heads to the sky!

60,000 is just another figure, but it also means that there are people interested in what they can find here, even if they don´t leave comments. We may not have won any award, but, as our friend Napoleon said, our greatness can only be measured from our heads to the sky! 

Presentation about Spain during the French Revolution

This is the PowerPoint presentation we´re going to use to learn what happened in Spain during the French Revolution. That period coincided with Charles IV´s reign and the Peninsular War. We´ll learn how the European events influenced the evolution of the Spanish policy and how what happened in Spain had an important effect in the end of the Napoleonic Empire. As usual, you can use this presentation to review the contents or complete your notes and exercises. 

The Russian Campaign explained from a grave

In 1812, by Illarion Prianishnikov

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Prianishnikov_1812.jpg

Here you have some interesting links about the extreme suffering of the Napoleonic army in their retreat from Russia. The following articles explain the discovery of a mass grave in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2002 some bulldozers, removing the remains of an old housing development, discovered the tomb where more than 2,000 soldiers of the Grande Armée had been buried during their retreat from Russia. This immense grave has been excavated for some years and the archaeologists have found a lot of interesting data to determine the causes of death of the soldiers and many other aspects about the Napoleonic Army in Russia. 

The following links explain the discovery of the grave in 2002: 

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1099422.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2230656.stm

And this one is in Spanish: 

http://www.elmundo.es/cronica/2002/343/1021277145.html

And here you have a complete report with the conclusions of the study of the grave: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/archaeology/napoleon_army_01.shtml

28th of November 2011

Today in Social Sciences we have seen a power point when we just arrived to class. The power point was about the Napoleonic empire and, then Paqui told me to write the journal. Then she ask about the home work and she said that always the same people answers to it, so Alejandro was the one to correct the first exercise nº 12 about explaining th role of the Continental Blocksale and the of the Napoleonic Empire, Paqui has explained what it was in the power point, and she has told us about the French invasion to Russia, and Paqui has explained about how the soildiers were wearing the summer uniform and how a lot of them died because of the cold temperatures of the winter in Russia, the started attacking Russia in summer but while they were going to Moscow the winter and the cold temperatures started so as I´ve said before many people died, then Paqui has writed in the blackboard an scheme about the invasion of Russia by the Napoleonic empire.

After the winter, the Napoleonic army retired because a lot of people died and while they were comming back the Russians attacked them so at the end from the Great Army which had 1.000.000, only came back 500.000 so half of the army died on this campaing.

Then Napoleon after the Battle of Leipzig where Napoleon was defeated he was confined in the island of Elba, then he came back to France for only 100 days (The Hundred Days Empire) but when he was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo he was esiled to the island of Saint Helena, in the Atlantic Ocean, whre he died.

After we have corrected the exercise nº 13 about the effects of the Napoleonic occupation in Europe, that exercise is the one Paqui has corrected in the blackboard and she has told us that the French army spread the ideas of the revolution and the people revolted against them becouse they used the force to impose this ideas.

After this we have read about Spain during the French Revolution, in which Charles IV was the king and he vas strongly influenced by the events in France. In 1793 Spain declared the war to France but they loose in 1795 so Manuel Godoy who was the prime minister of Charles IV subordinated the Spanish foreing policy to the French interest because Great Britain was the main enemy of both countries, France and Spain.

To explain this part better, Paqui has told to some of us to be some of the characters of this period: so Daniel Pintado was Charles IV, Mari Luz was his wife Maria luisa, Ángel was Manuel de Godoy, Isabel was his wife Maria Teresa, and finaly I was Ferdinad VII, so Paqui told us the story of this period, Charles IV was the king and his wife who was the lover of Manuel de Godoy told Charles to put him as prime minister, then Paqui told us that Maria Teresa was a very sad woman becouse she knew that Manuel de Godoy was with other women, later Ferdinand VII prepared a conspirancy against his father and he fired Manuel de Godoy and Charles IV abdicates and that´s how Ferdinand VII became the king of Spain.

Finally Paqui has given us the exercise 14 from the page 22 which is about the foreing policy during Charles IV´s reign, so that´s all for today.

See you in the next class!

Sources: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_VII_de_Espa%C3%B1a

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Godoy

Make your choice!

Source: http://www.gunclassics.com/napoleon.html

Napoleon Bonaparte left a lot of quotes that summarized his thoughts about many different topics. There are many referred to war and fighting, such as "Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them" or "One must change one´s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one´s superiority". Others were related to government, such as "Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues" or "The man fitted for affairs and authority never considers individuals, but things and their consequences". He also thought about revolution and wrote "A revolution is an idea, taken up by bayonets" and "A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories". He also expressed his opinion about religion, for example when he said "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich", "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet" or "If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god". His thoughts about human nature are very interesting as well: " A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights", "The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man" or "Men are moved by two levers only: fear and interest". His reflection on history was "History is a set of lies agreed upon". But his opinion about women was more negative and controversial: "Women are nothing but machines for producing children". And this is what he said about the Spanish people: "Of all the peoples of Europe, Spaniards disgust me the least". 


There are a lot of interesting Napoleon´s quotes. Here you have a selection of the ones I most like. Which one do you prefer? Leave your opinions on the comments´ section.

What is your favourite Napoleon Bonaparte´s quote?

• A true man hates no one
• The only conquests that are permanent and leave no regrets are our conquests over ourselves
• There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit
• Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.
• Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in
• The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance
• To listen to the interests of all, marks an ordinary government; to foresee them, marks a great government.
• Truth fears no question
• Show me a family of readers and I will show you the people who move the world.
• The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.
• The greatness of a man is not measured from his feet to his head, but from his head to the sky
• A leader is a dealer in hope
• It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
• Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
• War is the business of barbarians

Acepolls

The French Revolutionary Calendar

Source: http://shtukoviny.ru/calendar/info.html

As we studied yesterday, the Jacobin Convention adopted a new calendar in October 1793. The French revolutionaries changed the names of months, divided them into décades and gave name to all the days of the year. The twelve months of the year had 30 days. The five/six lasting days were called complementary or sansculottide days, reserved for holidays. The Revolutionary Calendar was in force until the 1st January 1806, when Napoleon Bonaparte decided to abolish it and come back to the Gregorian calendar, the one we use in the Western world nowadays. If you want to read more about this curious calendar, here you have some interesting links: 

- A little bit of history about the calendar: 

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/09/0922revolutionary-calendar/

- The names of the days: 

http://www.napoleon.org/en/essential_napoleon/calendar/THE%20NAMES%20OF%20THE%20DAYS%20OF%20THE%20REPUBLICAN%20CALENDAR.pdf

- Converter: first you have to choose the century (21th) in the civil era and after this the current day, month and year and you will have the date in the French Revolutionary calendar: 

http://stevemorse.org/jcal/french.html

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 10

This week´s challenge includes some questions related to the French national anthem and Napoleon Bonaparte.

QUESTION 1

What is the name of the French National anthem and where does its name come from? Who was his author? In what context was the anthem composed?

QUESTION 2

Napoleon Bonaparte studied in the Military School in Paris. In his graduation exam to become an artillery officer, he was examined by a prominent mathematician and astronomer. Who was this scientist?

QUESTION 3

Napoleon´s campaign in Egypt in 1798 had an important cultural side. The French army was accompanied by numerous scientist and  scholars. Many of the Egyptian  antiques in the Louvre Museum were collected during this campaign. But the most important result of this expeditions was the discovery of a decisive object for the history of languages. What was this object and why was it so important?

QUESTION 4

In 1803 Napoleon decided to sell an important territory in the Americas, because he thought it would be very difficult to defend. What was this territory? What was the total price of this commercial operation?

QUESTION 5
When Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor, a very famous musician scratched out the dedication he had written to Napoleon in one of the symphonies he composed. Who was this musician? What was the symphony he had dedicated to Napoleon?

Napoleon in his study, Jacques-Louis David, 1812

Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/david/napoleon-study.jpg

QUESTION 6

What was Napoleon´s contribution to the treatment to Jews in Europe? 

QUESTION 7

Where did Napoleon die? Where is he buried?  How did his corpse arrive to this place?

This challenge is very easy. You don´t have any excuse!

24th of November 2011

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacques-Louis_David,_The_Coronation_of_Napoleon_edit.jpg

Today in Social Sciences, at the beginning of the lesson Paqui has asked who wanted to do the journal and I've volunteered. Afterwards, Paqui has shown us a powerpoint about some things of the previous class. Then, she has shown us the next point of the unit: The Napoleonic Era (1800- 1815). Later, Paqui has explained it and copied the scheme on the blackboard. In 1800-1802 on the Three member consulate, Napoleon was the First Consul and until1804 he was elected First and Only consul for life ( because they thought he was a good ruler). The main decisions he took were:

- The reestablishment of public order and stopping counter-revolution and popular revolts.

- Administrative reforms: prefects, Napoleonic Code, educational reform.

- Concordat with the Pope: he agreed to peace with the Pope and Catholic religion came back as the official religion in France.

In April of 1804 it was approved the conversion of France into an Empire and in December of that year, Napoleon crowned himself as Emperor. Paqui has shown us a huge painting of this moment which is exposed on the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Empire was formed by territories conquered by Napoleon (Low Countries, Milan...), territories controlled by Napoleon such as Spain, Grand Duchy of Warsaw, etc and the allies (Austria, Norway and Denmark). There were territories that didn't accept Napoleon's rule such as Great Britain, Portugal and Russia. He decided to order the Continental Blockade: Prohibition of having commercial realtions like buying and selling with Great Britain althought Portugal didn't follow this and Napoleon decided to invade it. As Spain was a France ally, he signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Godoy (prime minister of Spain) to allow the French troops to cross Spain towards Portugal. The Peninsular war was started when the people of Madrid revolted against French soldiers. Later he decided to invade Russia and these two decisions meant the end of the Empire in 1815.

Today we've learnt some new words:

· Ally: Aliado

· Continental blockade: Bloqueo continental

When Paqui has finished explaining this, she has asked us a date to do the exam of this unit. Almost all have voted for the 12th of December but some people disagreed and Paqui has become angry because they were talking in Spanish. Finally, Paqui has given us two exercises for homework (12 and 13 from page 22).

Bye bye!

23rd November 2011

Napoleon's portrait

The guillotine was very famous

Today in Social Sciences at the beginning of the class Laura’s sister and his friend were talking with Paqui, and when we were all sitting in our places, some people have come late to the class because they were doing the computing exam and Laura’s sister and his friend have come also into the class. Paqui has said to them that they have to be in silence. 

After that we have check exercise ten on the book about the Age of Terror and about the Jacobins. Daniel has checked this exercise. Paqui has written the correct answer in the blackboard: this period was called the Age of Terror due to the Law of Suspects. In July 1794 some conservative deputies took control of the Convention, amonested the Jacobins leaders and executed them by guillotine.

Them, we have continued with the class. We have continued reading point C on the book about The Directory (1794-1799), the Directory was the new government that was established during 5 years. We have copied some notes about that. We were talking about the guillotine and about the death penalties in this period and Paqui has said that Laura’s sister was in favour of the death penalty. In this period they were very radical, they killed every one and the people went to see that! They had a different mentality.

A very curious thing we have talked has been the new calendar that was established in France after the Thermidorian Reaction. There were 12 month and every one with 30 days and the month was divided into three periods of ten days (not weeks) and the names were established following the type of weather in Paris during every month:

·         Vendémiaire September  Grape harvest

·         Brumaire  October  Fog

·         Frimaire  November  Frost

·         Nivôse December  Snowy

·         Pluviôse January  Rainy

·         Ventôse February Windy

·         Germinal March  Germination

·         Floréal April  Flower

·         Prairial May Pasture

·         Messidor June Harvest

·         Thermidor  July Summer heat

·         Fructidor August Fruit

The Directory had some problems from two sides; the counter-revolutionaries and the popular protests, and some internals problems also: huge inflation, corruption and less prestige to the Republic.

After that, we have talk about the beginning of the Napoleonic era. Paqui has made a small representation with us about the problems that had Napoleon to take the power and to do the “coup d’Etat”. Paqui has said to us a Napoleon’s quote because we have said to Paqui that Napoleon was very small: “The stature of the men should be not measure from feet to the head, but from the head to the sky”. That’s a good quote!

Today, we have not homework! That’s great thank you Paqui!

Bye Bye

Cu2 morrow

Interactive activities about the French Revolution

Here you have the result of some days of work. Click on the picture below to start reviewing the contents we have already studied:

Enjoy and learn!

21st/ November/ 2011

http://tejiendoelmundo.wordpress.com/tag/guillotina/

Today in Social Sciences , at the beginning of the lesson I have showed the poster of The musical of Evita to Paqui and the classmates. Afterwards Sara has checked the exercise nine about the disappearance of the Monarchy in 1792 and the consequences to the King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, but she has had the exercise wrong so Paqui has explained us and we have copied the answer. The King Louis XVI conspired against France and the European absolute monarchies attacked France. The people discovered what the King had done and stormed his palace (Tuilleries) and he was arrested. The Assembly decided to end Monarchy and to establish a Republic. Then the Monarchs were accused of treason and condemned to death and executed by guillotine. For this reason was decided to didn´t have more Monarquies in France.

We have continued with the unit and we have started a new point: The Democratic Republic from 1792 to 1794. After the arrest of the King, Republic was proclaimed and a new assembly was chosen with a different name: Convention, it concentrated the executive and the legislative power. The Republic was divided into two periods, the Girondist Convention (1792-1793) and the Jacobins Convention (1793-1794). The Girondists decided to execute the King by guillotine. (Usually the nobles were executed with an ax and the poor people died hanging). This decision provoked a counter- revolutionary revolt in the Vendée and a European coalition against France, a war. It was the first coalition. In June 1793 the sand culottes gave the power to the Jacobins. The Jacobin Convention gave the executive power to the Committee of Public Safety some members were Robespierre, Saint Just ( he was the most radical), Couthon and Danton. They took some important decisions:

      - Mass conscription.

      - New Constitution including universal male suffrage, popular sovereignty, equality and social rights.

      - Distribution of properties of the counter-revolutionary for the poor people and sell of the Church properties.

      - Law of the maximum, to control the prices.

      - Closure of Churches and cult of Reason.

    - Law of suspects: The Committee Of General Security was in charge of arresting, judging and quickly executing all the suspected counter-revolutionary.

      16,000 people were executed by guillotine in nine months.

    Paqui has explained us that a way of kill the people was extracting the intestine and put it around a tree. In this way you suffered a lot because you died slowly. When people were decapitate was like a show, people went to see that. The guillotine in France was used until 1979 because death penalty was abolished in this date. 

    One feauture of the guillotine is that it had a cross-cutting blade to kill the people better. In Spain was used the Garrotte Vil. In consisted of sitting the people and putting an iron ring around their neck. They pressed your neck and you died because your neck was broken. It was used until 1960.

One sentence that refers to the Reing of Terror was: It´s dreadful, but necessary.

No we think our ideas without violence but in that period they didn´t think in this way.

We have learn some new words:

Desembowelment: desentrañamiento

Blade: cuchilla

Threat: amenaza

Mass Conscription: reclutamiento forzoso.

Law of suspeots: ley de los sospechosos

We have an exercise for homework.

Breaking news:results of Spain´s general elections

Source: http://excitingjourney.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/decision-2011-on-voting-49-o-and-tender-ballot/

Here you have a link to follow the votes´ count of today´s general elections in Spain. You can look up the evolution of the results in the whole State, in the Autonomous Communities and in every municipality. If you want to get the last results, click on "update": 

- Elections to the Congress of the Deputies:

http://www.generales2011.mir.es/99CG/DCG99999TO_L1.htm

- Elections to the Senate: 

http://www.generales2011.mir.es/99SN/DSN99999TO_L1.htm

Presentation about the French Revolution

Here you have the PowerPoint presentation we are using to study this unit. Use it if you need to complete some exercises and take advantage of it to review the pictures. See you on Monday.

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 9

Source: http://boisdejustice.com/History/History.html

This week´s research will be dedicated to the guillotine, the execution device that started being used in France during the French Revolution. Here you have the questions:

QUESTION 1

Where does the name "guillotine" come from? What is the relation between this execution device and the man who gave name to it?

QUESTION 2

Who were the inventors of the guillotine? From what previous execution devices did they draw inspiration?

QUESTION 3

What were the execution methods used in France before the Revolution? Were there differences between the different estates?

QUESTION 4

Who was the first person to be executed by guillotine in France? What was his crime?

Execution of Queen Marie Antoinette, 16th October 1793

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ex%C3%A9cution_de_Marie_Antoinette_le_16_octobre_1793.jpg 

QUESTION 5

During the Reign of Terror some illustrious people were executed by the guillotine. One of them is considered to be the father of modern chemistry. Who was this scientist? What were his main contributions to science?

QUESTION 6

The rights of women were not recognized during the French Revolution, but some of them were guillotined for their participation in politics. Two of the most important fighters for the rights of women of that time were executed during the Reign of Terror due to their relationship with the Girondists. One of them was the writer of the Declaration of Rights of  Woman and the Female Citizen. The other one pronounced this sentence before her head was placed on the block to be executed: "Oh Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name!". Who were these two women?

17th of november

Today in Social Sciences we have learnt a lot.

At first Paqui has asked for a volunteer to write the reflective journal here in the blog, and all the class has been saying my name....THANKS....so Paqui has thought in me and she has said: YOU HAVE TO WRITE DE JOURNAL...I have answered her because I couldn't write the journal today....

After this dramatic moment for me.... =( we have checked two exercices of the review:

5.-What important events took place in the summer of 1789? Why did the Ancien Régime disappear in France after these events?

-Storming of the Bastille(14th july 1789): popular attacked to the Bastille prison, symbol of absolutism.

-Great fear: in the countryside many peasants attacked castles and manois and they destroyed the property of the lands.

-4th August (1789): The National Constituent Assembly made 2 important decisions:

• Declaration of the Rights of men and the citizen.


• Abolition: seigmeurial rights and they were abolished.

The Ancien Régime ended, because estates disappeared, all the citizens had to pay taxes and peasants had to pay for working.

6.-What were the most important decisions of the National Constituent Assembly and the legislative Assembly?

• National Constituent Assembly:

-Declaration of the rights of men and citizen
-Abolition: seigneurial rights and they were abolished.

• Legislative Assembly:

-The Constitutional Monarchy
-The democratic Republic
-The Directory
-The Napoleonic era.

Afterwards, we have copied a scheme about the political factions in the assembly which included:


-Constitutional Monarchists: limited monarchy.


-Girondists: they wanted a free market economy and exporting the revolution. Representatives of a commercial bourgeoisie.

-Jacobins: they wanted a Republic, universal suffrage and more reforms. They were supported by the sans culottes.

Paqui has explained us a project of the french women in the revolution in which we have to explain our life in 1st person us if we were a woman.

We have read in the book and Paqui has explained as this with representations between us.We have learnt new words:

• To pass a law: aprobar una ley


• Flight: huída


• To flee: huir


• To brind back: devolver


• Treason: traición


• Traitor: traidor

Finally Paqui has gave as homework: exercice 9 from the review.
This is all we have done!

Sources of photographs:
1ª:http://www.tfo.upm.es/ImperialismoWeb/Prise_de_la_Bastille.jpg
2ªhttp://www.laguia2000.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ropa-de-los-sans-culottes.jpg

Summer of 1789

Today in Social Sciences, we have started checking the exercises about the beginning of the French Revolution. Yolanda Rubio has checked the exercise 2 and Paqui has continued explaining it. She has said that the reason which King Louis XVI decided to call the Estate General was because the privileged demanded the call of Estate to discuss the tax reform. The exercise 3 has been corrected by Laura Muñoz, while she has been saying that the main discussions in the initial meetings of the Estates General were that every estate had to meet separately, had to have similar number of representatives and had to have a vote, Paqui has had to move from seat to Manuel and Juan Carlos, because they were talking. After that, Yolanda Rubio has explained that, she had an argument with her mother, and Paqui has compared their parents with the privileged and she with someone of the Third Estate (hahahaha). To finally check the exercises, Silvia has corrected the last exercise, that it was about what did the members of the Third Estate do when the king closed the Estates General meeting room. Paqui has explained us that they looked for an alternative meeting place, the Tennis Court Oath and they formed a National Assembly where they declared themselves as the legitimate representatives of the French people and they promised to stay there until France had a Constitution.

When we have finished to check the exercises, we have continued reading the beginning of the revolution. First, Paqui has explained us what was tithe (diezno), it means the people who had to pay to the Church (10%) and she has also translated us some words as:

· seigneurial -> señoral

· in force -> vigente

· manor -> casa solariega/casa de campo

· to storm -> asaltar en grupo

Later, Paqui has started writing on the blackboard what had we read about the Summer of 1789 to copy it in our notebooks and then, she has explained it comparing the situation with us. There were two important events where took place in this summer: Storming of the Bastille and Great Fear.

- Storming of the Bastille, the people of Paris attacked the prison of the Bastille and they decided to fight to defend the reforms. (14th July 1789)

- Great Fear: in the countryside many peasants attacked castles and manors and destroyed the property titles of the lands. Paqui has explained it comparing Laura Muñoz with a peasant.

Then we have seen that on the 4th of August of 1789 the National Constituent Assembly made two important decisions: the declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen and the Abolition of feudalism, seigneurial rights and tithe were abolished. It means that everybody had to be equal, everybody had to pay taxes and the peasants became happy. To understand it we have started acting the action in the class. Paqui has said that in her opinion it is a very important event in history, a big progress. After that, we have started the different stages can be divided the revolution, and we have seen a little bit of the Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1792). To explain it, Paqui has divided the class into 3 groups as the last day, one of them was the nobles, other the clergy and the last one the peasants and she has been the king. The situation has been do:

· King: "What do you prefer in your country? I want an Absolute Monarchy"

> Clergy: "We want a monarchy!"- except one of them (Isabel) who wanted a revolution.

* Nobles: "We want an Absolute Monarchy!" - except one of them (Alejandro) who wanted a limited monarchy.

# Peasants: "We want the voting per person!!!"

[IT WILL CONTINUE...]

At the end of the class Paqui has given us two exercises to do at home, on page 22 (5 and 6) and the last two minutes has been dedicated to see the videos about the French Revolution.

Two music videos about the French Revolution

Here you have two music videos about the French Revolution made by the Honolulu History Teachers for Music Lovers. They used Lady Gaga´s Bad Romance and the Violent Femmes´ Gone, daddy, gone songs. The first one is a general overview of the French Revolution and the second one is about Napoleon Bonaparte. 

14th of November

http://www.google.es/imgres?q=beginning+of+FRENCH+REVOLUTION&hl=es&sa=X&gbv=2&biw=1280&bih=880&tbm=isch&tbnid=IupDWf9LOj6lxM:&imgrefurl=http://timerime.com/es/periodos/494246/The%2BFrench%2BRevolution/&docid=raQrRz3k43xZeM&imgurl=http://timerime.com/user_files/44/44158/media/french%252520revolution.jpg&w=489&h=453&ei=AlHBTsqAEc6g8gPFvIWHBA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=428&sig=111542651397469364758&page=1&tbnh=159&tbnw=173&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=120&ty=36
http://www.google.es/search?tbm=isch&hl=es&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=880&q=tennis+court+oath&gbv=2&oq=tennis+court+oa&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=3054l12311l0l13305l14l14l0l1l1l0l362l2424l0.10.2.1l13l0

Today we have started the class checking exercise 1 from page 22, Daniel Pintado has done it. The exercise was about the causes of French Revolution.

- Economic crisis (bad harvest, increase of food prices)

- Constant wars and money waste.

- Discontent of the bourgeois

- Influence of the ideas of Enlightenmen.

Paqui has explained, that Maria Antoinette was called Madame Dèficit because she waste money in stupid things

After that we have contiuned with the unit Mariluz and Beatriz Antequera have read THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION:

Turgot, Nester, Calome, Brienne decided, privileged paid but all of them were dismissed. Louis XVI, advised by his finance ministers, started thinks about reforming tax system and eliminating privileges.

Call of the Estates General ( Parliament) 5th of May in 1789, the privileged met to discus the tax reform, and the book of grivances (cuaderno de quejas) were written to collect the demands of every Estate. They met by a traditional way:

- every estate met separately

- every estate had similar number of representatives

- every estate had a votte.

But the third Estate demanded double representation and voting per person, and the King gave double representation:

- Third Estate 578 deputies

- Clergy 291 deputies

- Nobles 270 deputies.

Discontent was boiling peasants nobles, clergy and bourgeois were discontent. The third Estate went on protesting and the king closed the Estates General.

TENIS COURT OATH (20th June 1789)

The representatives of the third Estate+ some nobles+ some members of the clergy

-declared themselves as the legitimate representatives of France

- created a National Assembly

- swore staying together until France had a constitution.

The king reluctantly accepted and ordered the nobles and clergy to join the third Estate and start writting a Constitution (National Constituent Assembly)

To explain that Paqui has divided the class into three parts: nobles, peasants, clergy and Paqui was the King. Also We have learnt new words:

-Swear (jurar)

- Oath ( juramento)

- Reluctantly (a regañadientes).

At the end of the class Paqui has given us for homework exercises 2,3,4 from page 22.

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 8

This week´s challenge will make you discover some interesting facts about Charles III´s reign and the origins of the French Revolution: 

Charles III of Spain

Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Charles_III_of_Spain.jpg

QUESTION 1

The colonization of new lands was one of the reforms made during Charles III´s rule. Charles III decided to repopulate some sparsely populated regions of Spain, such as Sierra Morena and the Guadalquivir Valley. He wanted to enlarge the cultivated areas and end with banditry. New settlements were created and the consequences of this repopulation are still evident in these places even today. Write at least three of these new towns and explain where the new colonists came from. 

QUESTION 2

The person in charge of this settlement project was one of the most important Spanish enlightened thinkers. Who was this person? Why did he lose his post in 1775? Why was he in France in the first moments of the French Revolution?

QUESTION 3

As we have studied today, France was going through a big economic crisis in the years before the Revolution. Some Louis XVI´s ministers proposed reforms to collect more taxes and reduce the increasing deficit. Who were these ministers and why weren´t their projects put into practice?

QUESTION 4

Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI´s wife, was partly responsible for the dismissal of one of the ministers who proposed  a reform of the economic system of the Ancien Régime. He was also an important economist and he´s considered to be one of the precursors of economic liberalism. Who was this minister?

Queen Marie Antoinette of France

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marie167.jpg

QUESTION 5

Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI´s wife, belonged to an important dynasty. Which one?

QUESTION 6

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette got married in 1770, but they didn´t consummate their marriage until 1777. Why? 

QUESTION 7

Why did Marie Antoinette become so unpopular in France? How was she called by the people?

10th November 2011

Today in Social Sciences Paqui has got angry at the beginning of the class because we came into the class but after we went out again to the corridor and then in the class some people were standing up. Then Paqui has reminded us the things we saw yesterday about the Esquilache Riots.

Afterwards Alejandro has checked the exercise 22, it was about the reforms of Charles III's reing. The reforms he did weren't enough for all the people of the time.One of the reforms he did is very curious, he declared the honesty of all the professions, this means that handworks have the same value as the rest of professions.Then Laura Meco has checked the exercise 23 that asked about the limitations of these reforms, one of the problems of these reforms was that most of the people continued being poor so there wasn't enough demand, so the industries didn't develop. This created a vicious circle.

After the correction of the exercises Paqui has talked to us about Charles IV, who looks like our actual king, Juan Carlos I. When Paqui has finished explaining Charles IV we have started checking the crossword from unit 2 starting from Dani.

As some people were talking while we checked the crossword Paqui has said that maybe she will change our seats so we have kept silence.

After the correction of the crossword we have started the new unit called "The French Revolution and the Restoration". We have copied the index from the blackboard. Later Enrique has started reading the Introduction in the book and the Causes of the Revolution. After Paqui has explained us all that.
Today for homework we have to do the exercise 1 in page 22.

Some new words we have learned today is:
-to issue a decree: hacer público un decreto
-vicious circle: círculo vicioso
-to be gifted to: estar dotado para

Source: http://aquileana.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/eric-hobsbawm-la-era-de-las-revoluciones-1789-1848-la-revolucion-francesa/

Bye!!

Wednesday, 9th November

Today in social science we have started checking the exercises twenty and twenty one.
We have seen The Esquilache Riots, it was a revol in 1766.
it was to cut out colacks and hats to avoid criminals' umpunity. This decree was the excuse used by the privileged to instigate the people to revolt against Esquilache, thaking advantage of their discontent, due to the high prices of wheat.
Also we have been the absolute monarchy of Philip V and Ferdinand VI, it was created in the 18th centuy their main features were:
- Absolute monarchy
-Cortes with only consultive functions and they were barely caleed Cortes of Spain
-King helped bysecretaries, who formed the cabinat
-Consultive councils
-Castilian laws and institutions were extended to all the territory
-The territories were divided into provinces, ruled by Capitains generals.

And the last thin we have seen was the Enligtened Reformism.
Charles III was the king of Naples during 20 years.
-At first, Italian ministers. ESQUILANCE started the reforms: the privileged were afraid of the fact that these reforms threatened their privileged.
This finished with the Esquilache's dism sal.
At the end of the class, Paqui has given us the exams, I pass the exam but I don't have a good mark because I didn't study art! such us I have said why do I have to study art? If I am of science! jaj
kisses sorry because I am late!

Two interesting art exhibitions

For those who love art, there are two current exhibitions both in Madrid and London that you may like: 

- "Leonardo da Vinci, painter at the court of Milan" at the London National Gallery : this is an exhibition of some of Leonardo da Vinci´s most important works, painted when he worked for Duke Ludovico Sforza in Milan at the end of the 15th century. Visitors will be able to see nine Leonardo´s most important paintings in the same place. One of the most interesting aspects of this exhibition lies on the possibility of comparing the two versions of The Virgin of the Rocks (the one that belongs to the National Gallery, recently restored, and the one that makes part of the Louvre collection). Here you have two links, where you will find some of the paintings you analyzed last year, such as The lady with an ermine:

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13334287

Portrait of a musician, Leonardo da Vinci

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Musician

- "The Hermitage in El Prado": this exhibition offers the possibility of visiting 120 works of art of Saint Petersburg´s Hermitage Museum. The Russian tsars started an art collection that includes works of art from different periods. If you go to Madrid, you will be able to visit some Caravaggio, Titian or Velázquez ´s paintings never seen before in Spain. The exhibition also includes some sculptures, such as the terracota study made by Bernini before sculpting his Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. This is also a unique opportunity of watching some paintings of the 20th century in El Prado. Here you have some more information about the works of art on display: 

http://www.museodelprado.es/en/exhibitions/exhibitions/at-the-museum/tesoros-del-hermitage/exposicion/

Tavern scene or The Luncheon, Velázquez

Source: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_3_1_2b.html

The Lute player, Caravaggio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lute_Player_(Caravaggio)

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (terracota model), Bernini

Source: http://www.artrenewal.org/commerce/customorder.php?artworkid=13345

If you go to Madrid, don´t miss the opportunity of watching these and other masterpieces.