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