This assignment should be complied up to Friday, February 28, 2011. Make your answers brief and concise. Provide also the URL at the end of each answers. Make sure you have read and familiarize your answers in preparation for the quiz.

A. Provide basic information about the following figure and their participation in the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic War . Also include their achievements and he reason of their downfall.

1. Napoleon Bonaparte
Answer:

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the son of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte. Through his military exploits and his ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Empereur des Francais (Emperor of the French). He is both a historical figure and a legend—and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The events of his life fired the imaginations of great writers, film makers, and playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend.Napoleon decided on a military career when he was a child, winning a scholarship to a French military academy at age 14. His meteoric rise shocked not only France but all of Europe, and his military conquests threatened the stability of the world.

One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes

In the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts.

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html

2. Duke Wellington

Answer:

Arthur Wellesley, the son of the Earl of Mornington, was born in Dublin in 1769. After being educated at Eton and a military school at Angers he received a commission in the 73rd Infantry. Eventually Wellesley obtained the rank of captain and became aide-de-camp to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1814 Wellesley was granted the title, the Duke of Wellington. He was then put in command of the forces which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in June, 1815. Parliament rewarded this military victory by granting Wellington the Hampshire estate of Strathfieldsaye.

Wellington retired from public life in 1846 but in 1848 he organised a military force to protect London against possible Chartist violence at the large meeting at Kennington Common

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRwellington.htm

3. Maximilien Robespierre
Answer:
Maximilien Robespierre, known to his contemporaries as "the Incorruptible," is one of the most controversial and perhaps misunderstood figures of the French Revolution. His name has become symbolic for that period of the Revolution known as the Reign of Terror; certainly he was a man who wielded great influence and power over the course of events of the French Republic between 1792 and 1794
Most agree that, for a time, he was the most important man in the Revolution, and it is clear that the reaction of 9th Thermidor (July 27, 1794), which brought about his downfall and execution, also caused the end of the Terror and brought about a new course for the Revolution itself.

http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1983-4/mcletchie.htm


4. George Danton
Answer:

GEORGE JACQUES DANTON (1759-1794), one of the most conspicuous actors in the decisive episodes of the French Revolution, was born at Arcis-sur-Aube on the 26th of October 1759. His family was of respectable quality, though of very moderate means. They contrived to give him a good education, and he was launched in the career of an advocate at the Paris bar. When the Revolution broke out, it found Danton following his profession with apparent success, leading a cheerful domestic life, and nourishing his intelligence on good books. He first appears in the revolutionary story as president of the popular club or assembly of the district in which he lived. This was the famous club of the Cordeliers, so called from the circumstance that its meetings were held in the old convent of the order of the Cordeliers, just as the Jacobins derived their name from the refectory of the convent of the Jacobin brothers. It is an odd coincidence that the old rivalries of Dominicans and Franciscans in the democratic movement inside the Catholic Church should be recalled by the names of the two factions in the democratic movement of a later century away from the church.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/George_Jacques_Danton

B. What happened to France after the Napoleonic War. Discuss and provide a brief and concise account about the war.
Answers:

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte and a number of European nations between 1799 and 1815. They followed on from the War of the First Coalition (1793-97) and engaged nearly all European nations in a bloody struggle, a struggle that also spilled over into Egypt, America and South America. During the Wars (for during this period the fighting was not constant) warfare was to change and move towards modern warfare leaving behind forever the idea of war as a sport of kings and moving towards the concept of Total War and the nations in arms.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_napoleonic.html

C. Introduce the following personalities and their accomplishments in their respective countries:

1. Quen Isabela
Answer:
Isabella, surnamed la Catolica, the Catholic, Queen of Castile, was the second child and only daughter of John II of Castile by his second wife Isabella, granddaughter of John I of Portugal (thus being through both parents a descendant of John of Gaunt), and was born at Madrigal on the 22nd of April 1451. On the death of her father, who was succeeded by her brother Henry IV (1454), she was withdrawn by her mother to Arevalo, where her early education was conducted in the deepest seclusion; in 1462, however, along with her uterine brother Alphonso, she was removed by Henry to the court, where she showed a remarkable example of staidness and sobriety. Already more than one suitor had made application for her hand, Ferdinand of Aragon, who ultimately became her husband, being among the number; for some little time she was engaged to his elder brother Charles, who died in 1461. In her thirteenth year her brother promised her in marriage to Alphonso of Portugal, but she firmly refused to consent; her resistance seemed less likely to be effectual in the case of Pedro Giron, grand master of the order of Calatrava and brother of the Marquis of Villena, to whom she was next affianced, when she was delivered from her fears by the sudden death of the bridegroom while on his way to the nuptials in 1466.

http://www.nndb.com/people/221/000092942/

2. King Carlos V
Answer:
Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor María de Borbón y Borbón.A member of a royal line that stretches back to Louis XIV of France, Juan Carlos I has been king of Spain since 1975. Juan Carlos was born in in Rome, where his family was in exile after his grandfather, King Alfonso XIII, was forced to leave Spain when the Republic was declared in 1931. At age 10 Juan Carlos began attending school in Spain with the blessing of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Juan Carlos went to military colleges, becoming an accomplished sailor and pilot, while developing a close relationship with Franco. After Franco's death in 1975, Juan Carlos was proclaimed king and was expected to continue Franco's dictatorial, military-friendly policies. Instead he surprised the nation by supporting a transition to a modern parliamentary democracy, with himself continuing in the role of monarch and head of state. He strengthened his position in 1981, when he put down an attempted military coup by appearing on TV and ordering troops back to their bases.

http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-spanish-monarchs

3. King Philip II
Answer:
Philip II, King.King of Spain, father of the Infante Don Carlos, who has been betrothed to Elisabeth de Valois in an attempt to bring peace between their countries. Philip decides to marry Elisabeth himself, and for the sake of her country she agrees, although she is in love with Carlos. Philip is suspicious of the relationship between his wife and his son. Despite her denials of unfaithfulness, he has Carlos arrested and imprisoned, assured by the Grand Inquisitor that he can even have him killed for the sake of the faith of the country. At the tomb of his father, the Emperor Carlos V, Philip hides and watches Elisabeth bid farewell to Carlos. Philip orders him to be arrested, but is thwarted as the tomb of the Emperor opens and Carlos is dragged inside to the safety of the cloister. This is one of three male roles in the lower register in this opera (the others being Posa and the Grand Inquisitor), and Verdi's skill in differentiating between them vocally can be heard in the various duets and ensembles.

http://www.answers.com/topic/king-philip-ii

4. Ivan the Terrible
Answer:
(born Aug. 25, 1530, Kolomenskoye, near Moscow — died March 18, 1584, Moscow) Grand prince of Moscow (1533 – 84) and first tsar of Russia (1547 – 84). Crowned tsar in 1547 after a long regency (1533 – 46), he embarked on wide-ranging reforms, including a centralized administration, church councils that systematized the church's affairs, and the first national assembly (1549). He also instituted reforms to limit the powers of the boyars. After conquering Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556), he engaged in an unsuccessful war to control Livonia, fighting against Sweden and Poland (1558 – 83). After the defeat and the suspected treason of several Russian boyars, Ivan formed an oprichnina, a territory separate from the rest of the state and under his personal control. With a large bodyguard, he withdrew into his own entourage and left Russia's management to others. At the same time, he instituted a reign of terror, executing thousands of boyars and ravaging the city of Novgorod. During the 1570s he married five wives in nine years, and, in a fit of rage, he murdered his son Ivan, his only viable heir, in 1581.

http://www.answers.com/topic/ivan-iv-of-russia

5.Peter the Great
Answer:
Name at birth:Petr Alekseevich.Peter the Great was the Russian czar who transformed Russia from an isolated agricultural society into an Empire on a par with European powers. Peter was the son of Czar Alexis (Fedor III Alakseevich) and his second wife. After the death of Alexis, Peter and his half-brother Ivan were co-czars who served under the regency of Ivan's sister, Sophia. Ivan died and Peter outmaneuvered Sophia to rule alone as czar from 1689. Peter toured Europe (sometimes in disguise to avoid being recognized) and educated himself in western culture and science, then returned to Russia and introduced military, civil and social reforms to make Russia more like Europe (especially Germany). He spent much of his time fighting wars, first against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, then (from 1700) against the Swedes in the Great Northern War. He succeeded in conquering land on the Baltic Sea, where he founded St. Petersburg. A gateway to Europe, St. Petersburg became the new capital of Russia. Peter was reportedly more than six and a half feet tall and was often in the battlefield, occasionally returning home to address domestic issues and put down revolts. In 1725 he dove in the water to help rescue some drowning sailors; he ended up with a bad cold and died a short time later.

St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd in 1914, then renamed Leningrad after the death of V. I. Lenin (1924). In 1991 it was changed back to St. Petersburg...Peter often criticized his son, Alexei, for being incompetent and lazy, but apparently thought he was energetic enough to mount a coup attempt: Peter had Alexei arrested and sentenced to death, but Alexei died before he could be executed.

http://www.answers.com/topic/peter-the-great6. Catherine the Great

7. Maria Theresa
Answer:
(born May 13, 1717, Vienna, Austria — died Nov. 29, 1780, Vienna) Archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740 – 80). She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Charles VI, who promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction to allow her to succeed to the Habsburg domains. Opposition to her succession led in 1740 to the War of the Austrian Succession. After Emperor Charles VII died (1745), she obtained the imperial crown for her husband, who became Francis I. She helped initiate financial and educational reforms, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganized the army, all of which strengthened Austria's resources. Continued conflict with Prussia led to the Seven Years' War and later to the War of the Bavarian Succession. After her husband's death (1765), her son became emperor as Joseph II. She criticized many of his actions but agreed to the partition of Poland (1772). A key figure in the power politics of 18th-century Europe, Maria Theresa brought unity to the Habsburg monarchy and was considered one of its most capable rulers. Her 16 children also included Marie-Antoinette and Leopold II.

http://www.answers.com/topic/maria-theresa

Note:Study in advance the First and Second World War.