1 2 The origins and onset of revolution, 1774-89

Question 1

What is absolute monarchy?

Answer 1

Form of government where the king had absolute power and was responsible only to God and answerable to no one on Earth.

Question 2

What was the divine right of kings? How did the political doctrine defend monarchical absolutism?

Answer 2

political doctrine in defence of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and therefore could not be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority.

Question 3

What right did Louis XVI have which exemplified his absolute power?

Answer 3

The king had the right of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, where someone is arrested and detained without trial, by issuing a lettre de cachet, similar to an arrest warrant.

Question 4

What were the parlements?

Answer 4

Local law courts and councils in administrative centres, whose main function was to ratify the king’s laws and had the responsibility to ensure that the populace performed their civic duties which included the prosecution of those who did not

Question 5

How did the parlements limit King Louis XVI’s power?

Answer 5

The parlements could refuse to register and implement laws created by the king if they felt them to be against the traditions and values of the ancien regime.
Therefore, they were an independent body whose rights were guaranteed by law, and the king could not interfere with these.

Question 6

How could Louis XVI overrule the parlements?

Answer 6

The king could issue a lit de justice which was essentially an edict overruling the parlements and demanding that the law was registered.

Question 7

Why was the support of the parlements important to the king for the ratification of laws?

Answer 7

Without the support of the parlements, it would be very difficult for the monarch to ensure that a law was implemented.

Question 8

How was French society organised during the ancien regime?

Answer 8

French society was divided into three orders (which were not necessarily indicators of wealth) called the Estates of the Realm.

Question 9

What were the Estates of the Realm?

Answer 9

First, Second and Third Estate

Question 10

What did the First Estate mainly consist of?

Answer 10

the clergy

Question 11

What did the Second Estate mainly consist of?

Answer 11

the nobility

Question 12

What did the Third Estate consist of?

Answer 12

Every French person who did not have a noble title or was not ordained by the Church.

Question 13

How was the Third Estate divided into the rural and urban population?

Answer 13

Third Estate which was divided into the rural population, consisting of peasants, and the urban population which consisted of the middle-class bourgeoisie and wage-labourers.

Question 14

What percentage of the population did each Estate represent?

Answer 14

First Estate constituted about 0.5% of the population and the Second Estate constituted approximately 1.5% of the population. The higher Estates effectively made up 3% of the French population.

Question 15

What rights and privileges were awarded to the nobility and the Church?

Answer 15

• Nobility usually accumulated their wealth through hereditary aristocracy
• First Estate had significant power over the people as France was a Catholic nation
• Higher positions in the Church were reserved for the nobility which meant that the poorer lower clergy could not advance within the religious hierarchy due to a lack of wealth

Question 16

What was the Enlightenment?

Answer 16

Intellectual movement that challenged the old ways of thinking and inspired revolutionary ideas

Question 17

How was the Enlightenment significant in generating revolutionary sentiment?

Answer 17

The emergence of the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, caused the writers, philosophers and artists to question the traditional authority. This caused the people of France to question the corruption and inequalities of their society. As a result, the cultural movement created an atmosphere of criticism and opposition to absolute rule.

Question 18

How did the ideas of the enlightenment influence the dissatisfaction of the bourgeoisie?

Answer 18

Influenced by enlightened ideas, members of the bourgeoisie were dissatisfied by the fact that they were contributing a significant amount to the French economy, with their wealth often rivalling that of the nobility, but had no political rights or freedoms.

Question 19

How did enlightened philosophy challenge absolute monarchy and the ancien regime established in France?

Answer 19

Enlightened ideas included the rejection of religion, in relation to the absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings, and the emergence of new (scientific) ideas.

Advocates of enlightened philosophy strongly believed in liberty, which meant freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom from unreasonable government.

Question 20

What did the enlightened belief in liberty involve?

Answer 20

Advocates of enlightened philosophy strongly believed in liberty, which meant freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom from unreasonable government.

Question 21

What were Rousseau’s beliefs towards absolute monarchy?

Answer 21

Believed that monarchies only served the interests of the ruling class

Believed that absolute monarchy was ‘vain and contradictory’ as the monarch does not ‘have the right to demand everything’ and therefore disliked the unequal power distribution between the king and his subjects

Argued against the political doctrine of the divine right of kings: ‘no man has natural authority over his fellow men’

Question 22

What arguments did Rousseau make in the Social Contract (1762)?

Answer 22

In Rousseau’s most influential political work, Social Contract (1762), he argued that everyone within a society has a right collectively to choose the laws under which they live and placed value on political liberties, the right of individuals to participate in government by voting and by holding public office. This is in relation to his claim that “to renounce one’s liberty is to renounce one’s quality as a man” (Rosseau) demonstrating his belief that freedom is synonymous with man.

Question 23

What arguments did Montesquieu make in the Spirit of Laws (1750)?

Answer 23

Montesquieu pleaded in favour of a constitutional system of government and the separation of powers, the ending of slavery, the preservation of civil liberties and the law, and the idea that political institutions ought to reflect the social and geographical aspects of each community.

Question 24

Why did Montesquieu favour aristocratic government/constitutional monarchy?

Answer 24

He said ‘an aristocratic government has an inherent vigour, unknown to democracy’ as he favoured the British model of government, constitutional monarchy, where the monarch’s power is restrained by an assembly

Question 25

Why were Voltaire’s political essays banned and publicly burnt?

Answer 25

He attacked on the French monarchy as he praised English law for its greater liberality and tolerance in comparison to French law

Question 26

Why was Voltaire critical of the Catholic Church?

Answer 26

Believed that no authority should be immune to challenge by reason and was critical of the power of the Catholic church as he stated that ‘those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities’

Question 27

Who was Diderot?

Answer 27

Enlightened French philosopher who was dedicated to the advancement of science and secular thought

Question 28

What were Diderot’s views towards religion and monarchy?

Answer 28

He believed in the abolishment of the monarchy and prominence of religion as he said that ‘men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest’

Question 29

What nickname did Louis-Phillippe Joseph, Duc D’Orleans gain?

Answer 29

Phillippe Egalite (‘Equality’)

Question 30

What was the significance of Louis-Phillippe Joseph, Duc D’Orleans in the spread of enlightened thinking?

Answer 30

The Duc D’Orleans was a progressive supporter of the Enlightened who belonged to one of the most important and noble families in France and was a cousin to the king. He opened his home, the Palais Royale, in the centre of Paris, to everyone in the city where people could interact and hold intellectual gatherings.

Question 31

What was the significance of the Palais Royale?

Answer 31

The palace became a hub for enlightened thinking and the spread of radical ideas and contained printing presses which produced a constant stream of cartoons and articles lampooning the Court and the King and Queen.

Question 32

How did the Enlightenment inspire the language behind the French revolution?

Answer 32

The Enlightenment was ultimately a revolution in ideology and laid the groundwork for revolution due to the discussion of the importance of equality and liberty.

Question 33

What major shift in thinking and philosophy did the Enlightenment involve?

Answer 33

Enlightened philosophers believed that no authority, which included the Catholic church and the monarchy, should be immune to challenge by reason.