1 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

How did the divine right of kings justify monarchical absolutism?

Answer 2

The divine right of kings was a 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

How did Louis XVI exemplify 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 did the Estates of the Realm consist of?

Answer 9

The First Estate which mainly consisted of the clergy, the Second Estate which mainly consisted of the nobility and the 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 10

How did the Estates of the Realm demonstrate the inequality of French society during the ancien regime? (population percentages)

Answer 10

Although the First Estate constituted about 0.5% of the population and the Second Estate constituted approximately 1.5% of the population, these higher classes, effectively making up 3% of the population were awarded many rights and privileges in comparison to the third. 

Question 11

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

Answer 11

• 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 12

What was the Enlightenment?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

How was the Enlightenment significant in generating revolutionary sentiment?

Answer 13

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 14

How did the ideologies of the enlightenment reinforce the dissatisfaction of the members of the bourgeoisie?

Answer 14

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 15

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

Answer 15

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 16

What were the enlightened beliefs of Rousseau?

Answer 16

Rosseau was a republican who 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 idea of the divine right of kings - ‘no man has natural authority over his fellow men’

Question 17

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

Answer 17

In Rosseau’s most influential political work, 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, as he claimed that “to renounce one’s liberty is to renounce one’s quality as a man” demonstrating his belief that freedom is synonymous with man.

Question 18

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

Answer 18

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 19

What were Montesquieu’s views towards the British model of government?

Answer 19

Montesquieu favoured the British model of government which was a constitutional monarchy where the monarch’s power is restrained by an assembly.

Question 20

What quote by Montesquieu describes his favour towards the British model of government?

Answer 20

‘an aristocratic government has an inherent vigour, unknown to democracy’

Question 21

What were the enlightened ideas of Montesquieu?

Answer 21

Challenged the Estates system of the ancien regime and argued that the estates and feudalism should be abolished.

Question 22

What were the beliefs of Voltaire?

Answer 22

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’

Believed in the efficacy of reason and that social progress could be achieved through reason

Question 23

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

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What were Diderot’s enlightened ideas?

Answer 24

Dedicated to the advancement of science, secular thought and the new tolerance and openness of the Enlightenment as he thought that ‘all things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone’s feelings’

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 25

What was the significance of the Duc d’Orleans (and the Palais Royale) in the spread of enlightened ideas in France?

Answer 25

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

Louis-Phillippe Joseph, Duc d’Orleans later gained the nickname Phillippe Egalite (‘Equality’)

Question 26

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

Answer 26

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 27

How did the philosophy and ideas of the Enlightenment lead to a major shift in thinking?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Why was the enlightenment not the sole cause of revolution?

Answer 28

Spread of ideas was limited - radical change in political ideas and beliefs amongst liberal nobles and educated members of the second and third estate.

Death of the philosophes of the French revolution by the late 1700s (and so did not play a direct role in the revolution). Their ideas and writings lived on, however, stimulating discussion, sparking curiosity and creating an environment where revolutionary ideas could emerge and flourish.

Question 29

Why did the philosophes of the French revolution not play a direct role in revolution?

Answer 29

The philosophes of the French Enlightenment were mostly dead by the late 1700s so did not play a direct role in the revolution. Their ideas and writings lived on, however, stimulating discussion, sparking curiosity and creating an environment where revolutionary ideas could emerge and flourish.