1789-92

Question 1

Suspensive veto

Answer 1

The right of the king to delay laws passed by the Assembly for up to four years

Question 2

Active citizens

Answer 2

Male citizens aged 25+ who paid the equivalent of three days unskilled labour in local taxes and were therefore able to vote in elections.

Question 3

Passive citizens

Answer 3

Excluded from the franchise after 1789-92

Question 4

Departments

Answer 4

83 administrative districts into which France was divided

Question 5

Sections

Answer 5

48 administrative districts of Paris – some (e.g. Cordeliers Section) increasingly radical.

Question 6

Émigrés

Answer 6

Aristocrats and royalists who left France in the wake of the Revolution

Question 7

Biens nationaux

Answer 7

The land of the Church and the Émigrés that was sold off by the state.

Question 8

Laissez-faire

Answer 8

Economic doctrine that promotes free markets, low tariffs and high levels of economic competition in order to promote prosperity and growth.

Question 9

Anticlericalism

Answer 9

Hostility towards the Church seen in many of the reforms of the Constituent Assembly, including the abolition of the tithe and pluralism.

Question 10

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Answer 10

Reform that brought the Church under state control, with bishops and priests paid by the state.

Question 11

Oath of allegiance

Answer 11

All priests and bishops required to swear an oath to the constitution and the Assembly. The law was passed on 27 November 1790, and received royal assent one month later.

Question 12

Refractory priests

Answer 12

Description of priests who refused the oath (over 50% of all priests in total). Only 7 out of 83 bishops agreed to take the oath.

Question 13

Civil rights

Answer 13

Equal citizenship given to Protestants in 1789, and Jews in 1791.

Question 14

Guillotine

Answer 14

An alternative method of execution introduced by the National Assembly, far more humane than some of the barbaric punishments under the Old Regime, such as ‘breaking on a wheel’.

Question 15

The Jacobin Club

Answer 15

A club for wealthy, liberal constitutional monarchists in Paris, aimed at preserving the revolution. Over 1200 members in 1790. Divided in 1791, becoming much more radical.

Question 16

Maximilien Robespierre

Answer 16

A lawyer from Arras who became a prominent figure in the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club. Known as ‘the Incorruptible’ because of his high principles and simple lifestyle.

Question 17

The Cordeliers Club

Answer 17

A club with a low membership fee in the radical Cordelier district of Paris. Argued for direct democracy – membership fee was just 2 sols per month, much lower than other political clubs.

Question 18

George-Jacques Danton

Answer 18

Founder of the Cordeliers Club – became Minister of Justice in August 1792.

Question 19

The Monarchy Club

Answer 19

Founded in 1790 with a small, conservative membership. Lacked widespread appeal, and closed in 1791, although seen by many as evidence of counter-revolutionary conspiracies in Paris.

Question 20

Sans-culottes

Answer 20

The name given to radical workers in the Paris sections, named after their plain style of dress. Seen by some as a threat to public order, but by others as the true voice of the revolution.

Question 21

Citizen

Answer 21

Title by which revolutionaries greeted each other after 1789.

Question 22

The Tuileries Palace

Answer 22

The palace in which the royal family resided between October 1789 and August 1792.

Question 23

The flight to Varennes

Answer 23

The royal family’s disastrous attempt to leave Paris on 21 June 1791, which ended in capture at Varennes the following day. The intended target was the Austrian Netherlands.

Question 24

Tocsin

Answer 24

Sounded in Paris to alert the people to the flight of the king. A common feature of revolutionary journées.

Question 25

Republicanism

Answer 25

Belief that France should abolish the monarchy. Gained much wider support after June 1791.

Question 26

Champs de Mars

Answer 26

A large square in Paris where the National Guard fired on a republican demonstration organised by the Cordeliers Club. Around 60 protestors were killed and 200 arrested.

Question 27

Martial Law

Answer 27

Declared by the Paris Commune following the Champs de Mars incident. Radical printing presses were shut down and Marat, Desmoulins and Danton went into hiding.

Question 28

Legislative Assembly

Answer 28

New body created by the constitution of 1791. Ruled France from September 1791 to August 1792.

Question 29

Self-denying ordinance

Answer 29

A measure proposed by Robespierre which prevented deputies in the Constituent Assembly from serving in the new Legislative Assembly.

Question 30

The Declaration of Pillnitz

Answer 30

Statement by Austria and Prussia calling for a restoration of the monarchy in France. Although invasion was a remote possibility, the declaration caused an increase in government hostility towards foreigners, émigrés and priests.

Question 31

The Austrian Committee

Answer 31

A conspiracy theory popularised by radical newspapers in Paris, who accused the royal family and moderates in the Assembly of secret communication with Émigrés outside France.

Question 32

Jacques-Pierre Brissot

Answer 32

Leader of the Girondins, a small but influential group of deputies from south-west France.

Question 33

Date on which France declared on Austria

Answer 33

20 April 1792

only 7 deputies in the Legislative Assembly voted against.

Question 34

The number of French officers in the French army who had emigrated from France, leaving the army without experienced commanders.

Answer 34

12,000

Whole units of the army had deserted or mutinied by May 1792.

Question 35

La Marseillaise

Answer 35

Marching song composed in April 1792 following the outbreak of war.

Question 36

Fédérés

Answer 36

20,000 National Guards ordered by the Legislative Assembly to come to the defence of Paris against foreign invasion. The order was vetoed by Louis XVI on 19 June 1792.

Question 37

The journée of 20 June 1792

Answer 37

Violent response to Louis XVI’s decision to sack Girondin ministers and his use of the veto. Organised by the Cordeliers Club, 8000 demonstrators stormed the Tuileries Palace, but Louis was able to calm the protests by putting on a red cap of liberty and drinking to the health of the nation.

Question 38

State of national emergency

Answer 38

Declared by the Constituent Assembly on 11 July 1792. Louis XVI’s power of veto withdrawn.

Question 39

Brunswick Manifesto

Answer 39

A declaration promising reprisals against anyone who resisted the invading Austrian army or harmed Louis XVI.

Question 40

Revolutionary Commune

Answer 40

Formed following the storming of the Hotel de Ville by sans-culottes and fédérés. The revolutionary Commune was comprised of representatives from the Sections, elected by universal male suffrage.

Question 41

The Journée of 10 August 1792

Answer 41

Tuileries Palace invaded by fédérés and the National Guard. Over 600 Swiss Guards died defending the palace, whilst the royal family were arrested. The bloodiest journée of the revolution.