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History > 2Y: The French Revolution > Flashcards

2Y: The French Revolution Flashcards

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1
Q

What were the causes of the French Revolution? (4)

A
  1. Unfairly Divided Society & Taxes – France was divided into Three Estates.
  2. The Enlightment
  3. The American Revolution
  4. The King and Queen
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2
Q

Explain why the ‘Unfairly Divided Society’ was a cause?

A

France was divided into Three Estates:

  1. The First Estate: Consisted of the Clergy. The priests were poor but the bishops and archbishops were extremely wealthy and powerful.
  2. The Second Estate: This was the Nobility (about 100,000). They were extremely powerful and rich. All the best jobs in the government and army were kept for the nobility.
  3. The Third Estate: This was everybody else. Ranged from well-off middle class people (bourgeoisie) to poor country people (peasants) and workers. Poor people made up 80% of the French Population.

Only members of the Third Estate paid taxes. These taxes went into the pockets of the rich. This caused hardship and resentment.

Peasants had to pay up to 85% of their incomes in taxes.

These taxes included a Taille (land tax), Gabelle (a salt tax), Tithes (One Tenth to the Church), Free work on roads and free work on noblemen’s estates.

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3
Q

Explain why ‘The Enlightment’ was a cause?

A
  • Mid 18th, most people assumed that the King had a god given right to rule France and that the nobility and clergymen ought to have special privileges.
  • Then the Enlightment, where writers such as Rousseau and Voltaire put forward new enlightened ideas.
  • They wrote power should rest with the people and that all people should be treated equally.
  • These ideas had been the cause of the American Revolution and now began to impress many French people.
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4
Q

Explain why the ‘American Revolution’ was a cause?

A
  • The Americans showed that ordinary people could rise up and take power for themselves.
  • The French soldiers who had fought in America brought back this idea of power people to France.
  • France was bankrupt after sending troops to fight in the American Revolution so King Louis XVI called together the Estates General – Assembly of Representatives from the 3 Estates that had not met for over 150 years.
  • This meeting set up a chain of events that led to revolution.
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5
Q

Explain why ‘The King and Queen’ was a cause?

A
  • The King and Queen also contributed to the Revolution.
  • King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch – He had complete control over France.
  • He could raise taxes, declare war and have people imprisoned without even consulting anyone.
  • He was greatly influenced by corrupt nobles and his wife Marie Antoinette.
  • Queen Marie Antoinette was unpopular for many reasons.
  • She was Austrian and many French people hated the Austrians.
  • People also thought she had too much influence over the King.
  • She led a very extravagant lifestyle at a time when France was bankrupt and when people people struggling to survive.
  • She often played a game called ‘Milkmaids’ – where she dressed up as peasants with her friends and went down into the town.
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6
Q

Why were the 3rd Estate unhappy?

A
  • In May 1789, The Estates General met at the Royal Palace at Versailles outside Paris. The representatives of the 3rd Estate were unhappy.
  • French Society was inequal and they wanted reform.
  • The voting system also made them angry in the Estates General. Although the 3rd Estate had the most members, the King said each estate got 1 block vote – the 1st and 2nd Estates clearly would stick together.
  • So the 3rd Estate would get outvoted each time in their efforts to bring reform to France.
  • The 3rd Estate refused to accept this voting system.
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7
Q

What did the King do to the 3rd Estate?

A
  • The King panicked and shut down the meeting and ordered that the 3rd Estate were to be locked out of the Palace.
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8
Q

What did the 3rd Estate do after being locked out?

A
  • The 3rd Estate were furious and went to the nearby Tennis Courtt.
  • Here they called themselves the National Assembly and swore they would fight until France had a constitution and fair rules to govern the country.
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9
Q

What was the 3rd Assembly’s Oath called?

A
  • This was called The Tennis Court Oath and it happened on 20th June 1789.
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10
Q

What was the Kings response to the Oath?

A
  • The King gave in and ordered the 1st and 2nd Estates to join in with the National Assembly.
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11
Q

What did the new National Assembly set about doing?

A
  • This Assembly was dominated by the 3rd Estate and set about drawing up new fair laws for France.
  • The ordinary people of Paris and France were delighted.
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12
Q

What was the Kings response to the new National Assembly?

A
  • The king however went back on his word.
  • Louis sent the army to break up the National Assembly and the people decided they had to defend themselves.
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13
Q

How did the people ‘defend’ themselves?

A
  • The Bastille (prison) in Paris was attacked where artillery was kept. It was a strong symbol of the King’s power and cruelty.
  • On the 14th July 1789 the Bastille was taken over and this marked the real start of the French Revolution.
  • The National Guard was set up and it wasn’t long before Louis called off the Army.
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14
Q

What was the ‘Rights of Man’

A
  • On the 26th August the Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued.
  • This stated all people were born free and equal and that the law must treat everyone equally.
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15
Q

What was the new slogan for the people of France?

A
  • The new slogan was ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’.
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16
Q

What problems did the people of Paris still have?

A

The people of Paris were still starving (Sans Culottes)

17
Q

What did the people think about where the King and National Assembly should be based?

A
  • They felt the King and the National Assembly should be based in Paris, not Versailles.
  • 6th Oct 1789 the poor people of Paris marched to Versailles and forced the royal family to return with them to Paris.
  • They were made live in Tuileries Palace and were like prisoners under the control of the people.
  • The National Assembly also followed to Paris.
18
Q

Why did the King decide to leave France?

A
  • The National Assembly made a new constitution of rules to govern France.
  • It stated that there would be an elected Parliament and the King would have to put into force any laws made by the Parliament.
  • The King hated these changes and felt it weakened his power.
  • He decided that himself and Marie Antoinette would flee France and head to Austria and gather an army to take back France.
19
Q

How did the King try to leave France?

A
  • One night in 1791, they left the Palace in disguise.
  • They made their way to the Border with Austria to try to get out of France.
  • They were at the French border when they were spotted and arrested in the little town of Varennes and brought back to Paris in disgrace.
20
Q

What happened after the King returned to France?

A
  • Many people now saw Louis as a traitor and felt that France should be a republic without a Monarch.
21
Q

Why is the French Flag blue, white and red?

A
  • The French Flag was also the flag of the revolution. Blue and Red were the traditional colours of Paris.
  • The White was the traditional colour of the French Kings and was placed in the middle to show that the people were in charge of France and not the King.
22
Q

Why was Louis XVI executed?

A
  • In 1792, the National Assembly declared war on Austria.
  • Louis was delighted because he thought Austria would overthrow the Revolution and restore Louis to the throne.
  • Austria and Prussia (Germany) invaded France and threatened to destroy Paris if Louis was injured or harmed in any way.
  • The people of Paris were furious. They used the army to push back the Austrians and Prussians.
  • The National Assembly discovered letters Louis had written to other Kings asked to overthrow the Revolution.
  • The Assembly, which was now called the Convention, declared France a Republic and put the king on trial for treason (crimes against the state).
  • Louis was found guilty and executed by guillotine on 21st January 1793.
23
Q

What happened Marie Antoinette?

A
  • 9 months later, Marie Antoinette was also executed by guillotine.
24
Q

What happened after Marie Antoinette was executed?

A
  • The execution angered and horrified other European monarchs.
  • Britain, Spain and Holland all joined Austria and Prussia against France. Revolution was now in terrible danger.
25
Q

What was the Reign of Terror (1793-94)?

A
  • In Spring 1793, the Convention set up a 12-member ‘Committee of Public Safety’ to deal with threats of the Revolution.
  • Power was seized by a group of radicals called the Jacobins.
  • Maximilien Robespierre became its leader – he decided that only a harsh government could save the revolution.
  • This became known as the ‘Reign of Terror’.
26
Q

What successes did the Committee of Public Safety have? (3)

A
  • Reorganised the French army and appointed young generals.
  • Within a year, the French had driven the Austrians and other invaders out of France.
  • The Committee kept the price of food down. This was very important to poor people.
27
Q

Why did people say these successes came at a terrible price?

A
  • About 40,000 people were killed and many others lived in fear during the Reign of Terror.
  • Thousands of priests and nobles were rounded up and sent to the guillotine.
  • People began to spy on each other and tell on ‘enemies of the revolution’ to special courts. Many of these were guillotined.
  • Shopkeepers who charged too much for food were usually sent to the guillotine.
28
Q

Did the Reign of Terror end after all the enemies had been driven from France?

A
  • When enemy armies had been driven from France, people thought that the Reign of Terror would end.
  • But Robespierre continued the Terror.
  • He arrested loyal members of the Convention and sent them to the guillotine.
29
Q

How did the Reign of Terror end?

A
  • Other members of the Convention then feared for their own safety.
  • They had Robespierre arrested and executed by guillotine in July 1794.
  • That was the end of the Reign of Terror.
30
Q

What happened after the Reign of Terror?

A
  • France continued to wage war and by 1799 it was the strongest country in Europe.
  • A new government was formed called the Directory.
31
Q

Who became leader of the Directory?

A
  • A young army general from the small Mediterranean island of Corsica took charge.
  • This man’s name was Napoleon Bonaparte.
32
Q

What position did Napoleon appoint himself in 1804?

A
  • 1804 – Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France with powers similar to those of the kings of old.
  • Napoleon was popular but, like Louis XVI, he held all the power.
33
Q

Did Napoleon agree with the Rights of Man?

A
  • These ideals were not ideas that Napoleon agreed with when he made himself Emperor of France.
  • The Revolution changed many things in France, but with Napoleon, not that much had actually changed at all.

History (11 decks)

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