causes of the French Revolution

Question 1

what elements made up the King’s power?

Answer 1

The political theory of absolute monarchy:

• Understandings that the king was the one ruler
• No constitution
• Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom had some definitions of his power
• He could pass laws, appoint, declare war, control taxes and currency

The theory of rule by divine right:

• Belief that King was given power by God
• To criticise the king was to criticise God
• Have orders to minister in the Council of the State- could replace them so they did not disagree with him
• Controlled provincial France by governors or Intendants (chosen by him) that applied his policies to the area
• His understanding of the nation came from ministers and governors

Question 2

what were limits to the King’s authority? define absolute and arbitrary power

Answer 2

Absolute power was seen as different to arbitrary power or despotism as the King was expected to obey nation’s traditions and laws.
In truth this meant he ruled beside provincial assemblies (special groups, enjoying special powers)
The most powerful assemblies (highest law courts) placed some restraints in later years

Absolute power: King had ultimate power

Arbitrary power or despotism: ruling badly without respect for laws

Question 3

what were the highest law courts? what could they do?

Answer 3

Highest law courts of appeal were parlements
13
Checked and registered royal laws
Not intended to check King’s power
Could make a remonstrance or a delay in a law, identifying a problem with wording

Question 4

what are some contradictions and inefficiencies of the monarchy?

Answer 4

Number of overlapping systems
Many systems competed
Jumble of administration
Different treatment depending on where you lived and the systems there

Question 5

what did the King do to make good perceptions of him?

Answer 5

Created a ‘little academy’ that made a set of representations of the King
paintings, statues, medallions and literature to glorify him as the ‘Sun King’

Question 6

what was the idea of public belief in the King’s competence and what did versailles do for this image? what did the King do to promote this belief?

Answer 6

Rarely saw the king or government
Assumption that he was capable
Idea reinforced by representations of him being hard at work etc.

Versailles: palace that housed French Kings from 1682. A symbol of all that was wrong with the regime.

Question 7

what is the idea of public belief in the royal dynasty?

Answer 7

Each decade reinforced continuity and tradition
Dynastic prestige is added
Bourbon dynasty had lasted since 1589 when Henry IV ascended the throne
Dignity and majesty: sacredness of the king
Legitimacy: royal and pure bloodline

Question 8

what is the idea of benevolence?

Answer 8

Belief that the king is a loving father to his people

Question 9

when was Louis born? how did he end up king? when did he marry and who? when was he crowned King? what were some issues with him? why did he die?

Answer 9

Born Louis-Auguste in 1754
In 1765 father and two brothers died, making him next in line (Dauphin)
At 16 he married Marie-Antoinette from Austria (1970)
Marriage confirmed peaceful relations between the once warring countries
1775 he was crowned King
Did not understand the forces against him
Did not understand the limitations of his power
Indecisive
Tried to resist and then tried to escape by fleeing France in June 1791 which lead to his trial (December 1792) and execution (January 1793)
Fascinated by science

Question 10

what was France like when Louis became king?

Answer 10

• Returned free trade in grain (caused ‘flour wars’) in first year
• Food shortages
• rising prices
• new ideas maybe privilege is wrong
• Catholicism is main religion, growing tolerant
• look for colonies in Caribbean and Atlantic
• huge debt from 7 years war (60% of state budget eaten by interest from loans)

Question 11

define privilege

Answer 11

special rights in law and taxation

Question 12

define corporate society

Answer 12

a society made up of a number of powerful groups, each enjoying their own special customs, laws and privileges.

Question 13

what were the three types of privilege?

Answer 13

Honorific: a certain type of privilege, for example the noble’s right to wear a sword

Legal concessions: privileges relating to the law eg. Being tried at court by a special court made of your class

Fiscal concessions: privileges relating to tax eg. Some paid little tax

Question 14

what is the culture of deference?

Answer 14

People accepted the rich as superior
Instinctively paid respect
Looked down, spoke well and behaved etc.
Social and psychological, not legal

Question 15

The first estate. taxes involved in. what were they meant to do? how many? how much land? how rich?

Answer 15

• Clergy was 0.6% of population
• Clergy owned 10% of land
• 1000 high clergy- bishops etc. that were all rich and noble
• About 40 000 lower clergy- parish priests etc. they could be quite poor
• Church enjoyed the tithe
• Church was except from royal taxes but could make a voluntary donation (usually 1%)
• Earned about 3 million as a church but little made it to the lower clergy

Tithe: tax between 8 and 10% of income or value of stick and crops, paid to a local priest

Don gratuit: contribution of the catholic church to the French state. They had the privilege of deciding how much.

pray for the kingdom

Question 16

the second estate. how many? how much land? what did they do? two types?

Answer 16

• nobles
• 0.4% of population
• Owned 30% of land
• Controlled most public positions
• Tax exemptions but still paid some
• Dominated highest administrative roles in church and government: army, navy, diplomatic corps
• Senior officers were all aristocrats
• Older nobles of the sword could trace their history back to some military achievement
• Recent nobles of the robe, bought positions when wealthy bourgeois bought positions in royal bureaucracy (pay more and it can be hereditary)

Question 17

the third estate. how many? where did they live? what were different types? define bourgeoisie

Answer 17

• 28 million
• 22 million lived in the country
• About 99% of society
• 6 million lived in cities and towns and belonged to the working class
• Those that lived in the town were wealthy, educated and did not work by labouring
• Bourgeois were 10% of the population
• Wealthier and more influential than they had been
• Artisans (urban) 2 million
• Landowning farmers and tenant farmers (less susceptible to suffering) 5 million
• Sharecropping farmers 11 million
• Day labourers 5 million
• Serfs 1 million (born into families that must work the land of a certain lord family. Slaves are bound to people. They are bound to land)

Bourgeoisie: richer people of the third estate

Bourgeois: one individual

Question 18

how did the Bourgeoisie get rick? what did they aim to do? why were they angry? why were they not capatalists by the modern sense?

Answer 18

• Fortune in commercial and industrial expansion
• Started small business like shops and they grew
• By 1780s most commercial capital was run by these
• Many merchants
• Lived before large-scale industry so are not capitalists
• French economy remained mainly on small workshops
• Aimed to become noble (for sale because government is in debt). Wanted status, less taxes and more power
• They invested in land and finance to become rentiers, living of investments like a noble (vivre noblement)
• Others purchased venal offices (position, allowing them to become nobles of the robe)
• By 1780s, these were sought after and became very expensive
• Angry because they have money but no status
• Not capitalists by the modern sense in the sense of running giant factories but they have smaller workshops

Question 19

how many working people in cities? literacy? what were they interested in? Sans culottes?

Answer 19

• 2 million worked in cities and towns as artisans
• Highly skilled and have valuable tools and workshops
• Many could read
• Interested in radical ideas
• 500 000 workers in Paris, Sans-culottes (normal pants), better educated

Question 20

where did the peasants get land? taxes? why did they need land? what are feudal dues?

Answer 20

Rented extra land from nobles, church or bourgeois at a high cost
They had large taxes
Needed more land because they were subsistence farmers

Feudal dues: extra payments of money, food or labour to the nobles

Question 21

who were the philosophes?

Answer 21

philosophes: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Condorcet and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Question 22

what is philosophie

Answer 22

the system of ideas, emphasising science, progress and reason to create a more humane world, practiced during the enlightenment.

Question 23

did the enlightenment cause the revolution?

Answer 23

Historian Hampson thinks that authority of Louis XIV was based on unquestionability and the enlightenment questioned
In the 1780s there were bad harvests, increased food prices and unemployment but this before hadn’t caused revolution, Hampton says the enlightenment was the only difference

Question 24

what were the main ideas of Montesquieu?

Answer 24

• Three arms of government: legislature (the parliament that writes and votes on laws), executive (ruler and ministers who run the government), judiciary (court system and judges that apply the laws)
• Totally separate “arms”
• In a democratic republic people would put the government’s interest ahead of their own interest, because the government has their best interests at heart
• Freedom of speech
• France should have a constitution
• End to slavery
• Legal system be seperate from the king

Question 25

what were the key works of Montesquieu?

Answer 25

The Spirit of the Laws (1748)- inspiration for American revolutionary ideas

Persian Letters (1721)- Enlightenment ideas

Question 26

what key ideas did voltaire have?

Answer 26

• Criticised the lack of religious tolerance
• Loved the political and social structure of England, often aspiring to apply them to France.
• Praised English men’s work ethic and their lack of care for status when it came to their job.
• Believed that France should have a fair taxation system in that people pay taxes proportionate to how much revenue and estate they own.
• “To stop criticism they say one must die” freedom of speech
• Fair taxation system

Question 27

what were voltaire’s significant works?

Answer 27

Letters Concerning the English Nation 1733

Philosophical dictionary (1764)


Question 28

what were the key ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

Answer 28

• Born in Geneva Switzerland
• There is a contract “The Social Contract” between a ruler and his people
• Once mutual agreement is broken the obligation of the people to their ruler ceases
• King can lead the executive part of the govt, however it is up to the parliament to make meaningful laws
• The king is not put on his throne by God, instead real sovereignty
• The power to make laws should be in the hands of the people
• France could not meet Rousseau’s criterion of an ideal state because it was too big

Question 29

what were significant works of Rousseau?

Answer 29

• Encyclopaedia team
• The New Heloise (1761) natural family
• Emile (1762) education of children
• The social contract (1762) political writing and how society should be governed
• The social contract had many misconceptions and caused controversy/ criticism

Question 30

what were the key ideas of Denis Diderot?

Answer 30

-One of the most radical enlightenment thinkers
-Work attracted the attention of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia
-Thoughts on biology and sexuality were challenging
-No priests or gods
-rejected tradition religious beliefs
-thought that God was not necessary for humans to achieve our goals
-need to use science and understand nature
-Studied science
had a rudimentary idea of genes and inheritance

Question 31

what were the significant works of Denis Diderot?

Answer 31

• Edited the Encyclopedie
• Philosophical Thoughts (1746)
• A Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those who can See (1749)
• Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature (1754)
• Supplement of the Voyage of Bougainville (1972)


Question 32

what did the enlightenment teach people?

Answer 32

taught to question

Question 33

what was the role of women in the enlightenment?

Answer 33

Major meeting places were in ‘salons’ or formal discussion spaces in a wealthy noble or bourgeoisie woman’s home
A major way the ideas spread

Question 34

how did the enlightenment give hope?

Answer 34

Gave people hope that things could change

Question 35

how did the philosophes criticise the wealthy and church?

Answer 35

• Philosophes criticised the church, especially upper clergy wealth and laziness
• Also attacked the idleness of lower clergy (unfair as they helped- charity etc.)
• Disagreed with original sin- believed how a person was treated determined their evilness or goodness, not born that way
• Disagreed with religious orthodoxy
• Criticised discrimination by religion (could not get a state job if not catholic)

Question 36

when was the battle over the encyclopaedia? who wrote them? what was it? what did the king do in response? how many sold? what does seditious mean?

Answer 36

Published 1751-72
Diderot and d’Alembert edited articles together that showed critical viewpoints
Criticised church and monarchy, sympathised with peasants etc.

Seditious: involving rebellion against a government or other authority

King and church censored it
Creased publication for some months in 1752
4000 sold first copy and 20000 second copy

Question 37

what is enlightened despotism? who agreed on this?

Answer 37

all-powerful king is advised by intelligent people (philosophes preferably)
all the philosophes, one thing they agreed on

Question 38

did the philosophes suggest revolution or just reform?

Answer 38

• Many philosophes were conservative and did not suggest huge change
• Timothy Blanning believed that the Enlightenment did not criticise the ancien régime, just its abuse
• By 1780s many philosophes were dead and the others were safe in the ancien régime

Question 39

did the enlightenment reach all people?

Answer 39

• Readers of philosophes were a small elite

- Enlightenment ideas did not really reach peasants who made their own radical ideas without reading

Question 40

when was the American war of independence? how did it affect the revolution?

Answer 40

• Transmitted Enlightenment ideas in a new form
• Based on ideas of personal liberty and freedom from despotism
• Written constitution enshrined ‘inalienable rights’ in law (bill of rights)
• Limited government authority through separation of powers
• Belief that when a government failed to protect rights of citizen then the people had the right to remove it and replace it (popular sovereignty)
• America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence was translated into french and widely sold and discussed in Paris
• Eight thousand French soldiers served in the American war including Marquis de Lafayette (key individual) - these soldiers saw personal liberty in America which was unachievable in society with absolute monarch, powerful Church and privileged aristocracy

Question 41

what were physiocrats? what did they do? when? what set them apart? what did they believe? what was their slogan?

Answer 41

• The new, radical political ideas of the Enlightenment were matched by equally fresh developments in economic thought.
• The physiocrats were a group of French Enlightenment thinkers of the 1760s who were concerned with inefficiencies of the French economy
• characterized chiefly by a belief that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws and that land is the source of all wealth. It is generally regarded as the first scientific school of economics.
• Believed that those things which interfered with the growth and trade of agriculture should be removed: the corvee, which took peasants away from their land; internal customs duties, like the octrois, on goods entering a city or passing down a river; the poor state of public works, guilds and corporations which had monopolies over grain purchasing, thus preventing farmers from selling to the highest bidder, and trading privileges granted to individuals
• Slogan: ‘He governs best who governs least’

Question 42

what did the bourgeoisie start to become angry about?

Answer 42

Self worth was greater than the power they were given

Question 43

what were the ideas of utility and merit? who did this affect? define birth, merit and utility. who promoted these ideas?

Answer 43

bourgeoise:
-Importance should not rely on birth but utility and merit

Birth: status defined at birth

utility: usefulness in terms of labour

Merit: combination of a person’s abilities

• Rejected prestige of noble birth
• People in high office didn’t actually have qualifications or skills
• Idea promoted by philosophes

Question 44

what is the marxist theory of the revolutionary bourgeoise?

Answer 44

Belief that a capitalist bourgeoisie frustrated by their exclusion from power would challenge the feudal system

Question 45

how has the marxist idea been revised?

Answer 45

-Marxist idea if an inevitable pattern has been replaced by the idea of historical accident.

Historical accident: events happen by chance and there is no long term cause that makes them inevitable.

• Revolution was a political crisis that got out of hand
• Also challenges the idea of capitalist class. The ideas of the philosophes went to all people. Not bourgeoisie against noble but those for reform against those not for reform.
• The more capitalist bourgeoisie were often the more hostile to the enlightenment and reform.

Question 46

what were other social forces that developed the revolution?

Answer 46

• The liberal nobles also were losing confidence in the ancien régime so many were for reform eg. Lafayette and Condorcet
• Opposition came from aristocratic salons were nobles gathered to talk about the state of the nation. Lafayette went to help the colonialists
• Opposition came from tensions within nobility- between court and provincial nobles
• Salons became clubs eg. Breton Club

Question 47

describe the administrative systems in place? how did this affect tax?

Answer 47

-39 provinces headed by a governor (honorary position)
Intendant oversaw one of 36 generalities

Generalities: region used for taxation

• Ressort structure (parlements) mainly resolved disputes between provinces and generalities under their control
• 18 provinces run by archbishops
• 136 diocese ran by bishops
• King passed a law, parlements, provinces and generalities interpreted and implemented it in areas
• Varying laws and measurements Northern and central France had more tax
• Customs barriers collected excises, tolls and tariffs at different rates

Question 48

what was the taille?

Answer 48

main income tax. On central provinces but not some outer ones

Question 49

what was the gabelle?

Answer 49

tax on salt. 6 different rates. Some places paid none

Question 50

what are some symbols of the revolution?

Answer 50

-The triangle (equilateral carving) represents the new found equality for the three estates. Balance and justice
-The bundle of sticks (fasces) represents the strength of the people when they re together opposed to when they are alone and can easily ‘snap’. Unity
-The red, white and blue (tricolour) represent the new order
-The red cap (phrygian bonnet) is a representation of being freed from slavery
-The tree of liberty- is a sign of new beginnings
The cockerel represent pride, combated-ness and fearlessness
-The light is the new beginning and better future of the revolution whilst the clouds it passes through are the old
-Rousseau (philosophe) at the centre top guiding some change. -In place of the king or god (less important)
-The all seeing eye of justice, bringing light and knowledge into the world
-A lot of free mason imagery because they were important in the discussing of revolutionary ideas
-Cornucopia (under fasces) filled with things like food and money. All the things you need
-One flag says “French Republic”
-Idea that from the enlightenment, all the ideas spread

Question 51

when was the Compte Rendu published? by who? who could read it? why was necker employed? how did the Compte red lie? why?

Answer 51

-February 1781 Necker published first account of financial situation (Compte Rendu au Roi). Sold rapidly and was translated
-Necker appointed 1776 because of banking skills- Swiss and a commoner and a protestant
-Compte Rendu showed revenue exceeding expenditure by 10 million, even after war and no increased tax
-Did not include the cost of the war
If it had, he would not have gotten more loans from bankers

Question 52

how did systems influence the badness of the debt?

Answer 52

No central bank and inefficient tax collection

Question 53

what were the perceptions of wastefulness?

Answer 53

Royals spent too much
Madame Deficit
Royal court only spent 6% of budget
Rumours were exaggerated by jealous nobles who had lost queen’s favour

Parlous: dangerous or uncertain situation

Question 54

who was Marie Antoinette? when was she married and why? what did mother say? why did she become unpopular? rumours? understanding?

Answer 54

• Daughter of Austrian emperor Francis I and Marie-Theresa of Austria
• Married at 15 in 1770 as a peace treaty between France and Austria
• 1774 spent so lavishly that mother warned her
• Became deeply unpopular due to spending
• Diamond Necklace Affair 1785 made her out to have ordered a really expensive necklace
• She had little understanding of France or its people

Question 55

when was Turgot controller general? what was he famous for saying? how did he propsose change? six edicts? why was he dismissed?

Answer 55

-Jacques Turgot was Controller-general 1774-76
-“the first shot will drive the state to bankruptcy”
-Believed that bankruptcy could be fixed with a decrease on royal spending
“no new taxes, no new loans, no bankruptcy”
-By 1776 economy strong enough for dutch bankers to give
-Hoped to introduce a single tax on land instead of indirect taxes
-Didn’t want costly involvement in the war of independence
-His Six edicts 1776 suggested abolition of labour tax and other dues. Privileged at versailles dismissed him due to this

Question 56

when was necker in charge? who was he? what did he propose? what did he do? define tax farming?

Answer 56

• October 1776-may 1781
• Jacques Necker
• Protestant so couldn’t have the title of Comptroller
• Swiss
• Avoided new taxes (current ones were fine) but thought tax farming was wasteful.

Tax farming: collection of royal taxes by individuals in behalf of the government

• Borrowed 520 million for American war and listed the heavy interest as normal spending
• His Compte Rendu suggested that they fought the war and they paid no new taxes but still were 10 million in credit
• Steps towards creating a central treasury
• Surveyed venal offices to determine number of them and how much the Crown received from them
• Planned to replace venal offices by salaried offices (more accountable)
• Created provincial assemblies of land-owners to offset influence of parlements

Question 57

who was joly de Fleury? when did he replace necker? what did he do?

Answer 57

• Replaced Necker in 1781
• Raised 252 million in loans
• Increased taxes

Question 58

when was Calonne controller general? how much did he borrow? how much did the war cost? what taxes were in the war? what was the financial situation? what did he do in terms of reform? who made up the assembly of notables?

Answer 58

-1783-87
-Charles-Alexandre Calonne
-Borrowed 653 million more much in short-term loans
-Made peace with Britain
-Over a billion on the War of Independence, not including debt from other wars
-Vingtième (20th tex during wars) came to an end in 1786
-1786 bankruptcy
-1775 deficit of 34.2 million, 37.5% of revenue was spent on debts
-1786 deficit of 122 million (quarter of income)
-Almost half of revenue for 1787 had been spent in 1786
-Did not limit royal spending because the appearance of wealth built public confidence- people now saw it as bad
-‘Plan for the Improvement of the Finances’ August 1786
-Suggested uniform land tax to be paid by everyone to replace multiple income taxes
-3 vingtiemes be removed
-Tax privileges be abolished
-Local assemblies in the provinces should collect tax rather than tax farmers (35 million more). Work with Intendants
-Stamp tax on all documents extended
-Corvée or forced labour be replaced with direct tax (encourages peasants to produce more)
-Nobility except from capitation and taille
-Stimulate economy by removing internal tax barriers and external tariffs and removing controls of grain trade (this would create a national market)
-Wanted a new series of loans until revenues started
-Appealed for the Assembly of Notables to convince bankers that laws would pass (opposition from nobles and clergy). This would encourage parlements to register laws as well
-Handpicked nobility and princes unlikely to challenge king so laws should pass
144 notables (the third estate only had 30)

Question 59

when was the meeting of the notables? what happened with Louis and Calonne? why didn’t it go well?

Answer 59

• Louis XIV distracted by illness of child
• Calonne was ill
• Notables did not have a compliant mood
• Calonne had many enemies and people were suspicious of motives (overspending)
• Blamed him for the 10 million surplus under Necker (fake) becoming a huge debt by 1787

Question 60

what was the aristocratic revolt (first phase)? when was it? what did they agree and disagree with? why did they revolt? what did this do in terms of Calonne?

Answer 60

• 1787-88
• Privileged orders resisted the government’s attempts at tax reform
• Said they wanted taxation by representation

Taxation by representation: taxes that have been discussed and approved by the elected representatives of the people who are going to pay the taxes

-Government could make no more loans with no support from parlements or notables
-Notables approved with some changes
-Accepted local assemblies but fixed seats should go to clergy and nobility and intendants should not be able to overrule them
-Thought removal of Corvee should be a public works tax and should be applied to all
agreed to removal of internal customs barriers
-Disagreement around removal of privileged taxes (clergy had to discuss with all clergy and magistrates with all magistrates)
-Wanted a monetary tax rather than a tax in produce
-Refused to new tax unless they were told of financial situation (first time the king was responsible to them, had to get consent)
-Calonne tried to get public support with pamphlets in which he condemned the notables of their selfishness
-Louis XIV dismissed Calonne

Question 61

what did Brienne do with the assembly of notables? when was his plan? how did people react?

Answer 61

• Lomenie de Brienne, new finance minister
  1787 proposed new plan
• Retain land tax but modify other reforms
• Notables were dissolved so took decrees to parlement of Paris for registration
• Notables demanded a committee to audit royal spending, King refused
• Notables refused to pass any more taxes, saying that the estates general must
• Brienne closed the Assembly of Notables before there was too much concern
• People saw that the monarchy was unable to cope
  People demanded no taxation without representation (estates general was needed)

Question 62

what powers did the parliaments have? how could the King respond?

Answer 62

• Parlements had the right to remonstrate or return an edict to the King for redrafting
• Could delay edicts but did not have power to reject
• Could get public support or go on strike or even mass resign to refuse passing edict
• King could do a lit de justice or come to court, witness the reading and force the registration. Presence cancelled out all authority of magistrates
• Could also lettres de cachet where the opposition may be sent to prison or dismissed
• Parlements began changing their right to remonstrance into right to veto by arguing that the King held his throne by laws that were unchangeable but the parlements were there to protect people so should be able to scrutinise laws. However this was more theory than practice

Question 63

what did the Parliaments do in the Brienne era? what did the King and Brienne do in response?

Answer 63

• The parlements in 1787 (July) refused to register laws until it saw the royal accounts. They said only the estates general would pass laws
• The king ordered the parlement of Paris to Versailles where he could force them to register. Crowds gathered at the Palace of Justice to support
• King retired the Parlements to quite Paris and go to Troyes
• Police were ordered to close political clubs, repress pamphlets, stop gatherings at the Palace of Justice and keep streets clear at night
• Measures gave Brienne time to discuss with parlements.
• Offered to abandon tax stamp and the provincial collection is they agreed to reform existing laws
• They could examine royal accounts
• Called a Royal Session of the parlement for November 1787 where the King would sit but would not force laws

Question 64

what happened in the royal session 17 nov 1787? what happened that was disastrous?

Answer 64

• Brienne proposed reforms of tough economies on royal household, collection of taxes by royal officials, savings in the royal administration and armed forces
• State would borrow another 420 million between 1788 and 1792, solving the crisis
• Creates majority support for reforms but parlements still wanted estates general
• King forced the passing of the laws (despite the fact Brienne was so close) and parlements passed them
• When King left, parlements cancelled them

Question 65

after the royal session in 1787, how was the monarchy described to become authoritarian?

Answer 65

• Arrested and exiled three judges
• Prevented other parlement members from sitting
• Parlements refused to pass any laws and published many remonstrances
• Accused king of despotism
• Judges suggested that they had the right to grant taxes through the estates general
• The king arrested the two who suggested this
• Parlements had their power to registration and remonstrance removed and they were closed

Question 66

May and June 1788 popular resistance?

Answer 66

• Many parlements reconvened
• The judges were popular heroes
• Army offices hesitated to fire into the revolting crowds
• Day of Tiles
• Brienne called the Estates General for 1 May 1789

Question 67

what did the calling of the estates genera; result in? what were these? expectations? what was important about their writing?

Answer 67

• Calling the Estates General required the making of Books of Grievances and electing deputies
• Not demands but respectful statements that the king could respond to
• The three orders stated their concerns
• Created new expectations among social groups, especially the working class

Books of Grievances (Cahiers de doléances): lists of concerns drawn up by local meetings of the Three Estates across France before meeting of the estates general (May 1789)

-The process under which they were written is most important
-Appeared fair
Composed by meetings of people voted on
-Meetings of clergy were open to all Catholic clergy
-Meetings of nobility were open to all nobility over 25
-The third estate meetings was open to all who were over 25, paid some tax. Poor were excluded
-Nobility had a one-stage affair: elected deputies and wrote grievances (few minor or liberal nobility)
-Clergy had a simple two-stage process
-Higher clergy defended privileges
-Lower clergy were more liberal

Question 68

how was the cahier written for the this estate? results?

Answer 68

• Illiterate majority relied on bourgeoisie to write for them
• Grievances got filtered out of summarised dossiers
• No peasant or artisan got past the first round of choosing delegates
• Peasant feudal issues were overlooked for financial issues
• Louis would never hear the grievances of peasants

Question 69

political reform in the cahiers?

Answer 69

• attack on absolute royal power
• Agreement across orders
• Should be a national representative assembly that makes laws
• King should participate and be head of the executive gov
• Some called for the Estates General to meet regularly

Question 70

cahiers on administration reform?

Answer 70

• Wanted provincial assemblies to supervise tax collection and spending of revenue on community projects
• Wanted venal public office abolished (50 000 people who were accountable to no one)
• Recommended public servants be paid by the government and be accountable to the public

Question 71

cahiers on legal and judicial reform?

Answer 71

• uniform, fair justice system
• Streamline many courts
• Law should act with more humanity and respect for rights
• Some wanted basic rights such as inviolability of property and freedom of speech
• Remove lettres de cachet was unanimous

Question 72

the cahiers on fiscal reform?

Answer 72

• Strong agreement
• Fairer taxes
• Have taxes voted on with a representative body
• Wanted national control of spending
• Agreed to Remove corvee
• Agreed to remove internal tax barriers and gabelle

Question 73

who is Philippe Duc d’Orleans? what did he own? who was he in the EG? when did he lose favour? what revolutionary groups was he involved in? what did people think he would do? how did he cause scandal?

Answer 73

-Liberal noble, cousin of King Louis XVI, prince and head of the d’Orleans family
-Owner of Palais-Royal
-Elected a second estate deputy for estates general
-among the nobles who joined the Third Estate after the declaration of the National Assembly
-Lost favour because he was refused appointment as admiral and then turned against the monarchy
-Joined Society of Thirty (constitutionalists) which made pamphlets on political reform
-Had support of Orleans faction
Some thought he would take throne
-Opened his buildings of Palais-royal to radical speakers (could not get arrested)
-Caused scandal by trying to march with the third estate at the estates general

Question 74

what event caused the food crisis? how much did people have to pay for bread? rumours? why did the agriculture not cope with pop increase? who struggled? what happened over the winter of 1788 and 89?

Answer 74

-13 July 1788 a storm devastated wheat crops
-Price of grain increased over 1789
-Urban families spend 30-60% of income on bread but now 65-90%
-Demand for goods went down so economy slowed
-Peasants convinced that King and nobility made a plot to hoard grain so that prices would increase and peasants would be politically controlled
-Backward agriculture systems unlike English so could not deal.
Nobility were not interested in change but population was increasing and self-sufficiency was not enough
-Rents were rising
-Failure in grape harvest in 1788 was a disaster
-Nobles had difficulty maintaining income from rent as did some bourgeoisie
-Massive unemployment especially rurally
-In November-feb 1788 and 1789 people starved and froze

Question 75

when were the Revellion riots? what events had spurred it? what happened? what happened as a result?

Answer 75

• April 1789
• Food prices had risen causing further resentment
• 3000 attacked manufacturer Reveillon after he argued for deregulation of bread prices
• Rumour he would cut wages at his wallpaper factory
• Fake guillotine and placard saying “death to rich”
• 300 people injured (exaggerated from 25) by Gardes Françaises (elite royal household troops) putting down riots
• Rumours spread of a grain plot
• If King couldn’t get money from EG, he would fix financial problems by selling grain
• Propertied classes formed militia to stop crowd if they rose up again

Question 76

when was the bourgeoisie revolution?

Answer 76

1788-89

Question 77

what was provincial assembly?

Answer 77

The provincial assembly was another voting method used in many provinces 1778-87

Question 78

how was the third estate doubled? voting?

Answer 78

-Third estate was doubled
-Voting by head
Provincial assembly of -Vizille suggested this be used by Estates-General
-Brienne approved but lost power soon after
Pamphlets supported this
-Nobles demanded voting by order
-Judges of parlements also supported voting by order- lost popularity
-Pamphleteers said that voting by order was a plot by privileged orders to keep third estate under control
-Non-privileged public agreed with alternate method

Question 79

when was Necker’s after indecision? what happened at the same time?

Answer 79

• Debate from sep until dec 1788
• Necker decided to double third estate but not allow voting by head
• Suggest that Estates-General could decide what to do when it met and hoped they would deliberate in common
• 1789 Abbé Sieyès’ What is the Third Estate?
• Claimed that the Third Estate was so large and economically important that it was not just part of the nation but the nation.
• Switched definition of third estate from everyone who isn’t privileged and made the privileged everyone who isn’t useful
• There is no reason for the estates-general
• Third estate should meet independently as an assembly of the nation (parliament)

Question 80

why was Abbé Sieyès? what opinions did he have? what did he conclude by 1788? what grievances did he have? what notion did he raise?

Answer 80

• Ordained in 1773
• Became chancellor of the Diocese of Chartres but went no further (due to common status)
• No democrat
• Frosty with lower status people and women
• By 1788 he concluded that the King would never stop being selfish
• Made three pamphlets
• Last was famous and made him a revolutionary
• Born to a middle-class family in southern France, not far from Cannes,
• Entered the priesthood in 1773. He became aware of the venality in the church; it was almost impossible for commoners like Sieyès to enter the higher clergy.
• These grievances fuelled his political radicalism and his sympathies for the Third Estate.
• More than 30,000 copies of ‘What is the Third Estate?’ and four different editions appeared between January and May 1789 - made Sieyès a popular figure and earned him a place at the Estates General.
• Raised the motion forming the National Assembly, led the drafting of the Tennis Court Oath and contributed to the formulation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Sieyès re-entered politics in 1792, sitting in the National Convention as a moderate. The rising Jacobin radicalism of 1793 prompted his resignation; he barely survived the Reign of Terror by renouncing his own Catholicism.
• Famous quote: When asked what he had done during the Terror he declared ‘I survived’.

Question 81

what was the goal of the society of thirty? when and where did they meet? how many were commoners? some famous members?

Answer 81

• The goal of the Society of Thirty was to design a new constitution for France based on principles of the Enlightenment. This group later became the Constitutional Club.
• Met twice weekly at the house of the parlementaire Adrian Duport to debate the nature of representation to the Estates-General
• Membership grew but only five were commoners
• Famous members included Marquis de Lafayette, The Duke de Noailles, the Duke de la Rouchefoucauld (also returned from American War), the Marquis de Condorcet (philosophe and mathematician), Comte de Mirabeau (soon to be hailed as ‘the voice of the revolution’), Bishop Talleyrand, Abbe Sieyes, Pastor Rabaut Saint-Etienne.
• Schama says that they were ‘courtiers against the court, aristocrats against privilege, officers who wanted to replace dynastic with national patriotism.’
• most were deputies for third estate

Question 82

what happened on the 2 May in the estates general?

Answer 82

• Louis received the delegates
• Clergy had first private audience with doors closed
• Nobility had doors partially closed
• Three hours of waiting then Third Estate had an audience in another salon
• Third estate had to file past the King single file

Question 83

what happened on the 4 may 1789 at the EG?

Answer 83

• Procession to Church of St. Louis
• Third Estate after guard in black clothes
• Nobility in colourful satin suits
• clergy in regalia
• The Queen was no welcomed

Question 84

what happened 5 may 1789? how did the King fail and how did Necker fail?

Answer 84

• Met at Hotel des Menus Plaisirs
• King and Queen were dressed expensively
• Louis put on hat, privileged orders allowed to copy but Third Estate also did so
• Louis took off hat and put it back on again
• Unsure if Third Estate didn’t know or were rebelling
• In speech Louis referred to ‘much exaggerated desire for innovations’ and hoped everyone would work together
• Keeper of seals called them ‘dangerous innovations’
• Necker gave a three hour ling speech on finances
• No plans or policies were made

Question 85

what happened 6 May 1789 EG?

Answer 85

• Deputies met seperate estates to verify credentials
• Question of voting not settled
• Third Estate called for all to be present for the credentials
• Refused to undergo verification until this was done
• For three weeks third estate debated but did not accept status or organise themselves, elect leaders etc.
• Did elect Jean-Sylvain Bailly to control debates (popular)

Question 86

12 June, 13 June, 14 June, 17, 19, 20 Declaration of National Assembly at EG?

Answer 86

• 12 June Commons began verification but verified as representatives of the nation (not order)
• 13 June three clergymen joined them
• More joined on 14th
• On 17th the Commons declared themselves the Nation Assembly of France
• Beginning of the revolution
• Indecision of Louis was mainly to blame
• Did not decide to vote by head or order in dec 1788
• Didn’t decide on common verification
• Distracted by death of eldest son
• Indecision of King made Commons harden position
• Commons were urged on by the public
• 19 June clergy voted to join the national assembly
• 20 June National Assembly arrived at Salle des Menus Plaisirs to begun discussions but door was locked
• Summoned to a Séance Royal 23 June where National Assembly would be made illegal

Question 87

who lead the Tennis court oath? when was it? where was it? what did they do? who opposed? significance?

Answer 87

• Lead by Dr. Joseph Guillotin
• Indoor tennis court
• No chairs
• crowds at doors
• Jean-Joseph Mounier got 600 deputies to swear oath not to separate until a constitution was reached
• Individually in front of Jean-sylvain bailly
• Arms raised in roman salute
• “summoned to establish the constitution of the Kingdom”
• “nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberations”
• One opposing
• First formal act of disobedience
• Lafayette absent
• 20 June 1789

Question 88

what were Louis’s options after the Tennis Court Oath? what did he do?

Answer 88

• Adopt a conciliatory approach as Necker advised
• Follow the advice of younger brother the Comte d’Artois and his wife and disband the National Assembly, by force if necessary. The Minister of War (Comte de Puysegur had reinforced the garrisons around Paris on his own initiative already).
• Tell the deputies what he would or would not accept.
• Louis chose the third option, trying to steer a course in between options 1 and 2.

Question 89

when was the next royal session? what was reached? what did Louis offer? who challenged? who vowed to stay? soldiers? what happened as a result?

Answer 89

• 23 June 1789
• National Assembly annulled, estates must meet separately
• Louis offered equal tax, new taxes levied by EG, privileged tax status sacrificed voluntarily, extend provincial assemblies to nation, abolish censorship of press, end lettres de cachet
• Nobility and majority of clergy did not challenge
• Rest remained seated
• Sieyes: “the assembled nation cannot be given orders”
• 493 deputies vowed to stay
• 24 June soldiers sent to split them but they joined the NA
• 25 June 47 liberal nobles including King’s cousin joined
• King ordered EG to meet in common and vote by head
• Rest joined the rebels
• Necker sacked using armed force
• 26 June 6 regiments sent to versailles
• 1 July 10 regiments sent to Paris

Question 90

who was Compte de Mirabeau? what did he do in the beginning? who did he become? what did he believe?

Answer 90

-From a wealthy commercial family
-Father believed in importance of agriculture and landed nobility
-In military for a bit
-Involved in scandals with women and gambling
-23 married and fled to Switzerland with another women with no money (gambling)
-Disowned by father
-Was put in jail
-He wrote in jail the Erotic Bible
-Released in 1782 and began writing politically
-1789 he was appointed as a deputy of Aix-la-Chapelle for EG- a prominent leader
-His speaking ability set him apart at EG
-Supported British political system
-Wanted a constitutional monarchy
-Absented himself from the final vote with the national assembly, fearing upsetting the king
-But he returned saying “twe are here by the will of the people and we are only to be driven out by the bayonet”
-July 13th 1789 he was given his father’s title and visited the ruins of the Bastille. He was showered in flowers
-Felt political reform was better than violence
-Critical of abolishing feudalisms as it might make society unstable
-Between 1789-90 he tried to set up a constitution and make alliances with popular figures
-President of the National Constituent Assembly but in 1790 he lost confidence from the royal court
January 1791 he realised the competing interests of the court made a constitutional monarchy impossible
-Died in April 1791- mourning across France
-Mourning lasted until the opening of the iron chest
In 1792
-This showed he had received 6000 livres from the King every month to advise the king- his body was then placed in a lead coffin and put in a common cemetery

Question 91

how did tensions rise in July 1789?

Answer 91

• July 1789, Paris was in a ferment and a mere spark could have ignited the situation.
• King prepared for military intervention.
• Troop numbers rise to 20,000 in Paris – most foreign mercenaries
• 8th July, Mirabeau demanded that the troops be withdrawn, but the King refused, saying that they were necessary to `keep order‘
• A second element in this volatile situation was that the radical bourgeoisie realised that the popular agitation could serve their cause. BUT they were also fearful that it might escalate into crowd violence against all people of property. (As they had seen so frighteningly rehearsed in the recent Reveillon riots.‘)
• The people are learning how powerful they are!
• Louis fans the flames of discontent when he dismisses Necker. This aggravates the people further because Necker favoured control of grain production, as well as government subsidies for bread in times of crisis (made him popular).
• The people begin to arm themselves and creating militia (fighting force made up of non-professional soldiers).
• Response: the Committee of Electors form the National Guard, made up of reliable bourgeois citizens to protect private property.
• The crowds of citizens are prepared to battle, and search for food and weapons - they find grain at the Abbey of Saint Lazare and conclude that the grain crisis had been created artificially by the rich hoarding food.
• For all of their moral force, the deputies of the Estates-General utterly lacked material force to counter the king’s obvious intentions. The assembly was saved from likely dissolution only by a massive popular mobilization.
• During the momentous political events of 1788–89, much of the country lay in the grip of a classic subsistence crisis.
• During the winter and spring of 1789, urban consumers and peasants rioted at bakeries and markets and attacked millers and grain convoys. Then, in July, this anxiety merged with the looming political crisis at Versailles. Parisians believed that food shortages and royal troops would be used in tandem to starve the people and overwhelm them into submission. They feared an “aristocratic plot” to throttle the patriot cause- going to want to get rid of the people who make these ‘plots’

Question 92

how did the regime lose military force?

Answer 92

An aristocrat: “the defection of the Army was not one of the causes of the Revolution, it was the Revolution itself.”
14th July 30 000 people attacked Les Invalides, a military hospital
Commander doubted whether his troops would obey a command to fire on the crowds
The crowd looted 12 cannons and 40 000 muskets and took them to the town hall

Question 93

what was the fall of the Bastille?

Answer 93

-Prison which was a symbol of royal absolutism and authority
-Where lettres de cachet went
-Went there as a source of weapons
-Raised flag of truce and demanded from governor Launay that he give them arms and ammunition
-He refused but said he wouldn’t use the cannon unless directly attacked
-Delegates agreed to this compromise
-The crowd feared that the delegates were captured and entered, shots were fired and many civilians died and some soldiers
-The Grades Françaises joined
-The crowds positioned guns at the front gate
Launay threatened to blow up the fortress rather than give it up
-Surrendered
-A delegation from the town hall said to stop firing
-Launay was taken prisoner with some guards
-He was murdered on the way and mutilated by crowds who put his head on a spike
-The people were fairly common
-One woman
-They were given a place of honour by the National Assembly
-This was the first time the people did something and felt they were helping the NA
-They came to expect something from the revolution

Question 94

what was the significance of the storming of the Bastille?

Answer 94

• The King had lost control of Paris, were the electors set up a Commune to run the city.
• Lafayette was appointed commander of the predominantly bourgeois National Guard
• The Assembly prepared to draw up a constitution, no longer under threat of being dissolved by the King (people have proven their power)
• Real power had passed from the King to the elected representatives of the people. Louis now had to share his power with the National Assembly.
• Louis was no longer in a position to dictate to the Assembly, because he could not rely upon the army.
• News of the fall of the Bastille spread through France and intensified activity among the peasantry.
• The revolt led to the emigration of some nobles, led by the King’s brother the Comte d’Artois: 20,000 emigres fled abroad in two months.

Question 95

who was Camille desmoulins? what did he believe? what did he do?

Answer 95

• Inspired by philosophes to hate organised religion and criticise the monarchy
• Lawyer
• Practice failed due to his stutter
• He wrote pamphlets during 1787-89 and attempted to be a delegate
• He lead the capture of the Bastille
• Wanted a republic and felt some revolutionary violence was needed
• Campaigned for the abdication of the king
• Blamed for the Champ de Mars massacre
• Went into hiding
• Key role in organising the second revolution
• Used pamphlets to propose and end to the Terror
• Associated with Danton’s indulgent party criticising the terror and demanding Tribunal of Clemency
• Despite friendship with Robespierre he guillotined in 1794
• Argued for king to return to Paris in oct 1789
• Called “to arms, to arms”- provides mobs with a unified goal and direction. Them becomes hard to restrict them

Question 96

the king’s endorsement of the revolution?

Answer 96

On July 17 the king traveled to Paris, where he publicly donned a cockade bearing a new combination of colours: white for the Bourbons and blue and red for the city of Paris. This tricolour was to become the new national flag.

Question 97

the formation of the national guard

Answer 97

• The National Guard was an organised militia, intended to defend Paris from external military threats while functioning as a local garrison and maintaining order in the city.
• It was officially formed on July 13th 1789 by Parisian delegates to the National Assembly, who were concerned about the presence of royalist troops outside Paris and growing disorder in the city.
• The first commander of the National Guard was the Marquis de Lafayette, a nobleman and political liberal, famous for his military leadership in the American Revolution.
• Under Lafayette’s command, the National Guard became a noticeably bourgeois institution, its officer corps filled with middle-class businessmen and property owners.
• The growing radicalism of the revolution in 1791 pushed Lafayette and the National Guard into difficult situations, such as the ‘Day of Daggers’ and the Champ de Mars massacre.

Question 98

marquise de lafayette

Answer 98

• Hero of the American War of Independence
• Liberal noble elected a Second Estate deputy for the Estates-General
• A ‘man of 1789’ who was influential during the early years of the revolution
• First commander of the newly-formed National Guard in July 1789.

Question 99

what is the crowd of the popular movement?

Answer 99

The crowd usually was not made up if the desperately poor

The crowd is made of a large range of people

Question 100

how was the revolutionary movement formed?

Answer 100

Protesting was not new

People started to have an idea about politics and could take over cities with their unity

Question 101

how did leaders help the revolution?

Answer 101

Camille Desmoulins called the crowd to arms
Suggests revolutionary leaders are important
Duke d’Orleans also lead people
The crowd did have some agency though

Question 102

violence in the revolution? political clubs? new identity?

Answer 102

Violence as the language of the crowd
people began hanging and executing without much question of their guilt

What was the role of the political club?
The club provided a place fir people to discuss political ideas and thus find unity

How did the popular movement express its new sense of identity?
Changes political systems
Change how people view themselves- pride, self-awareness, identity
Killed the culture of deference
Developed an egalitarian society and later hatred for the rich

Question 103

the murders of Bertier de Sauvigny and Foulon

Answer 103

23 July 1789
Bastille was being demolished but violence did not end
Sauvigny intendant of Paris caught when trying to emigrate
Foulon was blamed for famine plot and hoarding food
Both murdered and heads piked
Foulon had grass stuffed in his mouth- people could eat hay
Deputies horrified- realised they needed some reforms and laws etc.
Lafayette offered to resign feeling like a failure
Some deputies thought this was necessary

Question 104

significance of 1789

Answer 104

1) The creation of the National Assembly - showed the deputies could create a parliament.
2) The capture of the Bastille showed that the Parisian crowd could take powerful action to defend the Assembly against the King.

BUT this did not mean, however the revolution was safe. DOUBTS rose about the loyalty of the King to the revolution.

Up to now, the Revolution of 1789 reflected the qualities of the people guiding it - most deputies belonged to the urban middle classes & had little idea of peasant grievances.

July-August 1789, peasants across France expressed grievances in a rural rebellion which created `the Great Fear’.

THIS rebellion caused the Assembly to hastily decree abolition of the feudal system in the August Decrees. These were later modified to ensure peasants bought their way out of their feudal land dues (many of whom could not)

DIRECT ACTION In October revolutionaries marched to Versailles and brought the King and the royal family to Paris where they would be under the direct control of the revolutionaries.

Question 105

municipal revolt

Answer 105

-As a result of revolt in Paris, King’s power had collapsed in most towns
-Followed the National Constituent Assembly
-Bourgeoisie played a leading role in these municipal revolts
Broadened membership of councils
-Electors of third estate seized control (Bordeaux)
-Municipal corporations overthrown by force
-Former councils allowed to stay in office but integrated into a committee as a minority
-Formation of citizens’ militias
-In nearly every town a National Guard was formed, as in Paris, designed to control popular violence and prevent counter-revolution.
-Nearly all intendants abandoned posts
-Rural areas watched Paris and followed suit
-Protests sent to royal authorities- wanted movement of troops, angry about attempts to dismiss EG
-Discontent against royal authorities due to raised prices
-Invaded tax offices, seized armouries, seized royal citadels
-Formed local committees and national guards
-Aristocrats had to give up posts
-Attacks on grain stores and grain dealers
-Refused taxes
-Troops were sympathetic and the King lost control

Question 106

the attack on feudalism

Answer 106

• French seigneurialism benefited landowners at the expense of peasants.
• Peasants were required to show deference to seigneurs (lords) and pay them feudal dues such as the champart (offering of grain or produce) and contribute unpaid labour.
• Peasants could not hunt or collect wood on land of lords, and could be legally tried by the seigneur (a form of serfdom)
• Grievances over seigneurialism caused widespread non-compliance with the system and triggered the Great Fear; this in turn led to the Night of Patriotic Delirium (4 August 1789), during which the privileged voluntarily gave up their rights (later formalised in the August Decrees).

Question 107

according to Lefebvre what were the stages of the revolution?

Answer 107

1) revolt of the nobles (Assembly) of Notables)
2) revolt of the bourgeoisie (Tennis Court Oath)
3) revolt of the popular movement (capture of the Bastille)
4) peasant revolution in the countryside (Great Fear)

Question 108

the rural revolt and the great fear

Answer 108

• March and April 1789
• Against privilege
• Refused tax
• The great fear was the belief that the nobility were plotting to destroy the revolution. Rumoured that the nobles would have them killed
• Feared troops would come so they armed themselves
• Peasants also attacked the nobility
• Nobles raised pigeons and rabbits that destroyed fields and the peasants couldn’t touch them but they began killing them
• Angry about corvee that took men away from crops so couldn’t protect them
• Game, wine presses and ovens destroyed
• Angry about flogging, branding and banishment- man taken away, family dies
• Destroyed records of manorial rolls hoping to not have to pay taxes in future
• Anger at system not anger at master- few casualties
• Pressured the nobility to reform

Question 109

how did the peasants contribute to the collapse of the regime?

Answer 109

Assembly needed to stop the peasants and couldn’t get King’s troops to stop them or peasants may turn on assembly
Had to give them some of what they wanted

Question 110

the night of patriotic delirium

Answer 110

Session of the National Constituent assembly
During the Great Fear
Brenton Club liberals proposed reforms to stop the peasants
Noble deputies began voluntarily giving up privileges
Established equal responsibility of taxation
Abolished venal offices
Negotiated an end to feudal dues

Question 111

the august decrees

Answer 111

Formalised abolition of seigneurial feudalism and noble privilege
Peasants were temporarily pacified
Many feudal rights could only be abolished if the owner was compensated, the peasants could not deliver this

Question 112

significance of the august decrees

Answer 112

Started the process of dismantling the ancien regime - marked the end of noble power and the privilege of birth by establishing a society based on civil equality.
Note: equality in theory different from equality in practice - opportunity for bourgeoise greater than that for peasantry
Committed peasants to the new regime - many feared that if they did not support changes then aristocratic privilege and the tithe would return and they would lose all they had gained
Provincial estates swept away allowing for national uniform system of administration

Question 113

the declaration

Answer 113

The August Decrees prepared the ground for the creation of a constitution. Before this, the deputies drew up the principles on which this should be based - the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
Rude: “…it sounded the death-knell of the ancien regime, while preparing the public for the constructive legislation that was to follow.”
The Declaration was accepted by the Assembly on 26 August 1789.

Question 114

aspects of the declaration?

Answer 114

Personal freedoms:
Man in born free with equal rights
Can do anything that does not harm others
employment, honours etc. are based on skill not birth
Free to have opinion
Freedom of speech, writing and printing
Can see the accounts
Everyone has right to property

Method of government:
To conserve the equal rights of people
No one individual can wield all power

Legal aspects:
Law forbids actions that harm people
The same for all
Can only be arrested if the law is broken
Penalties must be suitable
Innocent until proven guilty
Public force is used to maintain laws but cannot be used privately

Financial aspects:
Tax will be on all based on what they can pay
Taxes will be agreed upon by all