Chapter 3

Question 1

what is the ancien régime?

Answer 1

ancient order for france

Question 2

estates of france in the ancien régime?

Answer 2

First Estate [clergy]
Second Estate [nobles]
Third Estate [everyone else]

Question 3

how did louis 14, 15, and 16 contribute to france’s deficit spending?

Answer 3

Louis 14 → built the Palais Versailles
Louis 15 → pursued pleasure over business and ran up more debts
Louis 16 → Well-meaning, but weak and indecisive

Question 4

Who was Jacques Necker and what did he do?

Answer 4

Louis 16 hired Jacques Necker as financial advisor

Necker urged the king to:
Reduce spending
Reform government
Abolish tariffs on international trade
Tax the First and Second Estates

Question 5

what is the estates-general?

Answer 5

[legislative body consisting of representatives from all three estates; similar to Parliament]

Question 6

why was the estates general held? why was it not held sooner?

Answer 6

the issue was taxing the first and second estates

Estates-General hadn’t been called on for 175 years at the time bc royals were afraid the nobles would try to weaken monarchy like in England

Question 7

what were cahiers?

Answer 7

grievance notebooks that the estates brought to the estates-general
Cahiers called for reforms
Cahiers testified boiling class resentments

Question 8

why did the delegates swear the tennis court oath and what did it stipulate?

Answer 8

3rd Estate wanted more votes bc they had more ppl.
So, 3rd Estate declared themselves to be the National Assembly
Few days later, National Assembly was locked out of Estates-General bc the king wanted to dismiss them, so they went to tennis court and took the Tennis Court Oath

swore to never separate and to meet whenever the circumstances required until they established a just and sound constitution

Question 9

what was the national assembly?

Answer 9

the 3rd estate

Question 10

order of french orders

Answer 10

ancien régime
- 3 estates

National Assembly (revolutionary phase)
- tennis court oath
- paris commune
- declaration of the rights of man
- Constitution of 1791
- Louis 16 tries to escape
- Louis escapes to Legislative Assembly
- Legislative Assembly (radicals had the upper hand)

National Convention (radical phase)
- execution of Louis 16
- Committee of Public Safety

Directory (moderate phase)
- Constitution of 1795
- start of Napoleon

Age of Napoleon
- Concordat of 1801
- Napoleonic Code
- Continental System

Question 11

how did peasants react to the National Assembly placing the church under state control

Answer 11

they were angry

Question 12

what did the declaration of the rights of man do?

Answer 12

it just granted equal rights for all
king was still technically in power

Question 13

what did the Constitution of 1791 do?

Answer 13

Replaces absolute monarchy with limited monarchy

Question 14

who were emigres?

Answer 14

french citizens who fled france and spread terror of the “french plague” to nearby countries

Question 15

Declaration of Pillnitz

Answer 15

King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria issue this
threat to revolutionary france

Question 16

Why did Louis 16 escape to Legislative Assembly?

Answer 16

Prussians were killing off French recruits and royalist French officers were deserting, so ppl thought the king was in league with their enemies
crowd of Parisians stormed palace, but royals escaped to Legislative Assembly

Question 17

what does levée en masse mean?

Answer 17

mass levy tax that required all citizens to contribute to the war effort
issued by the Committee of Public Safety

Question 18

Who was Maximilien Robespierre?

Answer 18

“the incorruptible”
head of the Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre was considered main person in Reign of Terror
Fearing their own lives, the National Convention ended the Committee of Public Safety by arresting and killing Robespierre

Question 19

Why did the Directory fail?

Answer 19

War with some neighbors
Rioting due to bread prices
Revival of royalists

As chaos continued, politicians wanted to use Napoleon Bonaparte, but he outwitted them and became ruler of France

Question 20

how did napoleon rise to power?

Answer 20

He moved from military leader to political leader by helping overthrow the Directory and set up the Consulate
He took the title of First Consul and later named himself consul for life
Then, Napoleon the names himself Emperor of the French
Napoleon held a plebiscite every step on the rise to power, even though he held absolute power, which is sometimes called democratic despotism

Question 21

what is a plebiscite?

Answer 21

[popular vote by ballot]

Question 22

Concordat of 1801

Answer 22

kept peace with the Catholic Church

Question 23

Napoleonic Code

Answer 23

lasting reforms that embodied Enlightenment principles

Question 24

what was the Continental System

Answer 24

closed European ports to British goods, then Britain responded with its own blockade of European ports

part of economic war vs Britain

Question 25

What is scorched-earth policy and how was it used in context?

Answer 25

burning crops and villages so that the enemy cannot benefit
Russians used this to stop the Grand Army. this policy left French soldiers hungry and cold as winter came

Question 26

Napoleon’s Fall

Answer 26

European leaders exiled Napoleon to Elba and restored Louis 18 to the throne
Napoleon escaped and quickly raised an army
100 days later, his army was crushed at the Battle of Waterloo
He was once again exiled, this time in St. Helena, where he died

Question 27

What was the Congress of Vienna, what was their goal, and how did they achieve it?

Answer 27

a congress where diplomats and heads of state gathered

this was held to restore stability to Europe

created the Concert of Europe, which:
- restored the hereditary monarchs to the throne for
legitimacy
- kept strong countries around France to subdue any
future rebellions