e) Attack On The Monarchy

Question 1

When was the Flight to Varennes?

Answer 1

Between June and July 1791

Question 2

Why did Louis XVI try to escape from Paris?

Answer 2

1. Imprisonment - trapped in their palace since 1789
2. Pressure from the Queen - she wanted to restore monarchical rule
3. Opposition to the reforms - resented the reduction in his authority
4. Underestimated the support for the revolution
5. A counter revolution seemed possible - idea of quashing the revolution by force

Question 3

What were the consequences of the Flight to Varennes?

Answer 3

1. Louis XVI had shown that he didn’t really support the revolution
2. Louis XVI was now seen by many as a traitor

Question 4

When was the Champs de Mars?

Answer 4

July 17 1791

Question 5

What was the Champs de Mars?

Answer 5

A large crowd of poorer Parisians gathered to support a republican petition

Wanted a state that does not have a king

Paris Commune sent Lafayette and the National Guard to disperse the crowd - killed about 50

Suppressed the mob extremists and allowed moderates in the Assembly to draft the constitution

Question 6

The Flight to Varennes encouraged non-republicans in the Assembly to what?

Answer 6

Finalise the constitution

Question 7

What examples show that the Royal Family did not support the Constitution?

Answer 7

Marie Antoinette contacted her brother Leopold II - asked him to help quash the revolution with force

Louis wanted to appoint monarchist ministers - Louis appointed Feuillants, his supporters (angered reformers)

Question 8

What were the Feuillants?

Answer 8

A political group that split from the Jacobins in 1791 (as they supported a republic)

Feuillants wanted a constitutional monarchy, but they were seen as royalists

Over 800 of them were executed with the fall of the monarchy

Question 9

Why did the Legislative Assembly start to decline?

Answer 9

1. Not democratic enough - only few were able to vote under its rules
2. Inexperienced membership - very few members from the more experienced first and second estates
3. Divided Assembly

Question 10

The Assembly was divided into 3 groups, what were they?

Answer 10

1. Feuillants - those who supported the Constitution and a limited monarchy
2. Jacobins - those who opposed the monarchy and wanted a republic
3. Plains - those without a clear political view but usually voted with the jacobins

Question 11

From late 1791, what events made war increasingly likely?

Answer 11

1. Foreign aggression - Marie Antoinette’s brother called for an attack to save the royal family
2. Emigré royalists - were gathered at the French boarder, urged foreign powers to take action
3. King’s veto - uses his veto to support the counter-revolution
4. Girondins in the Assembly - leadership in the legislative assembly was increasingly controlled by Girondins, who sought war against the counter-revolutionaries

Question 12

When did Louis use his veto?

Answer 12

Nov 1791 to overrule legislation

He vetoed a decree calling for the death penalty for emigrés assembled on the boarder

He vetoed a decree that every non-juring clergyman must take a civic oath within 8 days or lose their pension

Question 13

Why did Louis replace his ministers with Girondins in April 1792?

Answer 13

Feuillants opposed war with Austria

Girondins wanted a war

The terrible winter in 1791-2 caused riots among the menu people

Replacing the ministers was an attempt to restore order

Question 14

What factors in 1791-2 made the Assembly distrust Louis XVI?

Answer 14

The Nov 1791 vetoes

The appointment of Feuillant ministers

Question 15

When did France declare war on Austria?

Answer 15

20 April 1792

Question 16

Why did the invasion of Austria and Prussian troops have disastrous effects for the Royal Family?

Answer 16

1. Riots in Paris - troops caused disturbances, anger directed towards King.
2. Brunswick Manifesto - supporter of Marie A, the manifesto promised to kill Parisians if the royal family was harmed.

Question 17

Why were Parisians angered by the Brunswick Manifesto?

Answer 17

It amounted to foreign interference in French affairs

Question 18

Why did tensions in Paris increase in late July 1792?

Answer 18

The arrival of the radical Federes

They were revolutionaries from France’s provinces

They were supposed to defend Paris, but instead were vocal about the removal of the King

Question 19

What actions did the king take in June 1792, that angered the revolutionaries?

Answer 19

• Vetoed laws that would disband his military and create a national guard
• Louis dismissed the popular Girondin Interior Minister Roland
• Louis refused to reinstate Roland to placate the mob

Question 20

Who was Robespierre, and what were his revolutionary beliefs?

Answer 20

He was a prominent speaker in both the Assembly and the Jacobin club

He earned the reputation of a radical

He opposed the declaration of war in April 1792

But in July 1793 he joined the Committee of Public Safety which supervised the war effort

Question 21

When did the Sans-Culottes set up the Revolutionary Commune?

Answer 21

9 August 1792

Question 22

What was the Revolutionary Commune?

Answer 22

Originally formed to govern the city in 1789

Taken over by the Sans-Culottes in 1792

Jacobin majority

Became an important revolutionary body during the Terror

Question 23

What was the journée?

Answer 23

10 August 1792 - Demanding an end to the monarchy

Around 20,000 Sans- Culottes march to the Tuileries palace

Accompanied by Federes and the National Guard (from the more revolutionary Paris sections)

Well planned and king forced to seek sanctuary at the Assembly

Nearly all the Swiss Guard were murdered

Question 24

What were the September Massacres?

Answer 24

A wave of killings in Paris (2–7 September 1792) and other cities in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution.

There was a fear that foreign and royalist armies would attack Paris and prisoners would be freed and join them.

Radicals called for preemptive action to kill prisoners before they would be freed.

Around 1,300 prisoners were killed.

233 were Catholic Priests who refused to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Question 26

Why did the Legislative Assembly suspend the king and call for a National Convention?

When the Assembly did this, who was effectively in charge of Paris?

Answer 26

To appease the mob and win back their support

The Revolutionary Commune and the Sans-Culottes

Question 27

How did the Assembly try to appease the Sans- Culottes in 1792?

Answer 27

1. Refractory Priests were now deported
2. Feudal dues were cancelled without compensation
3. House searches for weapons
4. Divorce was legalised

Question 28

What did the Jacobins want for the new National Convention?

Answer 28

A strong central government

Strict control of the economy

Wanted the king to be put on trial

Question 29

What did the Girondins want from the National Convention?

Answer 29

Limited government involvement in the economy

More power given to the regions

Did not want the king to die

Question 30

During Louis XVI’s trail, how many out of 749 ministers voted him guilty?

Answer 30

693

None voted him innocent

Question 31

When did the National Convention abolish the monarchy?

Answer 31

21 September 1792

Question 32

When was Louis XVI executed?

Answer 32

21 January 1793

Question 33

When was the Legislative Assembly replaced with the National Convention?

Answer 33

20 September 1792