Europe: 1750-1900

Question 1

What were the primary complaints of the French peasantry in 1788?

Answer 1

French peasants had many complaints. They complained of the high cost of bread and the high taxes they bore supporting both the French Crown. A further source of irritation was that the nobles owned the land on which the peasants farmed, but didn’t pay any taxes.

Although the French peasants made up 80% of the population, they had little political power.

Question 2

What was the French government’s financial position in 1788?

Answer 2

The French government was in serious financial straits. Expenses from the Seven Years’ War and support for the American Revolution, high government spending under Louis XIV, and the inability to tax nobles and the clergy had brought the French government to the brink of bankruptcy.

Question 3

In 1789, Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General to Versailles to address France’s problems. What was the Estates-General?

Answer 3

The Estates-General was the national assembly of France, which had not met since 1614. Louis XVI looked to the Estates-General to provide solutions to the government’s dire fiscal position.

Question 4

What three estates made up the Estates-General?

Answer 4

The three estates of the Estates-General were the clergy (the First Estate), the nobility (the Second Estate), and the common people (the Third Estate).

Some 96% of France’s populace comprised the Third Estate, and in recognition of its size, Louis XVI provided it with double the number of representatives of the First and Second Estates.

Question 5

In January 1789, Abbé Sieyès, a French clergyman elected to the Third Estate (instead of the First), published What is the Third Estate? What did Sieyès argue?

Answer 5

Sieyès argued that the First and Second Estates were completely unnecessary to France’s well being, and that the Third Estate was the only legitimate representative of the French people.

Question 6

Why did the Third Estate leave the Estates-General in June of 1789?

Answer 6

During the early days of the Estates-General, the first two estates proposed that votes should be taken by estate, rather than by head.

This meant that there would only be three votes, and the First and Second Estates would always be able to vote down any proposal from the Third Estate. Outraged, the Third Estate left the assembly and met at a nearby tennis court.

Question 7

In June of 1789, members of France’s Third Estate in the Estates-General took the Tennis Court Oath. What did they swear to do?

Answer 7

At a tennis court at Versailles, the Third Estate declared themselves France’s National Constituent Assembly and swore an oath not to disband until they’d composed and adopted a written constitution.

On July 9, 1789, Louis XVI recognized the Assembly’s authority.

Question 8

On July 14, 1789, Parisian rioters searching for arms and ammunition attacked what symbol of royal authority?

Answer 8

The Bastille, which was a large fortress in the heart of Paris. The Bastille was a highly visible symbol of royal authority. On the morning of July 14, 1789, some 1,000 Parisians gathered at the Bastille’s gates and demanded that the guns inside be turned over to them.

The rioters attacked, and 90 of them died before the Bastille surrendered. The Storming of the Bastille is regarded as the beginning of the French Revolution.

Question 9

In August 1789, France’s new National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a statement of principles of the new government. What did the declaration provide?

Answer 9

The declaration emphasized natural rights endowed in man by virtue of being human. The salient points of the declaration provided that all men were born and remain free and equal in their rights. It provided for freedom of religion, the press, speech, and guaranteed the right to be secure from arbitrary arrest and to petition the government.

Question 10

What work is considered the founding document of modern European feminism?

Answer 10

In 1792, English authoress Mary Wollstonecraft penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, taking as her inspiration the freedom offered by the French Revolution.

Olympe de Gouges, another early feminist, argued in her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen that women should be afforded the same rights as French men. The government rejected her proposal.

Question 11

Prodded by his wife, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and his family attempted to flee France in June of 1791. Where were they headed?

Answer 11

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their family were headed for Austria, where Marie Antoinette’s brother ruled. They managed to escape Paris but were captured at the small town of Varennes.

Louis XVI and his family were accused of being traitors, and the French monarch’s credibility as a constitutional monarch was placed in jeopardy.

Question 12

How did Austria and Prussia react to the outbreak of the French Revolution?

Answer 12

Austria and Prussia declared that the restoration of absolute monarchy in France was in the interest of all the European sovereigns. In response, the French National Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia, creating an army composed of citizen recruits, rather than professional soldiers.

Question 13

Who were the Jacobins?

Answer 13

During the early days of the French Revolution, the Jacobins were those members of the National Assembly who demanded that the King be removed and a republic declared.

The Jacobins opposed burgeoning wars with Austria and Prussia and relied for support upon the Paris radicals known as the sans-culottes.

Question 14

Who were the sans-culottes?

Answer 14

The sans-culottes were urban left-wing radicals who dominated Paris during the French Revolution. The sans-culottes included laborers, small artisans, and shopkeepers.

Sans is French for “without” and culottes were silk knee breeches worn by the upper class. Instead of silk knee breeches the sans-culottes wore pants.

In the summer of 1792, the sans-culottes seized control of Paris and intimidated the National Assembly to call for new elections to a National Convention, in which all male voters over 21 could participate. The goal of the National Convention would be to draft a new constitution for a republic. The National Convention’s first act was to abolish the monarchy and declare a republic.

Question 15

By the spring of 1793, the National Convention was faced with domestic unrest and surrounded by foreign enemies. How did the Convention seek to defeat these threats?

Answer 15

Dominated by the Jacobins, the Convention organized an emergency government, The Committee of Public Safety.

The Committee of Public Safety exercised absolute control over the government, decreeing maximum prices for food and reorganizing the army both to quash domestic disturbances and to withstand attacks by the nations allied against France.

Question 16

Who was Maximilien Robespierre?

Answer 16

Robespierre was the head of the Committee of Public Safety and dedicated himself to remaking France.

Robespierre decreed the Law of the Maximum (a price control system), instituted the Republic of Virtue, and led the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was so dedicated to remaking France that he went so far as to create a new French calendar and a new French religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being.

Question 17

Define:

Reign of Terror

Answer 17

Guided by Maximilien Robespierre, the Reign of Terror took place in 1793 to 1794. Directed originally at royalists, the Reign of Terror soon consumed anyone denounced as a counter-revolutionary as Robespierre sought to remake France into a Republic of Virtue.

Some 25,000 victims lost their lives during the terror, 17,000 on the guillotine, before Robespierre was overthrown in 1794.

Question 18

What group followed the Committee of Public Safety as France’s governing body?

Answer 18

A five-member moderate government, known as the Directory, ruled France after the chaos of the Reign of Terror.

Although unpopular, the Directory stabilized the military situation and brought some measure of order to France’s internal affairs.

In 1799, the Directory was overthrown by a group led by Abbé Sieyès and Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte was named First Consul and soon exercised near absolute authority over France.

Question 19

What reforms did Napoleon Bonaparte undertake?

Answer 19

Napoleon Bonaparte established free, universal public education under the guidance of the state. He also directed the completion of the Code Napoleon, the first complete codification of French law. The Code Napoleon provided for freedom of conscience and property rights.

Question 20

Although he established some domestic reforms, for what talent is Napoleon best known?

Answer 20

Napoleon is best known as a military leader and conquered much of Europe between 1805 and 1811.

Done in by a combination of British naval power, an ill-advised invasion of Russia, and a guerrilla war in Spain, Napoleon’s gains were eventually rolled back. Defeated by a six-nation army at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon was exiled.

Napoleon is also known for being short, although he was 5 foot 7 inches, which was an average height for his day.

Question 21

In post-Napoleonic Europe, the major nation-states were dedicated to conservatism. What is conservatism?

Answer 21

Conservatism emphasizes traditions such as monarchy, aristocracy, and religion as society’s bedrocks. European conservatives in the 19th century believed in gradual change and supported hierarchical rule by those whose birth, wealth, or intellects they believed made them better able to govern.

Question 22

What was the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 22

The Congress of Vienna was a meeting of European leaders to settle the peace in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, beginning in 1814. The Congress redrew the map of Europe, restored pre-revolutionary governments (including a re-established French monarchy), and agreed to maintain the balance of power.

Question 23

What was the German Confederation?

Answer 23

Established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the German Confederation was a cooperative agreement comprising the 39 German states and was dominated by Austria and Prussia. The German Confederation was designed to coordinate intra-German policy and mutual protection.

Question 24

Between 1815 and 1848, the major European powers often acted together to resolve European diplomatic and political issues. What was this system called?

Answer 24

Since the Great Powers acted in concert (together), this system is known as the Concert of Europe. Any of the Great Powers could propose a congress at which major European diplomatic and political concerns were discussed.

The Concert of Europe marked the first time the major powers acted collectively to ensure international tranquility.

Question 25

What was Chartism?

Answer 25

Chartism (which got its name from the People’s Charter to Parliament) was a working-class reform movement in Britain, which began in the 1830s.

Among the Chartists’ demands were universal male suffrage, a secret ballot, annual Parliamentary elections, and reforms to open up Parliament to working-class membership. Although Parliament refused to negotiate with the Chartists, most of the Chartists’ proposals were adopted by 1885.

Question 26

Define:

nationalism

Answer 26

Nationalism refers to a belief that a person’s supreme loyalty belongs to the nation, a people united by a common language, culture, and history. Nationalists seek to establish states composed of all members of a given nation.

Question 27

Define:

Risorgimento

Answer 27

Risorgimento (Italian for “resurgence”) was the 19th-century movement for Italian unity and independence.

Question 28

In February of 1848, riots erupted in Paris, eventually leading to the abdication of the French King and the declaration of the Second French Republic. What caused the riots?

Answer 28

The riots were caused by many factors. Up to a third of Parisians were unemployed, poor harvests had led to increased prices for food, and many citizens could not vote.

Similar situations existed in a number of other European countries and revolution spread quickly, driven by impatience with the slow pace of change and social and economic upheavals resulting from the Industrial Revolution.

Question 29

What were the only two major European countries to avoid violent uprisings in 1848?

Answer 29

Only Britain and Russia avoided violent uprisings in 1848.

Britain had already made reforms similar to those sought by revolutionaries in other countries. The populace had sufficient confidence in Parliament to continue the reform program, such that no uprising took place.

In Russia, the stability of the regime prevented the formation of a nascent revolutionary movement.

Question 30

In 1848, revolutions took place throughout Italy. What was the primary purpose of the revolutionaries?

Answer 30

The Italian revolutionaries demanded a united Italy. Initially, they achieved some success, but intervention by the French and the Austrians crushed the revolts in 1849.

Question 31

Why was nationalism such a threat to the Austrian Empire?

Answer 31

The Habsburgs ruled Austria, which was composed of a number of different nationalities: Hungarians, Poles, Slavs, Germans, Jews, and Italians. A successful nationalist uprising by one or more of these groups could lead to the disintegration of the Empire.

Question 32

In March of 1848, dissatisfaction with the Habsburg monarch led to uprisings in ______ by students and workers.

Answer 32

Vienna

Although they’d seized Vienna and ejected the Habsburgs, the Austrian revolutionaries were disorganized and failed to govern effectively. The Austrian army remained loyal to the Habsburgs, and after a siege of Vienna, the rebels surrendered.

Question 33

In early 1848, liberals and nationalists demonstrated throughout the German states. What two things did they demand?

Answer 33

The demonstrators desired a constitutional government and the unification of Germany.

Prussian Frederick William IV agreed to a liberalized Prussian constitution as the result of riots in Berlin. Only when the riots were quelled did Frederick William IV feel comfortable ignoring the liberals’ demands.

Question 34

In 1848 and 1849, liberal and nationalist leaders met in Frankfurt. What was the goal of this assembly?

Answer 34

The Frankfurt Assembly sought to establish a united Germany and drafted a constitution. Prussian support was necessary for the plan to succeed and the Assembly offered the crown of a united Germany to Frederick William IV.

Convinced that accepting a crown from mere citizens would undermine his rule, Frederick William IV declined the offer. He declared he would not pick up “a crown from the gutter.”

Question 35

By the early 1800s, Britain possessed the world’s foremost _____ system, which allowed for efficient investment of excess capital in industry and trade.

Answer 35

banking

The development of the British banking system was spurred in part by the financial exigencies of Britain’s wars with France because the Bank of England was responsible for raising the necessary funds for Britain’s armed forces. In turn, the Bank of England became responsible for issuing currency backed by gold reserves.

Question 36

In the late 18th century, cotton replaced wool as the preferred cloth of Britons for clothing. Why was cotton preferable?

Answer 36

Cotton was preferable to wool because cotton was lighter and had less of a tendency to retain moisture during the cold British winters.

Global demand for cotton cloth kept pace, and cotton became the first product of Britain’s Industrial Revolution (powered mainly by water power from rivers and streams), as British entrepreneurs financed technological developments to increase production.

Question 37

What 1769 invention displaced rivers and streams as the main power source for British factories?

Answer 37

In 1769, James Watt patented an improved steam engine, which replaced the rivers and streams which had served as the main power source for British textile factories.

British textile production, no longer hampered by the speed of water, skyrocketed to 2 billion yards of cotton fiber per year in the 1850s. In addition to textile manufacturing, the steam engine had all sorts of other applications ranging from mining to shipping.

Question 38

What mineral powered the early steam engines?

Answer 38

Early steam engines were powered by coal. Britain possessed an abundance of coal, providing the country with cheap fuel with which to ignite the Industrial Revolution.

Coal is notoriously dirty, and few environmental safeguards existed in 19th-century Britain. Rivers and streams were polluted, and in the new industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham, the air was filled with smoke. Even the famed London fog was primarily an outgrowth of the smoke-filled air, as moisture linked itself to coal dust.

Question 39

During the first half of the 19th century, inland transportation costs for British manufactured and agricultural goods plummeted, lowering their cost for both British and overseas buyers. Why?

Answer 39

By 1850, Britain had more than 6,000 miles of railroads, powered by steam-driven locomotives. Shipping goods via railroad was inexpensive, and the lower cost of British products allowed industrialists to compete successfully in international markets.

Question 40

Drawn by the prevalence of jobs, British cities experienced exponential growth in population during the Industrial Revolution. What was the effect of rapid urbanization on living conditions in the cities?

Answer 40

Cities became increasingly crowded, and neither regulation nor construction could keep pace. The new urban areas lacked proper sanitation and housing, and the prevalence of coal dust and smoke coated everything in a constant state of filth and contributed to lung diseases.

Question 41

Who wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848?

Answer 41

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote and published The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto laid out how the capitalist system would be replaced by socialism and eventually communism. Marx and Engels emphasized that “[t]he history of hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”

Question 42

In his work Das Kapital, Marx emphasized the _____ _____ of history.

Answer 42

economic interpretation

To Marx, history was determined almost solely by economics and the struggle between those who own the means of production and the workers.

Question 43

Define:

bourgeois

Answer 43

According to Marx and later thinkers, the bourgeois were the class who owned the means of production and controlled capital.

Question 44

Define:

proletariat

Answer 44

According to Marx and later thinkers, the proletariat were the working class – those who worked in the factories and contributed their labor in a capitalist society.

Question 45

Which two European countries, previously composed of small principalities, unified in the 1860s and 1870s?

Answer 45

In the 1860s and 1870s, Italy and Germany unified in an effort driven primarily by nationalism.

Driven by the conquests of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Italy became a constitutional monarchy.

The kingdom of Prussia dominated German unification, and after a victory in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the Prussian king was named the German emperor.

Question 46

How was Germany governed after German unification in 1871?

Answer 46

Led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Germany became a modern industrialized state but retained a conservative political outlook.

Bismarck dominated the German legislative body (the Reichstag) and offered generous economic concession, such as pensions and a shorter workday, to ensure the loyalty of the lower classes.

Question 47

Who first posited the theory of evolution?

Answer 47

In his 1859 work, On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin posited the theory of evolution. Darwin’s basic idea was that plant and animal life had evolved from earlier, simpler organisms, a process driven by what Darwin termed “natural selection.”

Darwin’s theory of natural selection contended that some species were able to prosper because they were more fitted to endure in their environment, a process known as “survival of the fittest.”

Question 48

What economic argument did English sociologist Herbert Spencer derive from Darwin’s evolutionary arguments?

Answer 48

Spencer contended that individuals, companies, and nations were governed by the same rules as biological natural selection; for instance, strong companies thrive while weak companies go bankrupt.

Spencer’s theory, known as Social Darwinism, was used by many advocates to argue that the white race was superior to other races and that European nations were better suited than native inhabitants to govern far-flung empires.

Question 49

Define:

Romanticism

Answer 49

The Romantic Movement was a cultural movement prevalent in Europe in the first half of the 19th century. It emphasized the importance of emotional subjects and heroism over reason. Romanticism influenced art, music, philosophy, and religion.

Question 50

What cultural movement began as a reaction against Romanticism?

Answer 50

In the 1850s, Realism began as a reaction against Romanticism.

Realists attempted to portray subject matter truthfully and accurately, without artificiality, and sought to avoid exotic and supernatural elements.

Question 51

Taking realism one step further, _____ writers such as Émile Zola sought not only to describe their subjects but also to find the underlying causes that influenced their subjects’ actions.

Answer 51

Naturalist

Naturalists such as Zola were strongly influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Rather than simply describing societal ills, naturalists sought to explore their underlying causes.

Question 52

Define:

Realpolitik

Answer 52

Realpolitik refers to diplomacy or politics based not on idealistic, moral, and ethical principles, but on practical and material factors.

Question 53

Define:

Impressionism

Answer 53

Impressionism was a form of painting that emerged in Paris in the 1870s. Impressionists such as Renoir and Monet focused on the effect of light upon everyday subject matter and used characteristically visible brush strokes. Many Impressionist painters concentrated on temporary, fleeting moments: a woman reading or workers pausing from harvesting hay.

Question 54

What was Expressionism?

Answer 54

Expressionism developed in Germany in the years before World War I and sought to portray and evoke emotion by distorting the representation of the physical world. The most commonly cited example of Expressionist art is Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

Question 55

What is meant by the term “Angel in the House”?

Answer 55

The term “Angel in the House” was used to describe the idealized role of women in British middle-class society during the Victorian Era.

With few of the labor-saving devices available today, running a household in the 19th century was a full-time job, and middle-class women were expected to oversee the household management, manage the servants, and provide a refuge for their husbands from the world’s cares.

Question 56

What was the Dreyfus Affair?

Answer 56

The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal in France in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

In the late 19th century, Albert Dreyfus was the only Jew on the French General Staff and was falsely accused of being a German spy.

The allegations against Dreyfus were motivated primarily by the virulent anti-Semitism endemic to the French military. Dreyfus was exiled but eventually cleared and allowed to return to France.

Question 57

Define:

Impressionism

Answer 57

Impressionism was a form of painting that emerged in Paris in the 1870s. Impressionists such as Renoir and Monet focused on the effect of light upon everyday subject matter and used characteristically visible brush strokes. Many Impressionist painters concentrated on temporary, fleeting moments: a woman reading or workers pausing from harvesting hay.

Question 58

What was Expressionism?

Answer 58

Expressionism developed in Germany in the years before World War I and sought to portray and evoke emotion by distorting the representation of the physical world. The most commonly cited example of Expressionist art is Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

Question 59

What is meant by the term “Angel in the House”?

Answer 59

The term “Angel in the House” was used to describe the idealized role of women in British middle-class society during the Victorian Era.

With few of the labor-saving devices available today, running a household in the 19th century was a full-time job, and middle-class women were expected to oversee the household management, manage the servants, and provide a refuge for their husbands from the world’s cares.

Question 60

What was the Dreyfus Affair?

Answer 60

The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal in France in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

In the late 19th century, Albert Dreyfus was the only Jew on the French General Staff and was falsely accused of being a German spy.

The allegations against Dreyfus were motivated primarily by the virulent anti-Semitism endemic to the French military. Dreyfus was exiled but eventually cleared and allowed to return to France.