Foundations - Ch 23 Sec 1 + 2 - The French Revolution Flashcards
What was the Estates-General?
an assembly of representatives from all 3 states
Who was Louis XVI
the King of France
What did people from the 1st and 2nd estates have access to?
High offices and exemptions from taxes
Who made up the 1st estate?
Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church
What percent of the land did the 1st estate own?
10%
What percent of the population made up the 1st estate?
1%
Who made up the 2nd estate?
rich nobles
What percent of the population made up the 2nd estate?
2%
What percent of the land did the 2nd estate own?
35%
Who made up the 3rd estate
The Bourgeoisie (middle class), the urban lower class, and peasants
What percent of the population made up the 3rd estate
97%
What percent of the land did the 3rd estate own
55%
1st estate
made up of clergy of Roman Catholic Church
scorned enlightenment ideas
hardly paid any taxes
2nd estate
made up of rich nobles
held highest offices in gov
disagreed with enlightenment ideas
hardly paid any taxes
3rd estate
included bourgeoisie, urban lower class, and peasant farmers held no power to influence gov embraced enlightenment ideas resented the wealthy 1st and 2nd estates heavily taxed
Why did the third estate resent the first and second estates?
their privileges and special treatment
Why didn’t the first and second estates support enlightenment ideas
they threatened their status
Who was Marie Antoinette
Queen of France and wife of Louis XVI
What was the Old Regime?
the political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution where the people of France were divided into 3 large social classes
What is deficit spending?
spending money that you don’t have
one of the causes of the FR
What was the National Assembly
a French congress established by representatives of the third estate to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people
What was the National Assembly the beginning of?
representative gov
What was the Great Fear
a wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille
peasants broke into noble’s houses and destroyed legal papers or just burned down the manor houses
What was the Tennis Court Oath
a pledge made by the National Assembly in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution
What was the storming of the Bastille
a mob searching for gunpowder and arms to defend the city against attack. They seized control of the building and hacked the guards to death
What was the women’s march on Versailles
they were protesting the price of bread and broke into the palace, demanding that the king and queen go back to Paris
Who were the emigres
nobles an others who fled France and hoped to undo the revolution and restore the Old Regime
Who sat in the left at the legislative assembly
radicals
Who sat in the right in legislative assembly
conservatives
Legislative Assembly
French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791
Who was Maximillien Robespierre
a Jacobin leader who slowly gained power in 1973
ruled France basically as a dictator, killing anyone who even hinted at opposing the Revolution
what was the guillotine
a machine for beheading people, used for executions
why was the guillotine ideal
doesn’t hurt
instant
makes everyone equal in death (an enlightenment idea)
what was the national convention
the new governing body that took the place of the National Assembly
what did the national convention do
abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic
what was the Committee of Public Safety
formed by Robespierre during his Reign of Terror, its chief task was to protect the revolution from its enemies. They were tried in the morning and executed in the afternoon
who were the sans-culottes
a radical group of Parisian workers/small shopkeepers who wanted the revolution to bring even greater changes to France
wore regular trousers to separate themselves from the upper classes
what are the common characteristics of a modern revolution
desire for rapid change and opportunity
lose sight of original goals in course or revolution
not necessarily violent, but usually are
leadership comes from aristocracy and middle class
generally during greater financial security and higher living standards and less oppressive gov
what were the causes of the FR
enlightenment ideas economic problems/hardship/inequality (uneven taxation and bad harvests) weak leadership deficit spending social inequality political flaws outside example in America
what were the original goals of the FR
no more absolute monarchy (limited) tax reform constitution (rights) radical reform (no feudal system) representation enlightenment ideas (classic liberalism) liberty, equality, and fraternity
Did Louis XVI ever call meetings of the Estates-General?
not really, hardly ever
What were liberal reforms
reforms made in the moderate stage
what are some examples of the moderate stage reforms?
trying to abolish feudal system trying to abolish slavery request for Jews citizenship declaration of the rights of man church over state new constitution
what are some examples of radical reforms
forming a republic (national convention)
changing the calendar/clock/going to metric system/closed churches (republic of virtue)
total war
committee of public safety
what are Brinton’s stages of a revolution
- incubation
- moderate
- radical
- recovery
what usually happens in the incubation phase
revolutionary ideas begin to fester
what usually happens in the moderate phase
led by middle class professionals most constructive lasting reforms
what usually happens in radical phase
violence
led by sans-culottes
super radical stuff
what usually happens in recovery phase
recovery led by middle class professionals again
How was Louis XVI as a leader
He was a weak leader
Indecisive
Got into a lot of debt
Had little patience for the details of government
What was the declaration of the rights of man
A statement of revolutionary ideals adopted by the National Assembly
What did the declaration of the rights of man say
Men are born and remain free and in equal rights
Rights to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression
Guaranteed citizens equal justice and freedom of speech and religion
Who sat in the middle of the legislative assembly
Moderates
What did moderates of the legislative assembly support
Believed some reforms were good, but didn’t go so far as radicals
What did conservatives believe in the leg assembly
upheld the idea of a limited monarchy and wanted few changes in gov
What did the radicals in the leg assembly want
opposed the idea of a monarchy and wanted sweeping changes in the way gov was run
Jacobins
What is a coup d’état
Only changes the head of government, not the whole outlook and form of gov
What is total war/levy in masse
When all of the resources of the country go to the war efforts and the country’s main goal is to win the war and there’s a draft
Like in the world wars
What was the reign of terror
The period of Robespierre’s rule over france
He was basically a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed by the guillotine
What did other European nations think about the French Revolution
GB supported bc they were trying to get more representative gov, but thought they were being too radical
Most countries feared revolution in their own countries
