France AOS 1: 1781 - 4th August 1789

Question 1

19th November, 1787

Answer 1

King holds royal session and calls lit de justice

“It is legal because I will it”

Question 2

8th of May, 1788

Answer 2

• Time period of Aristocratic Revolt begins

- Nobility begin expressing their ideas and meeting in unregistered forums to discuss ideas

Question 3

22nd of February, 1787

Answer 3

Calonne calls Assembly of Notables to coordinate tax reform

Question 4

25th of May, 1787

Answer 4

• Notables are dissolved

- Brienne reworks Calonne’s tax reforms

Question 5

7th June 1788

Answer 5

• Day of Tiles

- Support for magistrates as they were defending the people’s rights

Question 6

25th of August 1788

Answer 6

Necker is reinstated

Question 7

1781

Answer 7

Necker publishes Compte Rendu

Question 8

September 1787

Answer 8

• Parlement of Paris is recalled

- Brienne announces Estates-General will be called in 1792

Question 9

1st of May, 1787

Answer 9

• Brienne Replaces Calonne as Comptroller-General of France

- Notables demand to regularly see account of Nation’s Finances

Question 10

16th of August 1788

Answer 10

• King Louis suspended payments to other countries

- Calling of Estates-General brought forward to 1st of May 1789

Question 11

3rd of May, 1788

Answer 11

Parlement of Paris releases ‘Fundamental Levels of Kingdom”

Question 12

25th of September 1788

Answer 12

• Parlement of Paris announced role of Estates General would remain the same as it was originally constituted in 1614
• Overnight, the Parlement of Paris lost all support of Bourgeoise

Question 13

November 1788

What was formed? Wh were some of its members and what did it aim to do/its 3 purposes?

Answer 13

• Society of Thirty (Grew to 60 members)
• Lafayette, Duke de Noailles, Mirabeau, and Sieyes
• to debate the nature of representation to the Estates-General
• rejected that there was a ‘fundamental constitution’ of France, embraced that only fundamental law was welfare of the people, and finally that a constitution for France ought to be written.

Question 14

27th December 1788

What did the king rule? what did this mean for the privileged orders at the Estates general?

Answer 14

• ruled that Third Estate be given double the number of deputies (now had 600, compared to 300 each for nobility and clergy)
• two privileged orders still would be able to overrule the commons.

Question 15

January 1789.

What was published? what did it argue?

Answer 15

• ‘What is the Third Estate?’
• argued that the third estate was everything, that it had been nothing in the old political order, and that it demands to become something.
• was a call to revolution as it challenged the old order of estates.

Question 16

27th april 1789

which riots? what incited them? what was the result of this?

Answer 16

• Reveillon riots
• the continuing rise of food prices, and reveillon was under attack as rumour spread he was trying to cut wages after he argued for the deregulation of the price of bread.
• some 300 were injured and indirectly led to sieyes asking that deputies recognise themselves as reps of the french nation, rivalling the power of the monarchy.

Question 17

19th November 1787

Event? what did Brienne propose? what transpired? what does doyle say about it?

Answer 17

• Royal Session
• proposed 420 million livers be borrowed to pay short term debts, and financial cutbacks on royal household, military and bureaucracy
• despite hesitation from people, louis ordered loans to be registered and for discussion to occur after
• duc d’Orléans protested action was illegal, louis replied with ‘this is of no importance to me, it is legal because i will it’
• doyle suggests ‘no reply could have been more catastrophic’

Question 18

what was the enlightenment?

Answer 18

period of time where for the first occasion in ancient regime, people developed new ideas towards running of the country and changes that needed to be made

Question 19

Views of Voltaire

Answer 19

• believed in freedom of religion
• believed the church held too much power of people’s lives and that power needed to be more evenly distributed
• he established the ‘crucial weapons of intellectual critic including investigation, exposure, dispassionate argument, ridicule and oxygen of publicity
• held the view the church and country needed tp be more tolerant, however, he was not so tolerant himself, ridiculing africans and jews.

Question 20

Views of Montesquieu

What was his greatest work? what did he propose in this piece?

Answer 20

• the spirit of the laws
• that absolute monarchy only suited large empires in hot climates, while democracy was only workable in small city states
• that despotism emerged from systems of absolute govt
• proposed power be divided between monarch and other bodies in the state
• believed most effective form of govt was in the british system with separation of powers between executive, judiciary and legislative power.
• argued for end of absolutism, not abolition of monarchy

Question 21

Views of Rousseau

what did he emphasise? what was his most influential work? what did he propose from his works?

Answer 21

• emotion and sentiment, and innate goodness of nature, and that civilisation itself was source of evil
• the social contact (1762)
• believed property was the main ‘chain’ that imprisoned ‘civilised’ man
• argued that main purpose of govt must be to create society where everyone has real liberty and equality that is inalienable

Question 22

how did ideas influence revolution?

Answer 22

• gave birth to public opinion
• people became more aware/concerned about state of nation, distribution of power, justice and injustice, personal rights and grievances
• legitimacy of political and social structure was established
• enlightenment ideas provided vocal of dissent, a means of envisaging a better world out of the weaknesses of the old

Question 23

1 May, 1789

Event? how were the different Estates treated?

Answer 23

• the formal opening of the Estates General at Versailles.
• social distinctions were strictly observed and the third estate was made to wait 3 hours for the address from the king which was in a lesser salon compared to the hall of mirrors where the clergy an nobility met.

Question 24

5th May 1789

Event? Did it go to plan or how deputies hoped?

Answer 24

• Opening planerary session of E-G.
• king made brief introductory speech, Baretin made speech on ‘dangerous innovations’ and then Necker spoke for 3 hours which put the king to sleep

Question 25

6th May 1789

What were deputies sent to do? was this achieved? what was also still being question at this time.

Answer 25

• deputies were sent to meet in their separate chambers to verify their credentials
• third estate demanded every deputy present their credentials to full body of representatives at one time
• people were still unsure if it would be voting by estate or by head.

Question 26

12th June 1789

What happened? Who joined Third Estate ?

Answer 26

• Deputies began verification of credentials, not as 3rd estate, but as representatives of the nation.
• 3 parish priests (clergymen) joined them

Question 27

17th June 1789

Which momentous revolutionary step? What was a main reason that it occurred?

Answer 27

• Commons declared themselves national assembly of France.
• Louis had failed to vote on the question of voting by head or by estate in December 1788 and therefore made the issue a dispute.

Question 28

19th June 1789

What was a result of the declaration two days prior?

Answer 28

• Clergy voted to join commoners, endorsing the declaration of June 17

Question 29

20th June 1789
What sparked this event? What declaration was made?
Who made it? What was the significance?

Answer 29

• Tennis court oath
• National assembly (NA) arrived at Salle des Menus Plaisirs for discussion to find locked out by king, he was going to call NA illegal in coming days.
• Joseph Guillotin led deputies to Tennis Court where young deputy from grenoble Jean-Joseph Mournier called 600 deputies to swear oath to never separate until France had constitution.
• Was significant because it was the first formal act of disobedience to the monarchy.

Question 30

23rd June, 1789.

Answer 30

• Royal Session
• Louis announced decision to form national assembly was annulled, and estates would meet separately
• 3rd estate deputies and clerical supporters remained seated despite being ordered to move
• Mirabeau said ‘we are hill by the will of the nation and… will only go if… driven out by bayonets’
• 493 deputies vowed to stayed, was big success for Third Estate