French Rev Flashcards
Why was Paris significant?
There was a mix of all kinds of people meaning that different ideas with spread through all the estates.
Ideas were discussed in salons.
Close to Versailles.
Literacy rates were higher.
Hotspot of new ideas (the enlightenment)
The king was sending troops into Paris.
What sparked the storming of the Bastille?
Desmoulins claimed that the supporters of the reforms were to be massacred by the royal guard (THIS WAS A RUMOUR).
What did Parisians do to retaliate in connection to the rumour of the massacre from the royal guard?
They raided, prisons, swordsmiths, and armouries - there were a series of violent clashes against custom posts and prisons, factories and monasteries.
What did the Parisian electors do in retaliation to the rumour of the massacre?
Parisian electors met at the Townhall to take control of the city, and they established the commune, and the National Guard. Their job was to restore order and protect buildings, and the King.
What did the national assembly do in retaliation to the rumour of the massacre?
The National assembly asked for all troops to be removed from Paris.
Paris needed weapons to defend itself, and 8000 people descended on the old veteran retirement home.
Paris gathered weapons against the Royal guard. What was the problem?
The problem was that the weapons found needed gunpowder, knowledge of the gunpowder whereabouts spread as being located at the Bastille.
What happened at the Bastille? 
It is unclear what actually happened at the Bastille, but the general belief is that governor Launay spoke to the commune representatives. He refused to surrender and there was an exchange of fire in the courtyard
Launay was decapitated, and his head was paraded. 70 Others were also killed.
Why was the storming of the Bastille significant (short-term long-term)?
The king was persuaded to go to Paris on the 17th of July, with members of the assembly, his new mayor Bailly and he reinstated Necker and accepted the National Assembly, and the National Guard and the Paris commune.
This showed that the king had lost power and control .
What happened after the storming of the Bastille?
In towns across France, mobs attacked houses of magistrates and Royal officials.
National Guard replaced town officials.
Arthur Young expressed how “ the Parisian spirit spread quickly”.
What were the August decrees?
Feudal rights on people (serform) abolished and replaced by money payments .
Tithe, hunting rights corvèes, seigeurial courts, venality of office, provincial and municipal privileges abolished.
All citizens to be taxed, equally.
No special privileges.
What did the declaration of the rights of man state?
All men were born free and equal.
Liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.
Power (sovereignty) with the people.
Freedom of worship.
Taxation by all proportion to their means.
Freedom to own property.
How did louis react to the August decrees, and the declaration of the rights of man?
Hesitated to sanction them, which made the people believe he didn’t want to give power to the people. He was hesitant, as he would have less power himself.
What did louis do in reliance to the August, decrees, and the declaration of rights of man?
He no longer has the power to veto, only to suspensory veto.
Troops have sent back into Paris in October (Parisians felt threatened).
What happened on the 5th of October 1789?
Women struggling to find bread and food for their families travelled to Versailles to confront the king, and press him for action (accept the August decrees and the declaration of rights). Under the intense pressure, some of his bodyguards were killed and the heads put on spikes. The crowd demanded that he and his family moved to Paris.
What happened on the 6th of October 1789 ?
The Royal family were scored for Paris by a mob of women. They were treated more like prisoners than royalty (they were put on house arrest.
Approximately how many people stormed Versailles?
6000 to 7000 people (women being the majority)
When did Louis dismiss Necker?
July 11, 1789, this dismissal was a major factor in the unrest that led to the storming of the Bastille.
Who was that the estate general/who dominated and what did they want?
The first estate was dominated by parish priests. The second estate was dominated by deputies from long-standing Noble families. The third estate was full with deputies lawyers and landowners
All three wanted a king whose powers were limited.
What was the National Assembly?
The three estates were meant to meet separately but the third estate argued that all deputies needed that credentials verified with all three estates together.
The third estate refused to do anything until the other orders joined them.
The clergy later joined them.
Why was the tennis court oath significant?
Louis tried to regain the initiative by holding a séance Royale. Preparations involved closing without explanation, the meeting place of the third estate.
Angry at the despotic act, they met at a nearby tennis court, and took an oath not to disperse until they had given France a constitution .
