french revolution Flashcards
why was the monarchy/ aristocracy a main cause of the french revolution
- king Louis XVI was more interested in hunting than running the country.
- Many of the Kings close friends and Advisors lived in pure luxury while the rest of the country could hardly afford bread
- divine right of kings
- no parliament or elections
- wasn’t lead well (orderly) by the king
- the king and his wife, Marie Antionette were naive about the resentment and economic crisis
- marie antionette was frivolous and enjoyed gambling
why was the lives of the nobility a cause of the revolution
- tax free life
- weren’t using land efficiently
- could buy titles and land
- lived in chateaux
- lazy and selfish
why were the church a cause in the french revolution
- greedy
- very rich
- spent money on unneeded, expensive things
- privileged
- earned 300,000 livres annually.
what was the estates system
A system of placing the French population into social classes. There were three estates
- Clergy
- Nobles
- Peasants/working class/ bourgeoisie
why would the estates system have caused so much resentment
- 3rd estate had no representation. This meant that people like Doctors had no voice
- special rights for the nobility such as no taxes and official positions
- peasants weren’t allowed to hunt on nobles land where they live
- wealth gap and unfair treatment
- the monarch could ignore/avoid the estates generals questions
name and explain 3 long term causes of the french revolution
the estates system :
- caused tension among bourgeoisie and peasantry because of taxes and poor living conditions
- 2nd and 1st estates could buy titles
- 3rd estates low wages led to starvation and economic crisis
- lack of democracy and resentment towards people in a higher estate
- economic crisis led to extremely poor peasants and ultra rich clergy and aristocrats.
the way france was ruled :
- ruled by aristocrats and the royal court
- not a democracy, the royal court was chosen by the king
- the king had the choice of summoning the parliament equivalent known as the estates general.
- this hadn’t been done for 175+ years
- created a dictatorship
- when the estates general was finally called due to France’s economic crisis, very few peasants were selected to go
- king didn’t listen to the views of peasants which caused higher tensions
- absolute power and divine right of kings
influence of the American revolution :
- success of the american revolution spread as some french people took part in it
- tyrannical rule of france was similar to that of britain and america
- similar ideas of freedom and “no taxation without representation “
- saw hope at untrained rebels fighting against a trained military
- created a feeling of hope amongst the rebels
key dates of the french revolution
1787, poor silk harvest
1788, terrible harvest
1789, poor wine harvest
sept 1788 - jan 1789, 46,000 unemployed in Amiens, 10,000 in Carcassonne and 25,000 in Lyon
august 1788, government went bankrupt
early 1789, representatives were being elected for estates general
4 May 1789, estates general met
20 June 1789, Tennis Court oath was sworn by national assembly.
14 July 1789, rebels stormed the bastille with 30,000 muskets.
january 1793, King Louis XVI was executed
february - august 1793, the start of the terror
Short term causes of the French Revolution
prices rose, famine, suffering, food shortages, unemployment and bankruptcy
What is the Estates General?
an assembly of representatives from all three estates
What was the “Terror”?
The killing of nearly 17,000 people lead by Robespierre. The King and Queen were killed and many aristocrats by the guillotine.
why were peasants lives a main cause in the french revolution
- had to pay tax to church and landowners
- lived in mud cabins
- got poorer while nobility etc got richer
- bad housing
- had to pay 50% of the earnings to landowners
- 80% of the population were peasants
