french revolution Flashcards
old regime
-period of time before the revolution
-absolute monarchy
-bourbons ruled
how was france divided socially before the revolution?
-three estates
first estate
-clergy
-1% of the population
-owned 10% of the land
-2% taxed income
second estate
-rich nobles
-2% of the population
-owned 20% of the land
-no taxes
third estate
-everyone other than the third and second estates
-97% of the population
-had limited representation in the government
how was the governmental power divided among estates?
-each estate got 1 vote
-this was not fair to the third estate because they represented nearly all of france but the other two estates could still block their reforms
louis XVI
-reigned from 1774 til 1792
-great great grandson of louis XIV
-very indecisive and listened to the loudest or last voice in the room
-imprisoned during the revolution and eventually executed
marie antionette
-queen of france
-married to louis XVI at 14
-austrian
-daughter of maria theresa
-spent lots of money
-disliked by the french people
for how long had the estates general not been called into session when louis XVI called it? why did he call it? when did he call it?
-150- 175 years
-he needed money for wars and war debts
-he called it in hopes of raising taxes
-may 5th, 1789
how did france seem to the rest of europe during the old regime?
-prosperous and advanced:
-large population
-prosperous trade
-center of the enlightenment
-culture was imitated by the rest of europe
how was france really doing during the old regime?
-there was high national debt
-bad harvests
-arbitrary taxation
-soaring inflation
sans-culottes
-means no knee breeches
-radical
-rioted
what were the causes of the french revolution?
-changing ideology
-weak leadership
-economic and environmental instability
-social injustice
-population increase (columbian exchange, no wars)
what was going on during the time louis XVI called the estates general and they were meeting?
-the great fear
-bread prices doubled
-rumors about nobles hiring soldiers to attack peasants circulated
-peasants broke into nobles’ manors
-broke into bakeries and lynched bakers
-peasants were starving, scared, and reacting radically
what was the first argument that arose during the estates general? what was the result?
-argued about how votes should be distrubuted
-first and second wanted one vote per estate
-third wanted one vote per delegate
-louis sided with the first and second
-third declared end of absolute monarchy and start to representative government
-louis locked them out of the building
-third estate became national assembly
what was the tennis court oath?
-when louis locked them out of the meeting room the third estate broke into an indoor tennis court
-pledged they would not leave until a constitution was written
-louis returned with soldiers
how and when did the storming of the bastille occur?
-parisians heard about louis marching solidrs on the national assembly
-on july 14th, 1789 the people attacked the bastille in search of gunpowder and weapons
-they ripped it apart brick by brick and killed guards
-still celebrated today
-first appearance of the tricolor flag
what was the bastille?
-a fortified prison in paris
what is the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen?
-document written by the national assembly
-swept away priveleges of the first and second estates
-made everyone equal citizens
-granted people liberty, property, security, resistance to oppression, equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion
-combined ideas of general will and individual rights
when was the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen made?
-august 1789
which two enlightenment thinkers can be seen throughout the declaration? how?
-thomas jefferson
-individual rights
-jean jacques rosseau
-general will
thomas jefferson
-american
-author of declaration of independence
-individual will and rights
-influence can be seen in french declaration
jean jacques rosseau
-swiss
-author of the social contract
-general will
-individual duties to the government
-influence can be seen in french declaration
jean-paul marat
-editor of newspaper the friend of the people
-advocated for the sans-culottes
-always calling for blood for those who opposed the revolution
-assasinated while in his bathtub (skin condition) by a young woman who wanted the violence to end
-became a matyr of the revolution
maximilien robespierre
-lawyer
-central voice of the radical revolution
-leader of the jacobins
-author of the reign of terror
-called the incorruptible
-member of the committee for public saftey
-ordered louis XVI to be executed
-executed when jacobin party lost power
georges danton
-lawyer
-responsible for september massacres
-first president of the committee for public sfety
-at first supported robespierre but eventually denounced reign of terror and became his rival
-guillotined after being accused of being a royalist
what were the september massacres?
-1000 prisoners in prison cells killed
-rumors had spread that prisoners were planning to riot to free the king