French Revolution Flashcards
What group of people started this revolution and why?
Educated middle-class men who wanted political power equivalent to their social standing + economic power
Relation to American Revolution
Inspired French philosophes + their followers
What is the purpose of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen?
Equality of all women
Who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen?
Olympe de Gouges
Extent of change
More radical than American Rev; Sought to replace entire old system with new political + social + cultural structures
Ancien regime
Old order
Causes
Complete bankruptcy from war debts + maintain army; Unfair voting in Estates General
Louis XVI (16)
Initially thought he couldn’t raise revenue from peasants -> Tried to increase taxes on nobility -> Summon Estates general to get money -> Increase
Why didn’t increase taxes on nobility work?
Protested because they were normally excused from taxation
Estate General
Assembly that represented the entire French population through estates (1 vote for each)
Social hierarchy in ancien regime
1st Estate > 2nd Estate > 3rd Estate
1st Estate
RC clergy; Socially + politically conservative - disliked reforms of estate general
2nd Estate
Nobles; Socially + politically conservative - disliked reforms of estate general
3rd Estate
Rest of population (serfs, peasants, artisans, bankers, etc); Demanded political + social reforms based on popular sovereignty (JJR)
National Assembly
Revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate after leaving the Estate General; 1 man = 1 vote;
Tenis Court Oath
Members of national assembly claimed to never disband until France has a new constitution
Storming of the Bastille
Start of the French revolution; Attack on prison due to fear that King Louis XVI was about to arrest France’s newly constituted National Assembly
Who declared the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen?
National Assembly
What is the purpose of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen?
Equality of all men; Sovereignty resides in the people (JJR); Individual rights to liberty, property, and security (Locke)
Goals
Liberty, equality, and fraternity
What did the National Assembly do to the old order?
Abolish the old order + fees / labor services that peasants owned to their landlords
What did the National Assembly do to religious institutions?
Altered the role of the church by seizing church lands + abolish 1st estate + define clergy as civilians + require clergy to take an oath of loyalty to state
What did the National Assembly do to the government?
Issued constitution that made the king the main executive official but is deprived of legislative authority / can’t change or create laws (Montesquieu)
Type of government under National Assembly
Constitutional monarchy where men of property were the only ones that had power to vote
DRMC + Enlightenment influence
2nd article: Goal of political association is the preservation of natural rights of man, which are liberty + property + security + resistance to oppression (Locke)
3rd article: Principle of all sovereignty resides in the people (JJR)
4th + 11th article: Liberty consists in the freedom to do anything that doesn’t harm another + Free communication of thoughts (Voltaire)
Effects of National Assembly toward nobility
Diminished status
What did the nobility do to try to gain back power?
Use foreign powers to support the king + restore old order
Why was the Convention created?
Revolutionary leaders feared military defeat + counter-revolution
The Convention
Legislative body elected by universal manhood suffrage - abolish monarchy + declared France a republic
Universal manhood suffrage
Form of voting rights where all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, etc
Levee en masse
Draft people + resources for use in war against invading forces; Created by the Convention
How did the Convention solve foreign and domestic threats?
Levee en masse + use of guillotine
Committee of Public Safety
Committee that oversee military + foreign policy + coordinated war effort + ensured unity against foreign coalitions; Executive authority of the Republic
Maximilien Robespierre
Lawyer by trade; Ruthless but powerful radical; Led the CPS
Who were the Jacobins and what did they believe in?
Maximilien’s supporters and believed France needed complete restructuring;
What are Jacobins’ influence in religion?
Sought to remove influence of Christianity by closing churches + forcing priests to marry + promote “cult of reason” as a secular alternative
Cult of reason
Atheist religion created by the Jacobins; Encouraged citizens to wear working-class clothes
Cult of reason on women
Increased their rights by allowing them to inherit property and divorce their husbands - didn’t allow women to vote or participate in political affairs
Olympe de Gouges
French revolutionary; Advocate for women’s rights; Declaration of Rights of Women + Citizens; Killed by the Jacobins bc they didn’t want women to have more rights of freedom and equality
Reign of Terror
Radicals who disagrees with Robespierre and the Jacobins were massacred by the guillotine
Result of the reign of terror
The Convention arrested and killed Robespierre and his allies
Who ruled after Robespierre was killed?
The Directory
The Directory
A five-member committee that failed to reform the disastrous economy + military problems; Kept changing policies + faced challenges to authority
Result of the Directory
Napoleon Bonaparte
What did this revolution lead to?
Destroyed hierarchical social order of ancien regime + extended political and legal rights to all citizens (until Napoleon + later rulers)
Women rights under NA + Convention
Free public education; Wives have a share of family property; Legalized divorce; No right to vote / participate in public affairs
