French Revolution: Events; Cause, effect + significance Flashcards
Poor Harvests
1781/2, 1785/6 and 1788/9
Cause: Harsh weather and inefficient agricultural methods.
Effect: Food shortages, rising bread prices, and famine.
Significance: Increased discontent among the populace, contributing to revolutionary unrest.
Compte Rendu
February 1781
Cause: Frances poor financial situation
Effect: Provided an optimistic but misleading view of France’s fiscal health.
Significance: Encouraged further loans, masking the extent of France’s debt crisis.
Assembly of Notables
22 February 1787 - 25 May 1787
Cause:
King Louis XVI called together important people (the Assembly of Notables) to get their support for new taxes because France was deeply in debt.
Effect:
The Assembly refused to approve the taxes, saying a larger group should decide. This showed people that the king couldn’t handle the crisis alone, adding pressure for big changes.
Significance:
The Assembly’s refusal was a key step toward the French Revolution. It showed that the king’s power was weakening and that people wanted more say in government.
Louis Rejects Parliaments
May 1788
Cause: Attempt by Louis XVI to assert his authority over regional parliaments.
Effect: Strengthened opposition to the king.
Significance: Deepened the divide between the monarchy and parliaments, fueling discontent
Day of Tiles
7 June 1788
Cause: Protest against royal reforms reducing regional parliaments’ power.
Effect: Violent clashes as people threw roof tiles at soldiers.
Significance: One of the first widespread uprisings; showed resistance to royal authority.
France Bankrupt
16 August 1788
Cause: Years of deficit spending and costly wars.
Effect: Halted government payments and operations.
Significance: Directly triggered calls for the Estates-General to resolve the crisis.
Cahiers De Doléances
January - April 1789
Cause: King’s invitation for grievances in advance of the Estates-General + Calling of Estates General
Effect: Compiled lists of grievances from all estates.
Significance: Gave voice to widespread dissatisfaction and demands for reform.
Relaxation of Censorship laws
Cause: Pamphlet published
Effect: What is the third estate - Articulated the idea that the Third Estate was the nation.
Significance: Influential in shaping revolutionary thought.
Estates General
May 1789
Cause: King’s attempt to address France’s financial crisis.
Effect: Led to political deadlock and division among estates.
Significance: Marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
Revellion Riots
27 April 1789
Cause: Rumors of wage cuts by wallpaper manufacturer Réveillon.
Effect: Violent protests and destruction of property.
Significance: Showed the volatility of the populace and their anger at economic hardship.
Declaration of National Assembly
17 June 1789
Cause: Frustration with the Estates-General’s ineffectiveness + issue of voting
Effect: Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly.
Significance: Key step in the assertion of the people’s political power.
Tennis court oath
20 June 1789
Cause: Lockout of the National Assembly members from their meeting hall.
Effect: Oath to continue meeting until a constitution was established.
Significance: Symbolized unity and determination to reform government.
Louis allows voting by head
27 June 1789
Cause: Pressure from the National Assembly.
Effect: Allowed decisions by individual vote, not by estate.
Significance: Increased Third Estate’s power, advancing democratic reforms.
Storming of the Bastille
14 July 1789
Cause: Search for arms and gunpowder amid fear of royal military action.
Effect: Symbolic victory as the fortress was taken by revolutionaries.
Significance: Became a powerful symbol of resistance and the start of widespread revolution
Night of Patriotic Delirium
4 August 1789
Cause: Pressure to respond to peasant unrest and fear of feudal retaliation.
Effect: Abolished feudal privileges in a single night.
Significance: Major step toward equality and the dismantling of the feudal system.
August Decrees
5-11 August 1789
Cause: Formalization of the feudal system’s abolition.
Effect: Abolished feudal privileges and obligations.
Significance: Legitimized the revolutionary ideals of equality and liberty.
Women’s March to Versailles
5 October 1789
Cause: Rising bread prices and rumors of royal indifference.
Effect: Forced royal family to move to Paris.
Significance: Showed the power of popular protest in shaping revolutionary actions.
Confiscation of Church Land
August 1789
Cause: Need to resolve the financial crisis.
Effect: Church lands were nationalized to help fund the state.
Significance: Severed traditional Church-state ties and weakened the Church’s power.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
12 July 1790
Cause: Desire to control the Church and make it accountable to the state.
Effect: Clergy had to pledge loyalty to the state over the pope.
Significance: Deepened divisions between revolutionaries and religious citizens.
Clerical Oath of Loyalty
17 November 1790
Cause: Enforce the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Effect: Required clergy to swear loyalty to the revolutionary government.
Significance: Created a schism within the Church, alienating devout Catholics.
Flight to Varennes
20 June 1791
Cause: King Louis XVI’s attempt to escape revolutionary Paris after concerns about the revolution and reforms on the church
Effect: Captured and returned, Louis lost further support.
Significance: Revealed his opposition to revolution, damaging his public image, imprisoned at Tuilleries
Champ De Mars massacre
17 July 1791
Cause: Protest demanding the king’s abdication after his failed escape.
Effect: National Guard fired on demonstrators, killing many.
Significance: Increased polarization and fear of counter-revolution.
Declaration of Pillnitz
August 1791
Cause: Foreign monarchies’ desire to support Louis XVI.
Effect: Threatened intervention if Louis was harmed.
Significance: Escalated tensions and contributed to France declaring war.
International War
Cause: France’s declaration of war against Austria and Prussia.
Effect: First clash in a series of wars.
Significance: Mobilized revolutionary zeal but strained France’s resources.
Brunswick Manifesto
July 1792
Cause: Threat by Prussian forces to protect the monarchy.
Effect: Enraged Parisians, who saw it as foreign interference.
Significance: Intensified revolutionary fervor and hostility toward monarchy.
Storming of Tuileries
10 August 1792
Cause: Continued distrust of Louis and fear of invasion.
Effect: Overthrew the monarchy and imprisoned the king.
Significance: Marked the end of the monarchy and the rise of republicanism.
September Massacres
2-6 September 1792
Cause: Fear of foreign invasion and suspected counter-revolutionaries.
Effect: Mobs killed prisoners suspected of royalist sympathies.
Significance: Revealed the brutal side of the revolution and increased polarization.
Vendee Rebellion
March 1793
Cause: Conservative rural opposition to revolutionary policies and anti-Catholic measures.
Effect: Armed uprising in the Vendee region.
Significance: Showed the revolution’s limited rural support.
Reign of the Terror
1793-1794
Cause: Need to defend the revolution from internal and external threats.
Effect: Mass executions and repression of dissent.
Significance: Defined the radical phase of the revolution, with lasting historical impact.
Comittee of Public Safety
April 1793
Cause: Created to deal with crises and threats to the revolution.
Effect: Became powerful in directing the Reign of Terror.
Significance: Centralized authority and orchestrated harsh measures.
Expulsion of Girondins
May 1793
Cause: Power struggle with more radical Jacobins.
Effect: Girondin leaders expelled from the Convention.
Significance: Increased Jacobin control and radicalization of the government.
Federalist Revolt
June 1793
Cause: Resistance to Jacobin dominance by provinces and Paris autocracy.
Effect: Rebellions against Paris’s central authority.
Significance: Showed fractures within revolutionary France.
Destruction of Lyon
October 1793
Cause: Punishment for Lyon’s federalist revolt.
Effect: Severe retribution against the city.
Significance: Demonstrated the government’s ruthless response to dissent.
Danton, Desmoulins, and 16 Others Executed
April 1794
Cause: Internal purges against perceived moderates.
Effect: Death of prominent revolutionary leaders.
Significance: Signaled the height of the Terror’s excesses.
Cult of Supreme Being
May-June 1794
Cause: Robespierre’s attempt to establish a state religion.
Effect: Briefly replaced Catholicism with deist worship.
Significance: Undermined Robespierre’s popularity, leading to his downfall.
Robespierre and Robespierrists executed
28 July 1794 (2 days after impeachment)
Cause: Rising opposition to his authoritarian rule.
Effect: Ended the Reign of Terror.
Significance: Marked a turning point and the end of radical revolutionary governance.
