Historiography

Question 1

-Most historians’ view of Louis XVI in the past
-a recently revised view

Answer 1

-an indecisive and stupid man who was ill-suited to the task of governing an absolute state
- he was unable to cope with the momentous events unfolding around him

Question 2

John Hardman on Louis XVI

Answer 2

Louis was intelligent, hard-working and possessed the sort of skills (financial and naval) which were required by an eighteenth century French king
he was overwhelmed by the financial crisis and his inability to resolve it

Question 3

Georges Lefebvre on causes of the French revolution

Answer 3

Marxist interpretation
regarded the Revolution as a bourgeois revolution tied to social and economic factors

Question 4

Francois Furet on causes of the French revolution

Answer 4

Revisionist interpretation
felt the driving force for change was the advanced democratic ideas of the Enlightenment

Question 5

J.H. Shennan on causes of the French revolution

Answer 5

post-revisionist consensus
“it seems most likely that the Revolution broke out because long-term problems and resentments were brought to a head by events immediately preceding it”

Question 6

Georges Lefebvre on the Declaration