Key question 2 france

Question 1

What were the causes and immediate outcomes of the 1789 Revolution?

Answer 1

Causes included inequality among estates, financial crisis, Enlightenment ideas, and ineffective leadership by Louis XVI. Immediate outcomes included the fall of the Bastille, abolition of feudal privileges, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Question 2

What were the causes for the French Revolution?

Answer 2

Causes included economic hardship, social inequality, resentment against the monarchy, Enlightenment ideas, and financial crises due to war debts.

Question 3

Why were there resentments in French society?

Answer 3

Resentments stemmed from the unequal distribution of wealth and privileges, with the clergy and nobility enjoying exemptions while the Third Estate bore the tax burden.

Question 4

What is Enlightenment?

Answer 4

A philosophical movement in the 17th-18th centuries emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority, promoting ideals of liberty and equality.

Question 5

Who is Louis XVI?

Answer 5

Louis XVI was the King of France from 1774 to 1792, whose reign ended with the French Revolution and his execution in 1793.

Question 6

Why was Louis XVI ridiculed?

Answer 6

Louis XVI was ridiculed for his indecisiveness, inability to manage the financial crisis, and perceived detachment from the struggles of his people.

Question 7

What does the term ‘ancien régime’ mean?

Answer 7

It refers to the old order or traditional social and political structure in France before the Revolution, characterized by feudal privileges.

Question 8

What are the long-term social problems?

Answer 8

Social problems included rigid class hierarchies, inequality, and resentment against the privileges of the clergy and nobility.

Question 9

What is some evidence to back up long-term social problems?

Answer 9

Evidence includes the Third Estate’s tax burden, exclusion from political power, and widespread poverty compared to aristocratic luxury

Question 10

What are the long-term financial problems?

Answer 10

Chronic deficits from royal spending, tax inefficiency, and debt from wars like the Seven Years’ War and American Revolutionary War.

Question 11

Why did France go into debt?

Answer 11

France went into debt due to excessive military expenditures, support for the American Revolution, and extravagant royal spending.

Question 12

What were the two expensive wars fought by Louis XV?

Answer 12

The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748).

Question 13

What were long-term economic problems?

Answer 13

Inefficient taxation, reliance on feudal dues, poor harvests, and reliance on an agrarian economy with limited industrial growth.

Question 14

What were bread riots?

Answer 14

Protests caused by soaring bread prices due to bad harvests, leading to widespread hunger and unrest among the poor.

Question 15

What were the long-term political problems?

Answer 15

Absolute monarchy, lack of representation for the Third Estate, and resistance to reforms by the privileged classes.

Question 16

Why was there a growing middle class?

Answer 16

Economic expansion and increased trade created a wealthy bourgeoisie who resented their lack of political power and privileges.

Question 17

What were the short-term problems after 1774?

Answer 17

Financial crisis, famine due to bad harvests, and Louis XVI’s failure to enact meaningful reforms.

Question 18

What was the impact of Louis XVI’s policies?

Answer 18

His indecision and resistance to reforms exacerbated financial crises and led to the loss of public trust, fueling revolutionary sentiment.

Question 19

Why was little attempt made to change France and restrict privilege?

Answer 19

The nobility and clergy resisted reforms to maintain their privileges, and Louis XVI lacked the political will to confront them.

Question 20

What inspired the American Revolution?

Answer 20

Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and governance by consent inspired the American Revolution, which in turn influenced French reformists.

Question 21

What were the pressures for change?

Answer 21

Economic hardship, rising Enlightenment ideals, and resentment of the monarchy created pressures for systemic change.

Question 22

What were the social pressures?

Answer 22

Inequality between the estates, increasing literacy and awareness of Enlightenment ideas, and widespread poverty created social pressures.

Question 23

Who were the main revolutionaries of the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 23

Figures like James Watt and Richard Arkwright in industry; philosophically, Enlightenment thinkers influenced revolutionary ideals.

Question 24

How did economic discontent lead to the Revolution?

Answer 24

High taxes, rising bread prices, and unemployment due to industrial stagnation created widespread anger among the Third Estate

Question 25

What occurred due to the series of bad harvests?

Answer 25

Crop failures led to famine, soaring bread prices, and unrest, which fueled calls for revolution.

Question 26

Why did landowners enclose their land?

Answer 26

To increase agricultural efficiency and profits, often displacing peasants and causing rural unrest.

Question 27

Why was there increasing refusal from peasants to pay taxes?

Answer 27

Widespread poverty and resentment of unequal taxation led peasants to resist paying dues and taxes.

Question 28

What did economic discontent cause by 1788?

Answer 28

Economic discontent caused widespread unrest, bread riots, and calls for convening the Estates-General.

Question 29

What did political pressures lead to the Revolution?

Answer 29

Political pressures included demands for representation, the influence of Enlightenment ideas, and frustration with monarchical absolutism.

Question 30

For whom was the lack of political rights and chance to participate frustrating?

Answer 30

The bourgeoisie, or middle class, who were economically powerful but lacked political rights and privileges.

Question 31

Why was there a growth of interest in scientific knowledge in European countries and North America?

Answer 31

The Enlightenment emphasized reason and empirical evidence, fostering curiosity and advancements in science.

Question 32

Why were doubts cast on traditional religious beliefs?

Answer 32

Enlightenment emphasis on reason and scientific discovery challenged church doctrines and traditional authority.

Question 33

How did these new ideas affect the middle class?

Answer 33

Enlightenment ideas empowered the middle class to challenge traditional hierarchies and demand political rights and reforms.