Key Terms and People

Question 1

Enlightenment

Define

Answer 1

This is the name given to the growth of scholarly and intellectual writing on many aspects of philosophy, science, the arts, economics, government, religion and politics in the 18th century.

These writings were often critical of and questioned established religion, monarchial rule and social inequality, and were seen as a major cause of revolution.

Question 2

Direct Taxes

Define

Answer 2

Taxes urged on personal income or property.

Question 3

Feudal Dues

Answer 3

Payments made to lords by peasants based on traditional privileges not contractual obligations.

Question 4

Austrian Wars

Answer 4

• France had fought two prolonged wars in the eighteenth century. In both France had opposed Britian. Both had resulted in greater British than French success and both had been costly, increasing the French debt by over 2 billion livres.

Question 5

Subsistence Farming

Answer 5

Poorer farmers with limited or infertile land could survive only by growing enough for themselves and their families to eat in order to stay alive rather than producing crops for sale.

Question 6

Bread Riots

Answer 6

A common feature of French life was riots by poor and often hungry people to seize corn or take bread from bakers.

Question 7

Parlements

Answer 7

The parlements were not elected. They were courts of law consisting of small numbers of aristocratic judges that acted as final courts of appeal and also registered royal edicts (order) to give them the status of laws

If they refused to register of royal edict, then the king could pass it away.

Question 8

Parliament

Answer 8

Such as that of Britain in the eighteenth century, which consisted of lower house of elected representatives who could vote on the government’s budget and whose consent was needed to make a law.

Question 9

Tyranny

Answer 9

Oppressive rule.

Question 10

Enclosure

Answer 10

The enclosing of land by hedges or fences in order to divide up larger open fields.

Question 11

Corvee

Answer 11

This was an obligation to work on the public roads or the king’s highways. It was unpopular and as the nobles and clergy were exempt it caused a lot of resentment.

Question 12

Protestants

Answer 12

Followers of the religious reforms begun in the sixteenth century. There were wars between Catholics and Protestants in the sixteenth century.

Protestants were granted toleration in 1598 but this was ended in 1698 when the Protestants, or Huguenots as they were called, were persecuted.

Question 13

Day of Tiles

Answer 13

On 7 June 1788 the French government in the Grenoble involved throwing down roof tiles into the streets.

Question 14

War of American Independence

Answer 14

Fighting broke out between the British forces and the British colonists in North America in 1775 and 1776 the American’s declared independence. Britian tried to suppress this rebellion but was unsuccessful and in 1778 France joined the war on the colonists’ side.

Though Britain lost, French gains in the peace of 1783 were not great and costs were high. Also, the war gave rise to greater interest in liberty and opposition to tyrannical rule in France.

Question 15

National Guard

Answer 15

• An armed force of citizens formed to keep order in July 1789.

Question 16

Constituent Assembly

Answer 16

An elected body whose task is to draw up a new constitution, or a set of rules under which a country is to be run.

Question 17

Constitutional Monarchy

Answer 17

A state where the hereditary ruler shares power to a greater or lesser extent with an elected assembly.

Question 18

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Answer 18

The name given to the new official position of the church in the Revolution which placed it under state control.

Question 19

Chouans

Answer 19

The name given to the new official position of the church in the Revolution which placed it under control.

They opposed the Revolution in favor of a restoration of the power of the Church and King.

Question 20

Legislative Assembly

Answer 20

The parliament of France October 1791 to September 1792. This was the modernized version of the National Assembly and aimed to produce a written Constitution with new elects.

Question 21

IOU

Answer 21

• A way of writing ‘I owe you’- a promise to repay a loan.

With France’s economic travesty, these new notes came into effect based on the wealth that the state had gained from taking over church lands. However, its instability led to inflation.

Question 22

Inflation

Answer 22

• Rising prices.

When values become unstable, countries can fall to leaving inflation within experiencing a shortage of currency.

Question 23

Sans-Coluttes

Answer 23

The sans-culottes were politically active and often not the very poorest of the people of Paris but small shopkeepers and artisans who resented the rich and were influenced by the clubs like the Jacobins. They took a key role in many of the disturbances of the Revolution in Paris.

Richer men wore breeches and stockings on their legs, but the poorer men wore trousers- so they were literally ‘without breeches’

Question 24

Red Cap of Liberty

Answer 24

This was a soft conical hat based on the headgear of ancient European people such as the Phrygians. .

It came to symbolize Revolutionary liberty and was often worn by the sans-culottes.

Question 25

White Terror

Answer 25

• This was politically inspired violence used by the enemies of the Revolution (the so-called ‘Whites’) against its supporters

Question 26

Neo-Jacobins

Answer 26

The main motive force of radical revolution had been slowed by the fall of Robespierre and the suppression of the more extreme groups. However, the ideas of the Jacobins had not died and there was a radical opposition to the Directors that saw the regime as betraying the core principles of the Revolution. These groups were not a united party and have been known as neo- (or near) Jacobins.

They were later suppressed severely after a failed attempt on Napoleon’s life.

Question 27

Revolutionary Calendar

Answer 27

In order to break from the past, the Revolution in October 1793 renamed the months and started numbering the years from the start of the Revolution

The months were named after the characteristics -so November, for example, became Brumaire- the foggy month. Year 1 was 1793-1794.

Question 28

Consul for Life

Answer 28

In 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself the ruler of France, or Consul for Life.

The term consul derives from the Republic of Ancient Rome.

Question 29

Second Coalition

Answer 29

The First Coalition or alliance of different European states against France had broken down in 1797. Britain was ready to finance another group of nations and in 1798 Britian, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Naples, some German states, and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) signed alliances to so-operate in a coalition against France

The coalition was weakened by Bonaparte’s victory over Austria in 1800.

Question 30

Louis XVI

Answer 30

• Born in 1754, he was the grandson of Louis XV, and later became King. Though interested in many new ideas, particularly those connected to naval matter, he was unable to deal effectively with the growing problem of finance. He did not give support to the series of reforming ministers. His acceptance of advice to go to war against Britain in 1778 made the situation critical. He eventually agreed to summon the Estates General, the equivalent to a French parliament, which had not met since 1614, but then could not manage it. Shifting between support for change and a desire to use force to prevent it, he allowed events to get out of control. Forced to reside in the Centre of Paris, not his palace at Versailles, by mob action in October 1789. He unwisely supported a war policy in 1792 and was blamed for French failures. He was overthrown as king in August 1792 and was executed in January 1793.

Question 31

Denis Diderot

Answer 31

• (1713-84) was an influential writer from the Champagne region of France who attempted to bring together knowledge into an encyclopedia begun in1750 and completed 1772. This quest knowledge was highly influential and as more was assessed, more could be questioned, so the effect was to promote more criticism of governments and institutions and to encourage more intellectual curiosity.

Question 32

Anne-Robert-Jacques

Answer 32

Turgot-(1727-81) was the leading minister of Louis XVI 1774-76 and proposed economic and financial reforms which, if followed, might have prevented the Revolution. Unpopular with the people because of the rise in bread prices, and his rivals at court, he was no backed by Louis XVI and fell from power

Question 33

Jacques Necker

Answer 33

-(1732-1804) was a Swiss lawyer who became a rich and influential banker. He was put in charge of royal finances in France in 1777. To build confidence in the finances so that people would be prepared to lend money to the state he published an optimistic account of the King’s government’s financial situation in 1781- a remarkable step as these matters were previously thought to be not a matter for public knowledge and discussion. He was recalled in 1788 and seen as a major reforming influence. His dismissal in 1789 caused a wave of public discontent and he was recalled. He was more a symbol of reform than a figure who achieved a great deal and he resigned in 1790.

Question 34

Marie-Joseph Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de la Fayette-

Answer 34

(1757-1834) was a high ranking noble from the Loire who was a professional soldier. Moved by the idea of liberty, he volunteered to help the American colonialists in their war against Britain in 1777. He became a hero in America. In 1789 he was made commander of the new National Guard and helped to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man. He was not able to control the march on Versailles in October1789 and was increasingly concerned about the radicalism of the revolution. He fled abroad in 1792.

Question 35

George-Jacques Danton-

Answer 35

(1759-94) was a radical lawyer who took a leading part in the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 and was the Minister of Justice in 1792. A powerful orator, he disagreed with Robespierre about the severity of the Terror, urging more moderation and was tried and executed as a traitor of the Revolution in 1794.

Question 36

Camille Desmoulins

Answer 36

1760-94) was a radical lawyer who did much to incite crowds in Paris in July 1789 prior to the storming of the Bastille. He wrote prolifically and published revolutionary newspapers, but he disagreed with Robespierre, his former friend, and paid for that with his life in 1794 when he was guillotined.

Question 37

Theroigne de Mericourt-

Answer 37

(1762-1817) was born in Liege. Abused as a child and young woman she ended up as a governess and trained as an opera singer. Carried off by a rich Englishman to Paris she subsequently became a courtesan. Enthused by the Revolution she spoke in the Cordeliers about women’s rights. She became famous for having been arrested and imprisoned by the Austrians in 1792. She famously urged the rights of women and was notorious for her role in the storming of the Tuileries Palace in August 1792, but fell foul of party rivalry when she became a Girondins and was beaten severely by Jacobin women. She may have suffered brain damage and ended her life in an asylum.

Question 38

Maximilien Robespierre

Answer 38

• Born in Arras in 1758, Robespierre was the son of a lawyer. He trained in law in Paris and specialized in defending poorer people. Robespierre was elected to the Estates General in 1789. He developed radical ideas and was a member of the Jacobin club. Though he opposed to war in 1792, he was a passionate believer in the Revolution and the end of the monarchy. He took the major role in the overthrow of the Girondins and was a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety, supporting extreme measures of terror against perceived opponents. Highly influential with the Paris crowds, he became powerful and and aimed to implement controversial changes such as the Cult of the Supreme Being in place of traditional religion. He lost support among the people and the Convention and was arrested, condemned, and executed in July 1794.

Question 39

Lazare Carnot

Answer 39

(1753-1823) was a mathematician and military leader who organized the French revolutionary army after 1793. He did much to introduce the idea of total war.

Question 40

Napoleon Bonaparte

Answer 40

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica. His family were minor aristocrats, and his father was a lawyer. Napoleon was sent to France to study as a result of the family’s collaboration with the French who had recently taken over the island. He trained as a professional soldier and became lieutenant of artillery. Serious and withdrawn, he read widely and was deeply interested in the French Revolution. He returned to Corsica to try to lead the revolution there but was driven out by local feuds and the Bonapartes moved to France. His friendship with some leading Jacobins leads to him to be able to take a leading part in the battle to expel British forces from the port of Toulon. This gave him a good reputation and marrying the mistress of one of the Directors, Paul Barras, made him known in political circles. He commanded a force that dispersed a mob trying to the overthrow the Directory in 1795 and his loyalty was rewarded by a command of the army of Italy. This was the breakthrough as by rapid movement and skilled tactics he defeated the enemy forces of the Piedmont and Austria and imposed a treaty in 1797 giving France control Northen Italy. In 1798 he led a daring expedition to Egypt to cut off British Mediterranean trade routes to the East. Successful in on land, his ships were destroyed by the British admiral Nelson. Leaving his army, he returned to France where he was taken up by opponents of the Directory and took part by a coup in November 1799 to establish a new Constitution. Once within the reach of power, he took his opportunity to dominate the new government as First Consul and became Consul for Life in 1802. He oversaw a batch of highly important internal reforms as a Consul including a major reform of French law. He declared himself Emperor in 1804. However, his main concern was war. He led a brilliant campaign in central Europe 1805-07 defeating Austria, Prussia, and Russia and dominating Europe. To defeat Britain, he tried to strangle British trade by forbidding British exports but this backfired and led him into wars in Spain and Portugal and also Russia in 1812. French forces could not hold on to Spain and Portugal when British troops supported local forces. The invasion of Russia was on a very large scale but was unsuccessful and saw a humiliating and costly retreat. Still believing in victory he fought a campaign in Germany in 1813 against Prussia and Austria but could not prevent the invasions on France in 1814. Losing the loyalty of key figures in his government and faced with unfavorable odds against much larger allied forces and having lost control of the seas to Britain, he abdicated in April 1814 and was exiled to the small island of Elba in a miniature and humiliating parody of Empire. He returned to France in 1815 for a brief restoration of his imperial rule but was defeated by British, Dutch, and Prussian forces at Waterloo and exiled finally to the remote Atlantic island of St Helena where he dies of cancer in 1821.