Responses to the French Revolution in Britain Flashcards
What were the causes of the French Revolution?
- Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- Inherited problems
- The Estates System
- Taxation and money
- The Enlightenment
- Bad luck
How did Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette contribute towards the FR?
- France had an absolute monarchy so Louis had control
- BUT Louis lacked charisma and leadership skills
- Marie was a foreigner = seen as suspicious
- Marie was targeted for profligate spending and sexual deviancy
- they became scapegoats for more issues than they could control
What was the controversy surrounding Marie’s excessive spending?
- it was only supposedly
How did inherited problems contribute to the FR?
- Seven Year War and American war of Independence = poor financial system
- outdated taxation system where the rich avoided taxes
- stagnant economy: slow trade, slow agricultural and industrial revolution
- estates system
How did the estates system contribute to the FR?
- society split into 3 groups: nobility, clergy and everyone else
- majorly unrepresentative
- clergy and nobility refused reform
How did taxation and money contribute to the FR?
- wealthiest avoided taxes = burden upon the lower class
- economic reform blocked by parliament due to Louis’ lack of leadership skills
- France was on the brink of bankruptcy
- inflation
How did the Enlightenment contribute to the FR?
- literacy levels increasing = ideas of liberty, equality, constitutional monarchy, separation of Church and State
- inspired the motto of the Revolution
What was the motto of the FR?
‘liberté, egalité and fraternité’
How did bad luck contribute to the FR?
- 1741-1785: cost of living increased by 62%
- 1788-1789: bad harvests
What did the bad harvests cause?
- increasing bread prices
- increasing inflation
- drop in wages
Who was Thomas Paine?
a supporter of the FR
What was Thomas Paine’s book?
The Rights of Man
What was the consequence of his book being published? What did Paine do?
- he was charged with seditious libel
- fled to France
What was Paine’s belief about the French regime? What did this cause him to think?
- the French regime was rotten to the core = revolution the only solution
What did Paine think about the destruction caused by Revolution?
- what mattered was what revolution built not what they tore down
- destruction was for a greater cause
What did Paine believe revolution promised?
- a “new era to the human race”
- equality for all
What did Paine think all people should do?
- must throw off the old government to reveal mans natural state of equality
What was Paine’s response to the Revolution?
- the chaos was caused by a misunderstanding of the principles but their aims were still right
Who was Edmund Burke?
- challenged the FR
What was Burke’s work?
Reflections on the revolution in France
What did Burke think was a better solution than revolution? Why?
- reform
- he didn’t like to see things destroyed; revolution should be the “very last resource”
What did Burke think revolution would lead to?
- “despotism of the multitude”
- unnecessary destruction
- a military dictatorship
Who did Burke believe to be the leaders of the Revolution?
- fanatical and ambitious atheists
What did people in Britain initially believe after Burke published his book? What was the reality?
- he overreacted
- the descent of the FR into terror and the rise of Napoleon proved him right
What did Charles James Fox see the FR as? Why?
- a victory for democracy and freedom
- he criticised the King’s control
How did Protestant dissenters see the FR?
- broke away from Anglican Church
- accepted it in hopes of more religious toleration
What restricted Protestant dissenters?
- the 1661 corporation act
- the 1673 test act
- also restricted Roman Catholics
What was the 1661 Corporation act?
- to hold a municipal (government) office you had to be confirmed into the Anglican Church and have taken the Holy Communion
What was the 1673 Test act?
- to hold a civil or military office you have to be confirmed into the Anglican Church and have taken the Holy Communion
How did Corresponding societies respond to the FR?
- supported it
- wanted more political reform and lower taxes
- inspired what they spoke about
- they corresponded with like-minded men of France
What did Thomas Hardy think of the FR?
- supported
- believed the political system was corrupt
- wanted more reform
- wanted all men to be enfranchised (like Paine)
What were Loyalist associations?
- supporters of the monarchy
- mimicked radical organisations
- convinced people that the FR was against British interests
- used intimidation and propaganda
What did Loyalist associations make Pitt believe?
the majority wanted repression of radicalism (a minority)
What happened in July, 1791?
- government agents suspected of being behind an attack on the group the ‘Friends of France’ in Birmingham
- they met to celebrate the fall of Bastille
- mobs attacked them and the homes of any known dissenters
What did the event in July, 1791 suggest?
- there was a move within the government towards the repression of radicalism before the september massacres
What were the September Massacres? When did this take place?
- revolutionary leaders sanctioned the deaths of thousands of prisoners, suspected of being counter-revolutionaries, in France
- 1792
How did the British react to the September Massacres?
they were repulsed.
- only extreme radicals accepted it
When were King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette executed?
- 1793
How did the British react to the execution of the French monarchy?
- many radicals change their opinion
- Pitt feels a threat to British interests and declares war on France
- the war united the British against radicalism
- only accepted by extreme radicals
How did Mary Wollstonecraft see the FR? How did she view the French monarchy?
- she responded to Burke
- called Burke a former reformer who had grown old and confused
- called the French monarchy decadent
- said Burke’s eulogising of Antoinette ignored the suffering of thousands of women under the regime
- extended her arguments on the need for female emancipation
What was Wollstonecraft’s work? When was it published?
‘A Vindication of the Rights of Man’
1790
How did Dr. Richard Price respond to the FR?
- gave a sermon ‘On the Love of Our Country’
- congratulated the French National Assembly for opening opportunities for religious and civil freedom- argued for perfectibility
What was the Enlightenment concept of perfectibility?
- the world can be improved through human effort
- the capacity to be free from faults
What is the link between Dr. Price and Wollstonecraft?
- she was apart of his parish
How man copies of the ‘Rights of Man’ did Paine sell in two years?
200,000
What did the FR lead to in Ireland?
- 1797 Failed French Invasion
- 1798 Irish Revolt
What did Charles Grey do in 1793?
- introduced a parliamentary reform bill
- was rejected
