Revolutions- the french revolution Flashcards
how was france ruled before 1789
king louis XVI
france was a powerful country,ruled by king louis XVI. louis became king 1774 at the age of 20. he was the absolute monarch and rued france from his beautiful palace at versailles near paris. louis believed that his power came from god.he made all eh major decisions. he appointed his advisors and there was no elected parliament.
he was a kind and generous man who loved hunting. he was popular with most french people.however he found it hard to make hard decisions. people also felt like he was controlled by his wife.. she was an austrian princess and was nit liked by the french. austria was the natural enemy of the french. they believed that she wasted vasts of money on luxuries
what happened in 1789
the french revolution
what was the three estates
the first estate was the clergy-the bishops and the priests of the catholic church. they numbered about 100,000 people.
the second estate was the nobles.there was about 400,000 nobles. most were wealthy landowners and some acted as advisors to the king
the third estate was the remaining 95 per cent of the population-they were called the commoners. they were poor workers or peasants.
what is a tithe
it is a tax farmers and peasants had to pay. this was one-tenth of what they produced
who are the commoners
farmers and peasants
who are the bourgeoisie
the rich and well educated section of the third estate
why were there demands in change in france
the enlightenment
the impact of the american revolution
taxes
who are enlightenment writers and some examples
they are the people who are against the kings
voltaire
rousseau
what are the things the enlightenment writers wrote
they thought that religion were superstition ans did not believe that the kings power came from god
they were opposed to the absolute power of the king and argues that his power came from the people
they felt the church and the nobles were too powerful and that the ordinary people of france should have a greater say in running the countries
why were the french upset about the taxes
they were upset that the nobles did not have to pay the gabelle. this tax was disliked by the people as salt as used to preserve food.
although most peasants were poor they had to pay tax to their local lord. these were called feudal dues.the tithe paid to the church was also very unpopular.
what is teh gabelle
tax on salt
what are the feudal dues
the tax the peasants had to pay to their local lords
what was the impact of the american revolution
they had been impressed by that the freedoms the americans had and wanted some of them to be introduced to france.
helping america also had another impact on france.the war of independence was one of the long line wars that france fought in the eighteenth century. these wars were very expensive and left france bankrupt
what events led to the revolution in france
teh question voting
the national assembly
the bastille
what is voting by order
it is when each estate met up separately and made up its mind on the issue. it then had one vote
what is voting by head
it was when each member of the estate had a vote
describe the question of voting
when the Estates General met in May 1789 members of the third estate wanted a role in the decisions that were to be made.to do this they needed to change the system of voting
in 1614 each estate met separately and made up its mind on an issue.it then had one vote.this was called voting by order.the nobles and clergy hoped that the voting system would stay this way so they could outvote the third estate by 2 to 1
the third estate wanted each member of the estates general to have a vote. this was called voting by head. they knew that with the help of some nobles and clergy who were sympathetic to them they would be able to introduce reforms as they made up most of the population
causes of the french revolution
the influence of the enlightenment
bankruptcy
the absolute power of the king
resistance of the nobles to tax reform
the unfair nature of the tax system
what was the national assembly
when the third estate didn’t get their way on the issue of voting the third estate refused to meet up at the estates general and met separately .
they said they said they represented the people of france.they called themselves the national assembly
what was the tennis court oath
on 20 june the national assembly found the door where they met locked. fearing that they were about to be arrested they met in an indoor tennis court. they swore they would continue their meetings until their needs were met
this became known as the tennis court oath
what were the imported changes for france
it banned the feudal system that has existed since the middle ages.this ended the power of the nobles
influenced by both of the american constitution and the views and enlightenment writers the assembly a document known as the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen
what did the assembly document and what did it do
the Declaration Of The Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
it gave the ordinary people of france more rights such as freedom of religion,. the right to free speech and the right to fair trail
describe the bastille
in paris there was strong support for the national assembly.people feared that the king and nobles would try to crush the revolution. rumors spread that the king’s troops were marching on paris.
an army called the national guard formed to defend the city.there was an urgent need for guns. on the 14 of july after capturing the muskets a crowd marched to bastille prison where gunpowder was stored
this was a very important event- a symbol of the kings power had been captured by the people
king louis was still on the throne but his power was greatly reduced.three different states were lost.the people were now equal citizens and not the kings subject.in october the king was forced to move to versailles.the national assembly also moved to the city
what is the national guard
an army formed to defend the city
what are muskets
guns
what is the slogan that became very popular
liberty
equality
fraternity
explain the new slogan
liberty for the people from the rule of kings
equality of treatment for all
fraternity-brotherhood or cooperation between people
who is maximilien robespierre
in the french parliment those who called for a republic were led by maximilien robespierre. he had been elected to the estates general in 1789. he was opponent to the kings power and was strongly influenced by the ideas of the Rousseau
he then became leader of the political party jacobins. he was very popular with the ordinary part of paris. to them he was a hero. he was named to the incorruptible one because of his devotion to the revolution
what is jacobins
it is a political party robespierre became leader of
why was the king executed in 1793
the flight to varennes
france became a republic
what is the civil constitution of the clergy and when was it passed
the law brought the church under the control of the government
1790
describe the flight to vareness
in 1790 the national assembly passed the civil constitution of the clergy. most revolutionaries disliked the church because it had supported the king and the nobles. they wanted to reduce their power.the law puts the church under control of the government. monasteries were closed and the priests and monks had to take an oath to support the revolution
king louis was very religious was a very religious man and didn’t like the changes made to the church.he decided to leave the france with his family.the king hoped to reach belgium.it was ruled by the austrian emperor who was the brother of mary antoinette.on the night of 20 june 1791 the royal family left paris but they were captured in vareness. they returned to paris under guard.
the revolutionaries were divided with what to do with the king.to robespierre and other revolutionaries this showed that he was an enemy to the revolution.they argued that france should become a republic
describe teh execution of king louis XVI
they claimed that he was plotting with other kings in europe to try crush the the revolution
now called louis capet he was found guilty in January 1789. he was sentenced to death by small majority. he was executed in the 21 of january 1789 by guillotine. in october 1793 his wife marie was beheaded
who was the king during the revolution
king louis XVI
name the newly elected parliment
the national convention
what is the committee of public safety
it is a organisation between 12 members set up to protect the revolution.
what is the reign of terror
robespierre believed that the use of terror was needed to defeat the enemies of the revolution any suspected disloyalty to the government was arrested. robespierre rule of france became known as the reign of terror
executions became very common due to the law of suspects,as priests,former nobles, and many ordinary people were tried and executed.in 6 weeks 1,400 people were executed from paris alone.
name a victim if robespierre’s cruelty
georges danton
give a reason why robespierre was able to stay in power
the sans-culottes. to keep them happy robespierre kept the bread prices low.
describe the fall of robespierre
with success of french armies who want the terror to end but he kept on having people executed again and again.he lost support of the parisians and members of the convention were worried that they could be next
on the 24 july 1784 he and his followers were arrested. in attempt to commit suicide he shot himself i the jaw. the next day he and his brother and other prominent followers were executed
robespierre had saved the revolution but at a terrible human cost.
what is teh dictory
it id the more moderate government that came after the reign of terror
how many people were said to be killed
40,000
the rise of napoleon bonaparte
the war with france’s enemies continues. general Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as the most powerful man in france
under his leadership the french empires conquered large parts of europe . in 1803 he crowned himself the emperor of france.in 1812 he made a major mistake by invading russia. he got defeated..]
three years later he was defeated at waterloo in belgium. he was then sent t- a remote island in the atlantic and died in 1821
what were the consequences of the french revolution
throughout europe ,many people welcomed the french revolution.they demanded that their kings and queens share their power
inspired by the events in france. such people as wolf tone hoped to spread revolutionary ideas in ireland
many rulers were afraid that the french revolution would spread to their countries so they arrested anybody who talked against them
the reign of terror shocked many people.these people prefered the rule of kings and queens instead if the chaos of the revolution
because of the revolution war broke out in europe. the war ended when napoleon died at waterloo in 1815
among lasting changes introduced during the revolution were the tricolour flag ans the metric system of weights and measures
a new national anthem of’la marseillaise’ was adopted
