French Revolution

Who were the king and queen of France during the revolution?

King Louis XVI and Austrian Marie Antoinette

What does absolute monarch mean?

King Louis was an absolute monarch, meaning he had complete, undivided political (he could do whatever he wanted).

What year Marie and Louis marry?

1770, her fourteen, him fifteen

What is lettre de cachet? Why didn't the French people like them?

• A letter ordering the imprisonment or exile of an individual, signed by the king, and requiring them to stay in such a state for as long as the king wished

Why didn't the French like these letters?

They were often misused by ministers with vengeful motives who could get a letter signed by the king ordering the punishment of a person the king didn't even know.

Why was Marie Antoinette so disliked?

She was foreign. They called her the 'Austrian woman' which , in French is Autrichienne = Austrian, chienne = bitch

She spent huge amounts of money on clothes, jewellery and gambling

She had favourites at court

They thought she was unfaithful to Louis.

What's an example Marie's overspending?

In 1774 Louis gave Marie Antoinette her own small palace in the grounds of Versailles, where she created a 'peasant village' to play make believe, thought to be a mockery of the Third Estate

What were the libelles?

In the 1780s, libelles were the a crude and slanderous form of literature (sometimes referred to as political pornography) used to target Marie (popular from 1789-1793)

What was the estates general?

What were the three estates?

The three classes the French people were divided into

Who and how many were in the first estate?

Around 130,000 were apart of the first estate and were all apart of the clergy (Nuns, monks, priests, bishops, canons, priors, archbishops)

What privileges did the first estate receive?

They had their own law courts

They did not have to pay certain taxes

Who and how many were in the second estate?

Between 120,000-350,000 and made up of the nobility: the king and queen, nobles of the sword, princes of royal blood, dukes, marquesses, counts, viscounts, barons, knights

What privileges did the second estate receive?

The right to carry a sword

Special treatment in law courts

Didn't have to pay certain taxes

Didn't have to do military service

Who and what were in the third estate?

Around 27 million people, everyone who wasn't clergy or nobility, e.g lawyers, doctors, shopkeepers, craftsmen, peasants, soldiers, merchants

What were the privileges of the third estate?

None

What are some examples of the taxes the third estate had to pay?

Peasants had to bake their bread in an

oven owned by the landlord, paying a

fee for its use.

The landlord could ride over his

tenants' fields while hunting, even if

they were planted.

Peasants had to give the landlord a

portion of their crops each year.

What are some examples of Left wing views?

Progressive

We should raise taxes (for rich especially) so the government can provide more services for people

The government should be involved in peoples lives in order to address equality and living standards

Interested in the rights of the lower, underprivileged classes

Social justice, reformed economic policies

What are some examples of right wing views?

Conservative

The government shouldn't have so much to do with peoples lives

People and businesses should be left to deal with issues on equality

Interested in the rights of the upper, more powerful classes

Capitalism and hierarchy

What were philosophes?

Educated writers, journalists and scientists who shared a way of thinking which they called "Reason". They believed that the only way to know if something was true was to observe and test it.

How did philosophes influence the French revolution?

Who was the philosophe Lavoisier?

Lavoisier, who became famous by discovering how things burn.

During the 1770s and 1780s, Lavoisier studied the process of burning to find out whether the theory was correct.

Who was Volitare?

The most famous of the "philosophes" was the writer Voltaire. He especially questioned the power and beliefs of the French Church. He showed his views most clearly when he became involved in a sad case of injustice - the Calas affair.

Who was Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (1712-1778) Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist whose treatises and novels inspired the leaders of the French Revolution and the Romantic generation.

What is divine right?

The excuse rulers like the king of France used to excuse their rule; claiming that God had placed them in this position so they could rule.

What was the Estates General and when was the last one?

In France under the Ancien Régime, the Estates General or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king. The last was on 4 May 1789.

Why was the last Estates General called?

The Estates-General was at the beginning of the French Revolution (1789), in the face of a financial crisis, widespread agitation, and the weakening power of the king.

What happened after the Estates General?

The deputies of the Third Estate, fearing that they would be overruled by the two privileged orders in any attempt at reform, led in the formation of the revolutionary National Assembly (June 17), signalling the end of representation based on the traditional social classes.

Why was population contributing to starvation?

A huge rise in population had occurred (there were 5-6 million more people in France in 1789 than in 1720) without a corresponding increase in native grain production.

What and when were the effects of weather on wheat crop growth?

On 13 July 1788 a massive hailstorm had destroyed cornfields, vegetable plots, orchards and vineyards all over central France. This was followed by a drought. As a result, the harvest in 1788 was very poor.

How did the nobility cuffer from bread shortages?

They didn't. In one source, Versellias (the home of the king and queen) was described as having, "only beautiful bread, of the finest and most delicate quality. It was served in great abundance"

What was the most urgent problem facing King Louis?

The French government had been in debt for nearly a hundred years. This was because it spent more each year than it received in taxes.

What was the Estates General made up of?

It had been made up of around 750 members, about 250 from each of the three estates.

When had th estates general last met?

1614, 175 years prior.

How did the estates general work/why was it considered unfair?

The estates had met in three separate rooms and, when they voted, each estate had just one vote.

The third estate now complained that this voting system was unfair. If used again in 1789, the nobles and clergy would be able to out-vote the third estate two to one.

What was the Bastille?

The Bastille was a fortress that was also used as a prison by the monarchy. It was considered a symbol of royal despotism and oppression

When was the storming of the Bastille?

July 14, 1789

Why did the National Assembly storm the Bastille?

To collect the weapons stored there, free the prisoners, and destroy a symbol of the regime they were rebelling against.

What were the effects of taking the Bastille?

It gave control of Paris to members of the Third Estate, royalists were forced to recognise the National assembly - their authority derived from the loyalty/support of the local population

Louis XVI was forced to accept that the Estates general had been replaced by the National Assembly and that he'd lost power

What was the National Assembly constituted of?

Not of orders but of deputies with the mission to create a constitution

When did the royal family fail to escape from Paris?

June 1791

When and what did the National Assembly change their name?

From October 1791 they were called the Legislative Assembly

When was Louis XVI brought before the National Convention for trial?

In Dec 1792 to be tried, found guilty, and swiftly executed.

What happened in the Mid-late 1789?

The National Assembly starts debating the issue of the extent of royal power and debates on a new constitution begins

What happened in August of 1789?

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was established

What happened in November of 1789?

The Assembly votes to nationalise the Church's lands?

What happened in June of 1790?

Decree abolishing hereditary nobility and titles

What happened in July of 1790?

The Assembly enacts the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (making the church in France a constitutional church, subject to greater regulation by the government). Louis disagreed with it but assented to the legislation.

What happened in June of 1791?

The royal family attempts to flee to Varennes

What happened in September of 1791?

Louis accepts the Constitution of 1791

What happened in October of 1791?

The Legislative Assembly opens

Apr & Jun 1792

Fearing foreign intervention to overturn the revolution, the Assembly forces Louis to declare war on Austria & Prussia (countries that supported the restoration of absolute monarchy)

What happened in April of 1792?

The first use of the guillotine

What happened in June of 1792?

The sans-culottes invade the Tuileries Palace and humiliate the king

What happened August 1792?

Revolutionaries invade the Tuileries again and overthrow the monarchy

What happened September 1792?

The Legislative Assembly is abolished and the 'National Convention' is established. It proclaims France a republic.

What happened December 1792?

The Convention tries Louis and finds him guilty.

What happened Jan 1793?

Louis is guillotined

What happened October 1793?

Marie-Antoinette is guillotined.

Why did the royal family attempt to flee Paris?

The Loyalist army had offered safety at the fortress of Montmedy (Austrian/Netherland border).

What were the political incentives for the family to flee?

They believed they could rally an army in Austria that would help them neutralise that National Assembly and retake control of France.

What was a big consequence of the king's attempted escape?

The republic was now seen as a clear and legitimate alternative to the monarchy.

Who were the sans-culottes?

They were the common people, the third estate workers.

Who was Maximillian Robespierre?

A radical revolutionary & influential member of the 'Committee of Public Safety'

Who were the Committee of Public Safety?

A powerful committee set up under the National Convention that oversaw the Reign of Terror

What was the Law of 22 Parairial?

It was a law passed by the Committee of Public Safety to allow for the punishment of 'enemies' of the revolution. It was often misused.

What was the Reign of Terror?

The period of the French Revolution when thousands of people were killed for being 'enemies of the revolution' or opposing its overseer, Robespierre.