History Midterm

Question 1: Who wrote the pamphlet What is the Third Estate? and what was his main argument?

Sieyès,

• First Estate = the clergy (the Church)

• Second Estate = the nobility

• Third Estate = everyone else — roughly 90% of the population (commoners, merchants, peasants, professionals). They were the ones who paid taxes but had no real political power.

What happened on July 14, 1789, and why was it significant for the National Assembly?

the people of Paris armed themselves, stormed the Bastille for weapons, and the King backed down—securing the survival of the National Assembly.

What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790), and why did it cause problems?

The National Assembly = the revolutionary government formed by the Third Estate in June 1789 that claimed sovereign authority to remake France. It's the body that drove the first phase of the Revolution.

What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790), and why did it cause problems?

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy made the Church a state department, confiscated its property, and required clergy to swear loyalty to the Revolution—which deeply alienated both the clergy and devout Catholics, pushing many toward counter-revolution.

What was the Brunswick Manifesto, and how did it backfire on the monarchy?

The Brunswick Manifesto was an Austrian and Prussian threat for the French people not to fuck around on Louis XVI—but it backfired by making the King look like a foreign collaborator, enraging the Parisians, triggering the attack on the Tuileries, and ultimately leading to the fall of the monarchy and Louis XVI's execution.

Who was Robespierre, and what was the "Republic of Virtue"?

A radical Jacobin who was elected to the third estate. He was one of the key guys in the Reign of Terror (1793-1794). He believed only revolutionary government could save the Republic. The Republic of Virtue was Robespierre's vision for a new moral and political order in France. Key features:

• People and the state should be devoted to the Republic and the common good, not selfish interests.

He believed terror was necessary to create the Virtuous Republic. He was the guy who started the Terror and killed a fuck ton of people. He made a law where people were proclaimed innocent, or given the death penalty for even minor things.

He was executed in 1794.

What was the Thermidorian Reaction?

The Thermidorian Reaction was the coup against Robespierre in July 1794, driven by deputies who feared for their own lives, which ended the Terror and led to the Directory.

Name two ways Napoleon preserved the French Revolution and two ways he betrayed it.

Preserved:

1. The Napoleonic Code (civil equality, property rights, and the abolition of birth-based privilege. It codified the Revolution's core principle that all men are equal before the law)

2. Bank of France (stabilize the currency, established public universities, and created a social hierarchy based on service to the state (military, property, bureaucracy) rather than blood.

Betrayed:

• named himself "Consul for Life" (1802), then Emperor (1804). He made his power hereditary and ended the very democratic republic the Revolution had created.

• Suppressed freedoms: closed over 50 Parisian newspapers, established a secret police, used arbitrary arrests and executions for unproven crimes, and restricted women's rights under the Napoleonic Code (women couldn't vote, own land without permission, or control their own money).

• also reinstated slavery in the French Colonies

• caused unnecessary wars in search of glory

What was the Concordat of 1801?

Napoleon's agreement with the Pope that made Catholicism the "religion of the majority," recognized the sale of Church lands, kept the state paying clerical salaries, and healed the religious divide the Revolution had created—while still keeping the Revolution's land reforms intact.

According to Adam Smith, what is the "invisible hand," and what does it justify?

when individuals pursue their own self-interest in a free market, they are unknowingly guided by an "invisible hand" that benefits society as a whole.

In other words, you don't need a government telling people what to produce or how to trade—if everyone acts in their own interest, the market naturally regulates itself and creates wealth for everyone.

What was Edmund Burke's main critique of the French Revolution?

• father of modern conservativism

• He attacked the violence and principles of the Revolution. He saw the revolutionaries as "fanatics with no respect for tradition" and as an "uncivilized people."

• He defended tradition over reason. Your notes say conservatism is "primarily the view of anti-enlightenment and anti-French revolution"—Burke believed in tradition > reason and authority > equality.

• He thought the Revolution was destroying the organic social order. Burke believed society was built slowly over centuries—through tradition, inherited institutions, and gradual reform. The revolutionaries were trying to tear it all down overnight based on abstract Enlightenment ideas, which he thought was dangerous and arrogant.

What did Malthus mean by "preventative checks" vs. "positive checks"?

Thomas Malthus wrote On the Principle of Population. His big argument was that population would always outgrow the food supply—more people would be born than there would be resources to sustain. He believed this imbalance was only corrected through famine and war.

• Preventative checks = voluntary restraint (abstinence, delayed marriage) that prevents population growth

• Positive checks = natural disasters (famine, war, disease) that reduce the population when it has outgrown resources

How did the Industrial Revolution reshape the middle class and gender roles in the 19th century?"The French Revolution was caused more by financial crisis than by Enlightenment ideas." Agree or disagree, using specific evidence.

• Both mattered, but the financial crisis was the trigger while Enlightenment ideas provided the language for change.

• The monarchy was bankrupt because nobles and clergy paid no taxes, and Louis XVI was forced to call the Estates-General (1789) to raise money—this opened the door to revolution.

• Enlightenment ideas (equality before law, sovereignty of the nation) gave the Third Estate a framework to demand power, as seen in Sieyès's What is the Third Estate? and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

• So: the financial crisis caused the crisis; Enlightenment ideas shaped the response.

How did the Industrial Revolution reshape the middle class and gender roles in the 19th century?

• The Industrial Revolution exploded the size of the middle class (the bourgeoisie), giving them economic power and political influence through Liberalism.

• It also reshaped gender roles: middle-class ideology created "separate spheres"—men in the public sphere (work, politics), women in the domestic sphere (home, children).

• working-class women and children labored in factories and mines, as documented by the Sadler Commission.

• allowed women to financially contribute from within the household

What was the financial crisis, and why was it the short-term cause of the French Revolution?

• Sending troops and money to the American Civil War increased taxes

• people felt foreign values were being prioritized over domestic ones

• nobility and clergymen didn’t have to pay taxes, leaving the poor to pick up the tab

• Bread prices soared, causing widespread hunger and anger.

What was the "Noble Revolt," and how did it lead to the Estates-General?

• response to increased taxes by Louis XVI

• the nobles refused to accept new taxes, so Louis had to call the Estates General to approve the taxes

• this led to the creation of the national assembly, and eventually, the revolution

What was the Tennis Court Oath, and what did it promise?

• Estates-General opened at Versailles in May 1789

  • Deputies of the third estate declared themselves as the National Assembly

  • Their first act was to authorize taxes, but because they said so, not because of the monarchy

  • June 20th saw the National Assembly’s doors were locked by the King

  • They instead moved to a tennis court, and swore they wouldn’t stop until they got France a constitution

What were the August Decrees (August 4, 1789), and what did they abolish?

The August Decrees were a series of laws passed by the National Assembly in response to peasant revolts sweeping the countryside. Peasants were refusing to pay their feudal dues and burning the records of their obligations.

• officially ended the feudal system, ending social hierarchy based on birth

What was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen?

a foundational document of the French Revolution, adopted by the National Assembly. It was intended to be a preamble to a new constitution and was an outstanding statement of Enlightenment ideals and liberal principles.

What was the Women's March on Versailles (October 5, 1789), and what did it achieve?

Roughly 10,000 people—mostly women—marched from Paris to Versailles. They were demanding bread and an end to the food shortages. They were followed by the National Guard.

That night, Louis XVI finally accepted the Assembly's decrees of August 4th—ending feudalism and noble privileges.

What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790), and why did it cause problems?

The Church was incorporated into the State

• church property was confiscated and sold

• priests and bishops were to be elected by the public

Why it caused issues:

• alienated the clergy, they had to declare loyalty to the revolution’s state and they weren’t into that

• alienated devout catholics, seen as un-religious

• pushed many people towards counter-reformist beliefs

What was the Flight to Varennes (the King's attempted escape), and how did it damage the monarchy?

The Flight to Varennes was the King's failed attempt to escape Paris. It destroyed public trust in the monarchy, fueled radical sentiment, and ultimately helped lead to the fall of the monarchy and the King's execution.

What was the Brunswick Manifesto, and how did it backfire on the monarchy?

a foreign threat from Austria/Prussia against French citizens meant to protect the French royal family

• Backfired by making the King look like a foreign collaborator

• treiggered the attack on the Tuileries

• Ultimately leading to the fall of the monarchy and Louis XVI's execution.

What happened on August 10, 1792, and why was it a turning point?

• The violent storming of the Tuileries Palace, the end of the monarchy, and the beginning of the Republic.

Who were the sans-culottes, and what role did they play?

lower-class urban militants who provided the popular force behind the Revolution's most radical moments—the attack on the Tuileries, the push for price controls, and the demands that fueled the Terror. They were the voice of the poor, pressuring the government to be more radical

Who were the Girondins vs. the Montagnards (the Mountain)?

As an aftermath of the August 10th insurrection, the Legislative Assembly called for a democratic election to create a National Convention to write a new constitution for France

1. The Convention was divided by rival groups: Montagnards (Radical Left) vs. Girondins (Moderate/Conservative)

Who was Robespierre, and what was the "Republic of Virtue"?

• Key Architect of the Reign of Terror

• elected as a representative of the third estate

• believed only revolutionary government

• The Republic of Virtue was Robespierre's vision for a new moral and political order in France

  • Civic virtue: Citizens should be devoted to the Republic and the common good, not selfish interests.

  • The Law of 22 Prairial (June 1794): This created a new "moral order" in the courts—there were only two verdicts: innocent or death. About 1,300 people were executed in just six weeks

  • extreme consequences for minor crimes

What was the Reign of Terror?

a period of extreme political violence during the French Revolution, during which the revolutionary government—led by Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety—executed thousands of people accused of being "enemies of the Revolution."

What was the Law of 22 Prairial, and what did it do?

Created courts with only two verdicts—innocent or death— led by Robespierre

What was the Thermidorian Reaction, and why did it happen?

The Thermidorian Reaction was the coup against Robespierre in July 1794, driven by deputies who feared for their own lives, which ended the Terror and led to the Directory.

• robespierre executed without trial

What was the Coup of 18 Brumaire, and what did it replace?

Napoleon's seizure of power that overthrew the Directory and replaced it with the Consulate—marking the end of the revolutionary Republic and the beginning of Napoleon's rise to absolute power.

What was the Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804)?

The Napoleonic Code was a unified set of laws that enshrined civil equality and property rights (preserving the Revolution) but also heavily restricted women's rights (betraying its ideals)

• abolished birth-based privellege

• women couldn’t vote, own property, her money went to her husband, divorces were harder to get

What was the Concordat of 1801, and why did it matter?

an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII that reestablished the relationship between the French state and the Catholic Church—after the Revolution had nationalized Church lands and created the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

What was the Continental System, and what was its goal?

Napoleon's economic blockade against Britain, aimed at weakening the British economy by cutting off continental trade. It failed because it hurt Europe more than Britain and fueled anti-French resentment.

What was the Duke of Enghien affair, and why did it outrage Europe?

Napoleon's illegal arrest and execution of a Bourbon prince on trumped-up charges. It outraged Europe because it was a blatant violation of international law, a judicial murder without evidence, and proof that Napoleon had become a tyrant

What was the Russian Invasion of 1812, and why did it fail?

The Russian Invasion of 1812 was Napoleon's disastrous campaign to conquer Russia. It failed and was seen by many French citizens as unnecessary, perhaps a battle of Napoleon’s ego, shattering his invincibility, leading to his defeat and abdication.

What were the "100 Days," and how did Napoleon's story end?

The 100 Days was Napoleon's brief return from exile in Elba (Italian island) in 1815. It ended with his defeat at Waterloo, his second abdication, and his final exile to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

What was Edmund Burke's main critique of the French Revolution?

• father of modern conservativism

• Revolution was a violent, fanatical break from tradition rather than respect for inherited institutions and gradual reform.

• He saw the revolutionaries as uncivilized fanatics destroying the organic social order.

Who was John Stuart Mill, and what did he argue in On Liberty?

• that individuals should be free to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't harm others

• was also into women’s rights

What was the Sadler Commission, and what did it investigate?

The Sadler Commission investigated child labor in British mines and factories, exposed the brutal conditions children faced, and helped pave the way for labor reform.