French Revolution Video Notes & Terms

Page 1: Introduction to the Revolution

• Day 1 of Video Notes

• Transition from aristocratic traditions to democracy.

• Young Louis XVI marries Marie Antoinette as a political gesture.

• Louis's desire to win the approval of the public and overcome prior debts from the Seven Years' War.

• Paris as a hub for new Enlightenment ideas; growing distrust in authority.

• The Great Fear: peasants arm themselves, concerns about royal excess and poverty.

• Struggles with money persist for Louis XVI after 19 years of rule.

• Maximilian Robespierre: moral leader and advocate for a revolutionary cause.

• Weapons of the revolution include rhetoric and the guillotine for executions.

• Jacques Necker, a popular minister, is dismissed.

• The Estates-General represents the division of society between nobility and commoners.

• Formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath:

  • A defiant stand for a new constitution and republic.

  • Disturbances and demands for gunpowder by the peasantry lead to uprising.

Page 2: Major Legislative Changes

• Day 2 of Video Notes

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, ensuring freedom and equality.

• Louis signs the declaration under pressure from the angry mob.

• Jean-Paul Marat emerges as a fiery critic of the monarchy, encouraging action through his newspaper.

• Royal family is brought to Paris and held captive.

• Marie Antoinette accused of treason; tensions with Austria escalate.

• The National Convention is birthed post-execution of Louis XVI; trial of the king begins.

• Efforts to unify France against invaders from Austria and Prussia rise.

• The Jacobins push for violence to slow the monarchy's resistance.

Page 3: The Reign of Terror

• Day 3 of Video Notes

• Charlotte Corday assassinated Marat in a bid to curtail violence; executes under revolutionary law.

• Marie Antoinette stripped of her titles and eventually executed.

• Chaos increases as foreign powers threaten France amid the revolution.

• The Reign of Terror: implementation of harsh policies by the Committee of Public Safety.

• Robespierre leads the Committee; increased executions for perceived opposition.

• Danton's followers face intense persecution.

• De-Christianization efforts: dismantling influence of the Catholic Church and creating a secular government.

• Robespierre's Republic characterized by significant changes and extreme forms of governance.

• Major phases of the revolution include:

  • Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Great Terror, Republic, Cult of Reason, and the Directory.

• The revolution redefines French society, aimed at overthrowing the old regime.