The french revolution main facts summary

 

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The french revolution main facts summary

 

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The french revolution main facts summary

 

A.P. European History Notes
Sessions 13 - 15: The French Revolution

1. OVERVIEW

The French Revolution is the central political event of modern European history, as it birthed political and social forces that influenced events in Europe and most of the world for the next two centuries.  It began with a confrontation between the monarchy and the nobility and saw the transformation of traditional boundaries of 18th century political life as members of the Third Estate demanded to have a say in government.  Initially, that entailed participation of middle class members of the Estates General, but soon all Parisians, including the peasants, were demanding equal treatment.

As revolutionary legislation and popular uprisings changed the political landscape of France, nobles were forced to surrender some of their traditional social privileges.  The Church’s property was confiscated and its bishops brought under state control as a strong effort was made to de-Christianize the nation.  Large amounts of vested property changed hands and vast numbers of French peasants found themselves owning land for the first time.  As peasants wealth increased, urban workers lost much of the protection they had previously enjoyed under the guilds and became subject to market forces.

Unfortunately, these revolutionary changes came at a heavy price.  Thousands were killed during the Reign of Terror.  Thousands more died as France warred against virtually all of Europe.  The resultant fear, resentment, and desire for stability enabled Napoleon Bonaparte to assume the mantle of leadership as the French sought to defeat the foreign enemies of their revolution and carry its ideals abroad.

1. THE CRISIS OF THE FRENCH MONARCHY
1. Economic Problems:  The French monarchy emerged from the Seven Years War (1756-1763) defeated by the British and in debt.
1. French support for the American Revolution worsened its financial problems.
2. On the eve of the French revolution, the interest and payments on the royal debt equated to just over half of the entire budget.  Considering France’s economic vitality, the debt was proportionate to that of other European nations, however, the royal government’s inability to tap the nation’s wealth through taxes prevented it from adequately service and repay the debt.  As such, France was a rich nation with a poor government.
3. For 25 years after the Seven Years’ War there was a stand-off between the French monarchy and the parlements as several royal ministers tried to devise new tax schemes to tap the wealth of he nobility, only to be rebuffed by both the Paris Parlement and provincial parlements.
2. The Aristocracy and the Clergy Resist Taxation
1. In the face of mounting economic problems, the monarchy struggled until 1786, when Charles Alexandre de Calonne became the minister of finance.  Calonne proposed increased internal trade, a reduction of the tax on salt, and the introduction of a new land tax that required payments from all landowners regardless of their social status.
2. Calonne’s policies, coupled with France’s fiscal crisis made a confrontation with the nobility unavoidable, so in 1787 Calonne met with an Assembly of Notables from the top echelons of the aristocracy and the Church.  He hoped to gain support for his proposal. 
3. Instead, the assembly demanded that the aristocracy be allowed an increased role in the direct government of the kingdom. 
2. Not only were Calonne’s plans rejected, but Louis XVI removed him from office.

 

1. THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1789: 1789 was a remarkable year in both French and European history.  In response to Calonne’s calls for a more equitable tax structure, the Assembly of Notables had called for a meeting of the Estates General (which had not met since 1614) because it had been traditionally organized to allow aristocratic and Church dominance.  As such, the notables assumed the Estates General would produce a victory for the nobility over the monarchy.
1. The Estates General Becomes the National Assembly – from the moment the Estates General convened, representatives of the three Estates clashed. 
2. The Three Estates – all representatives were men.
1. First Estate – The Clergy
2. Second Estate – The Nobility
3. Third Estate – theoretically everyone else, although its representatives were mainly drawn from wealthy members of the commercial and professional middle classes. 
3. During all public discussions preceding the meeting of the Estates General, representatives of the Third Estate were adamant that they would not allow the monarchy and the aristocracy to determine the nation’s future.

a) The plight and desire of the Third Estate were eloquently summarized by the Abbe Sieyes, “What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been in the political order up to the present? Nothing. What does it ask? To become something.”

1. Cahiers de Doleances – Lists of grievances registered by local electors and brought by the representatives to be presented to the king. 
1. The cahiers de doleances criticized government waste, indirect taxes, Church taxes and corruption, and the aristocracy’s hunting rights.
2. Called for periodic meetings of the Estates General, more equitable taxes, more local control of administration, unified weights and measures to facilitate trade and commerce, and a free press.
3. The overwhelming demand of the cahiers was for equality of rights among the king’s subjects.
4. The Philosophes questioned the veracity of the Hebrew Scriptures as well, and they viewed Judaism as a more primitive religion than Christianity.
5. Overall, their criticism of Christianity and Judaism reflected their harsh attitude toward traditional religion in general.
2. Voting – No complaints or demands could e discussed until the questions of organization and voting were determined. 
1. The king desired wanted members of the Third Estate to sit as a separate body from the First and Second Estates.
2. Its members refused, and there was a stand-off for several weeks.
3. On June 1, the Third Estate invited the clergy and nobles to join them in organizing a new legislative body.  A few clergy did so, and on June 17th, the National Assembly was formed.
3. The Tennis Court Oath – Finding themselves locked out of their normal meeting place, the National Assembly members met at a local tennis court and swore to sit until they had drafted a constitution for France.   
1. After the National Assembly ignored Louis XVI’s request to desist from their actions, he formally requested that the First and Second Estates meet with the National Assembly, where voting would occur by head rather than by order. 
2. Government by privileged orders had ended in France, and the newly minted National Constituent Assembly, was composed of representatives from all three orders.
4. The Fall of the Bastille – The mustering of royal troops created a great deal of anxiety in Paris, where several bread riots had occurred throughout the winter and spring of 1789.     
1. The Parisians who had elected reps to the Third Estate had continued to meet after the elections.  By June they were organizing a citizen militia and collecting munitions.
2. On June 14th more than 800 shopkeepers, tradespeople, artisans, and wage earners marched to the Bastille in search of weapons.
3. Troops in the Bastille fired into the crowd and killed 98 people.
4. The crowd stormed the fortress, killed several troops and the governor (coincidentally, no weapons were found).
5. The storming of the Bastille signaled that the National Constituent Assembly would be joined by popular uprisings throughout France and that ordinary citizens made up an independent political force with which other political groups could ally for their own purposes.
5. The Great Fear and the Surrender of Feudal Privileges
1. During the Great Fear records and documents were destroyed and peasants refused to pay feudal dues.
2. Peasants took possession of food supplies and land that they considered rightfully theirs.   
3. To stem the tide of the uprising, on August 4th, aristocrats in the NCA attempted stop the spreading disorder in the countryside by rising in the assembly and renouncing their feudal rights, dues, and tithes.
4. They surrendered their fishing rights and hunting rights, their judicial authority, as well as their special exemptions.
5. In essence, the nobles were giving up rights that they had already lost and in many instances they received compensation for them – but French citizens were thereafter subject to the same and equal laws. 
6. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen – Issued on August 27th, it set forth the twin principles of civic equality and protection of property.
1. Heavily influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, authored by George Mason.
2. Proclaimed that “all men are born and remain equal in rights.”
3. Governments existed to protect the rights of “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.”
4. All political power resided in the nation and its representatives.
5. There was to be due process of law and presumption of innocence until proof of guilt.
6. Taxation was to be apportioned equally according to capacity to pay.
7. Property constituted an “inviolable and sacred right.”
8. Specifically applied to men and not to women since according to the Rousseau’s view, men were suited for citizenship, women for motherhood and domesticity; however, some people saw in the declaration a framework within which women might eventually enjoy the rights and protection of citizenship.
1. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF FRANCE – Once established in Paris, the National Constituent Assembly set about reorganizing France via a constitutional monarchy and unregulated economic freedom.  It was determined to protect property rights while limiting the impact that non property or small property owners had on national life.
1. Political Reorganization
1. Constitution of 1791 established a constitutional monarchy with a unicameral Legislative Assembly in which all laws would originate.
2. Monarchy was allowed a suspensive veto that could delay but not prevent legislation.  Powers of war and peace were vested in the assembly.
3. Citizens divided into active and passive categories; only active citizens (men paying annual taxes equal to three days of local wages) could vote for electors who then voted for members of the legislature.
4. Further property qualifications were required of electors and members of the assembly; only 15k of 25 million citizens qualified as electors or members of the Legislative Assembly.  Women could neither vote nor hold office.
5. As a result of this reorganization, political authority was achieved through the accumulation of land and commercial property rather than hereditary privilege. 
2. Olympe de Gouges drafts the Declaration of the Rights of Women (1793)
1. Reprinted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and substituted the word woman throughout.
2. Demanded that women be regarded as citizens and not merely daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers of citizens. 
3. Outlined rights that allowed women to own property and required men to recognize the paternity of their children.
4. Called for equality of the sexes in marriage and improved education for women.
3. Departments Replace Provinces
1. Assembly abolished the ancient French provinces and established 83 departments, generally of equal size named after rivers, mountains, and other geographical features.
2. The Departments were divided into districts, cantons, and communes with indirect local elections.
3. The departments exist to the present day.
4. Economic Policy
1. Workers organizations were forbidden on June 14, 1791 when the assembly crushed urban workers’ attempts to protect their wages by enacting the Chapelier Law.  Peasants and workers were thereafter left to the freedom and mercy of the marketplace.
2. These reforms did not resolve the original economic crisis that necessitated the calling of the Estates General. To remedy this situation, the assembly decided to finance its debt by confiscating and then reselling the Roman Catholic Church’s land and property in France, resulting in further inflation, religious schism, and civil war.
3. In December 1789 the Assembly authorized the issuance of assignats, government bonds whose value was guaranteed by the revenue generated from the sale of Church property. 
5. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy – issued in 1790 and transformed the Catholic Church in France into a branch of the secular state.
1. Reduced number of bishoprics from 135 to 83; brought the borders of the dioceses into conformity with the departments.
2. Provided for election of bishops of priests who were then to be employees of the state.
3. In the face of opposition, the Assembly ruled that all clergy must take an oath to the support the Civil Constitution; all who refused were declared “refractory” and removed from their clerical functions.
4. In 1791 the Pope condemned the Civil Constitution of the Clergy as well as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

1. A SECOND REVOLUTION – By the fall of 1791 the French government had been transformed into a constitutional monarchy; almost all religious and administrative structures had been reformed.  But the situation in and around France remained unstable.
1. The End of the Monarchy
1. The Jacobins, the most advanced political group in the National Constituent Assembly had pressed for a republic rather than a constitutional monarchy.
2. A group of Jacobins named the Girondists, who were violently opposed to counterrevolutionary forces, assumed leadership of the Legislative Assembly.
3. On April 20, 1792 the Girondists led the Legislative Assembly to declare war on Austria in hopes of protecting the revolution from domestic enemies.
4. The war radicalized the revolution and led to the second revolution which overthrew the constitutional monarchy and established a republic.
5. On August 10, 1792 a large Parisian crowd invaded the Tuileries palace and forced Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to take refuge in the Legislative Assembly.  Thereafter the royal family was imprisoned in comfortable quarters, but the king was not allowed to perform any political functions.
2. The Convention and the Role of the Sans-cullottes
1. During the September Massacres, the Paris Commune executed or murdered approximately 1,200 people from the city jails, many of which were aristocrats and priests. 
2. The Paris Commune convinced the Legislative Assembly to call for new elections by universal manhood suffrage.  The new assembly – The Convention - drafted a democratic constitution.

 

 VI. THE RADICAL PHASE (1792 – 1794) - The hysteria began to fade when the French won at the Battle of Valmy on September 20th. Then, France was declared a Republic, and a National Convention met for the first time.

1. Louis, you’re losing your mind - January 21st, 1793 Louis XVI was guillotined after lengthy deliberations.
2. Now, the Convention was being threatened from many different sides – including internal rebellions, foreign invasions, economic crisis, factionalism, popular pressure, etc. So, they decided to purge the Girondins and establish a program for public safety.
1. As stated above, the Convention’s first act was to declare France a republic.
3. Constitution of 1793 - Although this constitution was never put into effect because of the military crisis, in addition to confirming the individual rights laid out in the last constitution (plus the rights of public assistance, education, and even of rebellion to resist oppression), it provided for a legislature elected by the people (men only though) that would also elect the executive. 
1. The Jacobins swept aside the new constitution, declaring the government “revolutionary until the peace” and instituting the Reign of Terror. A twelve-man committee, the Committee for Public Safety, was in charge, and the main leaders of the Committee were Robespierre, Danton, and the ultra radical Hébert.
2. During the ROT, the French were fighting the foreign wars, and, soon enough, with the strict discipline of the ROT, they began to win.
3. But, finally, the ROT culminated in the execution of its own leaders – Danton and Robespierre executed Hébert, Robespierre executed Danton, and then Robespierre himself was overthrown.

1. The Thermidorian Reaction (1794 – 1795) and The Directory (1795 – 1799)
1. After the fall of Robespierre, the revolutionary committees that had led the ROT were destroyed, the Paris Jacobin Club was closed, and the Convention offered an amnesty to the remaining Girondins. The term Thermidorian Reaction refers to the return of conservatism after the ultra-radical phase in the FR and is now applied to any such pattern in other revolutions.
2. The anti-Jacobin sentiment grew so strong, in fact, that a White Terror erupted against anyone connected with the Jacobins. The social austerity of the old calendar was back, the fancy titles, and all that stuff made their return.
3. The last revolutionary uprising occurred in 1795, when the sans-culottes launched a poorly organized revolt (calling for “bread and the constitution of 1793”) and, after two days of street fighting, were overwhelmed by the government.
4. In 1795, a new constitution was drafted. It proclaimed a general amnesty and set up a five man executive committee known as the Directory. It also had a two-house legislature. The Directory attempted to stay on the moderate side of everything, and it became incredibly corrupt! It had to overthrow itself after the first general election because a royalist majority won, and things only got worse. By 1799 any semblance of legitimacy was gone, making way for Napoleon…

 

 

Davis & Bakkal, Adapted from The Western Heritage, McMillan Publishing Company, 1991

 

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The french revolution main facts summary

The French Revolution & Napoleon & 19th Century Politics I

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____     1.    During the era of the French Revolution, the Thermidorean Reaction (pg 256)

a.	witnessed the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette	c.	initiated the Reign of Terror
b.	terminated the Reign of Terror and led to the execution of Robespierre	d.	resulted in the dissolution of the National Assembly

 

____     2.    The end of the Napoleonic Wars was concluded by the (pg 256)

a.	Congress of Vienna	c.	Peace of Paris
b.	Congress of Berlin	d.	Peace of Westphalia

 

____     3.    The July Revolution of 1830 in France resulted in the (pg 257)

a.	establishment of a Republic	c.	the development of democracy
b.	presidency of Louis Napoleon	d.	installation of Louis Philip as King

 

____     4.    The Frankfurt Assembly was (pg 257)

a.	a group of German representatives who were concerned primarily with local economic issues	c.	a Pan-German Assembly interested in the formulation of an integrated union of German states.
b.	a group dedicated to the Grossdeutsch plan	d.	an Austrian effort to obstruct Bismark

 

____     5.    The failure of the Revolutions of 1848 may be attributed to all of the following factors EXCEPT (pg 258)

a.	the cunning of the old leadership in manipulation the revolutionary forces	c.	the lack of effective organization among the nationalist revolutionaries in Eastern and Southern Europe
b.	the continuing loyalty of the armed forces to the old leadership	d.	the failure of the liberal revolutionaries in Central Europe to address serious social and economic issues

 

____     6.    Bismark's Kulturkampf (pg 261)

a.	consisted of a series of measures which were intended to eliminate the impact of Marxism in German politics	c.	were anti-Catholic laws directed at curtailing the influence of the Center Party
b.	was denounced by Pope Pius X	d.	were intended to disrupt the progress of the Social Democratic Party.

 

____     7.    Who was the dominant personality at the Congress of Vienna? (pg 263)

a.	Bismark	c.	Robespierre
b.	Metternich	d.	Wellington

 

____     8.    In 1829 the Ottoman Turks were forced to accept the Treaty of Adrianople which recognized the independence of (pg 263)

a.	Greece	c.	Bulgaria
b.	Serbia	d.	Turkey

 

____     9.    "Men are born, and always continue free and equal in respect of their rights.  Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility." In 1789 these statements were a part of (pg 270)

a.	the Declaration of Independence	c.	the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
b.	the Bill of rights	d.	the Constitution of the Year III

 

____   10.    During the "June Days" in Paris (1848) (pg 270)

a.	conservative monarchists were overwhelmed by the mob	c.	Napoleon Bonaparte came to power
b.	the army suppressed the radical revolutionary element	d.	Lamartine was recognized as the primary leader of the revolution movement

 

____   11.    In an effort to conduct a successful economic war against Britain, Napoleon created the (pg 270)

a.	Continental System	c.	Napoleonic Code
b.	Bank of France	d.	Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

 

____   12.    Which of the following chronological sequences on the French Revolution is correct? (pg 307)

a.	National Assembly, Convention, Directory	c.	Consulate, Empire, Directory
b.	Legislative Assembly, Convention, Directory	d.	Convention, Consulate, Directory

 

____   13.    The Hundred Days was (pg 311)

a.	another name for the Manchester riots in Britain	c.	the reactionary phase of the Revolutions of 1848
b.	the worst phase of the Reign of Terror	d.	an unsuccessful attempt by Napoleon to restore himself

 

____   14.    The Schleswig-Holstein question was a contentious issue between (pg 312)

a.	Prussia and Russia	c.	Austria and Prussia
b.	Prussia and Sweden	d.	Prussia and Great Britain

 

____   15.    Mazzini's Roman Republic was (pg 312)

a.	was instrumental in the unification of Italy in 1870	c.	was suppressed by the Swiss Guard
b.	was suppressed by units of the French Army	d.	approved in Cavour's plan for a unified Italy

 

____   16.    Who was the leader of the Hungarians during the Revolution of 1848? (pg 312)

a.	Metternich	c.	Mazzini
b.	Cavour	d.	Kossuth

 

____   17.    In 1834 German States (excluding Austria) agreed to eliminate tariffs between the states through a customs union known as the (pg 316)

a.	Zollverein	c.	The Frankfurt Assembly
b.	The Confederation of the Rhine	d.	Fustenstaat

 

____   18.    "Do you not hear them repeating unceasingly that all that is above them is incapable and unworthy of governing them; that the present distribution of good through the world is unjust; that property rests on a foundation which is not an equitable foundation?...I belive that we are at this moment sleeping on a volcano."  Alexis de Tocqueville made these remarks to (pg. 316)

a.	the court of Charles X in 1830	c.	the Chamber of Deputies in 1848
b.	the American Senate in 1838	d.	the new leaders of the Third French Republic in 1871

 

____   19.    In bringing about a centralized Italy, who was Cavour's most significant non-Italian ally? (pg 319)

a.	Bismarck	c.	Napoleon III
b.	Napoleon Bonaparte	d.	Queen Victoria

 

____   20.    The achievements of the Jacobins included all of the following EXCEPT (pg 319)

a.	distribution of all land among the peasants	c.	decreeing the law of the maximum-fixed prices on essentials and raised wages
b.	the franchise given to all adult males	d.	abolition of slavery

 

____   21.    Prussia's acquisition of the Rhineland area of Germany at the Congress of Vienna proved to be a significant development because (pg 365)

a.	most German industry developed in the area	c.	it was the easiest part of Germany to defend
b.	the Rhineland became a buffer area	d.	it was welcomed by France

 

____   22.    Which of the following was not part of Napoleon's "Grand Empire"? (page 367)

a.	Most of Germany	d.	Austria
b.	France	e.	The Netherlands
c.	Spain

 

____   23.    The "Sick Man of Europe," which British and French policy sought to preserve in the 19th Century was (pg 369)

a.	the Russian Empire	c.	the Austrian Empire
b.	the Ottoman Empire	d.	Poland

 

____   24.    Which of the following was partitioned and annexed by three powerful neighbors in the late 18th century? (pg. 369)

a.	Italy	c.	Sweden
b.	Spain	d.	Poland

 

____   25.    The "Humiliation of Olmuetz" was the result of an Austrian and Prussian dispute over (pg 368)

a.	Poland	c.	territory
b.	the Zollverein	d.	the border between the two countries

 

____   26.    Which one of the following was true about the European middle class in the 19th century? (pg 369)

a.	Its political influence decreased	c.	it held great wealth in the form of land
b.	it espoused liberalism	d.	it called for government aid to business

 

____   27.    Hohenzollern authority in ruling Prussia depended on the cooperation and support of the (pg 371)

a.	bankers	c.	Junkers
b.	courts	d.	intellectuals

 

____   28.    The Abbe Sieyes exerted a major influence on the French Revolution through his book pg (411)

a.	Essay on Human Understanding	c.	What is to be done?
b.	The Third Estate	d.	The Progress of human kind

 

____   29.    The Risorgimento was the name of (pg 413)

a.	the movement to unify Italy	c.	the movement to unify Germany
b.	the movement to unify Spain	d.	Napoleonic rule in Spain

 

____   30.    Before 1870, which one of the following fit Metternich's description of a "geographic expression?" (pg 416)

a.	France	c.	Germany
b.	Spain	d.	Mongolia

 

____   31.    The First Estate in the Estates-General was (pg 417)

a.	the clergy	c.	the peasants
b.	the nobility	d.	the middle class

 

____   32.    In 1820, freedom of the press and student activities were suppressed throughout Germany as part of the (pg 417)

a.	Holy Alliance	c.	Schlieffen Plan
b.	Declaration of the Rights of Man	d.	Carlsbad Decrees

 

____   33.    Which of the following was a result of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy? (pg 418)

a.	The clergy were given a privileged position	c.	The church was made a department of the French State
b.	The clergy were condemned to execution	d.	The church was made completely independent from the state

 

____   34.    Which one of the following is a description of the Charter of 1814? (pg 418)

a.	A proclamation of religious freedom	c.	A grant of land
b.	A proclamation establishing a national bank in France	d.	A Constitution

 

____   35.    The "gap theory" was used by the German politician Bismark to end the (pg 421)

a.	Corn Law Crisis	c.	Revolution of 1848
b.	Army Bill Crisis	d.	Crimean War

 

____   36.    Which of the following was most closely associated with the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution of 1789? (pg 421)

a.	Danton	c.	The Jacobins
b.	The Duke of Brunswick	d.	Lafayette

 

____   37.    During the Revolution of 1848, attempts to unite Germany under the leadership of the Prussian monarch were made by (pg 426)

a.	a national parliament at Frankfurt	c.	the Prussian King
b.	the royal ministers of Prussia	d.	the king's relatives

 

____   38.    A primary factor in the influence of the sans-culottes in the French Revolution of 1789 was (pg 426)

a.	their admiration for the monarchy	c.	their lack of concern for economic issues
b.	their contempt for the middle class	d.	their alliance with the Jacobins

 

____   39.    Italy was unified in 1870 under the leadership of the Italian State of (pg 427)

a.	Sicily	c.	Piedmont
b.	Corsica	d.	Tuscany

 

____   40.    "After reports of the reunification by the Hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern had been officially transmitted....to the Imperial government of France, the French Ambassador presented to His Majesty the King...the demand...that his Majesty the King would obligate himself for all future time never again to give his approval to the candidacy of the Hohenzollerns should it be renewed." This passage is from the text of (pg 427)

a.	the Fourteen Points	c.	the Treaty of Versailles
b.	the Elms Telegram	d.	the Congress of Berlin

 

____   41.    During the French Revolution the most powerful member of the Committee of Public Safety was (pg 473)

a.	Georges Danton	c.	Lafayette
b.	Napoleon Bonaparte	d.	Maximilien the Robespierre

 

____   42.    "If votes are taken by order, five million citizens will not be able to decide anything for the general interest, because it will not please a couple of hundred thousand privileged individuals.  The will of a single individual will veto and destroy the will of more than a hundred people."  This complaint, voiced on the eve of the meeting of the Estates General in 1789, was expressed by (pg 476)

a.	Jaques Necker	c.	Anne Robert Turgot
b.	Abbe Sieyes	d.	a leader of the emigres faction

 

____   43.    All of the following have been advanced as explanations for the coming of the French Revolution EXCEPT (pg 476)

a.	the desire of the middle class for a greater voice in government	d.	the activities of the philosophes had weakened faith in traditional values and institutions
b.	an inefficient and corrupt government	e.	a majority of the French people desired to replace the monarch with a republic
c.	the nobility in France sought to enhance their power

 

____   44.    Napoleon Bonaparte "Continental System," initiated in 1806, had as its goal (pg 484)

a.	the defeat of Britain through economic warfare	c.	a military alliance of those states under his control to wage war on Russia
b.	the placing of his brother on the throne of Spain	d.	the conquest of the Middle East

 

____   45.    A vocal element in the French Revolution, the sans-culottes were (pg 537)

a.	peasants	c.	nobles forced to flee to safety
b.	the urban working class	d.	priests

 

____   46.    Those members of the Estates General who took the famous Tennis Court Oath swore to (pg 537)

a.	overthrow Louis XVI	c.	draft a constitution for France
b.	establish a republic	d.	establish the principle of complete religious toleration in France

 

____   47.    The most dominant figure at the Congress of Vienna was (pg 543)

a.	Metternich	c.	Napoleon Bonaparte
b.	Robespierre	d.	Talleyrand

 

____   48.    A common element among the revolutionary movement that swept through Europe in 1848 was (pg 544)

a.	unity of purpose among the middle-class liberals and urban workers	c.	coordinated and timely action
b.	initial success as a result of the hesitation of governmental leaders to use their superior forces	d.	ethnic rivalries

 

The French Revolution & the Age of Napoleon Questions

1. Paradoxically, France was a rich nation with an impoverished government.  Explain this statement.  How did the financial weaknesses of the French monarchy lay the foundations of the revolution of 1789?

 

2. Discuss the role of Louis XVI in the French Revolution. What were some of Louis XVI’s most serious mistakes? Had Louis been a more able ruler, could the French Revolution have been avoided, or might a constitutional monarchy have succeeded?  Or did the Revolution ultimately have little to do with the competence of the monarch? Provide specific factual information to support your answer.

 

3. How was the Estates General transformed into the National Assembly? How does the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen reflect the social and political values of the eighteenth century Enlightenment? What were the chief ways in which France and its government were reorganized in the early years of the revolution? Why has the Civil Constitution of the Clergy been called the greatest blunder of the National Assembly?

 

4. What was the revolution of 1792 and why did it occur?  Who were the sans-culottes and how did they become a factor in the politics of the period? How influential were they during the Reign of Terror in particular? Why did the sans-culottes and the Jacobins cooperate at first? Why did that cooperation end?

 

5. Why did France go to war with Austria in 1792? What were the benefits and drawbacks for France of fighting an external war while in the midst of a domestic political revolution? What were the causes of the Terror?  How did the rest of Europe react to the French Revolution and the Terror?

 

6. A motto of the French Revolution was “equality, liberty, fraternity.”  How did the revolution both support and violate this motto?  Did French women benefit from the revolution?  Did French peasants benefit from it?

 

7. How did Napoleon rise to power? What groups supported him? What were the stages by which he eventually made himself emperor? What were his major domestic achievements? Did his rule more nearly fulfill or betray the ideals of the French Revolution?

 

8. How did Napoleon rule his empire? Did his administration show foresight or did the empire ultimately become a burden he could not afford?

 

9. Why did Napoleon decide to invade Russia? Why did the operation fail? Can Napoleon be considered a “military genius”? Why or Why not?  To what extent was his brilliance dependent on the ineptitude of his enemies?

10. Who were the significant personalities and what were the most significant problems of the Congress of Vienna?  What were the results of the Congress and why were they significant?

 

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