French Revolution Flashcards
1
Q
What were the initial reasons for revolution?
A
- Poor Leadership
- Hunger / Poverty
- War
- Mass Support
- Leadership
- An alternative
2
Q
What was the Ancien Regime?
A
- ‘Old System’
- Political:
- Political structure
- Advisors (Intendants)
- Limitations
- Parlements (Law Court)
- Censorship (Power of the Clergy
- Monarchy
- Divine Right
- Louis XVI (1774-1793) - Social:
- 1st Estate
- Clergy
- Influence
- Pluralism (100,000)
- Absenteeism
- 2nd Estate
- Nobility
- Noble Courts
- Exempt from Service
- 3rd Estate
- Bourgeoise, Peasants, Urban Workers
- Corvée: Forced labour on roads
- Middle Class
- Taxation - Economic:
- Direct Taxation (Taille Tithe)
- Land tax
- Third Estate paid
- System of exemptions
- Indirect Taxation
- French gov. never made enough - borrow
- Farmers-General
- Gabelle - Salt tax
3
Q
Nature of rule
A
- Parlements:
- The 13 High Courts of appeal. All edicts handed down by the crown had to be registered by the Parlements before they could be enforced as a law. - Bourbon:
- The family name of the Monarch - Lit de Justice:
- Formal sessions of Parlements in which the king could override objections - Absolutism:
- A system of government where the ruler has all power - Estates-General:
- Elected representatives of all three estates of the realm - Lettre de cachet:
- Sealed instructions from the crown allowing detention without trial.
4
Q
The Enlightenment
A
- “Movement of Philosophies”
- Political, Religous and Social criticisms harming the Ancien Regime. - Key figures:
- Montesque: Seperation of powers
- Voltaire: Anti-Clerical
- Rousseau: Social Equality
- Diderot: Knowledge - Diderot and the Encyclopedia
- Thousands of Articles
- Scientists and Scholars
- Banned in France
5
Q
The Seven Years War
A
- 1961-1968
- Britain vs France
- France lose
6
Q
American War of Independence
A
- 1776: America rebels against British rule
- 1778: France sends troops to support America
- 1781: America / France win
- However two major consequences:
- French Soldier exposed to ‘ideas of liberty’
- Financial implications - Huge Debt!
7
Q
The Controller Generals
A
- Jaques Turgot:
- 1774-1776
- Agriculture should be freed from restrictions of taxes to stimulate the wealth of the country.
- Introduced a number of economic policies
- Tried to introduce free trade on grain
- Coincided with a bad harvest, led to huge amounts of criticism
- Sparked violence in the North - ‘Flour war’
- Tried to tax whole country - Jacques Necker:
- 1776-1781
- Funded French involvement in US war of independence
- 1777-1781: Necker raised 520m livres in loans
- Ordinary income and expenditure could be brought in by organising budget structures.
- Order in financial structure would engender more confidence which in its place would enable the king to borrow more money to mee the expenditure.
- Hated by the King and Ministers
- Removed cost of war from Compte Rendu
- Effective piece of government propaganda. - Charles de Calonne:
- 1783-1787
- 653m livres borrowed
- Seeked more loans
- 3 point plan
- Single land tax - At harvest, no exemptions
- Loans: A show of support (Assembly of Notables)
8
Q
Assembly of Notables
A
- 1786
- 144 representatives - mostly Nobility (Clerical Nobility)
- After illness to Calonne, the Assembly did not meet until 22 February 1787.
- After death of Calonne’s friend the representatives had time to think about what they wanted.
- Created an influential pressure.
- Calonne dismissed - replaced by Brienne
- Creates rebellion from parlements
- Brienne only lasted a year.
9
Q
To what extent was France ready for revolution by 1781?
A
- Political:
\+ Ancien Regime
\+ US War of Independence
- Obedience to Louis XVI
- Social:
\+ Enlightenment
- Illiteracy
- Lack of opposition movement
- Economic:
\+ Necker - Debt - Compte Rendu
\+ Bad Harvests
- Confidence in Economy (due to false info on CR)
10
Q
‘What is the Third Estate?’
A
- January 1789
- Political pamphlet
- Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
- Written in response to Necker asking how the Estates-General should be organized.
- Sieyès believed that the 3rd Estate constituted a nation in its own right and the other two were dead weight.
- “What is the 3rd Estate?
Everything!
What has it been in the political order until now?”
Nothing!
What does it ask?
To become somthing!”
11
Q
The Estates-General
A
- When they met on May 5 1789 the government had the opportunity to control the situation
- The government took no initiative to introduce reforms.
- Necker talked about ‘fairer tax’ but this was the closest they came to reform.
- No mention of a new constitution.
- Met as three seperate groups and voted by order (each group gets one vote).
12
Q
Cahiers
A
- Drawn up by the electors of the three estates
- List of grievances and suggestions for reform
13
Q
Weather and harvest
A
- Hailstorms in Summer 1788
- Bread prices increase by 88%
14
Q
Reasons for the storming of the Batille
A
- Influx of troops into Paris
- High food prices
- Falling living standards
- Popular movement
- Camille Demouslins
- Dismissal of Necker (12/07/89)
- Economic Crisis (Inability of government)
15
Q
Events of the storming of the Bastille
A
- 12th and 13th: Poorer citizens in Paris begin looting weaponry for battle
- Poorest = Sans Culottes (Without knee-breeches)
- They’re hungry - Wealthy become alarmed
- Set up their own committee - the commune
- Created their own militia - The National Guard
16
Q
Storming of the Bastille: key words
A
- Sans-Culottes:
- (Without knee breeches)
- The Urban poor - Journees:
- A day of popular action and disturbance linked to great political change - Menu peuple:
- Ordinary people living in towns (3rd estate) - (Local) Commune:
- Representatives of the 60 electoral districts that had chosen the deputies to Estates-General. - Citizens Militia / National Guard:
- A Bourgeois defence force set up to protect the interests of property owners in Paris. After the storming of the Bastille it became the National Guard.
17
Q
Control of Paris - July 1789
A
- Sans-Culottes
- King+Army
- National Assembly
- Commune with the National Guard (Town Council)
18
Q
The rural revolt
A
- The peasants played no part in the revolution until 1789, due to the bad harvest of 88.
- Suffered from the failure of the textiles industry.
- The food riots were important due to the political events going on at the time.
- The fall of the Bastille meant that risings followed in Normandy and Franche-Comté
- Main features:
- Grain stores were looted
- Chateaux were attacked and frequently burnt
- ‘Terriers’ which listed peasant obligations were destroyed.
