Chapter 3 Flashcards
(27 cards)
what is the ancien régime?
ancient order for france
estates of france in the ancien régime?
First Estate [clergy]
Second Estate [nobles]
Third Estate [everyone else]
how did louis 14, 15, and 16 contribute to france’s deficit spending?
Louis 14 → built the Palais Versailles
Louis 15 → pursued pleasure over business and ran up more debts
Louis 16 → Well-meaning, but weak and indecisive
Who was Jacques Necker and what did he do?
Louis 16 hired Jacques Necker as financial advisor
Necker urged the king to:
Reduce spending
Reform government
Abolish tariffs on international trade
Tax the First and Second Estates
what is the estates-general?
[legislative body consisting of representatives from all three estates; similar to Parliament]
why was the estates general held? why was it not held sooner?
the issue was taxing the first and second estates
Estates-General hadn’t been called on for 175 years at the time bc royals were afraid the nobles would try to weaken monarchy like in England
what were cahiers?
grievance notebooks that the estates brought to the estates-general
Cahiers called for reforms
Cahiers testified boiling class resentments
why did the delegates swear the tennis court oath and what did it stipulate?
3rd Estate wanted more votes bc they had more ppl.
So, 3rd Estate declared themselves to be the National Assembly
Few days later, National Assembly was locked out of Estates-General bc the king wanted to dismiss them, so they went to tennis court and took the Tennis Court Oath
swore to never separate and to meet whenever the circumstances required until they established a just and sound constitution
what was the national assembly?
the 3rd estate
order of french orders
ancien régime
- 3 estates
National Assembly (revolutionary phase)
- tennis court oath
- paris commune
- declaration of the rights of man
- Constitution of 1791
- Louis 16 tries to escape
- Louis escapes to Legislative Assembly
- Legislative Assembly (radicals had the upper hand)
National Convention (radical phase)
- execution of Louis 16
- Committee of Public Safety
Directory (moderate phase)
- Constitution of 1795
- start of Napoleon
Age of Napoleon
- Concordat of 1801
- Napoleonic Code
- Continental System
how did peasants react to the National Assembly placing the church under state control
they were angry
what did the declaration of the rights of man do?
it just granted equal rights for all
king was still technically in power
what did the Constitution of 1791 do?
Replaces absolute monarchy with limited monarchy
who were emigres?
french citizens who fled france and spread terror of the “french plague” to nearby countries
Declaration of Pillnitz
King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria issue this
threat to revolutionary france
Why did Louis 16 escape to Legislative Assembly?
Prussians were killing off French recruits and royalist French officers were deserting, so ppl thought the king was in league with their enemies
crowd of Parisians stormed palace, but royals escaped to Legislative Assembly
what does levée en masse mean?
mass levy tax that required all citizens to contribute to the war effort
issued by the Committee of Public Safety
Who was Maximilien Robespierre?
“the incorruptible”
head of the Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre was considered main person in Reign of Terror
Fearing their own lives, the National Convention ended the Committee of Public Safety by arresting and killing Robespierre
Why did the Directory fail?
War with some neighbors
Rioting due to bread prices
Revival of royalists
As chaos continued, politicians wanted to use Napoleon Bonaparte, but he outwitted them and became ruler of France
how did napoleon rise to power?
He moved from military leader to political leader by helping overthrow the Directory and set up the Consulate
He took the title of First Consul and later named himself consul for life
Then, Napoleon the names himself Emperor of the French
Napoleon held a plebiscite every step on the rise to power, even though he held absolute power, which is sometimes called democratic despotism
what is a plebiscite?
[popular vote by ballot]
Concordat of 1801
kept peace with the Catholic Church
Napoleonic Code
lasting reforms that embodied Enlightenment principles
what was the Continental System
closed European ports to British goods, then Britain responded with its own blockade of European ports
part of economic war vs Britain