French Revolution Flashcards
(30 cards)
What was the estates-general?
They were the assembly that by king the in which the problems of the country were treated. It was made up by representatives from the three estates.
What were the estates-general divided in?
Three Chambers
What did each chamber represented
A state, there where the lords, the clergy and the commons
How many votes did each chamber had?
one
Who usually won the votings?
the 1st and 2nd states because they wanted to mantain their priviledges
What political system was french in before the french revolution?
Absolutist monarchy.
Who could give some influence to the king?
The nobles and Clergy. And not the bourgeoisie because they were part of the third state
What was the Enlightment?
It was a revolution in thought that brought ideas about equality, liberty and fraternity.
Who where part of the Enlightment?
Philosophers
Who was Montesquieu
He was a philosopher from the enlightmente
What did Montesquieu said?
He said that no single person alone should possess the
three sorts of power:
- Legislative, the power of making laws
- Executive, the power of putting laws into efect, the power of actually ruling
- Judicial, the power of judging crimes
What was the intention of the Enlightment?
Taking the power of the monarchs’ and give it to the people
What were the economic causes of the revolution?
Industrial and the financial crisis
Why did the prices increase?
Because that year there had been bad harvests and so the prices of bread increased. Peasants couldn’t afford manufactured goods so an industrial crisis happened and this led to loss of employment
Why did the financial crisis happened?
Because France supported America in the american independence by sending them troops, weapons, and ships so they lost a lot of money leading to a financial crisis
Which estates had more economical power?
1st and 2nd
which estates had to pay the taxes?
the 3rd estate, and they had no privileges
How did the American independence inspire the french to a revolution?
They wanted a democracy and wanted to get rid of the monarchy and absolutism
How did the revolution started?
The king wanted to change the taxation sistem because of the economic crisis, the high estates hoped that everything would remain the same for them but the king didn’t agree and the high estates refused to accpet it. The commons wanted a change because they weren’t able to pay for their basics in life.
Did what the third estates representavives wanted happen? what happened?
no, the conflict turned into a conlflic about the voting system and the third estate representatives left the Estates-general and created the National Assembly
Why did they created the National assembly?
They wanted to write a new constitution, showing how france should be governed
What did the National assembly do to make what they wanted become true?
They took the tennis court oath, swearing not to leave until the king agreed to meet their demands
What happened after the tennis court oath?
The king agreed to meet their demands and the representatives of the second and first estates became part of the National Assembly
What happened after everyone was part of the national assembly
Because of the hunger of the citizens, the masses took the prison of bastille because they saw it as a symbol of the king and the goverment and they wanted to destroy it
