Revolutions- the french revolution Flashcards
(44 cards)
how was france ruled before 1789
king louis XVI
france was a powerful country,ruled by king louis XVI. louis became king 1774 at the age of 20. he was the absolute monarch and rued france from his beautiful palace at versailles near paris. louis believed that his power came from god.he made all eh major decisions. he appointed his advisors and there was no elected parliament.
he was a kind and generous man who loved hunting. he was popular with most french people.however he found it hard to make hard decisions. people also felt like he was controlled by his wife.. she was an austrian princess and was nit liked by the french. austria was the natural enemy of the french. they believed that she wasted vasts of money on luxuries
what happened in 1789
the french revolution
what was the three estates
the first estate was the clergy-the bishops and the priests of the catholic church. they numbered about 100,000 people.
the second estate was the nobles.there was about 400,000 nobles. most were wealthy landowners and some acted as advisors to the king
the third estate was the remaining 95 per cent of the population-they were called the commoners. they were poor workers or peasants.
what is a tithe
it is a tax farmers and peasants had to pay. this was one-tenth of what they produced
who are the commoners
farmers and peasants
who are the bourgeoisie
the rich and well educated section of the third estate
why were there demands in change in france
the enlightenment
the impact of the american revolution
taxes
who are enlightenment writers and some examples
they are the people who are against the kings
voltaire
rousseau
what are the things the enlightenment writers wrote
they thought that religion were superstition ans did not believe that the kings power came from god
they were opposed to the absolute power of the king and argues that his power came from the people
they felt the church and the nobles were too powerful and that the ordinary people of france should have a greater say in running the countries
why were the french upset about the taxes
they were upset that the nobles did not have to pay the gabelle. this tax was disliked by the people as salt as used to preserve food.
although most peasants were poor they had to pay tax to their local lord. these were called feudal dues.the tithe paid to the church was also very unpopular.
what is teh gabelle
tax on salt
what are the feudal dues
the tax the peasants had to pay to their local lords
what was the impact of the american revolution
they had been impressed by that the freedoms the americans had and wanted some of them to be introduced to france.
helping america also had another impact on france.the war of independence was one of the long line wars that france fought in the eighteenth century. these wars were very expensive and left france bankrupt
what events led to the revolution in france
teh question voting
the national assembly
the bastille
what is voting by order
it is when each estate met up separately and made up its mind on the issue. it then had one vote
what is voting by head
it was when each member of the estate had a vote
describe the question of voting
when the Estates General met in May 1789 members of the third estate wanted a role in the decisions that were to be made.to do this they needed to change the system of voting
in 1614 each estate met separately and made up its mind on an issue.it then had one vote.this was called voting by order.the nobles and clergy hoped that the voting system would stay this way so they could outvote the third estate by 2 to 1
the third estate wanted each member of the estates general to have a vote. this was called voting by head. they knew that with the help of some nobles and clergy who were sympathetic to them they would be able to introduce reforms as they made up most of the population
causes of the french revolution
the influence of the enlightenment
bankruptcy
the absolute power of the king
resistance of the nobles to tax reform
the unfair nature of the tax system
what was the national assembly
when the third estate didn’t get their way on the issue of voting the third estate refused to meet up at the estates general and met separately .
they said they said they represented the people of france.they called themselves the national assembly
what was the tennis court oath
on 20 june the national assembly found the door where they met locked. fearing that they were about to be arrested they met in an indoor tennis court. they swore they would continue their meetings until their needs were met
this became known as the tennis court oath
what were the imported changes for france
it banned the feudal system that has existed since the middle ages.this ended the power of the nobles
influenced by both of the american constitution and the views and enlightenment writers the assembly a document known as the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen
what did the assembly document and what did it do
the Declaration Of The Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
it gave the ordinary people of france more rights such as freedom of religion,. the right to free speech and the right to fair trail
describe the bastille
in paris there was strong support for the national assembly.people feared that the king and nobles would try to crush the revolution. rumors spread that the king’s troops were marching on paris.
an army called the national guard formed to defend the city.there was an urgent need for guns. on the 14 of july after capturing the muskets a crowd marched to bastille prison where gunpowder was stored
this was a very important event- a symbol of the kings power had been captured by the people
king louis was still on the throne but his power was greatly reduced.three different states were lost.the people were now equal citizens and not the kings subject.in october the king was forced to move to versailles.the national assembly also moved to the city
what is the national guard
an army formed to defend the city
