The French Revolution: flashcards, quiz and summary

Flashcards

1. 1Why did the voting system at the 1789 Estates-General favor the nobles and clergy?

   Voting was one vote per estate, not one vote per person. Clergy and nobles together could outvote the Third Estate, even though the Third Estate was about 97 percent of the population.

2. 2What did the Third Estate do on June 17, 1789, and why did it matter?

   It declared itself the National Assembly and claimed to represent the nation. This was a direct challenge to the old estate-based system and to royal authority.

3. 3Why did the Tennis Court Oath happen, and what did the delegates promise?

   Delegates were locked out of their meeting hall, so they met on an indoor tennis court. They swore not to separate until France had a constitution.

4. 4How did the Great Fear lead to the end of feudal privileges?

   Peasant uprisings across the countryside in summer 1789 pressured the Assembly, which abolished feudal privileges on August 4, 1789.

5. 5What rights did the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen claim, and who did it leave out?

   It claimed liberty, equality before the law, popular sovereignty and property rights. It left out women, which led Olympe de Gouges to write a declaration of women's rights in 1791.

6. 6How did the war with Austria and Prussia lead to the end of the monarchy?

   From April 1792 the war raised fears that the king would betray France. In August 1792 crowds stormed the Tuileries Palace, and the new National Convention abolished the monarchy in September.

7. 7Why was the Reign of Terror launched, and how was it justified?

   It was launched during foreign war and civil revolt. Leaders defended it as protection against internal enemies, but the Law of Suspects allowed arrests on vague charges and many people died.

8. 8What events brought down Robespierre and ended the Terror?

   On 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794), deputies turned against Robespierre. He was guillotined the next day, and the Terror ended.

9. 9Why was the Directory government unstable, and how did Napoleon take power?

   The Directory was weak, corrupt and dependent on the army. In the Coup of 18 Brumaire (November 1799), Napoleon overthrew it and became First Consul.

Practice quiz

Pick an answer to check it.

1. 1Why could the clergy and nobility outvote the Third Estate at the 1789 Estates-General?

   1. The Third Estate had no delegates at the meeting.
   2. The king chose which estate could vote each day.
   3. Voting was by head, so the nobles had more votes than the Third Estate.
   4. Each estate had one vote, so clergy and nobles together could outvote the Third Estate.
   Show the answer

   D. Each estate had one vote, so clergy and nobles together could outvote the Third Estate. Voting was by estate, with one vote each. Two privileged estates could therefore outvote the Third Estate. Voting by head would have given the Third Estate a large advantage instead.

2. 2What was the Storming of the Bastille?

   1. Parisians taking a royal fortress and prison to seize its gunpowder on July 14, 1789.
   2. The signing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
   3. The Directory's seizure of power in 1799.
   4. The execution of Louis XVI in 1793.
   Show the answer

   A. Parisians taking a royal fortress and prison to seize its gunpowder on July 14, 1789. Parisians stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, mainly to get gunpowder. The fortress held very few prisoners at the time, so freeing prisoners was not the main goal.

3. 3What led to the Tennis Court Oath in June 1789?

   1. Delegates were locked out of their hall and swore not to separate until France had a constitution.
   2. The king ordered the delegates to meet on a tennis court.
   3. Delegates voted to abolish the monarchy.
   4. Nobles challenged the Third Estate to a contest and lost.
   Show the answer

   A. Delegates were locked out of their hall and swore not to separate until France had a constitution. Delegates of the Third Estate were locked out of their meeting hall, so they met on an indoor tennis court. The pledge was to keep meeting until France had a constitution, not to end the monarchy.

4. 4Which best describes the Constitution of 1791?

   1. A restored absolute monarchy.
   2. A republic led by an elected president.
   3. A constitutional monarchy with an elected Legislative Assembly.
   4. A government run by five directors and a two-house legislature.
   Show the answer

   C. A constitutional monarchy with an elected Legislative Assembly. The Constitution of 1791 kept a king but limited his power and created an elected Legislative Assembly. The five-director government belongs to the Directory of 1795, not to this constitution.

5. 5What did the Law of Suspects of 1793 allow?

   1. Free elections for all adult men.
   2. Arrests on vague charges during the Terror.
   3. Trials by jury for nobles accused of treason.
   4. The abolition of the Catholic Church.
   Show the answer

   B. Arrests on vague charges during the Terror. The Law of Suspects allowed arrests on vague charges and was a central tool of the Terror. It did not set up elections, abolish the Church or give jury trials to nobles.

6. 6Why did Robespierre fall from power in July 1794?

   1. He lost a battle in Italy and was blamed for it.
   2. He was elected emperor and the Assembly removed him.
   3. He was arrested after the Coup of 18 Brumaire.
   4. Deputies turned against him on 9 Thermidor, and he was guillotined the next day.
   Show the answer

   D. Deputies turned against him on 9 Thermidor, and he was guillotined the next day. Deputies turned on Robespierre on 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794), and he was guillotined the next day. The Coup of 18 Brumaire happened in 1799, five years later, and it brought Napoleon to power.

Test traps

What teachers like to test on this, and the mistakes students make.

• Mixing up the Storming of the Bastille with a prison-freeing event: the fortress held very few prisoners in 1789, and the crowd's main goal was its gunpowder.
• Confusing the Tennis Court Oath (June 1789) with a later date, or thinking the oath was about abolishing the monarchy rather than about writing a constitution.
• Saying Louis XVI was executed in 1789: France was a constitutional monarchy until September 1792, and the king was tried and guillotined in January 1793.
• Thinking Thermidor (1794) ended the Revolution: it ended the Terror, and the Revolution continued through the Directory until Napoleon's coup in 1799.
• Writing that the Declaration of the Rights of Man gave equal rights to everyone: it left out women, which is a common essay point.

Summary

• The Old Regime split French society into three estates, and the Third Estate, about 97 percent of the people, paid most of the taxes.
• Debt from wars, Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and popular sovereignty, and high bread prices all helped push France toward revolution.
• In 1789 the Third Estate broke away from the Estates-General, declared itself the National Assembly, and the Assembly abolished feudal privileges and issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
• Between 1790 and 1792 France moved from a constitutional monarchy to a republic, and the king was tried and executed in 1793.
• The Reign of Terror (1793 to 1794) was justified as protection against internal and foreign enemies, and it ended after Robespierre was overthrown and executed in July 1794.
• The Directory (1795 to 1799) was weak and corrupt, and Napoleon Bonaparte took power in the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 and crowned himself emperor in 1804.

Key terms

Estates-General

The French assembly of the three estates (clergy, nobility and Third Estate). Its first meeting since 1614 was in May 1789, and voting by estate let the clergy and nobles outvote the Third Estate.

National Assembly

The body the Third Estate declared itself on June 17, 1789, claiming to represent the whole nation.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made on June 20, 1789, by delegates locked out of their hall, who swore not to separate until France had a constitution.

Great Fear

Peasant uprisings in the summer of 1789 that led the Assembly to abolish feudal privileges on August 4, 1789.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A document of August 26, 1789, that set out liberty, equality before the law, popular sovereignty and property rights. It did not extend these rights to women.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

A 1790 law that put the Church under state control and divided Catholics between those who accepted it and those who did not.

Committee of Public Safety

The governing body during the Terror, whose best-known member was Maximilien Robespierre.

Law of Suspects

A 1793 law that allowed arrests on vague charges and was central to the Terror.

Thermidor

The month when deputies turned against Robespierre on 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794). He was guillotined the next day, and the Terror ended.

Coup of 18 Brumaire

Napoleon Bonaparte's November 1799 takeover that overthrew the Directory and made him First Consul.

How to study it

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Questions