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French Revolution Name: ______________________________ Period: _______ By The History Channel Pre Movie Work: Three Estates of France: First = Clergy: 130,000 (1%) Second = Nobility: 280,000 (2%) Third = Everyone Else: 27.4m (97%) The Assembly of the Estates: Clergy Votes: 33.3% Nobility Votes:33.3% Everyone Else Votes: 33.3% The Elements of the French Revolution: Weak Leadership: Louis XVI was a weak State of the state: France was in weak- Crisis: Louis dabbles in the markets and the monarch that bankrupted the country by aiding ened position economically, bad harvests, price of flour sky-rockets which makes the price America and leaving his state in a weak position. of bread double. People begin to starve... weak leadership. The Enlightenment: This period is marked by an intense movement to learn and discuss ideas including politics, religion, the state, the state of the state, should the state change its methods, its leaders, its policies, and how should that change come? Slowly, quickly, peacefully, or violently? This was the “climate” which nurtured the sentiment that would surface after the crisis. The French Revolution is famous because: For the first time in Europe a people rose up against feudal aristocratic rule and dis- mantled the structure of power including aristocracy (equality for all) the Church (powerful church figures, wealth, & property), people began to believe they could recreate almost everything in a society including, politics, institutions, human nature itself through political and violent action. Democracy?: Look at the manner in which the Assembly of States was structured. The Clergy and Nobility could easily defeat the Third Estate democratically by voting as a block. The ruling class would then say “We voted, you lost democratically, get over it”. The question is then asked “Is the democracy just”? Because it is “law”, because it is written or decided by judges “Is it just”? Is humankind’s liberty enhanced or denied? If it is not just, what actions should a society take? Vote, violence, organize rebellion? The Movie: The seat of the French Empire was in what city? Versailles which was 11 miles south of Paris the capitol of France. The royal wedding was between what two families? French House of Bourbon and Austrian House of Hapsburg. Long time adver- saries would securing their power with a political marriage. How old were Louis Capias the Marie Antoinette when married? Louis XVI was 15, Marie Antoinette was 14. What was the population growth of France in the 18th century? 20 million to 26 million in 100 years (27%) due to no plague, no other constraint on population growth. Only up from 19 to 20 million during the 1500s and 1600s (5% in two hundred years). What is Louis the XVI’s prayer as he takes the throne? Bless us, we reign too young. Louis was 20 years old. The enlightenment would over-throw the ideas if monarchy, aristocracy, and hierarchy as what? Natural birth rights of the aristocratic. Because they are born into, they are better, they are entitled to power. The French committed a great deal of money to the American revolution in order to oppose their nemesis England. What did this do to the French Empire? 2,000,000,000 livres to help America throw out England as the colonial rulers of North America. It bankrupted the French Empire and set them up for financial ruin. What was Marie Antoinette known as because of her lavish spending? Madam Deficit The Estates General was divided into three groups each with a third of the vote, what were these groups? How would it been seen as unfair? The 1st and 2nd Estates controlled 66% of the vote while the 3rd Estate, 97% of the population of France, controlled 33%. Ergo, the 1st and 2nd estates through an unjust democracy would always win a vote. What “estate” did Robespierre represent? 3rd Estate. (Everyone else, 97%) Where did the national assembly vote seize power from the King of France? Tennis/Hand Ball court. There were two main political factions during the French Revolution. Who were they and what were their main ideals? Jacobins, named after the monastery they met in as a club, this was the radical revolutionary group lead by Robespierre which would engulf France into a bloody revolution. The Girondins were named after a region in France when a particularly brilliant group of people had come from. They supported a Rome like republican form, not fully democratic and they fully opposed the monarchy. The Cordeliers were a group that were radical revolu- tionaries that opposed the monarchy and wanted to keep and eye on the new government. Danton was a member of this group early on. There were other smaller groups such as The Society of Revolutionary Women, Fraternal Society of One and the Other Sex (feminist group), Club des Impartiaux was the first royalist group, they didn’t last very long. What was the Bastille a symbol of? Aristocratic/Feudal rule, horror, torture, tyranny, injustice. What did the flag colors represent? Red and Blue for Paris, white for the House of Bourbon. French Revolution by The History Channel Continued... What angered the common people to the point that they assaulted and sacked the Bastille? Jacques Necker fired as minister. He was a voice of the people. What did the mob do to the commander of the Bastille? Paraded him through town, beat, kicked, and stabbed him. Eventually he was shot and stabbed to death. His head was put atop a pike, a symbol of the revolution. What did the “Declaration of the Rights of Man” affirm? Equality, Estates no longer recognized, established the National Assembly. The Estates General is no longer. Robespierre called for freedom of the what? Press. He wanted a press unimpeded by aristocracy or government. It eventually turned out for the worse as Jean-Paul Marat called for summary execution of people named as traitors to revolution. No trials were conduct- ed, no right of man conferred, just the execution of accused persons of the state. Who were the “Fish Ladies”? Burley working-poor women that could no longer afford food. They were armed with long knives which were used to open shellfish, remove scales, and gutting fish. They were poor people acting against their aristocratic leadership. What did the mob want to do to the queen? They wanted her dead. Her head, her limbs, her guts... What did the mob steal from the Royal Estate at Versailles? Baking flour. Where were the King and Queen forced to move and what did this effectively make them? To Paris, prisoners of the rebellion. What form of monarchy did the early revolution establish? Constitutional monarchy. Louis and Marie attempt to escape to Austria, after they were captured what did this make the King and Queen in the eyes of the peo- ple? For attempting to flee to Aristocratic Austria and away from his people and problems, Louis becomes a traitor to the rebellion and France. Why are the Kings of Austria, Prussia, and The Holy Roman Empire worried about the rebellion in France? Because it could lead to rebellions against aristocracy in their states. The ruling class feared a popular uprising. Mercenary armies were important as they have been throughout history because in this case they would kill the native population without a second thought. People identified themselves politically with what? Their pant length. Short knee pants were aristocratic while longer pants were for the working man, aka everyone else, the 97%. Who called for more boldness against the invaders and called for storming the prisons killing enemies of the state? Danton. J.P. Marat wrote the daily paper called the “Friend of the People” and he called for people storm the prisons and kill the inmates there. Why did the King have to die? He was born to be king, therefore, he must die as he is the king and a republic can have no king. What happens to people who were plotting against the revolution according Marat? He prints a list in his paper. The list contains names of people that should be detained and put to the national razor. Those who are worried about the revolution send Charlotte Cordais to do what to Marat? She was tired of the bloodshed and fear gripping her country. She was sent to and successfully killed Jean Paul Marot to stop him from calling for the execution of Frenchmen in his paper. What is the fate of Marie Antoinette? She was to be taken to the national razor. What happens to her son? After years of neglect, the boy dies a miserable death as the heir to the throne of France. What was the “Terror”? All rights of the people were suspended, state police spies were everywhere, those suspected of working against the new government was reason enough to be beheaded. What was the “Committee of Public Safety”? 12 man council to make decisions. It reduced the number of people that would decent in government and formed a vicious oligarchy that revoked and terrorized the people. (Oligarchy) What was de-Christianization? The revolution then turns it eyes to the Catholic Church as a symbol of and progenitor of radical indoc- trinating thought. The most obvious is the new “Revolutionary Calendar” that replace all aspects of date tracking. Sunday was gone and the Revolutionary Government hoped it would be forgotten. What does the French Revolutionary government do to rebel insurrections in France? They engage them in warfare, they are arrest- ed, and summarily executed. Why was Danton and his follower executed? Robespierre sees this as an act of treason against himself and revolutionary France.
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