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Date: ______________ Week: ______________ Lesson Objective EUROPE BEFORE 1789 ___________________ In the 18th century, Europe was divided into two regions i.e. ___________________ Western and Eastern Europe. Some of the European states ___________________ included Great Britain, Hapsburg or Austrian Empire, Hungary, ___________________ parts of the Ottoman Empire, Russia, the Holy Roman Empire, ___________________ France, Poland, Spain, Prussia and Portugal. Before 1789, most ___________________ parts of Europe were characterized by similarities in their ___________________ political, economic and social set up. These features were ___________________ common to most of the European countries except Britain which ___________________ had a constitutional monarchy with a better system of ___________________ government. The most remarkable features in Europe included; ___________________ ___________________ POLITICAL CONDITIONS Key vocabulary Politically, there existed despotic governments or monarchs in most parts where the kings had absolute powers with their ___________________ decisions being final. For example, in Russia the Tsar’s decision ___________________ and authority would never be questioned by anybody. Similar ___________________ conditions existed in France, Norway and other areas. ___________________ ___________________ There was lack of any sort of freedom where people were not ___________________ supposed to belong to any political parties, denied freedom of ___________________ movement, press, speech and in some countries like Austria and ___________________ Russia, there was a high degree of censorship of the press and most of the governments in Europe were operating with no parliament. Reference Books ___________________ The existing governments in Europe were full of corrupt and ___________________ inefficient officials who misused their offices for selfish ___________________ interests. For example, in France the nobles and clergy enjoyed ___________________ state benefits, took bribes and always misused state funds. In ___________________ Prussia, the Junkers enjoyed access to government benefits ___________________ because of their privileged position. ___________________ ___________________ In most countries, there existed political imbalance with the ___________________ privileged classes enjoying high positions while the unprivileged ___________________ classes were subjected to low positions with fewer benefits. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS Economically, most of the European countries were agro-based except Britain which was industrialized. Most parts of Europe practiced feudalism by which land was owned by powerful landlords who were from the privileged classes. The peasants on the other hand owned no land but rented and lived on the land of the landlords as squatters. Unemployment was common especially when weather conditions changed. Similarly, most parts of Europe were affected by famine due to bad weather conditions like winter, floods 1 and drought. As a result, the farmers got poor harvests yet the governments did nothing to assist the people. For example, in 1787, bad weather conditions affected most economies of Europe. SOCIAL CONDITIONS There existed social class divisions with two main classes of people (the privileged and the unprivileged classes). The privileged were the most favored and they enjoyed most of the state benefits. For example, they owned land, paid no taxes, got high ranks in the army and civil service while the peasants suffered most. In most states, there was close collaboration between the church and the government in oppressing the people. For example, in Catholic countries like Austria, France and Spain, the Catholic Church collaborated with the leaders to oppress the masses through religious intolerance and unfair taxation. However, despite the fact that circumstances in Europe were the same, a revolution broke out in France in 1789. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789 A revolution refers to a fundamental or complete change that takes place in the political, social and economic spheres of a society. A revolution can be peaceful or violent where changes are realized through force. The French revolution of 1789 was a violent uprising of the masses against the existing government in France. By 1789, France was under a monarchy (kingdom) which had ruled France for over a period of over four hundred years and because of that long period of time, the regime was referred to as the Ancient Regime. The rulers of this regime were from a family that was known as the Bourbons and that’s why the government was at times referred to as the Bourbon Monarchy. Several kings served this regime including Henry IV, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV and by 1789, the king of France was known as Louis XVI. The French revolution broke out on 5th May 1789 when King Louis XVI summoned or called the Estates General which failed. On 14th July 1789 mobs of hungry and angry people, mostly peasants stormed Paris which was the capital of France and the king could not stop their violent actions. As a result, a revolution that caused fundamental changes in France had to continue for several years up to 1799. As the revolution progressed, the monarchy was abolished and among the things, France was declared a Republic in 1792 as King Louis XVI together with his wife Marie Antoinette were executed or killed in 1793. THE CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789 The social class system in France. The influence of the Philosophers. The nature of the French system of government (Ancient Regime). The role of the Catholic Church. The character of King Louis XVI. The influence of the Queen. The influence of England. The American war of independence. The financial crisis or bankruptcy. The bad weather / famine. The summoning and failure of the Estates General THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLAND As a French neighbor, England provided a practical example of what Frenchmen demanded for. Politically, the English system of government and its institutions were admired by many Frenchmen by 1789. For example, though England was a monarchy or Kingdom like France, the English monarchy was constitutional. It also had a functional 2 Parliament. On the other hand, France which was also a monarchy was autocratic. Therefore, the Frenchmen revolted demanding for constitutional rule. In addition, in England the protestant faith was dominant but England allowed freedom of worship. On the other hand, the Catholic faith was dominant in France, but France did not allow freedom of worship and this eventually led to the outbreak of the French Revolution. Economically, in 1763 England defeated France and she lost her colonies of India and Canada. The loss of these colonies which were sources of wealth like minerals contributed to the bankruptcy of France which led to the outbreak of the 1789 French revolution. England also signed a Free Trade Treaty known as the Cobden Treaty of 1786 with France. By this treaty, British goods were allowed to enter France without paying taxes. This affected the French economy because the British goods which were superior out- competed the French manufactured products. The French industries therefore closed and there was serious unemployment in France together with bankruptcy. This economic influence of England contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789. Brief summary from the Brief summary from Sample question(s) teacher’s explanation group discussions ______________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ ______________________ __________________ 3 WWW QUESTION _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ EBI _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ 4 5 6 Date: ______________ Week: ______________ Lesson Objective Do now ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ THE SOCIAL CLASS SYSTEM OR STRUGGLE IN ___________________ FRANCE ___________________ ___________________ The French revolution of 1789 was a result of the class ___________________ struggle between the privileged and unprivileged classes in France. By 1789, France was a class-based society with high Key vocabulary levels of inequality. It had three classes also referred to as Estates and these included:- ___________________ ___________________ The 1st Estate: This included the key members of the Clergy ___________________ – Church leaders. The clergy were members of the Catholic ___________________ Church but were also divided into the Upper (Bishops and ___________________

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