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What was the Old Regime?
The old governmental system of France before the French Revolution, in which three estates were ruled by a monarch.
Who was in the First Estate?
The Roman Catholic Church/Clergy
How much of the population was in the First Estate?
1%
How much of the land in France did the First Estate have?
10%
Who was in the Second Estate?
Nobility
How much of the population was in the Second Estate?
2%
How much of the land in France did the Second Estate have?
20%
Who was in the Third Estate?
Everyone who wasn’t in the first two Estates.
How much of the population was in the Third Estate?
97%
How much of the land in France did the Third Estate have?
70%
What were the privileged Estates?
The First and Second estates
What privileges did the privileged Estates have?
Exemption from taxes and high office chairs.
Who were the Bourgeoisie?
The high-class of the Third Estate.
Why did the American Revolution help spark the French Revolution?
They felt that they had the same problems of oppression that the colonists faced, and after the success of the American Revolution, the French wanted to take similar action.
Why did the French almost go bankrupt?
Since Great Britain was France’s main enemy, they helped fund the American Colonists. However, the immense cost made it so that the only thing the French won from the war was debt.
Who did the French look to for ideas and justice to them?
Enlightenment thinkers.
Why were the French upset at the monarchy?
Unfair taxes targeted to the poorer Third Estate and not the privileged ones.
The monarchy not dealing with the high cost of living for the Third Estate.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette spent money lavishly on themselves without concern to the rest of France.
Why did the cost of living increase for the Third Estate?
A drought caused a shortage of grain, which in turn doubled the price of bread, which
Why did the French dislike Marie Antoinette?
She spent lavishly and knew not of the struggles the peasants faced.
She was thought to give Louis XVI bad advice for governmental decisions.
She was a member of the Austrian monarchy.
What does Louis XVI do in response to the Third Estate’s high cost of living?
He calls the Assembly of Notables and proposes to place taxes on the
What was the Assembly of Notables?
An assembly of only the First and Second Estates.
What was the Assembly of Notables’ response to Louis XVI’s proposal to place taxes on the privileged estates?
To have the Estates-General to be held.
What was the Estates-General?
An assembly of all the estates that made suggestion on how to improve France.
What were the problems with the Estates-General?
Each estate had a vote, but since the First and Second almost always agreed, the Third Estate was outvoted.
The Third Estate had 97% of the population, but only one vote, while the privileged estates combined had 2 votes for 3% of the population.
Who was Jacques Necher?
Louis XVI’s minister of finance; member of the Third Estate; the Third Estate felt that he was their representative and voice.
Who was Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes?
Member of the First Estate; he realized how bad the voting system was, so he stated his ideas to the Estates-General in a famous speech called, “What is the Third Estate?”
What were the new suggestions for the Estates-General?
The First Estate would have 300 votes, and so would the Second Estate.
The Third estate would have double, so 600 votes.
All the estates would meet in the same room rather than in different ones.
What made the Third Estate disband from the Estates-General?
When presented the new suggestions for the Estates-General, Louis XVI supports all the ideas besides the one where the votes are by delegates rather than by estate. The Third Estate hates this and leaves.
What was the Tennis Court Oath?
An oath taken by the Third Estate and their supporters that states that they will continue to meet at an indoor tennis court at Versailles until they make a new constitution for France.
What did the members of the Tennis Court Oath call themselves?
The National Assembly
What is Louis XVI’s reaction to the creation of the National Assembly?
He has guards surround Versailles.
What caused the breaking point for the Third Estate?
Louis XVI didn’t communicate why his troops had surrounded Versailles, causing worry of attack among the Third Estate.
Louis XVI fired Jacques Necker, again without communicating why.
What was the Bastille?
An old castle that had been used as a prison.
When was the Storming of the Bastille?
July 14, 1789
Why did peasants storm the Bastille?
For the vast amount of weapons and gunpowder stored in the ‘Weapons stockpile of France’.
What did the rioters do after storming the Bastille?
They tore down the Bastille, cut the main guard’s head off, and paraded around town with his head on a spike.
What was the Great Fear?
After storming the Bastille, people throughout France realized the magnitude of what they did and began to panic at what the French government was going to do. The government wasn’t actually planning anything, but the peasants wanted to strike back first.
When was the March of the Women?
October 5-6, 1789
What was the March of the Women?
Parisian women marched from Paris to Versailles to confront Louis XVI and demand that he returns to Paris to deal with the issues the common folk had been facing.
Why did the March of the Women happen?
Due to the high bread prices, the French common folk had been starving, while Louis XVI had his pantries full and was going to have a party.
What was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen?
A constitution that had been written by the National Assembly; it was similar to the Declaration of Independence in the ideals it held.
What did the National Assembly do to pay off their debt?
They took control of the Catholic Church and took some of their money.
Why did Louis XVI try to escape France with his family?
Since the Pope was already under the National Assembly, Louis XVI was worried he was next.
Where was Louis XVI trying to escape to and why?
Austria; because Marie Antoinette is part of the monarchy there.
What happened when people realized Louis XVI had attempted to flee?
People realized that since he wasn’t accepting the responsibility, he shouldn’t have the power. The National Assembly becomes the Legislative Assembly, which took more power from the monarchy.
Who were the Radicals?
The French that embraced huge change.
Who were the Moderates?
The French that were open to change, but not as much as the Radicals.
Who were the conservatives?
The French that wanted change to be to the minimum if there had to be any.
Who were the Emigres?
The French that didn’t support the Revolution and left France.
Who were the Sans-Culotte?
Average workers that advocated for revolutionary changes by refusing to wear clothing that the privileged estates did; “Without culottes”.
Why did Prussia and Austria support the return of Louis XVI and how did the Legislative Assembly react to it?
Prussia and Austria also had absolute monarchies, and they didn’t want the revolution to spread to their countries; the Legislative assembly declared war on Austria, as they wanted to attack first.
What was the Brunswick Manifesto?
A document made by Prussia after they joined the war with Austria against France. It stated that if the French royal family was to be harmed in any way, Prussia would destroy Paris.
Why did the Brunswick Manifesto backfire?
Since the French royal family was already stuck in Paris, the French agreed not to harm them, quickly ending the war.
What were the three ideals the Legislative Assembly hoped to establish by making France a Republic?
Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
Who were the Jacobins?
A Radical Political Organization
Who was Jean-Paul Marat?
Jacobin; former lawyer; while being homeless, he developed a skin disease that made it so he had to spend a lot of time in the bathtub; since he couldn’t move much, he wrote radical articles for his publishing company. He believed that ‘In order for the Revolution to live, Louis XVI must die’.
Who was George Danton?
An advocate for radical change, just not to the degree as other Jacobins such as Marat.
What was the evidence that convinced people to have Louis XVI executed?
Correspondences between Louis XVI and Austria were found in his pantry.
What led to the invention of the guillotine?
Because of Enlightenment thinkers’ great influence on France, the French disapproved of torture and a human punishing another. So the guillotine was invented, which was painless, quick, and didn’t have a human giving out the punishment.
Why did people blame Marat for the violence happening in France?
Jean-Pual Marat isn’t satisfied with Louis XVI’s death; he wants anyone that does not completely agree with the Jacobins to be killed.
Who was Charlotte Cordet?
A woman who had enough of Jean-Pual Marat and planned for his assassination.
How does Charlotte Cordet assassinate Jean-Paul Marat?
Charlotte Cordet lets it be known to Marat that she has names of people who said anti-radical things. She makes a fake list of names and goes to Marat, and as she gives it to him, she pulls a knife from under her dress and kills him in one hit.
Who was Maximilian Robespierre?
Jacobin leader of France; in charge of the Committee of Public Safety; believed terror was a virtue.
What was the Reign of Terror?
The time period when France was ruled by Maximilian Robespierre.
What was Robespierre’s goal?
To make France a Republic of Virtue, which is a place of good moral example.
What does Robespierre try to do get more people to turn to him instead of religion?
He closes all the churches in France; he creates the Cult of Reason; he makes a new calendar to try and get people to forget when is Sunday.
What was the Cult of Reason?
A ‘religion’ made by Robespierre that was very similar to deism; created in order to try and get people to forget about their religion and turn to Robespierre.
Who were the Enemies of the Revolution?
Targets of Robespierre; anyone who didn’t support the new changes or made fun of them would be captured/attacked/killed.
What was the Festival of the Supreme Being?
A celebration in which a statue made of paper mache that looks like Robespierre is ‘worshiped’ to ‘celebrate’ the new changes in France.
How was Marie Antoinette’s execution both similar and different to Louis XVI’s?
Marie Antoinette was put on trial for treason by some made-up charges, just like her husband. The difference was that when Louis was taken to the guillotine, he had a closed carriage that blocked out the insults and projectiles from the people. Marie Antoinette had an open carriage.
How does the Reign of Terror end?
People had enough, and they voted for the arrest of Ropespierre. After arresting him, however, people didn’t really know what to do with him.
What happens to Robespierre after he is arrested?
While in custody, a shot was heard, and Robespierre was found with his lower jaw gone from a gun. He was still alive, but was then put on trial, found guilty, and executed.
What was the Thermidorian Reaction?
The eventual revolt against Robespierre and his arrest and death that happened during the month of Thermidor.
What were the changes made to France’s government after Robespierre’s death?
Two-house legislature; 5 person executive body (directory) made up of moderates.
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