French Revolution K Essential Questions

Can a dictator bring about democratic reform?

A dictator cannot bring about democratic reform because democratic reform is charaterized by the lack of a dictator figure and fair elections.

What political changes were made to France during the French Revolution?

Everyone was put on the same level of misery (unless they were a person in power), the church was taken out of the equation, anyone could rise in the military and things like that.

Was Napoleon an enlightened reformer who extended the ideals of the French Revolution, or did he violate the very ideals for which the Revolution had been fought?

Napoleon violated their very ideals for which the revolution had been fought. He declared it over and put himself as supreme ruler with much censorship. He may have used Enlightenment ideas in his reign, but he was an autocrat.

Napoleons assembled two different committees to help with emancipating the Jews. What were the two committees? Why did he feel he needed to use both?

Assembly of Jewish Notables (answered questions about loyalty) Sanhedrin (The Jewish high court that made decisions and passed laws for Jewish people)

Did the Reign of Terror go too far to preserve the French Revolution? Should freedom be limited to preserve national security?

Robespierre betrayed the principles of the French Revolution. He did not solve any of France's problems and only created more. His original drastic ideas came from a place near the heart of the French people, but he slowly morphed into a ruler even worse than the former king. Freedoms should not be limited, even to preserve national security because the limitation of freedoms leads to the limitation of more freedoms which leads to corruption in governments.

What was Abbé Sieyès's view of the third estate? Why did the third estate clash with the other privileged estates?

Sieyes believed that the Third Estate sustained society this because the Third Estate is the social group that produces the goods that the other groups use to sustain their livelihood. Sieyes claims that the nobility are not part of the nation since they have rights separate from the main body of the nations and don't support the interests of the main body. Therefore the the Third Estate is everything because it is the majority and wishes to defend the common interests of the majority. As the main body, the Third Estate is the thing the other estates are parasitic too and it is the main body, not the parasite that should rule France.

How did women participate in the revolution?

Women led riots and things like that because there were less strict punishments for women leading riots than men. Women also fought for more riots, gained a few and lost a few under Napoleon who took away their education.

When it came to the Jews, what are the arguments for their emancipation?

Count Clermont-Tonerre said Jews are moral, French resent them fordoing money-lending but that is all they were allowed to have, He said they should be considered Frenchmen and have allegiance to France, then they should have every citizen rights and not be considered separate from France, Jews are like everyone-else and do jobs like everyone else (military and election) so they should be considered French, if they are not given freedom then prejudice is in laws and that is against the revolution

When it came to the Jews, what are the arguments against their emancipation?

Jews practice different religion, blood libel- they killed Jesus, Jews are money lenders, Jews have different culture that made them "not act French", did not like Jewish autonomy

What was the reaction of the various European governments to the revolutionary events in France? Why would neighboring monarchy's want to suppress the revolution that was taking place in France?

The European governments were horrified and became afraid of being overthrown by their proletariots. They would want to suppress France so their countries didn't think it was a good idea that would work.

Why did the French Revolution occur in the late 1700s instead of during another period in history?

The French Revolution occured at this time and not another because of a variety of reasons. The kings had wasted so much money this time and the country was financially unstable, there was a famine, the Estates General was called and the 3rd Estate recognized their inequality. They were also inspired by the American Revolution and Enlightenment ideas.

How was the French Revolution an attempt to create a new government based on Enlightenment ideals?

The French Revolution put in place laws that were inspired by Enlightenment ideals, it also tried to set up governments and things like that based on those ideals, but man's corruption prevented those laws from coming to full fruitation. Napoleon also set up things like meritocracy and such.

What was the significance of the fall of the Bastille? Why did it help save the National Assembly and the Revolution?

The fall of Bastille showed that the peasants had might and were willing to start a miltia to defend their new government. It helped save the National Assembly because the rumor was that the king was amassing his troops and he was going to come to Paris to remove the national assembly and sack Paris. This caused fear and anger against the king and nobility, giving more sway to the National Assembly and the revolution.

Even though the French government was no more tyrannical or unjust in the late 1780s than it had been in the past, what failed in France's political system and society that set off a revolution?

The financial crisis reached new heights and there was a huge famine. The people were starving and the king called in the Estates General. The 3rd Estate became very disallusioned with it all and started the National Assembly. The peasants finally saw hope for a better life.