French Revolution
Which of the following is true regarding the French tax system?
"Tax farmers," who paid for the right to collect taxes, squeezed as much as they could for themselves out of the populace.
In "Calonne, 'Programs of Reform,' Address to the Assembly of Notables" (1787), what controversial measure did the finance minister propose?
A uniform tax across the kingdom with no aristocratic exemptions.
In the selection, Rousseau, The Social Contract, what does he argue about the "general will?"
All of the Above
What were some of the defining characteristics of post-Bastille period faced by the National Assembly?
All of the Above
The Law of Suspects deemed who of the following as liable for arrest?
All of the above
What was significant about the killing of the Bastille's commandant, de Launay, and other soldiers posted there?
All of the above
What were some of the contentious issues involving the convening of the Estates-General?
All of the above
Although the National Assembly renounced aggressive war, the European nations viewed France as a threat. Why?
All of the above.
Which of the following statements most accurately describes Louis XVI?
All of the above.
All of the following were factors in Louis XVI's trial EXCEPT:
An equally overwhelming majority voted to execute the king.
The following is true of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen EXCEPT:
Explicitly stated that liberty included the right to oppose the Revolution.
According to Professor Donna Donald, France's social structure became more unsettled in the eighteenth-century because the bourgeoisie were attaining political power as well as wealth.
False
According to the Levée en Masse decree of 23 August 1793, private industry retained control over military production.
False
After the French victory at Valmy saved the Revolution, the Convention attempted to deescalate the war by fighting defensively and opening negotiations with Austria and Prussia.
False
By 1789, the main function of the Bastille was for incarcerating political prisoners.
False
Due to the prominent role played by aristocrats in the movement, the Enlightenment did not lead to significant questioning of the social and political order.
False
France's intervention on the side the American colonies in their war for independence led to a decisive French victory which increased the country's territory and wealth, easing its economic and financial problems.
False
In his address on 23 June 1789, Louis XVI acknowledged the right of the Third Estate to call itself the "National Assembly."
False
Most Catholic priests were willing to acquiesce in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
False
The "Tennis Court Oath" was significant because it marked the king's willingness to submit to the will of the new "National Assembly."
False
The Assembly of Notables was quite cooperative with Calonne and his proposals.
False
The Committee of Public Safety proved a safeguard against the emergence of a revolutionary dictatorship.
False
The Enlightenment did little to foster in growth of "public opinion" in the years before the Revolution.
False
The Physiocrats were economic reformers who hoped to revive French prosperity through strict government controls on the economy.
False
The extravagant lifestyle of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the court of Versailles was the single greatest consumer of the royal tax revenue.
False
The most radical phase of the Revolution in 1793-1794 also witnessed the height of women's influence on its course.
False
The philosophe Jean-Jacques Rousseau championed the right of the individual to oppose majority opinion.
False
The primary reason the Paris mob stormed the Bastille was to free the political prisoners confined there.
False
Why was the leveé en masse of 23 August 1793 a major turning point in the history of the Revolution and of warfare?
For the first time in modern history, a nation's entire population and economy was mobilized for war.
What was important about the First Partition of Poland (1772) and the Dutch Crisis of 1787?
France's inability to intervene in either situation to help an ally underscored its political, military, and economic weakness.
Calonne's successor, Brienne, tried to have the parlements abolished. Why was this a significant event?
It opened a debate beyond financial issues about who had the sovereign power to make laws in France.
What position did the writer of "The Massacre of the Champ de Mars in the Revolutions de Paris" take on that episode?
It proved that the royalists were determined to destroy the Revolution by any means necessary.
What were the parlements?
Law courts which wielded considerable power because royal decrees only carried the force of law when the parlements recorded them.
In The Social Contract, what did Jean-Jacques Rousseau argue about liberty?
Liberty is based on the "general will," the common interest of the citizens.
What were the cahiers de doléance?
Lists of grievances and proposals drawn up by the constituencies for the Estates-General.
Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of the French Revolutionary Army?
Promotion by merit eliminated favoritism and corruption.
When the deeply Catholic Vendée region rose up in insurrection, how did the Convention respond?
Sent in military forces which conducted drastic reprisals, including mass killings, against the population.
What was significant about the 1775 pamphlet, Anecdotes on the Countess du Barry?
She was a courtesan of common social origins whose place as the royal mistress underscored the decadence of the French court.
After the fall of the Bastille, what happened throughout the rest of France?
The "municipal revolution," whereby local officials took over in the cities and towns.
What was "Thermidor?"
The coup d'etat that sent Robespierre and his allies to the guillotine.
How did the French monarchy finally come to an end?
The insurrection in Paris in August 1792 mounted by revolutionary militants resulted in the Assembly deposing the king.
Which of the following is NOT true of the marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette?
The new queen was determined to govern France behind the scenes.
During the deliberations of the Estates-General, what was the situation in Paris?
The situation grew increasingly tense as more troops arrived.
According to Professor Christopher Smith, how had the three Estates of medieval French society (the clergy, aristocracy, and the peasants) changed by the seventeenth- and eighteenth centuries?
The structure had transformed into an upper class of aristocrats and high clergy, an emerging middle class of business people, and a lower class of farmers, shopkeepers, and craftsmen.
In his "Speech Denouncing the New Conditions of Eligibility," Robespierre takes what position on the exercise of political rights?
There should be no property qualifications for men to exercise political rights.
The reading "The Sentence against Damiens (1757)" describes the brutal punishment inflicted on the would-be assassin of Louis XV. What was the purpose behind such treatment?
To repress symbolically the threat to public order perceived in the attack upon the king's person.
"Privileges" in Ancien Régime France included not just those given by social grouping, but by towns, trades, and provinces.
True
A radical insurrection in Paris on 31 May 1793 ousted the Girondins and left all power in the hands of the Montagnards.
True
According to the page "Reforming the army" on the website, Napoleon, His Armies and Enemies, proposed reforms to the French army after its defeat in the Seven Years' War included permanent army divisions made up of all arms to enable independent operations for short time periods and the use of light infantry and skirmish tactics.
True
An unanticipated consequence of the "October Days" was that popular violence could have significant political consequences.
True
In "Louis XV Asks the Parlements to Desist (1770)," the king asserted his authority to implement his decrees based on divine right.
True
In "Religion: The Cult of the Supreme Being," Robespierre believed that, by celebrating the deity, the Revolution could overcome monarchical tyranny.
True
In "Voltaire, Selections from the Philosophical Dictionary," the philosophe calls for (in Enlightenment fashion) Europeans to leave the Chinese and the Indians in peace, due to the antiquity of their cultures.
True
In France, those who prospered in trade could obtain noble status through the purchase of bureaucratic offices.
True
In the new "National Convention," the Montagnards, led by Jacobin Maximilien Robespierre, emerged as the most radical faction demanding the abolition of the monarchy and championing the lower classes.
True
Maximilien Robespierre was strongly influenced by Rousseau.
True
Over the next three years after his appointment as finance minister in 1783, Calonne tried to manage the country's finances without major reforms, but had to take risky gambles which increased the debt.
True
Per Professor Popkin, the weakness of the French crown most responsible for precipitating the Revolution was its inability to balance its income and expenses.
True
The "Petition of the Jews of Paris, Alsace and Lorraine to the National Assembly" (1/28/90) demonstrated how the Revolution sparked hope for true change in society, given the second class status of European Jews.
True
The National Assembly's decree of 4 August 1789 abolishing feudalism made France a nation of legally equal citizens.
True
The Revolution in France inspired slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue to revolt.
True
The catastrophic hail storm of July 1788 damaged grain crops and sent bread prices soaring, part of a broader economic and social crisis intensifying the crisis as the elections for the Estates-General proceeded.
True
The combined effects of Jean-Baptiste Gribeauval's reforms to the French artillery increased its firepower and made it more mobile on the battlefield.
True
The death toll of the Reign of Terror was between 250,000-300,000 people.
True
The emergence of the sans-culottes and the enragés pushed the Convention to adopt ever-more radical measures like the death penalty for hoarding grain.
True
The extravagant expenses of the court at Versailles and of Marie Antoinette did not match the military budget, yet generated much resentment among the French populace because it was the most visible example of royal profligacy.
True
The legacy of the French Revolution for Latin America was the potency of mob action and the influence of the language of the rights of man and of democracy.
True
The most important trigger of the events leading to the French Revolution was the looming insolvency of the government by late 1786.
True
The most influential of the political clubs was the Jacobins.
True
The outbreak of war between France and the Austro-Prussian coalition led to a radicalization of the Revolution.
True
The pamphlet, What is the Third Estate? by the abbé Sieyès put forth the radical proposition that the Third Estate was the true French nation and could thus disregard the privileged orders.
True
The philosophes were thinkers who criticized the political, religious, and social institutions of Ancien Régime France.
True
The primary motivation for the Assembly to expropriate the property of the Church was to repay the debts of the Ancien Règime.
True
The pro-war party in France, the Girondins, and their leader, Jacques-Pierre Brissot, believed war would ignite patriotism and inspire other European peoples to rise up against their rulers.
True
The sheer size of the National Assembly made it virtually impossible for any one deputy to exercise domniance, leading to the practice of collective decision making.
True
The underlying issue of the controversy over "voting by head" was the question: Would France become a nation of equal citizens or divided into groups with differing privileges and rights?
True
While the upper bourgeoisie rubbed shoulders with the nobility, ordinary shopkeepers and artisans lived like most pre-Revolutionary French urban workers, who had little prospect of advancement.
True
What was the "federalist movement?"
Uprisings in pro-Girondin towns opposed to the Paris radicals and centralized authority.
What was immediate response of the National Assembly to the royal family's attempt to flee France?
WRONG ANSWER: IT IS NOT- The execution of the king
The Constitution of 1791 did all of the following EXCEPT:
WRONG ANSWER: IT IS NOT: established a unicameral legislature.
The year of the Terror was a year of victories for the French armies. How did they do it?
Young officers were promoted from the ranks based on ability, resulting the emergence of several talented generals.
Reform measures by various French ministers before 1789 included all of the following EXCEPT:
abolishing slavery in French colonies.
The most controversial aspect of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was that:
all clergy were required to swear an oath loyalty to the nation.
Radical measures taken by the Convention to enforce the Revolution included:
all of the above
The bourgeoisie:
all of the above
The means of spreading Enlightenment ideas throughout France included:
all of the above
According to Jeremy Popkin, "absolute monarchy" meant that the king's powers inlcuded:
all of the above.
The informal institutions of revolutionary political culture which provided a means for mass participation included:
all of the above.
Calonne's most consequential recommendation for reform was to:
convene the Assembly of Notables to discuss fundamental changes to the governing structure.
In his influential work, De l'esprit de lois (The Spirit of the Laws), Montesquieu said which of the following:
dividing power between monarchy and parliament (and/or parlements) was the best way to ward off despotism.
The Catholic Church in Ancien Régime France:
enjoyed exemption from most taxes.
Among the deputies of the Estates-General were men who called themselves "Patriots." Their demands included all of the following EXCEPT:
overthrowing the monarchy.
The French peasantry:
supplemented their income through cottage industries, which brought them into contact with bourgeois merchants.
The initial reaction of most European observers to the French Revolution was:
surprised relief that a historically aggressive power was too preoccupied to trouble others.
During the period of 1789-1791, the Assembly's reforms included the following EXCEPT:
the enacting of universal manhood suffrage.
All of the following led to the "Great Terror" EXCEPT:
the landing of a British army in Flanders and its rapid march on Paris.
During the Reign of Terror, the radical revolutionaries tried to establish a utopia through all of the following means EXCEPT:
the promotion of local cultures to diversify French society.
According to the eyewitness account in "The October Days (1789)" :
the royal family was escorted to Paris accompanied by the severed heads of several guards on pikes.
According to Dr. Douglas Mann, the "Atlantic World" revolutions (American, French, Latin American) all became possible because:
there was intense internal pressure for financial, social and political reform.
Although the French Revolutionary army had significant weaknesses, it also possessed important strengths, which included all of the following EXCEPT:
veteran aristocratic officers who remained loyal.