Regional Divisions – History HW
The key terms of History Exam include, Regional, Divisions, France, Culture, Law.
Explain France’s regional divisions:
– Difficult to govern because of the different regions, which had particular customs such as different languages, culture and law in the North and South.
– Laws issued by the king were not applied automatically, local institutions had to record them due to different systems of law in the north and south.
– Continuous wars had proved expensive: France intervention in the Independence for America
– Tradition prevented the king from imposing higher taxes without the agreement of influential institutions.
– France was agricultural economy- poor harvests in food shortages and rising food prices.
– French citizens were forces into poverty and starvation- increasing the discontent and need for change.
Explain France’s financial troubles:
– Unsympathetic attitude of Marie Antoinette added to Napoleon’s increasing unpopularity along with the indifference of the king and the nobles to the suffering of the lower classes.
– French tax system imposed heavy tax on the middle and working classes while the upper classes and the nobility benefitted from numerous tax exemptions and advantages.
– The French state was nearing bank rampancy from it’s involvement in expensive wars provoking wide spread hostility.
– Economic conditions within France: an absence of Law and order affected trade had caused scarcities- administration collapsed with few
What was the impact of war on France?
– Monarchies in Europe regarded Louis XVI as the rightful ruler of France and were angered with his imprisonment, challenging the Revolutionaries.
– The ideals in the Declaration of the Rights of Man threatened peace in other European countries.
– Prussia and Austria were alarmed by the reforms- they were the most powerful countries in Europe,with the risk of being “threatened”. French émigrés gathered support of these countries, causing the National Assembly to declare war on Austria in 1792.
– The Duke of Brunswick issued a manifesto defending an invasion of France and promising to restore Louis XVI to his full powers. Britain and Holland soon joined this anti-revolutionary alliance.
– French officers had been dismissed or fled the country leaving weak French force.
– Prussian troops had crossed the border and began marching in Paris suggesting the revolution would be crushed at last and the monarchy restored. However on the advice of Count Carnot, the Jacobin government increased French forces through conscription- 650,000 soldiers to 1.5 million and arranged for sufficient weapons and food for the large forces.
– They won a surprising victory at the battle of Valmy in September 1792.
– Fears of Treason did not allow the danger of revolution to be over. Charles- François du Périer Dumoriez, a leading general deserted and joined the Austrians, which weakened the government.
Explain the ‘Directory’:
– The convention drew up a new constitution in August 1975 In order to balance power and avoid the dictatorship of one man or group, the Directory was established with two councilors.
– The council of 500 (with 500 members) proposed laws and the council of Ancients (with 250 members) accepted or rejected the proposed laws.
– There are 5 directors who were selected by the Ancients from a list drawn up by the Five Hundred
– Five Hundred were responsible for choosing government ministers, army leaders, tax collectors and other officials.
– The directors came from the middle class- acquiring land and benefitting from trade.
What was the impact of the Attack on the Tulleries?
– The events of August 10 demonstrated how radical most sections of Paris had become, as well as how effective mob action and violence could be in forcing change.
– The Legislative Assembly was an impotent body for the rest of August. The insurrectionary Commune, buoyed by its support and holding sway in the capitol, began arresting enemies of the revolution, both real and imagined. The Commune held both the king and queen in prison until their subsequent trials. La Fayette, hearing of the events in Paris, defected to the Austrians. The raid on the Tuileries had sparked this key turning point in the new regime, a ‘second French Revolution’ in many respects. The path was now clear for radicalism and terror.
What was the ‘National Convention’?
– The National Convention became an organization structure officially in 1792; this convention soon came under the influence of its leading Jacobin members.
– The Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of King Louis XVI and the convocation of a National Convention which should draw up a constitution. It was decided that deputies to that convention should be elected by all Frenchmen twenty-five years old or more.
What was the effect of the fall of the Convention?
By 1795: a reaction against the Jacobins led to the fall of the convention but introduced a new constitution and establishment of the directory.
Explain France’s regional divisions:
– Difficult to govern because of the different regions, which had particular customs such as different languages, culture and law in the North and South.
– Laws issued by the king were not applied automatically, local institutions had to record them due to different systems of law in the north and south.
– Continuous wars had proved expensive: France intervention in the Independence for America
– Tradition prevented the king from imposing higher taxes without the agreement of influential institutions.
– France was agricultural economy- poor harvests in food shortages and rising food prices.
– French citizens were forces into poverty and starvation- increasing the discontent and need for change.
Explain the Reign of Terror:
– The Committee of Public Safety was set up, dominated by the Jacobins and their leader Maximilien Robespierre: it supervised military and legal affairs.
– Between 1792-1794 the Jacobins used the Reign of Terror to consolidate their power: Robespierre set a revolutionary Tribunal in Paris to put on trial anyone suspected of being an “enemy of revolution”
What were the September Massacres?
September, 1792: A massacre of prisoners in Paris was carried out, in which more the 1000 people were killed- justified by the prisoners conspiring to rise up and join a counter-revolutionary plot. Some of them were noblemen and clergy; many were common criminals with no political agenda.
Explain the effect of the King’s execution:
– 21 September 1792: a decree passed which abolished the monarchy making France an official republic.
– The king was put up on trial and sent to guillotine in January 1793, Marie Antoinette met the same fate in October
– A new calendar was introduced and the months were renamed. 1792 was designated as Year I
– Many believed that the king’s death would only increase divisions in France and strengthen the determination of foreign powers to intervene in the Revolution.
Describe Robespierre’s Cult:
– Robespierre was a man of high morality and was called a “Republic of Virtue” to replace Roman Catholicism emphasizing duty, the need for all citizens to help each other and a loyalty to democracy.
– Robespierre introduced the Cult of the Supreme Being to replace worship of the Christian God- he himself led one of the ceremonial processions to introduce the Cult.
– Paris and other large cities supported the Jacobin rule strongly, agents sent from Paris by the committee of Public safety were not popular everywhere.
– Members of the nobility were still in France- they had not fled abroad and became the focus of loyalist activity.
– The Clergy commanded support in parts of the country where moderates/royalists remained dominant.
– The Jacobin agents were sent to uncover suppress anti-revolutionary feeling, ruthless but their task was not easy.
What was the ‘Law of Suspects’?
– The Convention passed a decree known as the laws of suspects, allowing people to be arrested on the basis of accusation rather then evidence.
– The decree was created because the Jacobins were facing several crisis- the port in Tourton in the South was besieged by the British and if that fell it would open up the basis for counter-revolutionaries to make invades into France.
– The cult was defined in vague terms- anybody who wasn’t an active supporter of the regime would be charged and the accused weren’t allowed lawyers and were tried in special tubunials presided over by Jacobin agents rather then judges. The outcome would be acquittal or death.
What was the impact of the Reign of Terror?
– Victims of the Terror were not just aristocrats and clergymen, members of the middle class also found themselves on trial, many innocent people were put on the guillotine as their accusers wanted to impress the authorities.
– An estimate of 40,000 people was killed dining the Reign of Terror.
– Many believe the Reign of Terror was necessary to ensure the survival of the revolution.
– The Reign of Terror shocked the 18th century Europe by its state and lack of respect for legal institutions.
Explain the fall of Robespierre:
– Revolutionary groups grew alarmed by the extreme Jacobins, the Law of Suspects was widely regarded as a step too far and felt it was time to challenge Robespierre’s rule.
– The Committee of Public Safety was becoming too powerful; ignoring the Convention
– Robespierre who in others view was becoming too dictorial had plans to purge the committee but the convention decided to act against him-the Thermidorian Reaction (the month on the new French calendar marking Robespierre’s fall)
– Robespierre was arrested in 1974- 80,000 prisoners were released from jail.
– After a failed suicide attempt, Robespierre was executed a 28th July 1794, around 90 of his colleagues were also killed.
What was Robespierre’s impact on historians?
– Robespierre remains a controversial historical figure; many believe he saved the revolution from defeat at a critical time.
– Others condemn his dictorial rule and the executions that took place when he was in rule.
– He was a man of contradictions- known as the “incorruptible” and was highly principled, he believed power belonged to the people and not the governments. However je was a ruthless politician and would not tolerate rivals even among the Jacobins, which he sent to the guillotine.
What were France’s economic problems?
– The states debts remained along with the inefficient tax system.
– Farmers hoarded their grains rather then distributing them.
– Assignants (paper money) were issued but the value fell due to unconfidence of the currency.
– Middle class people could now afford land, and was seized from the nobility and the church.
– Those who had no wealth, such as peasants and the working class were still suffering.
– These problems were made worse due to the division of revolutionaries.
– Moderates objected the seizure of food and property while the radicals demanded state control over them.
Explain France’s regional divisions:
– Difficult to govern because of the different regions, which had particular customs such as different languages, culture and law in the North and South.
– Laws issued by the king were not applied automatically, local institutions had to record them due to different systems of law in the north and south.
– Continuous wars had proved expensive: France intervention in the Independence for America
– Tradition prevented the king from imposing higher taxes without the agreement of influential institutions.
– France was agricultural economy- poor harvests in food shortages and rising food prices.
– French citizens were forces into poverty and starvation- increasing the discontent and need for change.
Explain France’s financial troubles:
– Unsympathetic attitude of Marie Antoinette added to Napoleon’s increasing unpopularity along with the indifference of the king and the nobles to the suffering of the lower classes.
– French tax system imposed heavy tax on the middle and working classes while the upper classes and the nobility benefitted from numerous tax exemptions and advantages.
– The French state was nearing bank rampancy from it’s involvement in expensive wars provoking wide spread hostility.
– Economic conditions within France: an absence of Law and order affected trade had caused scarcities- administration collapsed with few
What was the impact of war on France?
– Monarchies in Europe regarded Louis XVI as the rightful ruler of France and were angered with his imprisonment, challenging the Revolutionaries.
– The ideals in the Declaration of the Rights of Man threatened peace in other European countries.
– Prussia and Austria were alarmed by the reforms- they were the most powerful countries in Europe,with the risk of being “threatened”. French émigrés gathered support of these countries, causing the National Assembly to declare war on Austria in 1792.
– The Duke of Brunswick issued a manifesto defending an invasion of France and promising to restore Louis XVI to his full powers. Britain and Holland soon joined this anti-revolutionary alliance.
– French officers had been dismissed or fled the country leaving weak French force.
– Prussian troops had crossed the border and began marching in Paris suggesting the revolution would be crushed at last and the monarchy restored. However on the advice of Count Carnot, the Jacobin government increased French forces through conscription- 650,000 soldiers to 1.5 million and arranged for sufficient weapons and food for the large forces.
– They won a surprising victory at the battle of Valmy in September 1792.
– Fears of Treason did not allow the danger of revolution to be over. Charles- François du Périer Dumoriez, a leading general deserted and joined the Austrians, which weakened the government.
Explain the ‘Directory’:
– The convention drew up a new constitution in August 1975 In order to balance power and avoid the dictatorship of one man or group, the Directory was established with two councilors.
– The council of 500 (with 500 members) proposed laws and the council of Ancients (with 250 members) accepted or rejected the proposed laws.
– There are 5 directors who were selected by the Ancients from a list drawn up by the Five Hundred
– Five Hundred were responsible for choosing government ministers, army leaders, tax collectors and other officials.
– The directors came from the middle class- acquiring land and benefitting from trade.