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VCE 3 /4 REVOLUTIONS - THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
SAC 1
OUTCOME 1: evaluate the role of ideas, leaders, movements and events in the development of the revolution.
TASK: A RESEARCH REPORT
This task requires the student to research and complete an annotated timeline and then answer set questions in class, both of which evaluate the role of ideas, leaders, movements and events in the development of the revolution.
ANNOTATED TIMELINE IS DUE AND QUESTIONS COMPLETED IN ONE PERIOD IN CLASS Thursday 25 March
Your responses should contain references to the relevant aspects of the knowledge described in Area of Study 1:
French Revolution: 1781 to 4 August 1789 (Necker’s Compte Rendu to 4 August 1789)
· The chronology of key events and factors which contributed to the revolution
· The causes of tensions and conflicts generated in the old regime that many historians see as contributing to the revolution
· The ideas and ideologies utilised in revolutionary struggle
· The role of revolutionary individuals and groups in bringing about change
PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTORS
1. Knowledge of a range of events and factors which developed during the course of the revolution.
2. Identification and analysis of causes of tensions and conflicts generated in the old regime that contributed to its breakdown.
3. Analysis and evaluation of the importance of ideas, ideologies, individuals and groups in bringing about revolutionary change.
4. Analysis and evaluation of evidence that synthesises a range of written and visual sources.
VCE 3 / 4 HISTORY: REVOLUTIONS
French Revolution
Sample questions for SAC 1.
1. Identify the major tensions and conflicts which existed in Old Regime France in 1788-89, prior to the opening of the Estates General.
2. What are the defining characteristics of the economy of pre-revolutionary France?
3. How were urban and rural poor united and how were they divided in pre-revolutionary France?
4. To what extent was the challenge of any one group responsible for the collapse of the government in France in 1789?
5. How did Enlightenment ideas contribute to the outbreak of revolution in France in 1789?
6. In what ways was the Old Regime in France failing to satisfy the needs of its people?
7. What challenges faced the Church in late eighteenth century France? How did these contribute to the outbreak of revolution?
8. What evidence is there to show that Enlightenment ideas about constitutional monarchy were widespread in Old Regime France?
9. To what extent was aristocratic defiance a key factor in the outbreak of the French Revolution?
10. To what extent was Louis XVI responsible for the outbreak of the French Revolution?
11. Why did the Estates General revolt in 1789?
12. Why is the storming of the Bastille considered a significant event in the outbreak of revolution in France?
13. Discuss the view that the outbreak of revolution in France was actually the culmination of several class revolts?
14. To what extent were the changing circumstances and expectations of the bourgeoisie a factor in the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789?
15. To what extent was the bourgeoisie the strongest force for change in the Old Regime?
16. Why is the Tennis Court Oath considered a significant event in the outbreak of revolution in France?
17. Explain why the Old Regime in France became increasingly unpopular as it grew weaker in the years prior to 1789.
18. What economic changes contributed a fundamental challenge to the existing economic structure of pre-revolutionary France?
19. Why did the Assembly of Notables in 1787 fail to solve the bankruptcy crisis in France?
20. Explain how the financial crisis of 1788-1789 led to the Tennis Court Oath.
21. How valid is it to assert that Louis XVI caused the French Revolution by calling the Estates General.
22. Discuss the main pressure points that were destabilising the traditional feudal structure of Old Regime France.
23. What was the impact of France’s involvement in several wars in the eighteenth century?
24. Why did Louis XVI and the institution of the monarchy lose the respect of many people in France in the years immediately prior to 1789?
25. Discuss the significance of the cahiers de doleance in creating a revolutionary situation in 1789.
26. Why are the cahiers de doleance so important to historians of the French Revolution?
27. Identify the reason why the government of Louis XVI was unwilling or unable to adjust to changing circumstances by 1787-1789.
28. Outline how economic disputes helped create a revolutionary situation in France in the 1770s and 1780s.
29. Outline how conflict between the estates helped to create a revolutionary situation in France prior to 1789.
30. Outline how the French nobility played a role in the creation of political tensions in the lead-up 1789.
31. Decide at what point reform was unattainable and the revolution inevitable. Provide evidence to support your view.
32. Explain why resistance to reform between 1770 and 1789 helped create a revolutionary situation in France.
33. How did the Assembly of Notables in February 1787 contribute to pressure for revolutionary change between 1787 and 1789?
34. Explain the importance of revolutionary ideas in the development of the French revolution between June and August 1789.
35. How did the ideas of Abbe Sieyes contribute to the development of a revolutionary situation in France in 1789?
36. Explain the importance of the storming of the Bastille in the development of the French Revolution between July and August 1789.
37. Using three or 4 points, explain how Necker’s Compte Rendu in 1781 contributed to a revolutionary situation by May 1789. Provide evidence to support your answer.
38. Using three or four points explain how political responses made by Louis XVI from May 1789 until August 1789 contributed to the development of the French Revolution. Provide evidence to support your answer.
39. Using three or four points, explain how the meeting of the Assembly of Notables in 1787 contributed to a revolutionary situation by May 1789. Provide evidence to support your answer.
40. Using three or four points, explain how the actions taken by urban workers and by peasants between July and August 1789 contributed to the development of the French Revolution. Provide evidence to support your answer.
41. How did revolutionary leaders and radical ideas create criticisms of the Old Regime in France in the decades before 1789?
42. What were the main political, social and legal principles that were developed in France between June and August 1789?
43. Explain the role of the popular movement in the development of a revolutionary situation in France in 1789.
44. Using three or four points, explain how rising discontent in the Third Estate contributed to a revolutionary situation in France up to May 1789. Provide evidence to support your answer.
45. How did the French government’s failure to reform contribute to pressure for revolutionary change between 1781 and 1789?
46. Why did economic tensions contribute to pressure for revolutionary change in France between 1781 and 1789?
47. Explain the importance of revolutionary leaders in the development of the French Revolution.
48. How did the Paris parlement contribute to the creation of revolutionary tension in France during the late 1780s?
49. Explain the role of Abbe Sieyes in the development of revolutionary sentiment in France between 1787 and 14 July 1789?
The relevant detailed content that you should know for this SAC:
1. The structure of French society during the Old Regime and a timeline of events
· concepts of Divine Right and Absolute Monarchy
· lit de justice and parlements
· the Three Estates and their interrelationship with each other
· the taxation system: tax to the Church, (tithe); direct taxes to the King, (taille), indirect taxes to the King, (gabelle, corvee, vingtieme); and seigneurial dues
· pressure points that were beginning to destabilize the balance of the Old Regime
· growth of the bourgeoisie
· privilege and power in the Old Regime
· tensions within each Estates: Upper and Lower clergy; nobles of the sword and nobles of the robe; the peasants and ordinary people and the bourgeoisie
· the involvement in expensive wars: the Seven Years War, 1756-1763; the American War of Independence. 1778-1783
· psychological, political and economic impact of the American War of Independence
· attempts to solve the national debt and reform taxation: Necker, 1777-81 and the Compte Rendu; Calonne,1783-7; Brienne, 1787-8; Necker, 1788-9
· the increasing national debt: “Madame Deficit”, non-separation of the public and private purse
· poor harvests, 1778-9,1781-2, 1785-6 and 1788
· revolt of the Paris Parlement
· Assembly of Notables 1787
· reasons for calling the Estates General 1788
· cahiers de doleances: their significance in raising expectations and the ideas they reflected
· the lifting of censorship and the criticisms, cartoons and pornographic rumours about the royal family
· the dislike of Marie Antoinette
· Abbe Sieyes and What is the Third Estate
· opening of the Estates General, May 1789
· taxation reform accepted by each Estate
· issue of the voting by head or by Estate
· the development of the constitutional crisis
· the defection of some of the clergy 11-12 June
· 17 June 1789 formation of the National Assembly
· 19 June, the First Estate vote to join the Third Estate
· 20 June, the Tennis Court Oath
· 23 June, the Royal Session
· the refusal to disband the National Assembly and defection of many of the Second Estate
· 27 June, the King accepted the National Assembly and ordered all the clergy and nobles to join
· 7 July, name changed to the National Constituent Assembly
· late June to mid July the King amassed foreign mercenary troops around Paris and Versailles
· formation of the National Guard under Lafayette to protect the National Assembly
· 11-12 July, the dismissal of Necker and his reinstatement
· 14 July, storming of the Bastille by the people of Paris
· creation of the Paris Commune
· July-August 1789, the Great Fear in the rural areas
· August Decrees and the abolition of feudalism
· different historians interpretations of the causes of the French Revolution: Marxist historians, in particular, Lefebvre and the four revolutions concept: aristocratic, bourgeois, urban and rural; Revisionist historians and discussions whether the economic crisis or the constitutional crisis were the major cause
· primary and secondary quotations that illustrate all the dot points from the area of study.
2. The ideas utilised in revolutionary struggle:
· Influence of Enlightenment ideas: belief in natural law and reason being applied to human affairs
· Influence of the English writer, Locke, and admiration of the English constitutional monarchy
· Ideas of the Enlightenment philosophes such as Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu and Rousseau
· Concepts such as liberty, equality, fraternity, a constitution, constitutional monarchy, equality before the law, the abolition of privilege, religious tolerance, citizenship, the rights of man, taxation and judicial reform
3. The role of a revolutionary group and/or parties in bringing about radical change, including sources of tension and division as well as unity:
· The aristocratic revolt: defiance of the Paris Parlement; desire for some form of constitutional monarchy; refusal of the Assembly of Notables 1787 to agree to tax reform
· The constitutional crisis May- June 1789
· Role of the bourgeoisie in initiating change; formation of the National Assembly
· Tennis Court Oath 20 June 1789: links with Locke’s ideas about the rights of man, the overthrow of bad government and the social contract between the people and the government
· Lafayette and the formation of the National Guard
· Storming of the Bastille July 1789
· The Great Fear July-August 1789
· Historian Lefebvre’s Marxist analysis of the revolution as four separate class revolts: aristocratic, bourgeois, urban/municipal and peasant
4. The role and significance of individuals and revolutionary publications in the revolution:
· Individuals such as Sieyes, Lafayette, Mirabeau, Bailly, Petion, Danton, Desmoulins, Marat
· Publications such as the cahiers de doleance during 1788-9; cartoons and pornographic pamphlets that eroded the authority of the monarchy; Sieyes’ What is the Third Estate published in January 1789; the August Decrees in August 1789.