11. Copy out the table below, and then sort each event and topic into its correct column. • The Storming of the Bastille • The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
• French aid to the Americans during their War of Independence
• The Terror • The gabelle • The trial of Louis XVI
Causes of the Revolution
• The decline in the power of kings • The war with Austria • The Estates General • The Civil Constitution of the Clergy • The 1798 Rebellion in Ireland • The Flight to Varennes
Course of the Revolution Consequences of the Revolution
Exploring History
1. Write about the life of Maximilien Robespierre under the following headings: • Early life
• The Committee of Public Safety
• The Reign of Terror • His fall from power
2. Look again at the two pictures on page 180. What are the differences in the portrayal of the king between his offi cial portrait and the cartoons in newspapers?
3. Outline the role played by the following throughout the French Revolution: (a) the sans-culottes; (b) other countries; (c) King Louis XVI.
4. Historical debate: ‘The French Revolution betrayed its own ideals’. Write a speech for or against this motion. Make at least three arguments in your speech.
KEY TERMS Revolution
a rapid and signifi cant change in society, politics, technology or the economy
Absolute monarch a king who has total power over the country and claims a divine (God-given) right to rule
Enlightenment
a movement of eighteenth-century thinkers who valued reason and science above faith or authority as a basis for society
The Estates General a kind of French parliament made up of three parts, each representing one of the three Estates
Sans-culottes Republic Democracy
the mob of Paris, who pressured the National Assembly to take radical action during the Revolution
a type of government without a king, where the people are sovereign
‘rule by the people’; a form of government where the people decide how the country is run and who will represent them
Go to page 77 of your Sources and Skills Book for more exercises.
Go to page 33 of your Research Portfolio for a task based on this chapter.
