History — From the Ancien Régime to Waterloo, 1789-1815
Revise the French Revolution from the crisis of the Ancien Régime to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo: the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of Rights, the republic, the Terror and the Napoleonic Empire. Multiple-choice exam for secondary school.
In 1789 France was still an absolute monarchy with a society of estates: the clergy and the nobility enjoyed privileges and the Third Estate paid almost all the taxes. With the treasury bankrupt, Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General. The Third Estate deputies declared themselves the National Assembly and on 14 July the people of Paris stormed the Bastille.
The Assembly abolished privileges and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, inspired by the Enlightenment. After a period of constitutional monarchy, a republic was proclaimed in 1792 and Louis XVI was guillotined in 1793. Robespierre's Jacobins imposed the Terror until their fall in 1794, followed by the more moderate Directory.
In 1799 General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire, crowned himself emperor in 1804 and spread the Civil Code across Europe. In Spain, the uprising of 2 May 1808 started the Peninsular War. Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
History · Secondary, Sixth Form
A society of estates, bankruptcy and Enlightenment ideas: understanding why it broke out in 1789 is half of any exam question on the topic.
Constitutional monarchy, Jacobin republic, Directory and Napoleon. The exam mixes questions from all of them so they don't get muddled.
Each question explains why and clears up options that are often confused, such as Austerlitz and Waterloo or Girondins and Jacobins.
"For example, one question asks for the motto of the Revolution and also offers 'Peace, land and bread'. The explanation points out that this was the Russian Bolsheviks' slogan in 1917, a common mix-up when studying both revolutions back to back."
Tricks and techniques to master this topic faster:
Key date: 14 July 1789, the storming of the Bastille. The Contemporary Age begins with it.
Put the stages in order: constitutional monarchy (1789-1792), republic and Terror (1792-1794), Directory (1795-1799) and Napoleon (1799-1815).
Girondins were moderate; Jacobins were radical. The Terror was Jacobin.
Austerlitz (1805) was Napoleon's great victory; Waterloo (1815) his final defeat.
If you are studying The French Revolution and Napoleon, these curriculum topics complement each other:
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