This episode considers how the Terror responded to the threats facing the Republic in the second half of 1793. There is a discussion of the war, the economy and the reprisals against internal uprisings.
Key terms
Armee revolutionaires - armed sans-culottes volunteers sent to the countryside to collect grain and deter hoarding
Committee of Public Safety - government group of roughly 12 members who directed the war effort. Their powers expanded to become effectively a dictatorship
Committee of General Security - government group tasked with surveillance of internal enemies and their detection
Law of General Maximum - a law passed which set prices of certain foods like bread at 1790 levels.
Levee en masse - conscription of all unmarried men aged 18-25. It also involved a nationwide civilian commitment to the war effort.
Representatives en mission - Representatives of the republican government in control of specific localities.

13 How far did the Terror solve the problems facing the Republic in 1793?

In this first episode of our series explaining the French Revolution, I discuss the nature of the Ancien Regime and Estates system. Key terms from the episode can be found below. Apologies for any mispronunciation of French terms.

Ancien Regime - Old Regime
Corvee - Forced labour duty
Don Gratuit - Church's voluntary payment to the king
Gabelle - Salt tax
Lettres de cachet - Ability of king to arrest and imprison an opponent without a trial
Lit de Justice - A royal veto to create new laws
Parlements - France's supreme legal courts
Taille - A direct tax (paid only by 3rd Estate)
Tithe - Religious tax paid to the church

1. What was the Ancien Regime?

This episode of the French Revolution series considers the role of the Enlightenment as a long term cause of the revolution.
Key terms and names include:

Autocracy - A government based on a single ruler
Despot - a ruler that is unrestrained by any law (holds limitless power)
American War of Independence 1775-1783
Jean Jacques Rousaeau - Philosopher and writer (1712-1778)
Marquis de Lafayette - French general in American War of Independence (1757-1834)
Montesquieu - Philosopher (1689-1755)
Voltaire - Writer (1694-1778)

2. How far did the Enlightenment undermine the Ancien Regime?

Episodes 3 and 4 will consider the reasons why the Estates General was called in 1789. This episode looks at the roots of the Financial Crisis including France's expensive wars, the inefficient tax system and the failure of Louis to support his early finance ministers.
(Apologies for the slight audio issues on this track)

Key terms:
Controller-General of Finance - The king's chief finance minister
Compte Rendu - Necker's publication of the government's financial accounts in 1781
Jacques Necker - Swiss, Protestant and Controller-General in 1777-1781
Jacques Turgot - Controller-General in 1774-76
Livre - France's currency at the time
Tax Farming - The right to collect taxes being sold off by the government to a business or individual
Venal Office - A job or position that could be bought and gave the holder legal membership of the nobility

3. What were the causes of the Financial Crisis in France?

A political crisis in 1787-88 led France into bankruptcy and a suspension of all government payments. This episode tells the story of these events and highlights Louis' mistakes, the Financial Crisis and the Enlightenment as reasons for the failure to reform the tax system.

Key Terms:
Assembly of Notables - Body of 144 nobles chosen to debate reforms in 1787.
Paris Parlements - Highest legal authority in France. Could pass the king's edicts into laws.
Troyes - Town where the Paris Parlement was exiled temporarily in 1787.
Revolt of the Nobles - Disturbances and rioting across the provinces in summer of 1788
Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom - Document issued by Paris Parlement demanding the approval of an Estates-General to any changes in the tax system
May Edicts - Document issued by Louis 16th stripping the Parlements of its powers
Charles de Calonne - Controller-General (1783-1787)
Lomenie de Brienne - Controller-General (1787-88)

4. Why was an Estates-General called for the first time since 1614?

This episode explains why the Estates-General meeting of 1789 descended into disorder and marked the creation of the National Assembly. Further reading on this can be found in 'The Oxford History of the French Revolution' by William Doyle (2002).

Key terms:
Abbe Sieyes - Author of radical text 'What is the Third Estate?'
Economic Crisis - Poor harvests led to high unemployment and inflation during 1788-89.
National Assembly - A new government declared by the Third Estate from its representatives at the Estates-General
Séance Royale - Meeting of the king and each of the estates
Tennis Court Oath - June 20th 1789, the National Assembly vows to not disband until it has created a constitution for France
Voting by Estate - Single vote counted from each estate
Voting by Head - Overall count of votes from every representative of each estate together

5. Why did the Revolution begin on a tennis court?

The storming of the Bastille is the most famous event of the revolution but what was its importance at the time it happened? This episode recounts the events of the 14th July 1789 and argues three central reasons for its significance.

Key Terms
Bastille - Royal fortress and prison in Paris
Bernard Rene de Launay - Military governor of the Bastille fortress. Murdered by its attackers on July 14th 1789.
Marquis de Lafayette - Commander of the National Guard
National Guard - Paris militia created by the Paris Commune in July 1789
Paris Commune - Civic government of Paris created after the Bastille's fall
Sans-culottes - A group of urban workers. Responsible for attacking the Bastille due to the economic crisis.

6. Why was the storming of the Bastille significant?

Feudalism was abolished in France in August 1789. This episode looks at the story behind the event and also the publication of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Key terms:
August Decrees - Constituent Assembly's decrees abolishing feudal taxes and privileges (Aug 1789)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen - Foundation text for the constitution of France, drawn up by the Constituent Assembly (Aug 1789)
Feudal System - System since the Middle Ages in which peasants owed certain payments and unpaid labour to their lord each year (see episode one).

7. Who was  afraid of the Great Fear?

This episode looks at the women's march on Versailles on 5th October 1789 and its significance in confirming the end of the Ancien Regime.

Key Terms:
National Guard - (see episode 6 description)
October Days - The march on Versailles and the king's return to Paris (5-6th October 1789)
Tuileries Palace - The royal residence in Paris. Louis would remain here until his arrest in 1792.

8. How did women destroy the Ancien Regime during the October Days?

Key terms:
Active Citizens - Males over the age of 25 who could vote if able to pay the equivalent of three days wages for a labourer in tax.
Annates - Payment clergy traditionally made to the Pope.
Assignats - Paper bonds produced on the sale of the church lands that became a form of currency.
Biens Nationaux - Plots of confiscated church land sold by the government.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy - Religious law passed by the Assembly in 1790.
Constitutional Monarchy - Form of government in which a monarch's power is limited by representative institutions like a Parliament or the law. France had a constitutional monarchy from 1789-92.
Departments, districts, cantons, communes - Areas of local government. Departments were the biggest.
Non-Jurist Priest -  Member of the clergy that refuses to swear the oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. 
Passive Citizens - Males unable to vote because they don't pay enough tax or are aged under 25.
Taille, Tithe and Vingtiemes - See episode 1.

9. How successful were the reforms of the Constituent Assembly in 1789-1791?

This episode examines the reasons for the division between revolutionaries in 1791 such as the flight to Varennes, the Champs de Mars massacre and the Legislative Assembly elections of 1791. The assembly was initially made up of 264 Feuillants, 136 Jacobins and 350 independents.


Key terms:
Cordelier Club - Political club characterised by radical policies and members such as Marat and Danton.
Champs de Mars Massacre - 50 demonstrators were shot and killed by the National Guard during a protest in Paris on 17th July 1791. 
Flight to Varennes - Attempt by King Louis and his family to flee into exile. Failed when they were identified and captured in Varennes.
Jacobin Club - Political club of mainly bourgeois members.
Legislative Assembly - France's legislative body under the 1791 constitution. Elections were held to determine its new members, although former members of the Constituent Assembly were not allowed to stand as candidates.

10. How did King Louis' 'flight to Varennes' divide the revolutionaries in 1791?

Key terms:
Jacques Brissot (1754-1793) - Pro-war politician and member of the 
Legislative Assembly. His followers were known as Brissotins. 
Brunswick Manifesto - July 1792 declaration of the Prussian military commander. Warned that any harm to the French royal family would lead to severe punishment by Prussian forces.
Declaration of Pillnitz - 1791 statement by the rulers of Austria and Prussia.
Federes - Volunteer recruits for the French army from the different districts of France. Known for being particularly enthusiastic revolutionaries.
La Patrie en Danger - 1792 decree by the Legislative Assembly creating a state of emergency. Led to universal male suffrage being granted.
Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) - Leading member of the Jacobins.
Tuileries Palace - Royal residence in Paris

11. Why did France become a republic in 1792?

This episode looks at the period from September 1792 to the summer of 1793. King Louis was executed, the war escalated, the economy worsened and France was split by serious internal divisions.

Key terms:
Armoir de fer - Secret collection of documents discovered in the Tuileries palace.
Georges Danton - Montagnard leader
Edict of Fraternity - Declaration in November 1792 by the National Convention. Promised to support revolutionary attempts in other countries.
Enrages - Group of sans-culottes, led by Jacques Roux. Called for price controls on food.
Girondins - Group of provincial convention members. Wanted political decentralisation.
Montagnards - Group of convention members supported by sans-culottes. Wanted political centralisation.
National Convention - Elected assembly of the French Republic (1792-1795).
the Plain - Group of independent moderates in the Convention.
September Massacres - Mass killing of prison inmates in Paris (September 1792).
battle of Valmy - Important French military victim. Saved Paris from invasion (20th September 1792).

12. What caused the Terror?

History channel aiming to provide recordings ideal for A Level revision, preparation of undergraduate history studies or general enjoyment of the subject.
Reading lists can be found in the series playlist pages.
Apologies for any bad pronunciation of French terms.

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