European History Study Guide
For your test I will select 10 of these 15 questions to be on the exam. I will also have a second section to
the test which will have primary sources for you to use in order to answer the question.
1.
In what ways did the Enlightened challenge traditional ideas in 18th century Europe?
a. Education: Issac Newton, John Locke, Rene Descartes were the main leaders. Newton’s
laws about motion Principia Mathematica became popular. Observation and scientific
reasoning would replace the blind faith of the Church. God + Laws = God made universe
that follows laws.
b. Divine right monarchy: Descartes stated that he would question anything that could
not be proven, such as the right of the monarchy to declare divinity. Voltaire and
Montesquieu both liked the English model of government in which the king was checked
by a parlament. John Locke also hoped for a civil society where all individuals would
have basic freedoms. He supported this idea in his writings of Second Treatise on Civil
Government (1690).
c. Church: Printing presses were allowing attacks on the church to be spread and subjects
of injustice and backwards thinking of the church were discussed. The Catholic Church
was the predominant leader in education so they were able to control the spread of
new ideas. The philosophes had other ideas with their writings in the 28 volume
Encyclopedia written in 1772.
2.
Choose at least four philosophes and discuss their positions on 18th century issues in Europe.
a. Voltaire: Liked checks and balances of the throne (English model)
b. Montesquieu: Liked checks and balances of the throne (English model)
c. Descartes: Mathematician and philosopher. Looked at the importance of the human
soul and appreciated the checks and balances on a monarchy.
d. Newton: His scientific theories helped to support the idea of questioning the church.
e. Locke: Agreed that societies should have basic freedoms for every person…attacks the
practices of privilege.
f. Rousseau: The Social Contract stated how there was a “natural” goodness in every
individual. He believed that money could buy things, but not buy things like morals.
The evils in the world could be blamed on civilization.
3. Can Joseph II of Austria be considered an enlightened leader? Why or why not? Joseph II of
Austria can be considered to be an enlightened leader. He did set up a strong education system,
however its goal was specifically teach people how to be obedient servants to the state. His
educational goals were not one of obtaining knowledge through inquiry. Although his Joseph II
had a flaw in his education system, he did lessen the power of the church, while encouraging
better education for priests. His attempt to weaken the church was exhibited through the
decree of removing religious relics from Austrian territories. He also supported the Edict of
Toleration for Protestants and The Edict Relating to Jews. Both protected the groups more,
even though Jews did not receive as many rights as the Protestants. Joseph also paid attention
to populations that had been overlooked. Orphanages were opened as well as protection for
children and the insane from criminal charges. Joseph also attempted to abolish serfdom with
the Decree of 1789. (a)It abolished slavery, (b) hold of nobles was weakened, (c) serfs could
leave a village without permission, (d) Penal Patent limited the nobles in punishing serfs, serfs
could appeal against their landlords, (e) peasants could buy land.
4. Discuss at least three actions (positive or negative) that Joseph took towards the Church?
a.
Positives:
i. Built over a 1,000 churches and monasteries in Hungary
ii. Increased education for priests
b. Negatives:
i. Forced people to remove religious relics from their houses and churches in
Austrian territories.
ii. German not Latin would be spoken.
iii. Papal influence was weakened by the pope having to check his statements that
he sent out to bishops by Joseph II
5. Why have historians differed in their views on Catherine the great? Catherine the great did
attempt some ideas of the Enlightenment. She declared that there should be no religious
persecution. Took over Church lands which demonstrated how weak the Church was in Russia.
Tried to have the assembly, Zemstvo, look at the laws to rationalize them. Very few laws were
passed because the participants were interested in protecting their privileges. She also got rid
of monopolies and regulations which deregulated the economy; a sign of the Enlightenment.
She did not consistently carry Enlightened ideas throughout her reign. Issues such as rural
poverty were unaddressed. Serfs were not granted land which meant that they could not make
to spend in the economy. Industry declined and debt increased. Also agriculture was not
productive because of ineffective farming techniques. Catherine the great did not want to
address the issue of serfdom because she knew that her power depended on the nobles who
owned the serfs. By the end of her reign, Catherine began to censure philisophes as well as the
use of spies was implemented.
6. Did the Enlightenment present a coherent program of change? Philisophes were effective in
dispersing their ideas using the printing press. Philisophes wrote about the ideas of how certain
18th century issues should change but did not give solutions to those defects. They could agree
that the theory of divine right monarchy was no longer sufficient in explaining the monarchy’s
authority. There was a consensus about having a monarchy that was confined by a constitution.
Montesquieu and Voltaire wanted the checks and balances of the monarchy, but did not want
to get rid of privileges. John Locke was interested in giving all citizens of a nation certain
protections and rights. There was also an agreement among philosophes of the Enlightenment
about the importance of scientific inquiry. Descartes, Newton and Locke all contributed to the
process of scientific reasoning about the world.
7. How successfully did Louis XVI respond to the problems faced by France? Support your
answer. Louis XVI was very passive in dealing with the problems that faced France. Louis XVI
was very reactionary to events that could have been prevented. His aggressive actions towards
entering the War of Austrian Succession. France invaded part of Austria while Austria was
fighting Prussia. Also, The Seven Years War (French and Indian War) France begins to build forts
along the British border and Britain viewed that as a threat. The debts they incurred from these
wars led to economic problems for France. The French would also get involved in the American
Revolution which would cause another burden on the French. His commitment to Divine Right
monarchy was also a hindrance to his power. People no longer accepted that as a right to
power.
8. To what extent was absolutism just a myth? The Enlightenment really had attacked the theory
of Divine Right monarchies, which would ultimately undermine absolutism. The idea that a
monarchy could demand power based solely upon an idea that has no “proof” was old thinking.
In reality, European monarchies never really did have absolute power. There would be a
continuous power struggles between the Church and state. In addition to that, thrones
depended upon the nobility to uphold the power of the throne. The nobles in return would
maintain the privileges that came along with nobility. The fact that the king or queen had to rely
on anyone was a point that philosophes brought up against absolutism.
9. How far did social tensions threaten the stability of France? The social tensions within France
not only stemmed from the tensions between the classes the issues that the classes had within
themselves. The First Estate was made up of clergy did not contribute to France’s tax system.
This increased the tax burden on the peasants, one of the factors that led to revolution in
France. Another contributing factor to instability was the notion that the king and clergy
supported their status by stating God had ordained the social order, therefore solidifying their
place in the upper tiers of society. Social tensions also arose out of the privileged status of the
nobility. Nobles were given certain privileges such as special courts, tax exemption, and weren’t
subjected to forced labor. The tax burden was once again passed onto the peasants because
the nobility contributed little to the French government. The nobility was also divided amongst
themselves with the various positions they held in society. The ‘nobility of the sword’ held
positions that were generational. Those positions were found throughout the Church, army or
Provincial government. ‘Nobles of the robe’ held government offices such as magistrates,
judges, parlaments , taxation and finance. Finally there was the provincial nobility that were
landlords. They lived lives of gentlemen in the French country. The Third Estate consisted of
the bourgeoisie and peasants. The bourgeoisie had a particular important role in the turmoil of
France. They didn’t fit the characteristics of peasants so they did not want to be associated with
them, however, the nobility didn’t want them either. When the writings of the philosophes
became popular, the bourgeoisie became more educated and well read on their ideas which
added to the social tensions. Another contributing factor to the social tensions was the
inequality of the peasants. They were subjected to harsh conditions and unfair taxation.
Peasants made very little money, but were forced to pay the most taxes. This could be
considered the most tumultuous point in the struggle between classes.
10. Explain and describe the social classes of France.
a. First Estate:
i. Made up of the clergy
ii. Ability to make great wealth with the practice of pluralism.
iii. Did not have to pay taxes (did make a donation every five years).
iv. Gallican priests wanted the French Church to be separate from papal influence.
b. Second Estate:
i. Divided into three categories
1. Nobles of the sword: Held honorary and ancient titles, generational
titles. High ranks in the army, courts and clergy.
c.
2. Nobles of the robe: Office holders in the government (taxe officiers,
magistrates and helped uphold the law). They were considered to be
inferior by the nobles of the sword.
3. Provincial nobles: Considered to be the least of the nobility. Lived
mostly in rural France holding provincial positions.
Third Estate:
i. Divided into two categories
1. Bourgeoisie: Merchants, lawyers, doctors and financed other people.
Didn’t really feel like they were part of the peasants or nobles. They did
however want o to become a part of the nobility.
2. Peasants: Lived very minimal lives that came with many difficulties.
Peasants did not have very many rights. They could be punished
directly by their landlords, had to participate in forced labor, carried
most of the taxes in France.
11. How important were Enlightenment views in bringing revolution to France by 1789? France
had a dilapidated system of government that supported a system of privilege and social
injustice. Writings from Locke and Voltaire talked about the inequality within a society. Voltaire
looked down on practices such as the letters de cachet, or being imprisoned without a trial.
John Locke understood that if a leader was to have true “absolute” power it must come from
the consent of the people. The declaration of Divine Right Monarchy was no longer an
acceptable answer. King Louis XVI clung to the idea of Divine Right monarchy which was a point
of contention from the philosophes. Writings from Montesquieu would have supported the
calling of the Estate General. The idea that no one person should have sole power was
paramount in Montesquieu writings, giving influence to the French demanding the Estate
General should be called to guide France.
12. Explain the similarities and differences among the Controlleurs-General.
a. Anne Turgot: Get rid of useless officers, allow free trade for grain, and issued a general
land tax. Let go because he did not respect the social privileges of the nobility.
b. Neckar: Get rid of useless posts, reduce government expenditures, and reorganize
public accounts. The intendants were not happy about this. Neckar began to overstep
his bounds, just like Turgot. Good at raising money through loans, but that would get
expensive with interest.
c. Calonne: Good at raising money through loans just like Neckar, but was not concerned
with spending. He did public work projects to help out France’s image. Also wanted a
general land tax, abolish forced labor, reduce the taille and wanted to use an assembly
to determine taxes.
d. Brienne: Came in when the public realized how much debt France had accumulated.
Wanted to implement the reforms of Calonne, but the Paris Parlement did not agree to
the reforms.
13. Explain how each of the following people, groups of people and events led to the calling of the
estates general:
 King: When he could have addressed the issue, he did nothing. He either stayed in
Versaille or Paris not wanting to do anything. His excessive spending also led to a
financial crisis in which the King needed to addres.


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Nobles: They were only concerned with protecting the privileges which led to social
tensions and financial crisis.
Parlements: Paris Parlement was controlled by the nobility so of course they wanted to
protect their privileges. When the Estates General was to meet the parlement made a
decision about the Estates meeting separately. This infuriated the Third Estate. They
did meet separately, where the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath.
Controlleurs-General: One could argue that there ones that did try to go against the
Ancien Regime however they were met with opposition from the nobility. They
borrowed money instead of raised money through fiscal responsibility and taxation.
The financial crisis: Deregulated grain markets led to very expensive bread which led to
angry peasants. Also the peasants carried the majority of the tax burden, which did not
allow France to raise enough money. Their taxation system was inefficient while the
intendants were dishonest.
14. Why did the Third Estate turn against the nobility and clergy? After it was determined that the
Estate General would meet, the first two estates wanted to meet separately. If they met
separately like they did in 1614, the nobility and clergy would have more voting power because
their vote would mean more. If the Estate General met together then there would be a head
count giving the Third Estate more power. This is when the Third Estate would claim itself as the
National Assembly and claimed to represent the true interests of the Nation.
15. Why have historians differed on the reasons for the outbreak of the French Revolution in
1789?
a. Marxist View: They believe that it was really a class struggle between the clergy and
nobles and the bourgeoisie that helped the violence breakout. Groups were either
trying to cling to their established power while other groups were trying to reduce
privileges.
b. Some historians such as George Taylor and Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret claimed that the
Revolution did not break out because of tensions among classes. They argue that the
upper tiers of the bourgeoisie and nobility really did have similarities in the acquisition
of wealth. Really the issue came down to the breakdown in the financial institution.
Historians from this school of thought really break it down to the economic crisis. If
capitalism was allowed to flourish