ADVANCE ORGANISER: ABSOLUTISM / ENLIGHTENMENT / FRENCH REVOLUTION
Topics & key questions
Key terms
Absolutism.
What were the justifications for absolutist rule?
What were the pillars of absolutist rule?
What implications could the perception of royalty in absolutist
France possibly have had for both the monarch as well as for society
in general?
In how far was the Palace of Versailles the symbol of absolutist rule
in France?










Macchiavelli, The Prince
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Louis XIV (the “Sun King”): “I am the state.” (L’état, c’ést moi!)
reason of the state (Staatsräson)
national church, standing army, civil servants
nobility of the sword (Schwertadel)
nobility of the robe (Amtsadel)
General-Estates (Ständeversammlung, Generalstände)
mercantilism (Merkantilismus)
enlightened absolutism (aufgeklärter Absolutismus)
Political philosophers of the Enlightenment.
Is the term “Enlightened Absolutism” an oxymoron?
What were the main commonalities and differences between the
most important philosophers of the Enlightenment?
What were the main differences between the idea of man in the
times of absolutism and of the Enlightenment?
Did Rousseau’s ideas promote totalitarianism or democracy?
In how far have the ideas of the Enlightenment paved the way for
constitutionalism and modern democracies?






Enlightenment / Age of Reason
reason v. self-incurred tutelage / Sapere aude!
separation of powers: judiciary, executive, legislative branch
checks and balances
social contract
general will
Origins of the French Revolution.
What were the long-term and the short-term causes of the French
Revolution?
Why did the French Revolution eventually break out?









ancien régime
Estate-System
tithes (der Zehnte)
taille, dons gratuit, gabelle, corvée royale
haute bourgeoisie, petite bourgeoisie
financial crisis
Assembly of Notables
food crisis
cahiers de doléance (complaint lists)
The course of the French Revolution.
What was the significance of a: the tennis court oath and b: the
storming of the Bastille?


tennis court oath (Ballhausschwur)
National Assembly
ADVANCE ORGANISER: ABSOLUTISM / ENLIGHTENMENT / FRENCH REVOLUTION



















storming of the Bastille (Sturm auf die Bastille)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen
Jacobins, Girondins, Sans-Culottes
flight to Varennes
National Convention
Coalition Wars
September Massacres
refractory priests
émigrés
Reign of Terror
Committee for Public Safety (Wohlfahrtsausschuss)
Law of Suspects (Verdächtigengesetz)
Revolutionary Tribunals / Courts
Revolutionary Committees
Vendée uprising
mass levy (levée en masse) / conscription
Law of Maximum
revolutionary calendar
coup de Thermidor
The end of the French Revolution.
Why did the Directory fail?
How and why did Napoleon come to power in France?



White Terror
the Directory (das Direktoriat)
coup d’état
Napoleon’s France.
France under Napoleon: A change for the better or the worse?
Did Napoleon undo the achievements of the French Revolution?










Code Napoléon / Civil Code
Legion of Honour (Ehrenlegion)
meritocracy
Concordat
Continental System
Tricolour
La Marseillaise
th
14 July
Eiffel Tower
constitutionalism; left-wing, right-wing
What are the commonalities and differences between the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen and the 1948 UN
Declaration of Human Rights? What are the reasons for that?
The execution of Louis XVI: An act of terror or deliverance from the
evil?
The Reign of Terror: Does the end justify the means?
What was the British attitude towards the French Revolution and
why did they see it this way?
Did the revolution “devour her children”?
The legacy of the French Revolution.
Where can the legacy of the French Revolution still today be
detected?
Why is the year 1789 commonly regarded as an “epochal year”,
th
marking the beginning of the so-called “long 19 century”?