Deck 6: A Revolution in Politics: the Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

Question 1

What was the most immediate cause of the French Revolution?

A)The government's failure to resolve its debts and other economic problems
B)The threat of foreign invasion
C)The radical calls of the philosophes for reform
D)Louis XVI's rejection of the cahiers de doléances
E)Violent uprisings by the common people who were demanding political and economic equality

Answer 1

The government's failure to resolve its debts and other economic problems

Question 2

Which factor played a significant role in the colonists winning their war for independence?

A)Generous military and financial aid from various European states, especially France
B)The collapse of the English colonial system
C)Apathy of the English military
D)Flaws in the English mercantile system
E)The American's naval superiority

Answer 2

Generous military and financial aid from various European states, especially France

Question 3

What conditions facilitated Napoleon's rise to power?

Answer 3

Answers will vary.

Question 4

What were the most important weaknesses of Napoleon's empire?

Question 5

Which group constituted a key conduit for "enlightened" American political and moral ideas back to Europe?

A)Returning British prisoners of war
B)French army and navy officers
C)European nobles returning from expeditions to the new American frontier
D)Missionary priests returning from evangelical campaigns deep in the U.S.back country
E)Official proclamations sent to the governments of Europe by George Washington

Question 6

The American Articles of Confederation created a

A)strong central government.
B)constitutional monarchy.
C)weak central government.
D)binding alliance between the United States and France.
E)free trade zone.

Question 7

How did the French revolutionary government deal with the issue of slavery?

Question 8

Loyalists made up ____ percent of the American colonial population.

A)2 to 3
B)30 to 35
C)20 to 30
D)35 to 45
E)15 to 30

Question 9

American victory in the War for Independence was secured by the British surrender at

A)Richmond.
B)Fallen Timber.
C)Fort McHenry.
D)Yorktown.
E)Saratoga.

Question 10

Which group comprised the First Estate in France?

A)The nobility
B)The clergy
C)The peasants
D)The military
E)the nobility

Question 11

How did the Committee of Public Safety respond to the threat of foreign invasion?

Question 12

How did Louis XVI respond to the revolutionary challenges to the Old Regime?

Question 13

What role did nationalism play in the fall of Napoleon?

Question 14

Was the American War of Independence truly revolutionary? Explain.

Question 15

What were the long-term causes of the French Revolution? Was the revolution inevitable? Could it have been avoided? Explain.

Question 16

What factors help to explain the Reign of Terror? Was the "terror" justified or did it demonstrate the excesses of revolutionary fervor?

Question 17

On July 4, 1776, delegates to the Second Continental Congress approved the

A)Declaration of the Rights of the Man and the Citizen.
B)Constitution.
C)Declaration of Independence.
D)Olive Branch Petition.
E)appointment of George Washington as commander of the Continental Army.

Question 18

What events led to the formation of the National Assembly?

Question 19

What led to the fall of Robespierre and the rise of the Directory?

Question 20

In what ways did Napoleon's policies repudiate the accomplishments of the French Revolution? In what ways did his policies strengthen the accomplishments of the French Revolution?

Question 21

Which group had a large representation among the Third Estate delegates to the Estates-General?

A)Priests
B)Peasants
C)Lawyers
D)Courtiers
E)Women

Question 22

What best describes the gathering of the Estates-General in 1789?

A)Louis XVI's parliamentary body often consulted the king.
B)It was in unanimous agreement that only radical changes could solve France's problems.
C)It was dominated by the first estate composed mostly of urban lawyers.
D)It was in unanimous agreement about the necessity of immediately creation a "National Assembly."
E)It was divided over the issue of voting by "orders" or by "head."

Question 23

Who had the right to vote as stipulated in the French Constitution of 1791?

A)All men
B)All men and wealthy women
C)Male citizens who met a tax qualification
D)Male citizens with noble titles
E)All adults

Question 24

What was a key term of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy?

A)An absolute separation of church and state was to be established.
B)Priests were to be required to marry.
C)Bishops and priests were to be elected by the people.
D)The French government was to have veto power over papal decrees.
E)All French people were required to be Catholics.

Question 25

Most Third Estate delegates to the Estates-General advocated

A)the return of serfdom.
B)a complete reworking of French law.
C)the abolition of private property.
D)the abolition of the Church.
E)constitutional government.

Question 26

What was the result of the controversy over voting by order versus voting by head in the Estates-General?

A)The nobles of the robe advocated voting by head.
B)The "lovers of liberty" effectively blocked voting by head.
C)The clergy called for the expulsion of the Third Estate from the Estates-General.
D)The Third Estate joined the Second Estate in abolishing the First Estate of the clergy.
E)The Third Estate responded by forming a "National Assembly."

Question 27

What was the status of the French bourgeoisie and nobility by the eighteenth century?

A)They were growing further apart in social status.
B)They were increasingly less distinguishable from each other.
C)They rapidly lost social status to the third estate.
D)They were openly hostile with one another and frequently involved in street battles.
E)They were almost completely dominated by the clergy of the First Estate.

Question 28

Who was Olympe de Gouges?

A)She became the first female member of the National Assembly.
B)She attempted to kill Marie Antoinette after the queen said, "Let them eat cake."
C)She wrote The Declaration of the Rights of the Woman and the Female Citizen.
D)She was the ghost author of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.
E)She was the mistress to Robespierre.

Question 29

What did the deputies of the Third Estate promise to do in the Tennis Court Oath?

A)Abolish the fiscal privileges of the church and nobility.
B)Abolish the Estates-General.
C)Execute the king.
D)Ensure universal voting privileges for all French people.
E)Write a constitution.

Question 30

What best describes the French economy of the eighteenth century?

A)The economy grew, but also experienced periodic crises.
B)The economy was stagnant due to foreign competition in industry and trade.
C)The economy declined rapidly due to overuse of arable land.
D)The economy was based largely on the silk industry.
E)The economy was entirely based upon agricultural production.

Question 31

What did the National Assembly do in regard to the Catholic Church?

A)It left the institution alone.
B)It increased its power slightly in France.
C)It passed legislation that secularized church offices and clergymen.
D)It abolished the faith in France.
E)It recognized the Catholic Church as France's only legal religion.

Question 32

Which group comprised the largest segment of the Third Estate?

A)Skilled artisans
B)Merchants
C)Peasants
D)Professionals
E)Soldiers

Question 33

Napoleon's Civil Code restored the legal power of

A)wives and daughters.
B)aristocrats and nobles.
C)fathers and husbands.
D)kings and bishops.
E)children and dependents.

Question 34

What was part of Napoleon's agreement with the Catholic Church?

A)The pope agreed to condemn all enemies of France.
B)Napoleon acknowledged his subservience to the Pope.
C)The pope was given the right to sue for lands confiscated during the Revolution.
D)Catholicism was recognized as the religion of the majority of French people.
E)Private citizens would return church property they had acquired during the Revolution.

Question 35

On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly voted to abolish

A)the death penalty.
B)monarchial government.
C)aristocratic privileges.
D)slavery.
E)private property.

Question 36

The Estates-General opened ____ on May 5, 1789.

A)in Marseilles
B)at the Vatican
C)in Lyon
D)at Versailles
E)in Paris

Question 37

What did the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen guarantee?

A)Free or affordable food for the poor
B)Equality under the law for all French men
C)Equality under the law for all French men and women
D)Equality for all regardless of race
E)The right to vote for all French men

Question 38

Which royal fortress located in Paris was stormed by a mob on July 14, 1789, resulting in a wave of riots throughout France?

A)Chartres
B)St.Denis
C)The Bastille
D)The Louvre
E)The Tuileries

Question 39

How did Louis XVI respond to the formation of the National Assembly?

A)He acknowledged its legitimacy.
B)He threatened to dissolve the Estates-General.
C)He arrested all Third Estate delegates.
D)He abdicated the throne.
E)He invited Britain to invade France.

Question 40

What saved the Revolution as a whole when the "revolution of the lawyers" appeared doomed by the threat of royal armed forces in the summer of 1789?

A)The betrayal of the monarchy by high clergymen
B)The defection of key nobles of the sword to the rebels
C)The intervention of armed commoners, especially in urban uprisings
D)The outside influence of mercenary troops paid by the rebels
E)The intervention of Britain, whose constitutional monarch seemed threatened by upheaval in France

Question 41

What was true of the National Convention during the early stages of the "Radical Revolution"?

A)It was comprised primarily of professionals, like its predecessor, the National Assembly.
B)It successfully resisted the Parisians' radical attempts to control the Convention.
C)It favored ending the disastrous European war.
D)It failed to create any kind of large standing army.
E)It requested that Napoleon become dictator.

Question 42

Who was given the right to vote for the national legislative assembly under the terms of the French Constitution of 1795?

A)The five hundred wealthiest men in France
B)All adult white men
C)All adult men
D)Property-owning men
E)All adults

Question 43

In April 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared war on

A)the peasantry.
B)counter-revolutionaries.
C)England.
D)Austria.
E)monarchies everywhere.

Question 44

During the Reign of Terror, the majority of the victims were

A)nobles.
B)clergy.
C)the middle class.
D)peasant and laboring classes.
E)the bourgeoisie.

Question 45

What did the National Convention do with regard to religion?

A)It took measures to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church.
B)It issued an edict allowing for total religious freedom.
C)It took measures to de-Christianize the republic.
D)It made the republic completely atheistic.
E)It expelled the Jews from France.

Question 46

How did Napoleon's Continental System try to defeat the British?

A)A massive invasion of Britain
B)Preventing British trade
C)Causing political unrest in Britain
D)Attacking the British colonies in North America
E)Isolating India from Britain

Question 47

Which statement best applies to Napoleon's domestic policies?

A)Much autonomy was given to the provincial departments as the previous system of prefects was overhauled.
B)His "new aristocracy" was actually little different from the old, as it was based on privilege and wealth.
C)His Civil Code reaffirmed the ideals of the Revolution while creating a uniform legal system.
D)As a devout Catholic, he reestablished Catholicism as the official state religion.
E)He abolished most of the civilian bureaucracy, preferring to govern by military rule.

Question 48

What group emerged as the most important radical element in French politics at the beginning of the French Revolution?

A)Bonapartists
B)Papists
C)Communards
D)Loyalists
E)Jacobins

Question 49

Where did a successful slave rebellion against French rule occur?

A)The Vendee
B)Batavia
C)Jamaica
D)Haiti
E)The Cameroons

Question 50

Napoleon created a new aristocracy based on

A)merit in the state service.
B)birth and lineage.
C)land and wealth.
D)family ties to the Bonapartes.
E)rank and title under the Old Regime.

Question 51

Who was the head of the Committee of Public Safety who presided over the terror in France in 1793 and 1794?

A)Babeuf
B)Sieyès
C)Robespierre
D)Marat
E)Saint-Just

Question 52

With whom did Napoleon make peace with the Concordat of 1801?

A)The Church
B)The Directory
C)Austria
D)England
E)The aristocrats

Question 53

What did the National Convention do in September 1792?

A)It established a constitutional monarchy.
B)It abolished the monarchy and established a republic.
C)It voted to preserve the life of Louis XVI.
D)It was dismantled by Louis XVI.
E)It was immediately replaced by the Directory.

Question 54

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in ____ in 1769.

A)Paris
B)Corsica
C)Madrid
D)Sicily
E)Hamburg

Question 55

During the reign of Napoleon as emperor of France, ____ was a dependent kingdom.

A)Prussia
B)Britain
C)Spain
D)Austria
E)Russia

Question 56

Slavery was abolished in the French colonies in

A)1789.
B)1794.
C)1799.
D)1815.
E)1848.

Question 57

What best describes the French Republic's army in the 1790s?

A)It received little backing from the home front.
B)It was small, but effective in battle.
C)It was fueled modern nationalism and was raised through total mobilization of the population.
D)It was totally defeated by foreign aristocratic forces.
E)It got weaker and smaller as the decade went by.

Question 58

Which measure was NOT part of the French revolutionary process of de-Christianization?

A)The elimination of Sundays as Sabbath days
B)The ceremonial preservation of most Christian holidays
C)The removal of the word "saint" from street names
D)The encouragement to priests to marry
E)The looting and closing down of churches

Question 59

In 1796 and 1797, Napoleon won a series of victories over ____ in Italy.

A)Austria
B)Prussia
C)Britain
D)the pope
E)Naples

Question 60

Which prominent writer denounced Napoleon's rule as despotic?

A)Voltaire
B)Mary Wollstonecraft
C)Rousseau
D)Marshal Nye
E)Germaine de Staël

Question 61

The Paris Commune was composed mainly of lawyers and merchants.

Question 62

The Estates-General had met every five years since 1555.

Question 63

The National Convention was dominated by lawyers, professionals, and property owners.

Question 64

The First Estate was made up of the French nobility.

Question 65

The immediate cause of the French Revolution was the near collapse of government finances.

Question 66

Napoleon abolished all forms of government censorship and surveillance.

Question 67

In an effort to counter Napoleon's power, ____ instituted a series of political and military reforms.

A)Spain
B)Prussia
C)Austria
D)Russia
E)Britain

Question 68

Which battle marked Napoleon's final defeat?

A)Leipzig
B)Borodino
C)Trafalgar
D)Austerlitz
E)Waterloo

Question 69

Louis XVI was forced to return to Paris on October 6, 1789, by his ministers.

Question 70

Napoleon's expedition to Egypt was a disaster.

Question 71

American success in the War for Independence depended on forming an alliance with Prussia.

Question 72

Many European intellectuals saw the American Revolution as the embodiment of the Enlightenment's political dreams.