Revolution and Industrialization Flashcards

What procedural dispute at the Estates-General in May–June 1789 led the Third Estate to declare itself the National Assembly?

Answer: Whether voting would be by order, with one vote per estate, or by individual head

Voting by order let the clergy and nobility outvote the Third Estate two to one. The Third Estate demanded voting by head, and when this was refused it broke away and declared itself the National Assembly.

Which of the following best summarizes the central argument of Abbé Sieyès's pamphlet "What Is the Third Estate?" (1789)?

Answer: The Third Estate was the productive body of the nation and therefore deserved political power matching its importance

Sieyès argued that the Third Estate was everything in the nation yet had been treated as nothing politically. It should therefore have real representation.

What was the main effect of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) in revolutionary France?

Answer: It made the Catholic Church a branch of the state, with clergy elected and required to swear loyalty

The law made priests and bishops state-paid officials chosen by voters and required them to swear an oath to the constitution. This divided the clergy and alienated many Catholics from the Revolution.

Which development most directly marked the shift to the Reign of Terror in 1793–1794?

Answer: The Committee of Public Safety's use of revolutionary tribunals and the Law of Suspects to suppress perceived enemies

Facing foreign war and internal revolt, the Committee of Public Safety, with Robespierre as a leading figure, used the Law of Suspects and tribunals to execute tens of thousands of suspected opponents.

The Haitian Revolution, beginning in 1791 in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, is historically significant because it:

Answer: produced the only successful large-scale slave uprising that led to an independent state ruled by former slaves

Enslaved people, led most famously by Toussaint Louverture, defeated colonial and foreign forces, and Haiti declared independence in 1804. It became the first independent state in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815), the Austrian foreign minister Klemens von Metternich and other leaders sought primarily to:

Answer: restore a balance of power and legitimate monarchies to prevent future French aggression and revolution

The conservative leaders at Vienna aimed to contain France, restore legitimate ruling dynasties such as the Bourbons, and balance power among the great powers to maintain stability.

Which statement best describes the Napoleonic Code (1804)?

Answer: It established legal equality for male citizens and protected private property, while limiting the rights of women

The Code preserved Revolutionary gains such as equality before the law and secure property rights, but placed wives under the legal authority of their husbands.

What was the purpose of Napoleon's Continental System, established through the Berlin Decree of 1806?

Answer: To weaken Britain economically by closing continental European ports to British trade

Napoleon tried to defeat Britain by cutting off its trade with the Continent. Smuggling and resistance undermined it, and Russia's withdrawal from it helped prompt his 1812 invasion.

The Zollverein, established in 1834 under Prussian leadership, contributed to German economic development primarily by:

Answer: eliminating internal tariffs among many German states, creating a larger market

The Zollverein removed tariffs among member German states and expanded Prussian economic influence. Austria was excluded, which helped lay the groundwork for later unification.

In The Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that:

Answer: history had been driven by class struggle, and that the proletariat would eventually overthrow the bourgeoisie

Marx and Engels viewed history as a series of class conflicts and predicted that industrial workers would overthrow the capitalist bourgeoisie. The proletariat would then establish a classless society.