Summary - History - Chapter 4 - French Revolution Explained - 2VWO-Phoenix - TTO (English)
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Geschiedenis
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VWO / Gymnasium
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Phoenix History 2 vwo Coursebook
This nice summary explains the causes, aspects and reasons of the French revolution. I myself received a lot of positive reactions to this summary from classmates. The summary is in English because the method is in English. In this summary, the terms are highlighted so that it is easy to learn.
declaration of the rights of man and of the citizens
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4.1 Louis XIV, an absolute ruler
When Louis was only 11 years old he already became king. His mother, Anne of
Austria ruled for him. She relied fully on Cardinal Mazarin, her chief master. At
that time the treasure was empty. So the minister of Finances wanted to raise
more taxes → riots broke out. Louis fled to a house outside Paris. Eventually
Mazarin managed to shut down the riots. When Louis was 15 he was crowned as
king. From there on he decided that he would rule alone.
Because Louis didn’t trust the nobles, he moved to Versailles. In Versailles more
than 1200 noble families lived → Louis could have an eye on them. If you didn’t
follow the rules you risked going into prison.
The king’s minister of finance (Colbert) was looking for ways to fill the French treasury and
make France bigger and more powerful. He wanted 2 things
- He wanted the French people to earn more money to increase taxes: To achieve the
first goal he wanted France to trade more. He made factories with craftsmen from all
corners of europe. He also dug more canals so that the logistics were better.
- He wanted to make the collection of taxes more efficient: To achieve this goal, he
banned the sale of noble titles. Because nobles didn't have to pay taxes. He
therefore appointed 30 supervisors who closely checked the income from taxes.
Colbert achieved his 2 goals however the king spended all of it as soon as he got it. Colbert
advised him to spend less money on wars and his royal courts but the king didn’t listen.
In 1685 Louis declared the “edict of Nantes” invalid. This document stated that the
huguenots (protstant france) may practice their religion. The huguenots were an
independent state in France itself. Lois thought this was unacceptable. The Huguenots
couldn’t have normal professions anymore and life was hard for them. Louis tried to make
them Catholics and not to leave France. Some Huguenots did convert to Catholicism but
most of them fled to Germany/Netherlands.
Louis wanted to gain a lot of power by waging war → costs a lot of money. When
he died he left with a debt of 2 billion livres.
For 54 years he was the monarch of France. he made the collection of taxes more efficient
and modernized the economy. He also took away the power from the nobility. There were
also bad effects of his governing. The normal people had to pay lots of money and he had
spent way too much money on things like his palace or his private life.
, Par 4.2
Inventors made great progress in understanding nature. In France the people who spread
these new ideas about the ideal society were called philosophers. Fewer people believe in
the notion that god appointed an absolute ruler to govern a country on his own. Normal
people started thinking about questions about society and government. This causes lots of
debate. The period in which all those questions arose was called the age of enlightenment.
John Locke was the first philosopher to write that absolutism wasn’t right. he said that
everyone was a blank paper. Locke said that a good ruler should listen to the people’s
saying. He also said that a ruler could not just sentence someone to death. In England King
Charles l refused to listen to the parliament so he was killed. Then James ll was appointed to
be the king. 3 years later the English parliament deposed jJames because they were afraid
he would seek absolute power. Then they stepped to William lll. The parliament made him
promise to not let him do anything without permission of the parliament. England got what
they wanted: a good king without too much power. Locke was involved here.
Montesqieu was from the nobility and held a post in the Parlement. He wrote the book
anonymously and printed it in the republic. In his book he criticised the nobility and the
absolute power of the king.
Montesquieu studied laws and developed the Trias politica (seperation of power).
1. Legislative power: approving or rejecting laws.
2. Executive power: enforce laws
3. Judiciary power: pass judgement on the laws.
Montesique said that those powers had to be divided equally and you may only have one.
Many enlightenment thinkers ended up in prison. In time all the knowledge that people had
at the time was brought together and published as the encyclopédie. Many philosophers
contributed to this encyclopaedia. It also contained the latest inventions. However the book
was banned because it criticised the absolute power of the king. Suddenly people began to
realise that great things could be achieved. They also realised that a more rational and just
form of government was possible in France.
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