The French Revolution and

Napoleon
Question Answer
Rising debt, new taxes, weak leadership, and citizens feeling that
Select one of the causes you listed and
they weren’t represented by the government / were losing their
explain how it contributed to the French
rights, rand the rise in bread prices. The rise in bread prices helped
Revolution?
spark the Revolution because it weighed heavily on the poor
Why were members of the Third Estate
dissatisfied with life under the Old The members of the Third Estate had little political power.
Regime?
How did Louis XVI’s weak leadership
Louis XVI’s let political problems and mounting debt get really
contribute to the growing crisis in
bad for his country.
France?
How did the purpose of the meeting the It changed from a debate on new taxes to an effort to reform the
Estates-General in 1789 change? entire political system of France.
Yes- Economic conditions were bad and Enlightenment ideas
Did you think that changes in the French
were powerful and brought about a change in thinking. No- better
government were inevitable? Explain.
leadership and sharing power could have kept the peace.
Why do you think some members of the
The members of the First and Second Estates hoped to avoid
First and Second Estates joined the
radical steps; they genuinely sympathized with the problems of
National Assembly and worked to
the Third Estate.
reform the government?
How were the storming of the Bastille Similar-Both were spontaneous acts. Differences- The storming of
and the women’s march on Versailles the Versailles was to get arms and the women’s march on
similar? How were they different? Versailles was to demand bread.
War with Prussia and Austria; monarchy abolished; Reign of
Do you think this change of events
Terror; Directory governs. Events changed; Yes- If conservatives
could have been changed in any way?
had been willing to compromise and if moderates had spoken out
Explain.
more strongly.
What major reforms did the National The National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of
Assembly introduce? Man and the Citizen and reformed the Church.
What did the divisions in the Legislative
The political changes did not wipe out the deep divisions of the
Assembly say about the differences in
Old Regime.
French society?
How did the Reign of Terror come to an
Fearing for their safety, leaders turned on Robespierre.
end?
How did the slogan “Liberty, Equality, The slogan sums up the French Revolution; the desire for freedom
Fraternity” sum up the goals of the from old class structure, equal rights for all citizens, and unity
Revolution? among the French people.
What similarities and differences do you
see between the political factions in the
Both divided by ideology, but fewer extremes exist in Congress.
Legislative Assembly and those in the
U.S. government today?
What factors led to Robespierre The Factors were war economic problems; debt and high taxes,
becoming a dictator? struggling political factions, and Robespierre's strong personality.
Which of these events do you think had I think the Napoleonic code because it was his set of laws and his
the greatest impact on Napoleon's rise to laws are what he followed which eventually led to his rise to
power? power and then his defeat later.
The National Convention told a young Napoleon to defend the
How did Napoleon become a hero in delegates. Napoleon greeted thousands of royalists with a
France? cannonade and within minutes, attackers fled the field in panic
and confusion. He was known as the hero of the hour.
What did Napoleon consider his greatest
His Napoleonic Code.
triumph in domestic policy?
How was Napoleon able to control the
He fought them and in a series of brilliant battles, he crushed the
countries neighboring the French
opponent and forced the other countries to sign peace treaties.
Empire?
In your opinion, was Napoleon the He was the creator because he was doing things that some people
creator or the creation of his times? had not done before and he succeeded in some of them.
Napoleon had to deal with forces both I think inside the French Empire because he is the ruler and he
inside and outside the French Empire. In should keep his area safe and peaceful and going right instead of
your judgement, which area was more controlling forces outside of France even though that was also
important to control? important.
If you had been a member of the
No, even though he did things that were beneficial to France, he
bourgeoisie, would you have been
made three very unsmart choices that cost him everything and he
satisfied with the results of Napoleon’s
eventually was exiled and left to die.
actions? Explain.
I think the worst was when he tried to take over Russia because
Which of Napoleon’s mistakes was the during that period of time he lost over 10,000 of his men and he
most serious. Why? stayed in Russia for an extra month. So he himself was suffering
from the weather and lack of food. This also cost him because
Great Britain responded with their own set of blockades and still
How did Great Britain combat
ignored Napoleon's blockade and smuggled goods into France
Napoleon’s naval blockade?
anyway.
His fleet was split into 2 and captured and he was forced to give
Why did Napoleon have trouble fighting
up all of his plans to invade Great Britain and was unable to
the enemy forces in the Peninsular War?
invade Great Britain.
He had decided to stay longer during the winter months, the
weather was extremely harsh and he and his army were not
Why was Napoleon's delay of the retreat
prepared. Due to the scorched-earth policy, they also had no food
from Moscow such a great blunder?
to eat or drink. Napoleon lost many of his men to do harsh
weather condition.
Why did people in other European
They didn't want him taking over their country and due to
countries resist Napoleon's efforts to
Napoleon's mistakes, he never did take over and he lost.
build an empire?
I do not agree with this statement at all. Napoleon decided to
Napoleon had no choice but to invade invade Russia because Russia refused to stop selling grain to
Russia. Do you agree with this Great Britain. Even though he wanted them to stop, there was
statement? Why or why not? nothing really that he could do about it but if he had to do
something
I think he was an okay leader because he did good things such as
Do you think Napoleon was a great put in government run public schools but he also did not so smart
leader? Explain. things such as allowing slavery again and using his three mistakes
which in the end, ended up costing him everything.
What was the overall effect of To surround France so they couldn’t take over again and to make
Metternich’s plan on France? all the countries equally strong.
Wanted to surround France so they couldn’t take over again.
What were the three points of
Wanted all the countries to be equally strong. Wanted to put royal
Metternich’s plan for Europe?
families back on the throne.
Why the Congress of Vienna was
They eventually set up a new European order.
considered a success?
It maintained a balance of power, diminished the size and power
What was the long-term legacy of the
of France, and started the spread of Nationalism in Western
Congress of Vienna?
Europe leading more revolutions and new nations.
From France's point of view, do you
Yes-in the end they did many things that benefited France such as
think the Congress of Vienna’s
maintain à balance of power in France.
decisions were fair?
Because if the liberals had the power, they would create new
Why did the liberals and conservatives
things and ideas but if the conservatives had power, they would
differ over who should have power?
want everything to go back to the way it used to be.
I think it means that everything is fine until someone does
What do you think is meant by the
something that leads to something bigger that can be both good
statement that the French Revolution let
and bad. In the genie in the bottle, I think everything is okay until
the “genie out of the bottle”?
someone lets the genie out. He gives you three wishes which you