French Culture
This French king believed he should control everything in France.
Louis XVI
This type of monarchy existed in Britain, where the king shared power with Parliament.
A constitutional monarchy
This food was the main cause of anger for many poor French people before the Revolution
Bread
This unfair social system in France gave most of the wealth and power to the clergy and nobility.
Ancien Régime
This group of advisors to the king pushed for changes like deregulating grain markets.
The Physiocrats
This type of government gave the French king total control over the country.
Absolute monarchy
This British government body approved laws and taxes.
Parliament
This group of people spent up to 80% of their money on bread each day.
Laborers/the Third Estate
This meeting in 1789 was called by King Louis XVI for the first time since 1614 because France was bankrupt
Estates-General
This crisis involved France being unable to pay its debts after wars and poor harvests.
The Fiscal crisis / financial collapse
This social group made up about 98% of the French population and paid most of the taxes.
The Third Estate
Compared to France, Britain gave citizens more of this in government.
Representation
This event in 1775 happened because people were angry about rising flour and bread prices.
This famous event on July 14, 1789, became a symbol of the start of the French Revolution
This idea argues that a king’s power does NOT come from God but from the people.
Enlightenment thinking / rejection of divine right
These two problems caused many French peasants to suffer before the Revolution.
High taxes and famin
Unlike France, Britain did not rely heavily on this single type of ruler.
King/Monarch
People stormed this prison in 1789 looking for gunpowder and grain.
The Bastille
This event happened when women marched to Versailles to demand bread and brought the royal family back to Paris
The Women’s March on Versailles
This was the unspoken agreement that the king should ensure his people were fed before the Revolution
Moral economy
This major event began partly because the Third Estate was overtaxed and underrepresented.
The French Revolution
British culture focused more on shared political power, while French culture focused more on this.
King-centered power/tradition and hierarchy
This famous quote connected to Marie Antoinette showed how out of touch the rich were with the poor.
"Let them eat cake"
This 1791 event destroyed trust in the monarchy when the king tried and failed to escape France.
The Flight to Varennes
This queen of France became a symbol of royal excess and was criticized for being out of touch with starving peasants during the Revolution.
Marie Antoinette