Louis XVI faced serious problems as the absolute monarch of France in the 1780s, including debt, hunger from rising bread prices, and unfair taxes. The French Revolution began in 1789, after the American Revolution. In August 1789, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" became the rallying cry of the revolution. Both the French nobility and Catholic Church were upset by the revolution as they lost property and power, and feared the spread of revolutionary ideals. Maximilien Robespierre later became the leader of the radical wing of the revolutionary government.

1. Background Essay
Question
Answers

2. 1. Who was
the absolute
monarch of
France in
1789?
Louis XVI

3. What were
3 serious
problems
that faced
Louis XVI in
the 1780s?
Serious debt
Hunger/price
of bread
Unfair taxes

4. 3. What year
did the
French
Revolution
start? Was
this before or
after the
American
revolution?
1789
After

5. 4. In August
1789 what
three words
became the
rallying cry of
the French
Revolution?
Liberty
Equality
Fraternity

6. 5. Why were
the members
of the French
nobility and
the French
Catholic
Church upset
about the
revolution?
Lost property
and power
Feared spread
of revolution

7. 6. Who became
leader of the
radical wing of
the
revolutionary
government?
Maximilien
Robespierre

9. Absolute monarchy is a form of
monarchy in which one ruler has
supreme authority and where that
authority is not restricted by any
written laws, legislature, or
customs. These are often, but not
always, hereditary monarchies.

10. In France under the Old Regime,
the Estates General or States-
General was a legislative and
consultative assembly of the
different classes of French
subjects. It had a separate
assembly for each of the three
estates, which were called and
dismissed by the king

11. The state or feeling of
friendship and mutual
support within a group

12. advocating or based on
thorough or complete political
or social change; representing
or supporting an extreme or
progressive section of a
political party

13. a machine with a heavy
blade sliding vertically in
grooves, used for beheading
people.

14. a period of remorseless
repression or bloodshed, in
particular Reign of Terror, the
period of the Terror during the
French Revolution

15. a person who is averse to
change and holds to
traditional values and
attitudes, typically in
relation to politics