The French Revolution Quiz

1. In which year did the French Revolution begin?

1. 1776
2. 1789
3. 1793
4. 1799

2. What was the Bastille, and why was its storming on 14 July 1789 significant?

1. A church — it symbolised the Church's power
2. A parliament — it symbolised political oppression
3. A prison and fortress — storming it symbolised the people's power over tyranny
4. A royal palace — it symbolised royal wealth

3. The French Revolution's ideals were captured in the slogan:

1. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
2. Liberté, Justice, Paix
3. République, Liberté, Démocratie
4. Vive la France!

4. Which French king was executed during the Revolution in January 1793?

1. Louis XIV
2. Louis XV
3. Louis XVI
4. Louis XVIII

5. What was the 'Reign of Terror' (1793-94)?

1. A period of foreign invasion of France
2. A period of Napoleon's military campaigns
3. A period of radical revolutionary violence in which thousands were guillotined as 'enemies of the revolution'
4. A royalist counter-revolution

6. Who led the Reign of Terror before himself being guillotined in 1794?

1. Georges Danton
2. Jacques Necker
3. Jean-Paul Marat
4. Maximilien Robespierre

7. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) was inspired by which other declaration?

1. The American Declaration of Independence (1776)
2. The English Bill of Rights (1689)
3. The Magna Carta (1215)
4. The UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

8. The 'Three Estates' in pre-revolutionary France consisted of:

1. Clergy, Nobility, and the Third Estate (commoners)
2. King, Nobles, Clergy
3. Nobility, Clergy, Peasants
4. Parliament, Church, People

9. Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI. She was born a princess of which country?

1. Austria
2. Britain
3. Prussia
4. Spain

10. How did Napoleon Bonaparte rise to power after the Revolution?

1. He staged a coup (18 Brumaire, 1799) and became First Consul, then Emperor
2. He was elected president
3. He was invited back to the throne by royalists
4. He won a popular referendum to be king

11. What was the 'Ancien Régime' (Old Regime)?

1. Napoleon's empire
2. The political and social system of France before the Revolution
3. The restored monarchy after 1815
4. The revolutionary government after 1789

12. The guillotine became associated with the Revolution. Who invented it?

1. Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed it as a more humane execution method
2. It is named after the revolutionary Guillot
3. It was invented during the Terror specifically
4. Robespierre invented it as a symbol of equality

13. The Vendée Uprising (1793-96) was:

1. A military coup against Robespierre
2. A Parisian workers' revolt
3. A royalist counter-revolution in western France that was brutally suppressed
4. An attack on the revolutionary government by foreign powers

14. Which Enlightenment philosopher's idea of a 'social contract' greatly influenced the Revolution?

1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
2. John Locke
3. Montesquieu
4. Voltaire

15. What was the 'Committee of Public Safety'?

1. A body protecting citizens from revolutionary violence
2. A committee to manage France's wars
3. A neighbourhood watch body
4. A revolutionary governing committee that wielded near-dictatorial power during the Terror

16. After the Revolution, France adopted a new calendar. What year was 1789 renamed in this calendar?

1. Year One
2. Year Three
3. Year Two
4. Year Zero

17. The Revolution exported its ideas across Europe. Which of these was a direct result?

1. Britain became a republic
2. Napoleon's conquests spread revolutionary ideals (and chaos) across Europe
3. The abolition of slavery worldwide
4. The formation of the USA

18. Jean-Paul Marat was a radical revolutionary journalist. How did he die?

1. He died in battle defending Paris
2. He escaped to England and died in exile
3. He was guillotined during the Terror
4. He was stabbed in his bath by Charlotte Corday

19. What was the Directory (1795-99)?

1. A committee of Jacobin radicals
2. Napoleon's council of advisers
3. The restored monarchy
4. The revolutionary government that ruled France between the Terror and Napoleon's coup

20. The French Revolution ultimately ended with what outcome?

1. A constitutional monarchy in 1795
2. A restoration of the monarchy in 1794
3. A stable democratic republic
4. Napoleon's empire replacing the Republic in 1804