12.1.4

Political Reform

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Political Reform

After the Storming of the Bastille, measures were taken to make French society more equal and representative. But the political changes caused chaos in France and led to violence and terror.

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The new constitution

  • Following the Storming of the Bastille, the National Assembly seized power in France.
  • They began writing up a new set of laws (a constitution) which would make the king less powerful, and give more power to the people.
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The Declaration of the Rights of Man

  • The Declaration of the Rights of Man was passed on 26th August 1789 AD.
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New laws

  • This promised the French people:
    • Freedom of speech.
    • Equality in the face of the law.
    • Representative government (meaning that all groups of French society would be able to vote and elect people to represent them in government).
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Values of France

  • The slogan of the revolution became ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’, meaning ‘freedom, equality, brotherhood’.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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