The French Revolution: 1789 and Beyond

Question 1

Question 1 : In what year did the storming of the Bastille take place?

Possible answers:

1789
1791
1793
1799

Answer

On July 14, 1789, Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress, a symbol of royal absolutism. This event marks the symbolic start of the French Revolution and became the national holiday.

Question 2

Question 2 : What was the name of the assembly that adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?

Possible answers:

Convention nationale
Directoire
Estates-General
National Constituent Assembly

Answer

The National Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration on August 26, 1789. This founding text proclaims the natural and inalienable rights of man.

Question 3

Question 3 : Which revolutionary was nicknamed "the Incorruptible"?

Possible answers:

Robespierre
Saint-Just
Danton
Marat

Answer

Maximilien de Robespierre was nicknamed "the Incorruptible" for his moral integrity. He was one of the main figures of the Terror before being guillotined in 1794.

Question 4

Question 4 : Which King of France was guillotined during the French Revolution?

Possible answers:

Louis XVI
Louis XV
Louis XVIII
Louis XIV

Answer

Louis XVI was guillotined on January 21, 1793 at Place de la Révolution (now Place de la Concorde), convicted of high treason. His wife Marie-Antoinette suffered the same fate 9 months later.

Question 5

Question 5 : What event on June 20, 1789 saw deputies swear not to separate until they had given France a Constitution?

Possible answers:

Festival of the Federation
Night of August 4th
Tennis Court Oath
Prise des Tuileries

Answer

The Tennis Court Oath was sworn in a real tennis court in Versailles when Third Estate deputies found their hall locked.

Question 6

Question 6 : Which Queen of France was guillotined on October 16, 1793?

Possible answers:

Marie-Antoinette
Marie Leszczyńska
Anne d'Autriche
Marie de' Medici

Answer

Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, was executed nine months after her husband. She is famous for the (apocryphal) phrase "Let them eat cake".

Question 7

Question 7 : What is the name of the violent repression period led by the Committee of Public Safety in 1793-1794?

Possible answers:

The June Days
The Thermidorian Reaction
The Great Fear
The Reign of Terror

Answer

The Reign of Terror (September 1793 - July 1794) saw the execution of thousands of "suspects". It ended with Robespierre's fall on 9 Thermidor.

Question 8

Question 8 : Which French doctor gave his name to the execution instrument used during the Revolution?

Possible answers:

Guillotin
Bichat
Sanson
Laennec

Answer

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed this machine to make executions more "humane". Ironically, he was opposed to the death penalty.

Question 9

Question 9 : Which motto originated from the French Revolution?

Possible answers:

Fluctuat nec mergitur
Unity is strength
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Work, Family, Fatherland

Answer

"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" became the motto of the French Republic, enshrined in the Constitution. It appears on public buildings and coins.

Question 10

Question 10 : Which revolutionary journalist was assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday?

Possible answers:

Desmoulins
Marat
Hébert
Brissot

Answer

Jean-Paul Marat, editor of "L'Ami du peuple", was stabbed on July 13, 1793. His assassination was immortalized in Jacques-Louis David's painting.

Question 11

Question 11 : What event on August 4, 1789 abolished feudal privileges?

Possible answers:

Tennis Court Oath
Night of August 4th
Prise de la Bastille
Fuite à Varennes

Answer

The Night of August 4th saw the Constituent Assembly abolish seigneurial privileges, tithes, and corvées. It was the official end of the Ancien Régime.

Question 12

Question 12 : In June 1791, where was the royal family arrested during their escape attempt?

Possible answers:

Strasbourg
Metz
Varennes
Montmédy

Answer

Louis XVI and his family were recognized and arrested in Varennes-en-Argonne, near the border. This event definitively discredited the king.

Question 13

Question 13 : Which revolutionary political club met in a former Dominican convent?

Possible answers:

Club Breton
Club des Feuillants
Club des Cordeliers
Club des Jacobins

Answer

The Jacobin Club (officially "Society of the Friends of the Constitution") met at the Jacobin convent. Robespierre was its most influential leader.

Question 14

Question 14 : Which calendar was established in 1793 to break with the Christian era?

Possible answers:

Calendrier national
Revolutionary calendar
Republican calendar
Calendrier julien

Answer

The Republican Calendar, created by Fabre d'Églantine, had 12 months of 30 days with poetic names (Vendémiaire, Brumaire...). It was abandoned in 1806.

Question 15

Question 15 : What were the volunteer soldiers who defended Revolutionary France against European armies called?

Possible answers:

The Federates
The National Guards
The Chouans
The Volunteers of Year II

Answer

The sans-culottes were popular revolutionaries, but armies were composed of volunteers and then conscripts following the levée en masse of 1793.

Question 16

Question 16 : Which Corsican general seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire, ending the Revolution?

Possible answers:

Hoche
Lafayette
Napoléon Bonaparte
Dumouriez

Answer

Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory on November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire Year VIII). He became First Consul then Emperor of the French in 1804.

Question 17

Question 17 : What symbol represents the French Republic, often wearing a Phrygian cap?

Possible answers:

The Fatherland
Marianne
Reason
Liberty

Answer

Marianne is the allegory of the Republic and Liberty. Her bust adorns town halls and her face appears on French postage stamps.

Question 18

Question 18 : Which revolutionary political group was named after a region in southwestern France?

Possible answers:

The Vendéens
The Girondins
The Bretons
The Provençals

Answer

The Girondins (from Gironde) were moderate deputies opposed to the Montagnards. Many were guillotined in 1793.

Question 19

Question 19 : Which 1792 battle was the first major victory of the revolutionary armies against the Prussians?

Possible answers:

Valmy
Fleurus
Jemmapes
Austerlitz

Answer

The Battle of Valmy (September 20, 1792) stopped the Prussian invasion. Goethe declared: "From this place and this day begins a new epoch in world history."

Question 20

Question 20 : Which political regime succeeded the National Convention in 1795?

Possible answers:

The Consulate
The Empire
Constitutional Monarchy
The Directory

Answer

The Directory (1795-1799) was a regime of five directors. Weakened by corruption and instability, it was overthrown by Bonaparte.

Similar quizzes

May 6th Through History

May 5th Throughout History

May 4th Through History

May 3rd Through History

Similar quizzes

May 6th Through History

May 5th Throughout History

May 4th Through History

May 3rd Through History

The French Revolution: 1789 and Beyond

Similar quizzes

May 6th Through History

May 5th Throughout History

May 4th Through History

May 3rd Through History

The 20 quiz questions

Question 1 : In what year did the storming of the Bastille take place?

Question 2 : What was the name of the assembly that adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?

Question 3 : Which revolutionary was nicknamed "the Incorruptible"?

Question 4 : Which King of France was guillotined during the French Revolution?

Question 5 : What event on June 20, 1789 saw deputies swear not to separate until they had given France a Constitution?

Question 6 : Which Queen of France was guillotined on October 16, 1793?

Question 7 : What is the name of the violent repression period led by the Committee of Public Safety in 1793-1794?

Question 8 : Which French doctor gave his name to the execution instrument used during the Revolution?

Question 9 : Which motto originated from the French Revolution?

Question 10 : Which revolutionary journalist was assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday?

Question 11 : What event on August 4, 1789 abolished feudal privileges?

Question 12 : In June 1791, where was the royal family arrested during their escape attempt?

Question 13 : Which revolutionary political club met in a former Dominican convent?

Question 14 : Which calendar was established in 1793 to break with the Christian era?

Question 15 : What were the volunteer soldiers who defended Revolutionary France against European armies called?

Question 16 : Which Corsican general seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire, ending the Revolution?

Question 17 : What symbol represents the French Republic, often wearing a Phrygian cap?

Question 18 : Which revolutionary political group was named after a region in southwestern France?

Question 19 : Which 1792 battle was the first major victory of the revolutionary armies against the Prussians?

Question 20 : Which political regime succeeded the National Convention in 1795?

Similar quizzes

May 6th Through History

May 5th Throughout History

May 4th Through History

May 3rd Through History