The French Revolution Quiz

Question 1

In which year did the French Revolution begin?

Accepted Answer

1789

Answer

1776

Answer

1793

Answer

1799

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

A prison and fortress — storming it symbolised the people's power over tyranny

Answer

A royal palace — it symbolised royal wealth

Answer

A church — it symbolised the Church's power

Answer

A parliament — it symbolised political oppression

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Answer

Vive la France!

Answer

Liberté, Justice, Paix

Answer

République, Liberté, Démocratie

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

Louis XVI

Answer

Louis XIV

Answer

Louis XV

Answer

Louis XVIII

Question 5

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

Accepted Answer

A period of radical revolutionary violence in which thousands were guillotined as 'enemies of the revolution'

Answer

A period of foreign invasion of France

Answer

A royalist counter-revolution

Answer

A period of Napoleon's military campaigns

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

Maximilien Robespierre

Answer

Georges Danton

Answer

Jean-Paul Marat

Answer

Jacques Necker

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

The American Declaration of Independence (1776)

Answer

The English Bill of Rights (1689)

Answer

The Magna Carta (1215)

Answer

The UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Question 8

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

Accepted Answer

Clergy, Nobility, and the Third Estate (commoners)

Answer

Nobility, Clergy, Peasants

Answer

King, Nobles, Clergy

Answer

Parliament, Church, People

Question 9

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

Accepted Answer

Austria

Answer

Spain

Answer

Prussia

Answer

Britain

Question 10

How did Napoleon Bonaparte rise to power after the Revolution?

Accepted Answer

He staged a coup (18 Brumaire, 1799) and became First Consul, then Emperor

Answer

He was elected president

Answer

He was invited back to the throne by royalists

Answer

He won a popular referendum to be king

Question 11

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

Accepted Answer

The political and social system of France before the Revolution

Answer

The revolutionary government after 1789

Answer

Napoleon's empire

Answer

The restored monarchy after 1815

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed it as a more humane execution method

Answer

It is named after the revolutionary Guillot

Answer

Robespierre invented it as a symbol of equality

Answer

It was invented during the Terror specifically

Question 13

The Vendée Uprising (1793-96) was:

Accepted Answer

A royalist counter-revolution in western France that was brutally suppressed

Answer

A Parisian workers' revolt

Answer

An attack on the revolutionary government by foreign powers

Answer

A military coup against Robespierre

Question 14

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

Accepted Answer

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Answer

Voltaire

Answer

Montesquieu

Answer

John Locke

Question 15

What was the 'Committee of Public Safety'?

Accepted Answer

A revolutionary governing committee that wielded near-dictatorial power during the Terror

Answer

A neighbourhood watch body

Answer

A committee to manage France's wars

Answer

A body protecting citizens from revolutionary violence

Question 16

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

Accepted Answer

Year One

Answer

Year Zero

Answer

Year Two

Answer

Year Three

Question 17

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

Accepted Answer

Napoleon's conquests spread revolutionary ideals (and chaos) across Europe

Answer

The formation of the USA

Answer

The abolition of slavery worldwide

Answer

Britain became a republic

Question 18

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

Accepted Answer

He was stabbed in his bath by Charlotte Corday

Answer

He was guillotined during the Terror

Answer

He died in battle defending Paris

Answer

He escaped to England and died in exile

Question 19

What was the Directory (1795-99)?

Accepted Answer

The revolutionary government that ruled France between the Terror and Napoleon's coup

Answer

Napoleon's council of advisers

Answer

A committee of Jacobin radicals

Answer

The restored monarchy

Question 20

The French Revolution ultimately ended with what outcome?

Accepted Answer

Napoleon's empire replacing the Republic in 1804

Answer

A stable democratic republic

Answer

A restoration of the monarchy in 1794

Answer

A constitutional monarchy in 1795