Lesson 2H.1.1

2H.1.1 End of Absolutism and the French Revolution, 1774–1795 Quiz: AQA History, Unit 19

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 2H.1.1, End of Absolutism and the French Revolution, 1774–1795: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA History (7042), Unit 19: 2H France in Revolution, 1774–1815, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In what year did Louis XVI succeed to the French throne?

    • 1789
    • 1770
    • 1783
    • 1774

  2. Which finance minister, dismissed in 1776, attempted to reform taxation and abolish guild privileges?

    • Necker
    • Calonne
    • Brienne
    • Turgot

  3. Which body, summoned by Louis XVI in February 1787, rejected Calonne's proposal for a universal land tax?

    • The Estates-General
    • The Assembly of Notables
    • The Parlement of Paris
    • The National Assembly

  4. Which estate of the Estates-General represented the clergy?

    • The Third Estate
    • The First Estate
    • The Fourth Estate
    • The Second Estate

  5. What event of 14 July 1789 became a symbol of the French Revolution?

    • The Tennis Court Oath
    • The storming of the Bastille
    • The fall of the Tuileries Palace
    • The execution of Louis XVI

  6. Why did the Third Estate deputies take the Tennis Court Oath in June 1789?

    • To elect Mirabeau as president of the Estates-General
    • To accept the king's terms for reform and to dissolve the Estates-General
    • To bind themselves not to separate until a constitution had been written
    • To ask the Pope to mediate between the Third Estate and the king

  7. Which declaration, adopted by the National Assembly in August 1789, set out the rights of individuals?

    • The Civil Constitution of the Clergy
    • The Declaration of the Rights of Women
    • The Declaration of Pillnitz
    • The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

  8. What was the Great Fear of July and August 1789?

    • A royal plot to starve Paris by cutting off grain supplies
    • A mass rising of urban workers in Lyon against the Assembly
    • A rural panic in which peasants attacked seigneurial records and manorial dues
    • A rebellion of Protestant peasants in the south of France

  9. What brought the royal family from Versailles to Paris in October 1789?

    • The Great Fear in the countryside around Paris
    • A march of Parisian women and the National Guard to Versailles
    • The arrest of Lafayette by the royal guards
    • The Assembly's decision to move to Lyon

  10. Which 1790 law made the clergy elected by the people and paid by the state?

    • The Constitution of 1791
    • The Civil Constitution of the Clergy
    • The Declaration of Pillnitz
    • The Law of Suspects

  11. Why did Louis XVI attempt to flee Paris in June 1791?

    • He hoped to reach royalist forces on the border and regain his authority
    • He wanted to join the Austrian army and lead it against the revolutionaries
    • He wanted to raise support in the provinces for a new Parliament
    • He had been ordered by the Pope to leave France for Rome

  12. What happened at the Champ de Mars in July 1791?

    • The National Guard was disbanded and its officers were executed
    • Royalists attacked the Assembly and seized control of the army
    • The Declaration of War against Austria was read aloud to the crowd
    • Troops fired on republican petitioners who had gathered to demand the king's removal

  13. Which country did France declare war on first, in April 1792?

    • Prussia
    • Britain
    • Austria
    • Spain

  14. What happened on 10 August 1792 in Paris?

    • The Estates-General was dissolved by royal decree
    • The Assembly voted to crown Louis XVI as a constitutional king
    • The National Convention was elected to draft a constitution
    • The Tuileries Palace was stormed and the monarchy was suspended

  15. What were the September massacres of 1792?

    • The execution of Girondin deputies by the Convention
    • Killings of prisoners in Paris by armed crowds, including many clergy and royalist suspects
    • Attacks on Protestants in the Cevennes by royal forces
    • The murder of Marat by a royalist woman in his bath

  16. On what date was Louis XVI executed in Paris?

    • 21 July 1794
    • 21 June 1791
    • 21 September 1792
    • 21 January 1793

  17. What was the levee en masse decreed in August 1793?

    • The creation of a royalist army in the Vendee to fight the Convention
    • The abolition of the Republic and the restoration of the monarchy
    • Mass conscription of the population to defend the Republic against its enemies
    • The release of political prisoners from the jails of Paris

  18. In which month of the revolutionary calendar did Robespierre fall from power in July 1794?

    • Thermidor
    • Vendemiaire
    • Germinal
    • Brumaire

  19. Which best explains why the Revolution moved so quickly from reform to radical change in 1789?

    • The Church had called for the abolition of the monarchy and the revolution was led by priests
    • A combination of financial crisis, political deadlock, popular unrest and the failure of royal authority created a situation of revolution
    • The king had accepted all of the demands of the Third Estate and so there was no need for further change
    • The Assembly had no members from the Third Estate, and so the revolution was started by nobles in opposition to the crown

  20. Which best evaluates the Constitution of 1791 as an attempt at constitutional monarchy?

    • It established a republic with a president elected by universal suffrage
    • It restored absolute monarchy and abolished the National Assembly
    • It was undermined by mistrust between the king and the Assembly, and it failed within a year
    • It was a complete success, and it remained in force until the fall of Napoleon

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