This assignment should be complied up to Friday, February 28, 2011. Make your answers brief and concise. Provide also the URL at the end of each answers. Make sure you have read and familiarize your answers in preparation for the quiz. A. Provide basic information about the following figure and their participation in the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic War . Also include their achievements and he reason of their downfall.
1. Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte [napoleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt], Italian: Napoleone Bonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a military and political leader of France and Emperor of the French as Napoleon I, whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.
Napoleon was born in Corsica, France to parents of minor noble Italian ancestry and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. Bonaparte rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—involving every major European power. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe, and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French client states. He was defeated at the battle of waterloo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
2. Duke Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. 29 April/1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852), was an Anglo-Irish[1] soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. He is often referred to as simply "The Duke of Wellington", even after his death, when there have been subsequent Dukes of Wellington.
Born in Ireland to a prominent Ascendancy family, he was commissioned an ensign in the British Army in 1787. Serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland he was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. A colonel by 1796, Wellesley saw action in the Netherlands and later India where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was later appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore.
Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a Dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which, with a Prussian army under Blücher, defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellesley's battle record is exemplary, ultimately participating in some 60 battles throughout his military career.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Wellington
3. Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (IPA: [maksimiljɛ̃ fʁɑ̃swa maʁi izidɔʁ də ʁɔbɛspjɛʁ]; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his arrest and execution in 1794.
Robespierre was influenced by 18th century Enlightenment philosophes such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu, and he was a capable articulator of the beliefs of the left-wing bourgeoisie. He was described as being physically unimposing yet immaculate in attire and personal manners. His supporters called him "The Incorruptible", while his adversaries called him "dictateur sanguinaire" (blood-thirsty dictator).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre
*4.George Danton
Georges Jacques Danton (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ dɑ̃tɔ̃]; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic".[2] A moderating influence on the Jacobins, he was guillotined by the advocates of revolutionary terror after accusations of venality and leniency to the enemies of the Revolution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Danton
What happened to France after the Napoleonic War. Discuss and provide a brief and concise account about the war.
Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated and went into exile on St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic. Louis XVIII returned to rule over France.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happened_at_the_end_of_the_Napoleonic_Wars#ixzz1F3PGUZZn
*C. Introduce the following personalities and their accomplishments in their respective countries:
1. Queen Isabela
*Isabella I (Spanish: Isabel I, Ysabel, Galician: Sabela I) (22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504) was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
She is widely known by the Latin form of her name, Isabella. Pope Alexander VI named Isabella and her husband the Catholic Monarchs, so she is often known as Isabel la Católica ("Isabella the Catholic").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile2. King Carlos V
Charles V (Spanish: Carlos I or Carlos I de España y V de Alemania; German: Karl V., Dutch: Karel V, French: Charles Quint, 24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.
As the heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties—the House of Habsburg of the Habsburg Monarchy; the House of Valois-Burgundy of the Duchy of Burgundy; and the House of Trastámara of Crown of Castile-León & Aragon—he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western, and Southern Europe; and the Spanish colonies in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and Asia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
3. King Philip II
Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe Auguste; 21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne. He was originally nicknamed Dieudonné—the God-given—as he was the first son of Louis VII late in his father's life.
Philip was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy. He broke up the great Angevin Empire and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He reorganised the government, bringing financial stability to the country and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign was popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobles and passed some of it on to the growing middle class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_France*4. Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Russian: Ива́н Четвёртый, Васи́льевич (help·info), Ivan Chetvyorty, Vasilyevich; 25 August 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584),[1] known in English as Ivan the Terrible (Russian: Ива́н Гро́зный (help·info), Ivan Groznyi; lit. Dreadful), was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres, approximately 4,046,856 km2 (1,562,500 sq mi).[2] Ivan oversaw numerous changes in the transition from a medieval nation state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first Tsar of a new and more powerful nation.
Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness. One notable outburst may have resulted in the death of his groomed and chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich, which led to the passing of the Tsardom to the younger son: the weak and possibly mentally retarded[3] Feodor I of Russia. His contemporaries called him "Ivan Groznyi" the name, which, although usually translated as "Terrible", actually means something closer to "Great" and carries connotations of might, power and strictness rather than horror or cruelty.[4][5][6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_IV_of_Russia
5. Peter the great
Peter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (Russian: Пётр Алексе́евич Рома́нов, Пётр I, Pyotr I, or Пётр Вели́кий, Pyotr Velikiy) (9 June [O.S. 30 May] 1672 – 8 February [O.S. 28 January] 1725)[a] ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V.
He carried out a policy of modernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into a 3-billion acre Russian Empire, a major European power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great
*6. Catherine the Great
She reigned as Empress of Russia from 9 July [O.S. 28 June] 1762 after the assassination of her husband, Peter III, just after the end of the Seven Years' War until her death on 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796.
Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to modernize along Western European lines. Catherine's rule re-vitalized Russia, which grew stronger than ever and became recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. She had successes in foreign policy and oversaw sometimes brutal reprisals in the wake of rebellion (most notably Pugachev's Rebellion).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_II_of_Russia*7. Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa started her 40-year reign when her father, Emperor Charles VI, died in October 1740. Charles VI paved the way for her accession with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, as the Habsburg lands were bound by Salic law which prevented female succession.[3] Upon the death of her father, Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria and France repudiated the sanction they had recognised during his lifetime. Prussia proceeded to invade the affluent Habsburg province of Silesia, sparking a nine-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession. Maria Theresa would later unsuccessfully try to reconquer Silesia during the Seven Years' War.Maria Theresa was the absolute sovereign who ruled by the counsel of her advisers.[5] She criticised and disapproved of many of Joseph's actions. Although she is considered to have been intellectually inferior to both Joseph and Leopold,[5] Maria Theresa understood the importance of her public persona and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection from her subjects.[6]
Maria Theresa promulgated financial and educational reforms, with the assistance of Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz and Gottfried van Swieten, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganised Austria's ramshackle military, all of which strengthened Austria's international standing. However, she refused to allow religious toleration[7] and contemporary travellers thought her regime was bigoted and superstitious.[8] As a young monarch who fought two dynastic wars, she believed that her cause should be the cause of her subjects, but in her later years she would believe that their cause must be hers.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria#cite_note-3
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Answer these using internet.
Note: URL should be placed at the last part of each answers. Answers should be posted in your own blog. Meaning you have to create your own blog and add knowieclose1028@yahoo.com as author. Thank u. Worth 100 points and should be complied up to Friday night February 18, 2011.
1. Where did the name France came from?
The name France comes from Latin Francia, which literally means "land of the Franks, Frankland". Originally it applied to the whole Frankish Empire, extending from southern France to eastern Germany.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/22167
2. What is absolute monarchy? Tell how it ended as a system of government in France?
Absolute monarchy is an idealized form of government, a monarchy where the ruler has the power to rule his or her country and citizens freely with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition telling him or her what to do, although some religious authority may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom. As a theory of civics, absolute monarchy puts total trust in well-bred and well-trained monarchs raised for the role from birth.
In theory, an absolute monarch has total power over his or her people and land, including the aristocracy, but in practice, absolute monarchs have often found their power limited.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Absolute_monarchy
France (between the years 1763-1789) and Russia (between 1914-1917) experienced a collapse in the once dominant system of detested absolute monarchy. Both cases were the result of land-grabbing and colonizing attempts that finally led to extensive warfare. With the wars raging at the behest of absolutist rulers in each country, the citizenry was becoming increasingly disenchanted with higher taxes and less benefits for the non-aristocratic, thus leading to peasant and middle-class attacks on these already war-weakened and near-crippled institutions. With this double-assault of weakened power structures due to ongoing and expensive wars over territory and the increase in citizen displeasure, the fall of both Louis XIV’s monarchy in France and Nicholas’ equally absolutist regime in Russia seems inevitable.
http://www.articlemyriad.com/95.htm
3. Tell something about the following leaders in France ( their role, achievements, accomplishments)
a. King Louis XIII
Louis XIII (27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643. Along with his First Minister Cardinal Richelieu, Louis "the Just" is remembered for the establishment of the Académie française and participation in the Thirty Years' War against the House of Habsburg.[1] France's greatest victory in the war came at the Battle of Rocroi, five days after Louis' death—apparently from complications of intestinal tuberculosis, "marking the end of Spain's military ascendancy in Europe."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIII_of_France
b. King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), known as the Sun King (French: le Roi Soleil), was King of France and of Navarre.[1] His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.[2]
Louis began personally governing France in 1661 after the death of his prime minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin.[3] An adherent of the theory of the divine right of kings, which advocates the divine origin and lack of temporal restraint of monarchical rule, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralized state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and, by compelling the noble elite to inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during Louis' minority.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France
c. Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu (French pronunciation: [ʁiʃəljø]; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642) was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he fostered.
The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King's "Chief Minister" or "First Minister." As a result, he is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve this goal. His tenure was marked by the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe.
Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l'Éminence rouge ("the Red Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's clerical dress and the style "eminence" as a cardinal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu
d. Mazarin
Jules Mazarin (French pronunciation: [ʒyl mazaʁɛ̃]; July 14, 1602 – March 9, 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazarino or Mazarini,[1] was a French-Italian[2] cardinal, diplomat, and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death. Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a noted collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds, and he bequeathed the "Mazarin diamonds" to Louis XIV in 1661, some of which remain in the collection of the Louvre museum in Paris.[3] His personal library was the origin of the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Mazarin
4. What is a General Estates in France? What is its composition? Describe each.
The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June of 1789, but came to an impasse as the three Estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution.
The "First Estate" was the Church (clergy = those who prayed). The "Second Estate" was the Nobility (those who fought = knights). It was common for aristocrats to enter the Church and thus shift from the second to the first estate. The "Third Estate" was the Peasantry (everyone else, at least under feudalism: those who produced the food which supported those who prayed and those who fought, the members of the First and Second Estates).
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl430/estates.html
5. Tell something about the following events in the history of France:
1. Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (French: Guerre de Cent Ans) was a series of wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets claimed to be Kings of France and England. The Plantagenet kings were the 12th century rulers of the Kingdom of England, and had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War
2. Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe. Naval warfare also reached overseas and shaped the colonial formation of future nations.
The origins of the conflict and goals of the participants were complex, and no single cause can accurately be described as the main reason for the fighting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War
3. War of Spanish Successions
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was fought among several European powers, principally the Spanish loyal to Archduke Charles, the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy against the Spanish loyal to Philip V, France and the Electorate of Bavaria over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. Such a unification would have drastically changed the European balance of power. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America and it was marked by the military leadership of notable generals including the Duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. It resulted in the recognition of Philip as King of Spain while requiring him to renounce any claim to the French throne and to cede much of the Spanish Crown's possessions to the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Savoy and Great Britain, partitioning the Spanish Empire in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession
4. French Revolution
The French Revolution (French: Révolution française; 1789–99) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.
The French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution witnessed members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between various liberal assemblies and a conservative monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars started in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine—achievements that had defied previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed.[1] After the fall of Robespierre and the Jacobins, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte.
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=French_Revolution
Note: URL should be placed at the last part of each answers. Answers should be posted in your own blog. Meaning you have to create your own blog and add knowieclose1028@yahoo.com as author. Thank u. Worth 100 points and should be complied up to Friday night February 18, 2011.
1. Where did the name France came from?
The name France comes from Latin Francia, which literally means "land of the Franks, Frankland". Originally it applied to the whole Frankish Empire, extending from southern France to eastern Germany.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/22167
2. What is absolute monarchy? Tell how it ended as a system of government in France?
Absolute monarchy is an idealized form of government, a monarchy where the ruler has the power to rule his or her country and citizens freely with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition telling him or her what to do, although some religious authority may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom. As a theory of civics, absolute monarchy puts total trust in well-bred and well-trained monarchs raised for the role from birth.
In theory, an absolute monarch has total power over his or her people and land, including the aristocracy, but in practice, absolute monarchs have often found their power limited.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Absolute_monarchy
France (between the years 1763-1789) and Russia (between 1914-1917) experienced a collapse in the once dominant system of detested absolute monarchy. Both cases were the result of land-grabbing and colonizing attempts that finally led to extensive warfare. With the wars raging at the behest of absolutist rulers in each country, the citizenry was becoming increasingly disenchanted with higher taxes and less benefits for the non-aristocratic, thus leading to peasant and middle-class attacks on these already war-weakened and near-crippled institutions. With this double-assault of weakened power structures due to ongoing and expensive wars over territory and the increase in citizen displeasure, the fall of both Louis XIV’s monarchy in France and Nicholas’ equally absolutist regime in Russia seems inevitable.
http://www.articlemyriad.com/95.htm
3. Tell something about the following leaders in France ( their role, achievements, accomplishments)
a. King Louis XIII
Louis XIII (27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643. Along with his First Minister Cardinal Richelieu, Louis "the Just" is remembered for the establishment of the Académie française and participation in the Thirty Years' War against the House of Habsburg.[1] France's greatest victory in the war came at the Battle of Rocroi, five days after Louis' death—apparently from complications of intestinal tuberculosis, "marking the end of Spain's military ascendancy in Europe."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIII_of_France
b. King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), known as the Sun King (French: le Roi Soleil), was King of France and of Navarre.[1] His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.[2]
Louis began personally governing France in 1661 after the death of his prime minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin.[3] An adherent of the theory of the divine right of kings, which advocates the divine origin and lack of temporal restraint of monarchical rule, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralized state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and, by compelling the noble elite to inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during Louis' minority.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France
c. Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu (French pronunciation: [ʁiʃəljø]; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642) was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he fostered.
The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King's "Chief Minister" or "First Minister." As a result, he is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister, in the modern sense of the term. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve this goal. His tenure was marked by the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe.
Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l'Éminence rouge ("the Red Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's clerical dress and the style "eminence" as a cardinal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu
d. Mazarin
Jules Mazarin (French pronunciation: [ʒyl mazaʁɛ̃]; July 14, 1602 – March 9, 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazarino or Mazarini,[1] was a French-Italian[2] cardinal, diplomat, and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death. Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a noted collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds, and he bequeathed the "Mazarin diamonds" to Louis XIV in 1661, some of which remain in the collection of the Louvre museum in Paris.[3] His personal library was the origin of the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Mazarin
4. What is a General Estates in France? What is its composition? Describe each.
The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (French: Les États-Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June of 1789, but came to an impasse as the three Estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution.
The "First Estate" was the Church (clergy = those who prayed). The "Second Estate" was the Nobility (those who fought = knights). It was common for aristocrats to enter the Church and thus shift from the second to the first estate. The "Third Estate" was the Peasantry (everyone else, at least under feudalism: those who produced the food which supported those who prayed and those who fought, the members of the First and Second Estates).
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl430/estates.html
5. Tell something about the following events in the history of France:
1. Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War (French: Guerre de Cent Ans) was a series of wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets claimed to be Kings of France and England. The Plantagenet kings were the 12th century rulers of the Kingdom of England, and had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War
2. Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe. Naval warfare also reached overseas and shaped the colonial formation of future nations.
The origins of the conflict and goals of the participants were complex, and no single cause can accurately be described as the main reason for the fighting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War
3. War of Spanish Successions
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was fought among several European powers, principally the Spanish loyal to Archduke Charles, the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy against the Spanish loyal to Philip V, France and the Electorate of Bavaria over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. Such a unification would have drastically changed the European balance of power. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America and it was marked by the military leadership of notable generals including the Duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. It resulted in the recognition of Philip as King of Spain while requiring him to renounce any claim to the French throne and to cede much of the Spanish Crown's possessions to the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Savoy and Great Britain, partitioning the Spanish Empire in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession
4. French Revolution
The French Revolution (French: Révolution française; 1789–99) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.
The French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution witnessed members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between various liberal assemblies and a conservative monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms. A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars started in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine—achievements that had defied previous French governments for centuries. Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed.[1] After the fall of Robespierre and the Jacobins, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte.
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=French_Revolution
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