[American] and [French] Revolutions - Notes/Questions/Study

[AngelTyrael]

Needed.. NEEDED to revive a thread for these two revolutions.

Feel free to ask any questions relating to the revolutions here, and to post any notes you find relevant e.g. timelines, summarised events, discussion of causes and of results etc.

I have a pretty general query:

- I'm lacking a bit in the American rev department, and I've decided it's going to be my Section A, what specifics should i cover to ensure i have everything important covered?

Obviously 'the whole course' is relevant, and a reasonable answer, but what needs to be sharpened?

Events? = The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, The battle at Lexington and Conchord,

Causes? = Townshend Acts, Stampt Act, Declaratory Act, Quartering Act, Intolerable Acts (Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Quartering Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quebec Act)

Leaders? = George Washington, Thomas Jefferson

Other documents? = The Treaty of Paris, The Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights

Looks like i just made myself a 'to-do summary list' right there o.O

[Amnesiac]

Hey, although i do Russian and Chinese i still think i may be abl to help you.
Firstly, get a broad overview of what events occured in the years leading up to the revolution, and then start focusing on specifics (i.e. all the leaders, events and movements you have mentioned above). It's imperative you have an overall undertanding of when events occurred and what their outcomes were. It's pointless focusing on specifics if you don't understand the basics, but hey, you might and i may just be stupid haha.

Anyway, hope that helps. If you have any other 'broad' questions that i can relate to all revolutions then i'd be happy to help.

[Aurelie.]

I'm so entirely screwed for France I feel like I don't know anything!!

Russia is easy though

[Amnesiac]

Do some revision then Aurelie lol - You'll find that all the information will come back rather easily. The exam is only 3 days away!!

[AngelTyrael]

French Revolution: What to keep an eye out for

Causes:
- Famine
- National Debt
- The Enlightenment (Ideas of democracy, democratic/enlightened Monarchy, all these revolutionary ideas and ideals)
- Economic turmoil --> The King and the Assembly of Notables

Events: Early On
- Estates General (3rd Estate refuse/defy the King, want fairness in voting)
- Tennis Court Oath --> National Assembly Formed --> Ideals are first presented and oath is taken to continue working till France is in a better state
- Storming of Bastille --> Indicates the strength and uncontrollable nature of the Parisian mob
- Women's March to Versailles --> Bring King back to 'work' on reforming France (crowd cheers)
- Flight to Varennes --> King brought back after fleeing (crowd is in utter silence, sign of disrespect etc)
- Revolution of the Church
- The Terror (study this!)

There is ofcourse more o.O

[Aurelie.]

Do some revision then Aurelie lol - You'll find that all the information will come back rather easily. The exam is only 3 days away!!

Ahaha! Hoe dodgy am I.... there's no motivation or sense of urgency left in my whatsoever. I freaking hope it does, but i have politics on the same day .. god im such a whine!!

[Butler]

France is definitely my weakness as well, though having read over old information it's kind of starting to flood back into my memory.

[Amnesiac]

You'll be fine Butler, considing your breadth of knowledge for Russia.

[JL_91]

I still feel so screwed for France...I'll be putting in 2 intensive days of studying today and tomorrow to get it right!
Russia's fine. And overall, I need to memorise a few more historians' quotes. How many do you guys think you've memorised? I'm just so scared that in the exam I'll end up with a topic/question for which I have no quotes ready!

[Amnesiac]

I initially had the same problem, but i don't think you need to memorise heaps. You just need to be able to apply each to the question you get. For the post revolution in Russia i would say that i have about 6 that i use - They spread over all the key crisis/events that occurred, and some even offer a broader critique at the nature of the new order. For the pre revolution in China i have probably have around the same, maybe even a few more. For the post revolution in China i only have about 4 perspectives, one for each key event/crisis. Seeing as though i'm doing it for the essay i'm just going to include one per paragraph, so there's no point learning a truck load when you're not going to use them all.

[ElephantStew]

amnesiac, which historians have you been using for China, i've been using hsu, spence, gray, jung chang (she's quite entertaining) and of course meisner

[Butler]

I just love reading Pipes and getting quotes from him about Lenin and the Bolsheviks. He's such a hater.

[ElephantStew]

lol yeah good ol' Pipes ripping into the bolsheviks

[JL_91]

And for the French Rev - Schama ripping into the use of violence/brutality. Good old British historians lol. Easiest to remember!

[Amnesiac]

amnesiac, which historians have you been using for China, i've been using hsu, spence, gray, jung chang (she's quite entertaining) and of course meisner

Hey man, i use Hsu, Suyin and Spence a fair bit. A also use Edgar Snow because he was a primary source. For the Japanese Invasion and the Civil War i use J. Spence - he has some interesting insights as to why the Communists defeated the Nationalists. Aside from that, i am fairly light on historiography for the pre revolution. I'd be interested to hear about Grey and Chang.

For the post revolution i use R. Macfarqhuan for the 100 Flowers Movement, Snow for the Great Leap forward and Meisner or Leys for the Cultural Revolution.

If you'd be willing to send me a document with your collected historiography (if you have compiled one) i would be happy to send you mine so we can compare - As they say, knowledge is power, and it's also good to get more than one perspective.