FR - section 9 - hard - Polish Partitions and Reign of Terror Quiz

The Polish Partitions and Reign of Terror

• The new Polish constitution of 1791 strengthened the monarchy and asserted the power of the people in civil society, leading to reforms such as equality before the law and religious toleration.
• Frederick William II of Prussia promised to defend the new Polish constitutional order to counter Russian influence, but later reached an agreement with Catherine the Great to carry out the second partition of Poland in 1793.
• Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a veteran of the American Revolution, led the reformist Polish forces against the Russian invasion, but was defeated. The subsequent mutiny and rebellion led to the partitioning of Poland among Prussia, Austria, and Russia in 1795.
• Polish officers and troops who escaped Poland later fought with the French Revolution and Napoleon against the partitioning powers.
• The French Revolution's invasion of the Austrian Netherlands in 1792 sparked active hostility from the rest of Europe, with the Convention declaring war against Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Sardinia, and Holland, forming the First Coalition.
• The widening of the war in 1792-1793 brought radical political actions in France as the revolutionary government mobilized for the conflict, with the major issue being the defense of the new republican political and social order.
• The Reign of Terror was a period of extraordinary actions taken by the revolutionary government to protect the achievements of the revolution, resulting in arbitrary arrests and executions.
• To mobilize for war, the revolutionary government organized powerful committees, including the Committee of Public Safety, which enjoyed almost dictatorial power and sought to save the revolution from enemies at home and abroad.
• The Levée en Masse was a policy implemented by the Convention to mobilize all French national life on a wartime footing, securing domestic support for the war effort.
• The Committee of Public Safety had a working political relationship with the sans-culottes of Paris but saw it as an alliance of expediency.
• The radicalization of the Convention and the expulsion of the Girondist members gave the Mountain complete control, leading to the Reign of Terror and the immense military effort to protect and promote revolutionary ideals.
• The actions taken to protect the revolution and silence dissent during the Reign of Terror came to be known as the Reign of Terror.