a revolution is the forcible overthrow of a government: a great or complete change

the status quo is a term used to refer to the way things are or the existing way society is set up

a pamphlet is a small booklet or leaflet written to argue for or against an idea

when there is a great change in society it is known as a social upheaval

a constitution is a set of basic principles or laws that govern a nation

British responses to the French Revolution

History

The spread of radical revolutionary ideas from France to Ireland

The rise of Napoleon and his fight for the new French Republic

The reign of Napoleon: war and legal reforms

Britain and the Napoleonic Wars

Understanding the Napoleonic era through political cartoons

In this unit, pupils analyse how European nations reacted to the French Revolution and its challenges to monarchy and social order. In the unit, ‘Women's suffrage: why did it take so long for women to get the vote in Britain?’, pupils will trace the long fight for democratic rights in Britain, building on the revolutionary ideas of equality and representation.

In ‘The Enlightenment: what was the Enlightenment?’, pupils explored the rise of new ideas about reason, liberty, and individual rights that challenged traditional authority. Building on this, the current unit examines how these Enlightenment ideas influenced Europe’s reactions to the French Revolution and its radical transformation of society and politics.

In this unit, pupils learn about British responses to the French Revolution and Napoleon's rise. They examine how revolutionary ideas spread to Ireland and end the unit by learning about the Napoleonic Wars and how this period was represented in political cartoons of the day.

The French Revolution: How did Europe respond to the French Revolution?

Depiction of war, threats of war, death or the aftermath of war.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Which laws were brought in by the British government due to discontent caused by the French Revolution?

Was Edmund Burke for or against the spread of French revolutionary radical ideas?

Match the British political thinker to the pamphlet that they wrote.

In what year did the French people execute their king, Louis XVI?

Which group in French society broke away from the Estates-General and launched the French Revolution in 1789?

Which of these British political thinkers wanted to encourage the spread of radical revolutionary ideas from France to Britain?

Put these time periods into the correct chronological order.

During the Scientific Revolution of the 1500s, which of these people challenged the teachings of the Church by explaining that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the other way around?

Which of the following thinkers do we class as belonging to the Enlightenment movement of the 1700s?

Match the events with the year they took place

What word is used to describe a country without a monarch?

little effect - monarchs remained calm despite revolutions in other countries

no effect - monarchs just ignored what was going on in other countries

large effect - monarchs worried that revolution would spread to their countries

What effect did revolutions that were happening all around the world have on monarchs in the 1700s and 1800s?

British responses to the French Revolution

Lesson outcome

Content guidance