Key term
WJEC A-Level History 601-5817-7
Government, Rebellion and Society in Wales and England c.1485-1603Period study
Topic overviewHenry VII and the establishment of the Tudor dynastyThe revolution in government under Henry VIIIWolsey, Cromwell and Cecil as chief ministersElizabeth, the privy council and ParliamentThe Henrician ReformationReligion under Edward VI and Mary IThe Elizabethan Church SettlementThe Pilgrimage of Grace and the Tudor rebellionsTrade, industry and the growth of townsThe rise of the gentry and social changePoverty, vagrancy and the poor lawsThe Acts of Union and the government of WalesReligion, the Welsh Bible and Welsh identity
Government, Revolution and Society in Wales and England c.1603-1715Period study
Topic overviewJames I and the Stuart accessionCharles I and the drift to conflictThe causes and course of the Civil WarRegicide and the experiment in republicThe Restoration of 1660Charles II, Parliament and the succession crisisJames II and the Glorious RevolutionThe Revolution Settlement and party politics
Politics, Protest and Reform in Wales and England c.1780-1880Period study
Topic overviewThe unreformed electoral system and early demands for reformThe French Revolution, British radicalism and repression 1789-1812Radical discontent and Lord Liverpool's governments 1812-1822The Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830The Reform Act crisis and the Great Reform Act of 1832The Merthyr Rising of 1831Rural protest: the Swing riots and the Rebecca riotsChartism in Wales and EnglandThe motives for social reform and the new Poor LawFactory, mines, public health and education reform 1833-1848Peel, the Anti-Corn Law League and the repeal of the Corn LawsThe Liberal party, Gladstone and Disraeli 1859-1880
Politics, People and Progress: Wales and England c.1880-1980Period study
Topic overviewThe Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914Economic problems and responses in the 1920s and 1930sThe Labour governments of 1945-1951The changing fortunes of the Liberal PartyThe Conservative Party and coalition governmentThe growth of the Labour PartyThe impact of the Boer War and the First World WarThe social and economic impact of the Second World WarThe changing economy, work and employment 1918-1980The Welsh language, culture and demands for political changeSocial, religious and cultural change 1918-1980The campaign for women's suffrage before 1918Women, the franchise and changing status 1918-1980
Political and Religious Change in Europe c.1500-1598Period study
Topic overviewThe Catholic Church in the early sixteenth centuryExploration, the New World and its impact on EuropeThe growing power of the nation statesRenaissance culture and humanismLuther and the challenge to RomeThe spread of Lutheranism: printing, towns and social pressuresFrom the Schmalkaldic League to the Peace of AugsburgThe Counter-Reformation and the Council of TrentFrancis I and the French monarchyHabsburg-Valois rivalryCharles V and the government of the Holy Roman EmpirePhilip II: finance, government and foreign policySuleiman the Magnificent and Ottoman expansionThe Christian reaction and the battle of Lepanto
Europe in the Age of Absolutism and Revolution c.1682-1815Period study
Topic overviewPeter the Great's reform of government and societyThe Church, the economy and the armed forces under Peter the GreatWesternisation and the building of St PetersburgThe Great Northern War and Peter the Great's foreign policyFrederick the Great's accession and the Prussian inheritanceFrederick the Great's domestic reformsFrederick the Great as an enlightened despotFrance under Louis XV and the ancien régimeThe structure of the French state: crown, finance and ChurchLouis XVI and the causes of the French RevolutionThe Baltic and the Great Powers after the Great Northern WarThe War of the Austrian Succession and the Diplomatic RevolutionThe Seven Years WarThe Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the balance of power
Revolution and New Ideas in Europe c.1780-1881Period study
Topic overviewThe Napoleonic wars, the Vienna settlement and the Congress SystemThe revolutions of 1830 and 1848The Eastern Question and the Crimean WarItalian nationalism after 1815 and the revolutions of 1848Cavour, Napoleon III and the war of 1859Garibaldi, the Thousand and the completion of Italian unityGerman nationalism, the Zollverein and the revolutions of 1848Bismarck, Prussia and the wars of 1864 and 1866The Franco-Prussian War and the German EmpireNapoleon III: 1848, the coup d'état and the Second EmpireThe policies and collapse of the Second EmpireNicholas I and Russia 1825-1855Alexander II and the emancipation of the serfsThe great reforms and the growth of opposition to 1881
Europe in an Age of Conflict and Co-Operation c.1890-1991Period study
Topic overviewAlliances, ententes and the causes of the First World WarReconciliation and rivalry 1918-1929The League of Nations and the road to the Second World WarLiberal Italy in crisis and the rise of MussoliniFascist Italy: domestic policies, opposition and resistanceThe Weimar Republic and its problems 1918-1933The Nazi seizure and consolidation of powerNazi domestic policies, opposition and resistance to 1945The 1905 revolution and the fall of tsarismThe Bolshevik revolution, civil war and consolidation to 1924Stalin's transformation of the Soviet Union to 1945The post-war division of Europe and the origins of the Cold WarThe drive for European economic co-operation and integrationCo-existence, détente and the end of the Cold War
The Mid Tudor Crisis in Wales and England c.1529-1570Depth study
Topic overviewLawlessness in Wales and the Council in the MarchesThe Acts of Union 1536 and 1543The King's Great Matter and the royal supremacyThomas Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteriesOpposition to religious change and the Pilgrimage of GraceEdward VI's minority: Somerset, Northumberland and factionThe Edwardian Prayer Books and Acts of UniformityThe rebellions of 1549 and the response of authorityMary Tudor's accession, marriage and the Wyatt rebellionCatholic restoration and persecution under MarySociety, the economy and the Welsh gentry after the Acts of UnionThe Elizabethan Church Settlement and the Welsh ScripturesPuritanism and the Catholic threat to 1570
Royalty, Rebellion and Republic c.1625-1660Depth study
Topic overviewThe legacy of James I and the character of Charles IParliament, war and the Petition of Right 1625-1629The ministers and methods of Personal RuleThe finances of Personal Rule and Ship MoneyLaud, Arminianism and Puritan oppositionScotland, the Bishops' Wars and the recall of ParliamentThe Long Parliament and the attack on Personal RuleIreland, the Grand Remonstrance and the outbreak of warWales and the Welsh in the Civil WarLeadership, the New Model Army and the defeat of the KingThe failure of settlement, the Second Civil War and the regicideRadicalism, religious dissent and the reaction in WalesThe republic, the Protectorate and the rule of the Major-GeneralsThe collapse of the republic and the Restoration
Reform and Protest in Wales and England c.1783-1848Depth study
Topic overviewPitt, the French Revolution and the corresponding societiesPopular protest from Luddism to PeterlooLord Liverpool's government and the Six ActsThe Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830The unreformed electoral system and the pressure for reformThe Merthyr rising, Captain Swing and the Reform Bill crisisThe Great Reform Act of 1832The Whig reforms 1833-1841The New Poor Law and the opposition to itChartism in Wales and EnglandThe Rebecca riots and rural WalesPeel, the Conservative party and the repeal of the Corn LawsSocial reform, Shaftesbury and public health
Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939Depth study
Topic overviewPopulation change and the surveys of Booth and RowntreeConservative government to 1905 and the 1906 electionThe Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914The People's Budget and the Parliament Act 1911Heavy industry, agriculture and the Welsh economy before 1914Industrial unrest in Wales: the Penrhyn lockout, Tonypandy and LlanelliTrade unions and the rise of the Labour PartyWomen, the vote and war workReligion, education and Welsh cultureWales and the Great War: voluntarism, conscription and the home frontIndustrial decline, the coal disputes and the General Strike of 1926The Depression in Wales: unemployment, migration and government responsePolitics between the wars: from the Lloyd George coalition to the National GovernmentSociety, leisure and popular culture between the wars
The Religious Reformation in Europe c.1500-1564Depth study
Topic overviewThe Church in Europe in 1500: power, wealth and daily lifeCriticism of the Church: anticlericalism, heresy and the humanistsIndulgences, Tetzel and the Ninety-Five ThesesFrom Leipzig to Worms: Luther's break with RomeThe development of Lutheran doctrineThe Knights' Revolt and the Peasants' WarZwingli, the radicals and division among the reformersPrinting, princes and cities: the spread of LutheranismThe Augsburg Confession and the Schmalkaldic LeagueCharles V, the Schmalkaldic War and the Peace of AugsburgAnabaptism and the Münster rebellionJohn Calvin, Geneva and the spread of CalvinismThe Catholic revival: Paul III, the Inquisition and the Council of TrentLoyola, the Jesuits and the reforming orders
France in Revolution c.1774-1815Depth study
Topic overviewThe three estates: privilege and burden under the Ancien RégimeGovernment, finance and the ideas of the philosophesTurgot, Necker and Calonne: the failure of reformThe Assembly of Notables, the cahiers and the Estates General1789: the National Assembly, the Bastille and the Great FearThe October Days and the reforms of the National AssemblyThe Church, refractory priests and the Constitution of 1791Varennes, the Legislative Assembly and the coming of warThe fall of the monarchy and the September MassacresThe Convention, the execution of Louis and the VendéeThe Terror: government, Robespierre and the factionsThermidor, the Directory and the rise of BonaparteNapoleon's reforms as Consul and EmperorWar, the Continental System and the fall of Napoleon
The Crisis of the American Republic c.1840-1877Depth study
Topic overviewNorth and South: two societies by 1840The institution of slavery in the SouthManifest Destiny, the Mexican War and the Wilmot ProvisoThe Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave LawAbolitionism: Garrison, Stowe and John BrownThe Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding KansasThe Republican party and the Dred Scott decisionLincoln and the Lincoln-Douglas debatesHarpers Ferry, the election of 1860 and secessionThe resources, commanders and strategy of North and SouthCampaigns, the home fronts and the defeat of the SouthLincoln's war presidency and emancipationJohnson, Congress and the Reconstruction amendmentsRadical Reconstruction, the Klan and Redemption
Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship c.1918-1945Depth study
Topic overviewThe revolution of 1918 and the Weimar ConstitutionThe Treaty of Versailles and its impact on GermanyThe Spartacists, the Kapp Putsch and the threats to the republicReparations, the Ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923The early Nazi party and the Munich PutschStresemann, the Dawes and Young Plans and LocarnoThe Nazi party 1924-1932 and the growth of its supportThe Depression and the collapse of parliamentary governmentHitler's consolidation of power 1933-1934Propaganda, terror and the extent of Nazi controlNazi racial policy and the persecution of the JewsYoung people, women, workers and the churches under the NazisThe Nazi economy: recovery, rearmament and total warNazi foreign policy and the Second World War
Wales: Resistance, Conquest and Rebellion c.1240-1415Breadth study
Topic overviewWelsh law and the legal system of the princesSociety, the rural economy and the Church before 1282The princes of Gwynedd and the road to 1282The Edwardian conquest and settlementResistance and rebellion 1294 to 1345The Black Death and economic change in WalesOwain Glyndŵr and the revolt of 1400Change and continuity in Wales 1240 to 1415
Poverty, Protest and Rebellion in Wales and England c.1485-1603Breadth study
Topic overviewPopulation, inflation and the growth of povertyEnclosure and the consolidation of estatesCharity, the towns and local schemes for reliefThe Church, the monasteries and the merchant classesVagrancy, the sturdy beggar and punishmentGovernment legislation from 1495 to the Poor Law of 1601Change and continuity in the treatment of povertyHenry VII, Lambert Simnel and Perkin WarbeckWales, Rhys ap Gruffydd and the marcher lordshipsThe Henrician religious changes and the Pilgrimage of GraceThe Western Rebellion and Kett's rebellionLady Jane Grey and Wyatt's rebellionMary Queen of Scots, the northern earls and the plots against ElizabethThe Essex rebellion and the changing pattern of rebellion
Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610Breadth study
Topic overviewThe condition of the Catholic Church around 1500Luther and the challenge to RomeThe early reaction of the Catholic ChurchThe spread of the Reformation in the 1520s and 1530sZwingli, Calvin and the Reformed traditionThe Council of Trent and the Counter-ReformationReligious war and schism in France, the Netherlands and central EuropeChange and continuity in European religion 1500 to 1600Motives for exploration and the role of monarchsThe early explorers: Columbus, da Gama, Cabot and MagellanSpain, Portugal, England and the Netherlands overseasThe Spanish Main, colonisation and indigenous peoplesMerchants, science and the changing world 1492 to 1610
Royalty, Revolution and Restoration in Wales and England c.1603-1715Breadth study
Topic overviewMonarchy, government and the Welsh gentry in 1603James I, divine right and ParliamentCharles I, the Petition of Right and the Personal RuleThe road to war 1640 to 1642Wales and England at war 1642 to 1649The republic and the failure of the Commonwealth 1649 to 1660The Restoration monarchy 1660 to 1688The Glorious Revolution and the Revolutionary SettlementThe growth of party politics after 1689Anglicanism, Laudianism and the restored ChurchPuritanism and dissent in WalesThe sects, the Levellers and the DiggersHobbes, Locke and the scientific revolutionChange and continuity 1603 to 1715
France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815Breadth study
Topic overviewThe three estates and the structure of French societyAbsolutism, Versailles and the machinery of the stateTaxation, finance and the fiscal crisisThe Enlightenment and the challenge to authorityFrom monarchy to republic 1789 to 1792Terror, the sans-culottes and the DirectoryNapoleon: power, administration and the ConcordatSociety, economy and the balance sheet of the period
Parliamentary Reform and Protest in Wales and England c.1780-1885Breadth study
Topic overviewThe unreformed parliamentary systemEarly reform, the Younger Pitt and the French RevolutionThe London Corresponding Society and Pitt's repressionIndustrialisation, rural change and the LudditesPopular protest and repression 1815 to 1822The Reform Bill crisis 1830 to 1832The terms and impact of the 1832 Reform ActThe Merthyr rising of 1831Swing, rural protest and the Rebecca riotsThe aims and leaders of ChartismChartist action, Newport and the failure of the movementTrade unionism from Robert Owen to the new model unionsPublic order, radical revival and the Second Reform ActParliamentary reform 1872 to 1885 and change across the period
Social Change and Reform in Wales and England c.1890-1990Breadth study
Topic overviewEducation from the Welsh Intermediate Act to 1944The working classes, poverty and the Liberal reforms c.1890-1914Housing, health and welfare before 1939The Depression in Wales and the National GovernmentBeveridge, the welfare state and the 1945 governmentAffluence, poverty and unemployment 1951 to 1979The Thatcher years 1979 to 1990Women, the family and social changeConsumer society, leisure and popular culture
The American Century c.1890-1990Breadth study
Topic overviewJim Crow and the erosion of Black freedomCivil rights from the New Deal to TrumanBrown, Montgomery and non-violent protestKing, Washington and the civil rights actsBlack Power, the riots and the aftermathCivil rights after 1968 and the new SouthAmerican imperialism and the road to world powerIsolationism, the Second World War and the Cold WarDétente, Reagan and the end of the Cold War
Changing Leadership and Society in Germany c.1871-1989Breadth study
Topic overviewThe Bismarckian state and the imperial constitutionBismarck, the parties and the KulturkampfWilhelmine Germany and the appeal of social democracyWar, revolution and the Weimar RepublicWeimar recovery, society and cultureThe Nazi political systemNazi economy and societyThe two Germanies and reunificationChange and continuity in Germany 1871 to 1989
Changing Leadership and Society in Russia c.1881-1989Breadth study
Topic overviewAlexander III and political reactionOpposition to Tsarism before 1914The 1905 Revolution and the Duma1917: from February to OctoberConsolidating the Bolshevik revolution to 1924Stalin's rise and the nature of Soviet governmentThe planned economy: collectivisation and the Five Year PlansRussia and its people before 1914Khrushchev, de-Stalinisation and reformBrezhnev, Andropov and stagnationGorbachev, glasnost and perestroikaChange and continuity in Russia 1881 to 1989
France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815
- 8 subtopics
- 24 things to know
- A2 Unit 3
- Unit 3, one breadth study of ten
What France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 covers
France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 is examined in Unit 3, Breadth study. It covers the three estates and the structure of French society, absolutism, Versailles and the machinery of the state, taxation, finance and the fiscal crisis, the Enlightenment and the challenge to authority, from monarchy to republic 1789 to 1792, terror, the sans-culottes and the Directory, Napoleon: power, administration and the Concordat and society, economy and the balance sheet of the period.
The 8 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The three estates and the structure of French societyTwo privileges enjoyed by the first two estates, venality of office and seigneurial due.Open →
- Absolutism, Versailles and the machinery of the stateAbsolute monarchy in the French context, lit de justice and purpose of the court at Versailles.Open →
- Taxation, finance and the fiscal crisisTwo indirect taxes of the ancien régime, tax farming and vingtième and the capitation.Open →
- The Enlightenment and the challenge to authorityVoltaire's principal target, two ways Enlightenment ideas circulated in France and enlightened despotism.Open →
- From monarchy to republic 1789 to 1792Dispute over voting in the Estates General, tennis Court Oath and great Fear.Open →
- Terror, the sans-culottes and the DirectoryThree demands of the sans-culottes, september Massacres and two principal factions in the Convention.Open →
- Napoleon: power, administration and the ConcordatCoup of Brumaire, prefect system and civil Code.Open →
- Society, economy and the balance sheet of the periodContinental System and cost of the wars to France in manpower.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How free was France under Napoleon?
Evaluation
Assess how far French society changed between 1715 and 1815.
Key term
Into which three estates was French society formally divided?
Numbers
What was the Estates General, and when had it last met before 1789?
Key term
What was the taille?
Numbers
When did the Estates General meet, and where?
Key term
Who were the sans-culottes?
Key term
Name two privileges enjoyed by the first two estates.
Key term
What were the parlements?
Key term
Name two indirect taxes of the ancien régime.
Key term
What was the Enlightenment?
Numbers
What was the Tennis Court Oath?
Key term
Name three demands of the sans-culottes.
Numbers
What was the coup of Brumaire?
Key term
What were the assignats?
Key term
Distinguish the noblesse d'épée from the noblesse de robe.
Key term
What was a lit de justice?
Key term
Why was the gabelle so hated?
Key term
Who were the philosophes?
Numbers
What was the Great Fear?
Numbers
What were the September Massacres?
Numbers
What position did Napoleon hold after Brumaire, and how did it change?
Key term
Who gained most from the land settlement of the Revolution?
Take France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Noblesse d'épée vs Noblesse de robe
Noblesse d'épée: nobility holding ancient military titles by descent, the oldest rank in French society. Noblesse de robe: Nobility acquired by purchasing a judicial or administrative office that carried rank with it.
Taille vs Gabelle
Taille: the principal direct tax, from which the clergy and nobility were largely exempt, so that it fell on the peasantry. Gabelle: The tax on salt, which households had to buy in a fixed quantity at prices that varied enormously between regions.
Girondins vs Montagnards
Girondins: the faction that pressed for war in 1792, drew its strength from the provinces, and was purged from the Convention in June 1793. Montagnards: The faction allied to the Paris sections that governed France through the Terror.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Into which three estates was French society formally divided?
Model answer
The clergy, the nobility, and the third estate comprising everyone else.
- 2
Roughly what proportion of the population belonged to the third estate?
Model answer
About ninety-seven per cent.
- 3
Name two privileges enjoyed by the first two estates.
Model answer
Exemption from the taille, the main direct tax, and the right to be tried in their own courts.
- 4
Distinguish the noblesse d'épée from the noblesse de robe.
Model answer
The nobility of the sword held ancient military titles; the nobility of the robe had acquired nobility through purchased judicial and administrative office.
- 5
What was venality of office?
Model answer
The sale of public offices by the Crown, which raised money immediately but created a hereditary officeholding class the King could not remove.
- 6
What was a seigneurial due?
Model answer
A payment or obligation owed by a peasant to the lord of the manor, such as the champart on the harvest or fees for using the lord's mill and oven.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 revision questions
- What does France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 cover in WJEC A-Level History?
- 8 subtopics: the three estates and the structure of french society, absolutism, versailles and the machinery of the state, taxation, finance and the fiscal crisis, the enlightenment and the challenge to authority, from monarchy to republic 1789 to 1792, terror, the sans-culottes and the directory, napoleon: power, administration and the concordat and society, economy and the balance sheet of the period. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815 organised?
- By the WJEC 601-5817-7 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in France: Ancien Régime to Napoleon c.1715-1815, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.