The assessment for your AS History requires you to be able to complete a sound piece of analytical writing of significant length. This will require practice, and everyone will struggle with perfecting the technique.
There will be a choice from three questions. In the exam in May you will answer two in the one hour and fifteen minute paper.
There are some resources to help you improve your marks.
- B4 Dismantling the AR | Essay marking and planning feedback sheets. This one focusses on the end of the Ancien regime.
- Essay Planning and Feedback | Essay marking and planning sheets, designed to help you improve.
- Template for planning a 24 mark answer | A 24-mark template to model planning for a 24-marker. In the exam 24minutes.
- MOCK EXAM OCT 2011 | A full mock exam from October 2011
AS History Questions
Explain why….
- Robespierre lost support in July 1794 (12 marks)
- Napoleon was finally forced to abdicate in 1814 (12 marks)
- the Reign of Terror began in Sept 1792 (12 marks)
- the CCC was so divisive? (12 marks)
How far….
- was Louis responsible for the collapse in royal authority during 1789? (24 marks)
- were the National Assembly initially a conservative body in 1789? (24 marks)
- were the deputies of the Three Estates truly representative of France? (24 marks)
How important….
- were the inequalities in French society as a cause of the FR? (24 marks)
- was the invasion of Russia in 1812 responsible for the downfall of Napoleon? (24 marks)
- was Robespierre in guiding the Rign of Terror through is most brutal phase? (24 marks)
- was Louis’ hesitation/indecision in allowing the Third Estate to seize the initiative during 1789? (24 marks)
- was the massacre at the Champs de Mars in radicalising the sans culottes? (24 marks)
- was anti-clerical feelings in the Sept massacres? (24 marks)
How successful….
- was Napoleon as a military commander? (24 marks)
- was the First French Republic in defeating the insurrection in the Vendee? (24 marks)
HIS1F France & French Revolution Exam Questions
A Causes of the French Revolution
- ‘The cause of the French Revolution was the state of the French economy in the late 1780s.’ How far do you agree? (24 marks)
- ‘The shortcomings of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were the main cause of the French Revolution’ How far do you agree with this assessment? (24 marks)
- ‘Louis XVI’s failings as a monarch primarily account for the strength of the challenge to absolutism in France which existed by the beginning of May 1789.’ How far do you agree with this view of the origins of the French Revolution? (24 marks)
- How significant were bad harvests as a factor explaining the outbreak of revolution in 1789? (24 marks)
- Explain why the French monarchy experienced a mounting financial crisis in the 1770s? (12 marks)
- How important were the ideas of the Enlightenment in undermining the Ancien Regime in France by 1780? (24 marks)
B The Revolution
- How far were the actions of the peasants in France, responsible for the King’s loss of control? (24 marks)
- Explain what the reforms of 1789-92 reveal about the aims of those directing the Revolution during those years.
- Explain why the National Assembly reformed local government in France in the years 1789 and 1790. (12 marks)
- How important was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in bringing about counter-revolution in France in the years 1790-1794? (24 marks)
- To what extent was the course of the revolution in the months May to October 1789 influenced by popular protest in Paris? (24 marks)
- Explain why were the Estates-General were convened in 1789? (12 marks)
- How significant were economic problems as a factor explaining the course of revolutionary events of 1789?
- Explain why issues of voting procedure created problems the Estates-General in May to June 1789? (12 marks)
- How important was the rural revolt in the spring and summer 1789 in the dismantling of the Ancien Regime by the National Assembly in August 1789? (24 marks)
C Radicalisation and Collapse
- ‘It was the coming of war which destroyed the French Monarchy in 1792.’ How far do you agree with this assessment of the state of France? (24 marks)
- ‘Given the scale of the opposition which they faced throughout France, the survival and victory of the Jacobin Government in Paris in 1793 was a remarkable achievement’ How far do you agree? (24 marks)
- ‘The deteriorating economic climate brought about the downfall of the constitutional monarchy in France in 1792.’ Assess this judgement in light of the coming of The Terror. (24 marks)
- ‘The Terror was established to defend the Republic.’ How far do agree? (24 marks)
- Explain why the popular risings of Germinal and Prairial 1795 failed. (12 marks)
- How important was the role of Napoleon in bringing about the downfall of the Directory? (24 marks)
- ‘A period marked by remarkably little achievement in domestic affairs.’ How far do you agree with this assessment of the government of France under the Directory 1795-9? (24 marks)
- ‘Robespierre fell when Terror had outlived its usefulness.’ How far do you agree with this explanation of the coup of 9 Thermidor. (24 marks)
- Explain why the Terror came to an end in 1794? (12 marks)
- Explain why the Committee of Public Safety was created in France in April 1793. (12 marks)
- How important was the Terror in helping to preserve the Republic? (24 marks)
- Explain why was the Monarchy overthrown in August 1792? (12 marks)
- How far did war affect the course of the Revolution from 1792 to 1795? (24 marks)
- Explain why counter-revolution broke out in the La Vendee (12 marks)
- How important was the rebellion in La Vendee in weakening the Republic between March and December 1793? (24 marks)
D Napoleon
- ‘In the years 1799-1804, Napoleon claimed to be doing no more than restoring a necessary order to France. He was really establishing his own dictatorship’ How far do you agree with this statement? (24 marks)
- How far was Napoleon responsible for the downfall of the Directory? (24 marks)
- How far did the personal deterioration of Napoleon account for the collapse of his Empire in 1814? (24 marks)
- Explain whether effective cooperation between the European powers was the decisive factor in the collapse of Napoleon’s empire in 1814.
- ‘The continental System was integral to the growing opposition towards Napoleonic rule in France and the Empire’. How far do you agree with this statement? (24 marks)
- ‘The years 1799-1804 in France were marked primarily by Napoleon’s establishment of a personal dictatorship.’ How far do you agree with this judgement? (24 marks)
- ‘The main effect of Napoleon’s reforms during the Consulate was to bring order and stability to France.’ How far do you agree with this view? (24 marks)
- ‘Napoleon was successful in Europe between 1803 and 1809 because his enemies were incompetent and divided.’ How far do you agree with this view? (24 marks)
- Explain why Napoleon established the Legion of Honour in 1802. (12 marks)
- How important was the Concordat of 1801 for the consolidation of Napoleonic rule in France? (24 marks)