S2 History | French Revolution and Napoleon: Tutor Prep Guide | Estates-General, Bastille, Terror, Waterloo

2026-11-13

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Junior Secondary History

Students recall the storming of the Bastille and little else. This lesson uses one 26-year timeline and three turning points so students can explain how a demand for fair voting ended with an emperor.

Objectives — Students can: (1) give the timeline – the Estates-General opened on 5 May 1789, the Bastille was stormed on 14 July 1789 (70 days later), the Declaration of the Rights of Man on 26 August 1789, Louis XVI executed on 21 January 1793, the Brumaire coup on 9 November 1799, Napoleon crowned on 2 December 1804 and defeated at Waterloo on 18 June 1815; (2) explain the deadlock – each estate had one vote, so the Third Estate, about 97 per cent of the population, was permanently outvoted two to one and broke away as the National Assembly; (3) state that the Terror ran from September 1793 to July 1794, about ten months, with about 17,000 executions, roughly 1,700 a month, and that the 1812 Russian campaign left about 100,000 of 600,000 men, a loss of about 83 per cent.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Three Enlightenment claims	What did Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau argue?	Natural rights, separated powers, popular sovereignty – if missing, revisit the previous chapter
The three estates	Who belonged to the First, Second and Third Estate?	Clergy, nobility, everyone else (peasants, workers, bourgeoisie); “rich and poor” is too loose
Date arithmetic	How many days from 5 May to 14 July?	70 days (26 left in May, plus 30, plus 14); fix the counting first

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Hook	Write 97%, 70, 17,000 and 83% and ask what each refers to	Groups guess and record answers
5-13 min	The voting deadlock	One vote per estate against 578 Third Estate deputies; the Tennis Court Oath	Work out the two-to-one bloc; state the demand for head-counting
13-22 min	Bastille to the scaffold	14 July 1789, 26 August 1789, then 21 January 1793	Fill three rows: date, event, why it mattered
22-31 min	The Terror	Ten months, about 17,000 executed; students compute the monthly figure	About 1,700 a month; describe fear as a tool of government
31-40 min	Napoleon, coup to Waterloo	1799 coup, 1804 coronation, the Code, 1812 Russia, 1815 Waterloo	One thing he preserved, one he destroyed
40-45 min	Exit check	Collect three answers and mark them on the spot	Three answers with one reason each

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Act 1: The voting deadlock, and seventy days to the Bastille

France was close to bankruptcy, so Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General, which opened at Versailles on 5 May 1789. The deadlock was structural: each estate held one vote, so the clergy and the nobility could always outvote the Third Estate two to one, even though the Third Estate sent 578 deputies and spoke for about 97 per cent of the population. The Third Estate demanded voting by head, was refused, and on 20 June swore at an indoor tennis court not to disband until a constitution existed, renaming itself the National Assembly as the representative of the nation. The king appeared to concede while moving troops towards Paris; the city panicked and on 14 July a crowd took the Bastille. It held seven prisoners that day, so the symbolic weight far exceeded the military one, but once the powder store was open the revolution could not be contained. From the opening session to the Bastille is exactly 70 days.

Say it back: the deadlock was one vote per estate, the Third Estate demanded head-counting, and 70 days later Paris acted.

Scene 2: Act 2: From the Declaration of Rights to the Terror

On 26 August 1789 the Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man: people are born free and equal in rights, sovereignty lies in the nation, and law expresses the general will. A constitutional monarchy followed in 1791, a republic in 1792, and the king was executed on 21 January 1793. War with foreign coalitions and revolt inside France pushed power into the Committee of Public Safety, and from September 1793 to July 1794, about ten months, roughly 17,000 people were executed, around 1,700 a month. The causation matters: the Terror was not the revolution’s first intention but a product of war pressure and internal suspicion, and it ended when Robespierre fell in July 1794.

Say it back: the Declaration promised equality, war and revolt produced the Terror, ten months and 17,000 dead.

Scene 3: Act 3: From coup to Waterloo, the revolution ends with an emperor

On 9 November 1799 Napoleon seized power in the Brumaire coup and closed ten years of parliamentary turmoil. He crowned himself emperor on 2 December 1804. He preserved part of the revolutionary settlement: the Civil Code of 1804 confirmed equality before the law, private property and religious freedom. He also dismantled political liberty with censorship and a police state. In 1812 he invaded Russia with about 600,000 men and returned with about 100,000, a loss of about 83 per cent, and the empire began to fall apart. The allies entered Paris in 1814 and he abdicated; on 18 June 1815 he lost at Waterloo and was sent to Saint Helena. The Congress of Vienna redrew the map, but the idea of popular sovereignty could not be put back.

Say it back: Napoleon kept equality and property, dropped political liberty, lost 83 per cent in Russia and ended at Waterloo.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Chronology	Place 5 May 1789, 14 July 1789, 26 August 1789, 21 January 1793, 9 November 1799, 2 December 1804 and 18 June 1815 on a timeline.	(1) Date and event (2) Mark three phases: constitutional, republican and Terror, imperial (3) One feature per phase (4) Check the order	Constitutional (1789-1792), republican and Terror (1792-1799), imperial (1799-1815).
Causation	Explain how the voting rules of the Estates-General led to revolution.	(1) Rule: one vote per estate (2) Result: the Third Estate always lost (3) Action: National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath (4) Escalation: troops and 14 July	One vote per estate, permanent defeat, breakaway assembly, troops, the Bastille.
Source analysis	Source: “Men are born free and equal in rights.” Which document, and which feature of the old order does it attack?	(1) Identify the document (26 August 1789) (2) Name the old-order privilege (tax exemptions, rights by estate) (3) State the clash (birth versus equality) (4) Note the legacy	The Declaration of the Rights of Man, 1789; it attacks privilege by birth and became a model for later constitutions.
Judgement	Was Napoleon the completion or the betrayal of the revolution? Give two pieces of evidence.	(1) Take a side (2) Evidence one: what he preserved (Code, equality, property) (3) Evidence two: what he destroyed (empire, censorship, war) (4) Conclude and acknowledge the other side	Either answer works if evidenced: the Code enshrined equality, while the coronation and censorship restored concentrated power.

Sanity check (teach this): Reasonableness check: 5 May to 14 July is 70 days, not “two months”; 17,000 over ten months is about 1,700 a month, not 17,000; 600,000 down to 100,000 is an 83 per cent loss, not 17; the Bastille held seven prisoners, so do not claim a mass liberation; the king was executed in January 1793 and Marie Antoinette later that year; 1799 is the coup and 1804 the coronation; Terror casualty figures are estimates and need “about”.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
The Estates-General opened on 5 May 1789 and the Bastille fell on 14 July. How many days apart?	26 days left in May, plus 30, plus 14 = 70 days.	Check the partial month is counted
About 17,000 executions over about ten months: what is the monthly average?	17,000 / 10 = 1,700 a month.	Watch for a factor-of-ten error
600,000 men invaded Russia and 100,000 returned. What percentage was lost?	(600 – 100) / 600 is about 83 per cent.	17 per cent is the survival rate, not the loss

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Treating the Bastille as a mass rescue	“The crowd freed thousands of political prisoners.”	Say: “Seven prisoners were held there that day. The target was powder and weapons. The symbol mattered more than the toll, and that distinction has to be said out loud.”
Assuming the king was doomed from the start	“The French wanted the king dead from day one.”	Say: “In 1789 they wanted a constitutional monarchy, in 1791 they wrote one, in 1792 they declared a republic, and only in January 1793 did the king die. Positions shifted over four years.”
Reducing Napoleon to a general	“Napoleon was just a brilliant commander.”	Say: “Two sides are needed: the Civil Code secured equality and property, while the empire, censorship and constant war destroyed political liberty. Judgement questions need both.”
Confusing rate and remainder	“The Russian campaign cost 17 per cent.”	Say: “600,000 went and 100,000 came back, so 500,000 were lost, which is 83 per cent. The 17 per cent is who survived.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Why did the Estates-General deadlock?	One vote per estate left the Third Estate, about 97 per cent of the population, permanently outvoted, so it demanded head-counting and became the National Assembly.	“The king was bad” does not name the rule
How long did the Terror last and how many died?	September 1793 to July 1794, about ten months, about 17,000 executed, roughly 1,700 a month.	Wrong figures mean Act 2 needs a rerun
When was Napoleon crowned and when defeated?	Crowned 2 December 1804; defeated at Waterloo on 18 June 1815.	1799 as the coronation confuses it with the coup

09 Tutor FAQ

Which year is this for?

S2. S3 links it to the Industrial Revolution and nationalism, and S4 uses the same sources for essay questions on revolution and dictatorship.

Can three acts fit in 45 minutes?

Yes. Twelve minutes on the voting deadlock, ten on the Terror, ten on Napoleon, with one percentage calculation in class.

Any cross-subject links?

Yes. Citizenship lessons on rule of law and human rights, and Chinese language work ondeclaration-style rhetoric, can both use the 1789 text.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.