Lesson 2 - Long-term causes of the French Revolution - How useful are documentary films?
|
Understanding causes is central to what history is about. Historians like to link different events together that share something in common. For example, as we saw previously, historians use categories like political, economic, social and cultural (PESC) to explain clearly why things happen.
Another way of organising causes (and consequences) is to divide them into long-term and short-term. Long-term causes take place a long-time before the event and are not an obvious, direct cause of the event. They often provide the context in which the event is more likely to happen. Short-term causes happen immediately before the event and are obviously and directly linked to the event. |
|
Activity - Watch the film 'French Revolution - Long term causes'. Then in your OneNote: 1. Identify examples of political, economic, social or cultural causes of the French Revolution as mentioned in the film. 2. The documentary film focuses on the life of the king Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. Why do you think this is? 3. With reference to its origins, purpose and content, analyze the value and limitations of the documentary film as evidence about the long-term causes of the French revolution. Before answering the question begin by being sure you know what the origin, purpose and content of the film refers to. |
|
|
Origin is all about the provenance of the source. It refers to the 'w' questions: who produced the source, when and where was it made? This information is usually included in the attribution underneath the source but for the film you might need to do some reseach here.
Purpose follows on from the 'w' questions and is concerned with the biggest 'w' question on all, why was the source (film) produced? Content is not concerned with the provenance and attribution of the source, but rather the nature of the source and information the source conveys: is the source factual and complete, is the language objective and is the information corroborated by other sources? For the film consider the techniques that have been used by the film maker. Which of these techniques are likely to be more reliable than others? |
|
Origin, purpose and content can (and often should) be considered as both a positive value and negative limitation. For example, the origin of the Bayeux Tapestry as rare visual evidence of war from the 11th century is obviously a value. But the fact it was made for Norman nobility means it is unlikely to be objective.