French Revolution
Terms
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- Napoleon
- a popular military hero who had won a series of brilliant victories against the Austrians in Italy.
- Robespierre
- French revolutionary leader; leader of the Jacobins and architect of the Reign of Terror
- Estates-General
- the legislative body made up of representatives of the three estates in prerevolutionary France
- Jacobins
- member of a radical political club during the French Revolution
- Reign of Terror
- time period during the French Revolution from September 1793 to July 1794 when people in France were arrested for not supporting the revolution and many were executed.
- Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code)
- a new code of laws that embodied Enlightenment principles such as the equality of all citizens before the law, religious toleration, and the abolition of feudalism.
- Louis XVI
- king of France from 1774 to 1792; rejected reforms that eventually led to a revolution.
- Old Regime
- the old order where everyone in France was divided into one of three social classes, or estates.
- Directory
- The Constitution of 1795 set up a 5 man directory
- Bourgeoisie
- the French middle class
- Congress of Vienna
- assembly of European leaders that met after the Napoleonic era to piece Europe back together; met from September 1814 to June 1815
- Committee of Public Safety
- A 12 member committee that had almost absolute power as it battled to save the Revolution. It was established to deal with the threats to France. The 12 members were also in charge of trials and executions.
- Night session of August 4th
- a meeting that lasted all night where the nobles in the National Assembly voted to end their own privileges. They agreed to give up their old manorial duties, exclusive hunting rights, special legal statues, and exemption from taxes.
- National Assembly
- a group of members made up of the third estate.
- Storming of the Bastille
- On July 14, 1789 around 800 people surrounded the Bastille and stormed the medieval fortress where many people were killed.
- Continental System
- blockade designed by Napoleon to hurt Britain economically by closing European ports to British goods; ultimately unsuccessful
- Women's March on Versailles
- On October 5, about 6 thousand women marched 13 miles in the pouring rain from Paris to Versailles. They refused to leave Versailles until the king met their most important demand--to return to Paris. The king agreed and his whole family moved back.
- Civil Constitution of the Clergy
- Issued in 1790, bishops and priests became elected, salaried officials. It ended papal authority over the French Church and dissolved convents and monasteries.
- Tennis Court Oath
- famous oath made on a tennis court by members of the Third Estate in France where they promised never to leave until a just constitution was established.
- Balance of Power
- distribution of military and economic power that prevents any one nation from becoming too strong
- Guerilla Warfare
- fighting carried on through hit and run raids
- Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen
- modeled off of the Declaration of Independence that insisted that governments exist to protect the natural rights of citizens.
- Olympe de Gouges
- a female journalist who in 1791 demanded equal rights in her Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen.
- Sans-Culottes
- working class man or woman who made the French Revolution more radical; called such because he or she wore long trousers instead of the fancy knee breeches that the upper class wore.