The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era

La marche des femmes sur Versailles (October 5–6, 1789)

An event where approximately 6,000 women marched around 20 km from Paris to Versailles to protest bread shortages and rising food prices, forcing the king and queen to return to Paris under surveillance.

Constitution of September 1791

France's first constitution, inspired by the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, which created a constitutional monarchy where the king held limited, symbolic power as a compromise between absolutism and democracy.

Execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793)

The public guillotining of the French monarch as an ordinary citizen following accusations of treason after attempting to flee France, marking the end of divine right monarchy.

Girondins

The moderate political faction during the French Revolution that opposed radical methods.

Jacobins

The radical revolutionary political faction led by Maximilien Robespierre that advocated for extreme change and revolutionary violence.

Reign of Terror (1793–1794)

A period during the French Revolution when the revolutionary government used extreme and violent measures to protect the revolution against internal revolts and foreign European monarchies.

Maximilien Robespierre

Leader of the Jacobins who declared that violence could be necessary to defend freedom and equality, overseeing the Reign of Terror before becoming a victim of his own system.

Comité de salut public

A small emergency governing body with vast authority during the Reign of Terror that orchestrated the elimination of revolutionary enemies, resulting in approximately 40,000 deaths by guillotine.

Loi des suspects

A law passed during the Reign of Terror allowing any potential political opponent to be arrested without proof.

Tribunaux révolutionnaires

Revolutionary courts responsible for trying suspected opponents of the revolution through rapid judicial proceedings.

Le Directoire (1795–1799)

The post-Terror French government characterized as weak, inefficient, and corrupt, which was eventually overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Coup d'État of 1799

The overthrow of the Directoire led by Napoleon Bonaparte, resulting in the establishment of the Consulat.

Coronation of Napoleon (1804)

The ceremony at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris where Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of the French and placed the crown on his head himself in the presence of the Pope.

Code Napoléon (Code civil de 1804)

A comprehensive legal reform that unified and modernized French law based on equality before the law, the protection of private property, and advancement by merit and competence over social class.

Lycées

Secondary schools established under Napoleon's educational reforms to provide boys with education focused on mathematics and sciences.

Concordat of 1801

An agreement signed between Napoleon and the Pope recognizing Catholicism as the majority religion in France while preserving religious freedom, boosting Napoleon's popularity.

Bataille d'Austerlitz (1805)

Napoleon's greatest military victory, in which he feigned army weakness before attacking an Austrian and Russian coalition, leading to the redrawing of Europe and the end of the Holy Roman Empire.

Bataille de Trafalgar (1805)

A naval battle in which Napoleon failed to gain control of the sea, preventing his planned invasion of Great Britain.

Le blocus continental (1806)

A commercial policy implemented by Napoleon closing all continental European ports to British ships in order to weaken Great Britain economically.

La guerre d'Espagne (1808)

A conflict triggered by Napoleon invading Spain and placing his brother Joseph on the throne, resulting in heavy French losses against British-backed forces and guerrilla fighters.

Guerrilla

A method of combat carried out by small groups carrying out rapid surprise attacks against a more powerful conventional army, notably used during the Spanish War.

Invasion de