WH Unit 14: French Revolution

Unit 14: French Revolution

Old Regime

The Political and Social system that existed in France before the French Revolution

1st Estate

the clergy of the church; 1% of population; owned 10% of the land; paid no taxes

2nd Estate

"The Nobles"\---Make up 2% of population, but owns 25% of land. Paid no taxes, held highest offices in government. Controlled the most wealth.

3rd Estate

everybody else; paid most of the taxes and had the least amount of property

Louis XVI (16th)

King of France during the French Revolution, is executed by the guillotine

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution

Great Fear

A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

Emigres

French nobility who fled country to escape the Revolution

Sans-culottes

In the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian wage-earners, and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages

Jacobins

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

Maximillian Robespierre (1758-1794)

\-One of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution

\-Largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was the leader of the National Assembly

\-Instrumental during the Reign of Terror, which ended with his arrest and execution in 1794.

Reign of Terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty"

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew the French revolutionary government (The Directory) in 1799 and became emperor of France in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

Coup d'etat

A sudden overthrow of the government by a small group

Plebiscite

A direct vote in which a country's people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal

Lycees

government run public schools set up by Napoleon to create a more equal chance at education. However this didn't really allow the poorer children to get a better education because they often had to stay home and work.

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon

Battle of Trafalgar

an 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon's forces were defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson.

Blockade

an act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. Closing of ports.

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

Guerillas

small bands of fighters who weaken the enemy with surprise raids and hit-and-run attacks used largely in Peninsular War

Peninsular War

War that Napoleon fought in Spain

Scorched Earth Policy

Russian used practice of burning crops and killing livestock during wartime so that the enemy cannot live off the land. Left Napoleon's army nothing to eat.

Waterloo

The site of Napoleon's defeat by British and Prussian armies in 1815, which ended his last bid for power

Hundred Days

The brief period during 1815 when Napoleon made his last bid for power, deposing the French King and again becoming Emperor of France

Congress of Vienna

Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon

Balance of Power

Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.

Legitimacy

the hereditary right of a monarch to rule

Holy Alliance

Alliance among Russia, Prussia, and Austria in defense of religion and the established order; formed at Congress of Vienna by most conservative monarchies of Europe.

Concert of Europe

a series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century, devised by Prince Klemens von Metternich to prevent the outbreak of revolutions

Klemens von Metternich

This was Austria's foreign minister who wanted a balance of power in an international equilibrium of political and military forces that would discourage aggression