Unit 11: The French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789-1815

Old Regime

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

Bourgeoisie

The middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people.

Estate

One of the three social classes in France before the French Revolution.

Taille

An annual direct tax, usually on land or property, that provided a regular source of income for the French monarchy.

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during 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

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.

Jacques Necker

Financial expert of Louis XVI, he advised Louis to reduce court spending, reform his government, abolish tarriffs on internal trade, but the First and Second Estates got him fired.

Estates General

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

Jean-Paul Marat

A political journalist, as well as an associate Jacobin; Marat helped launch the Reign of Terror and complied death lists, being an advocate of violent measures. He was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, immortalized in the David painting The Death of Marat, published the newspaper L'Ami du Peuple (Friend of the People).

Charlotte Corday

A French Revolutionary Girondist, killed Jean-Paul Marat in bath tub because she thought that killing him would stop the violence.

Jacobins

The most radical political faction of the French Revolution who ruled France during the Reign of Terror; led by Maximilien Robespierre.

Girondins

A moderate republican faction active in the French Revolution from 1791 to 1793. The Girondin Party favored a policy of extending the French Revolution beyond France's borders.

Maximilien Robespierre

Revolutionary leader who tried to wipe out every trace of France's past monarchy and nobility; "The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a 'Republic of virtue.'

Georges Danton

French revolutionary leader who stormed the Paris Bastille and who supported the execution of Louis XVI but was guillotined by Robespierre for his opposition to the Reign of Terror.

Bastille

Medieval fortress that was converted to a prison stormed by peasants for ammunition during the early stages of the French Revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French general who became emperor of the French; 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.

Klemens von Metternich

The Foreign Minister of Austria; he had the most influence at the Congress of Vienna.

Horatio Nelson

British navy commander who defeated Napoleon in Egypt (The Battles of the Nile) and Trafalgar; naval supremacy saved Britain from the invasion and shattered Napoleon's dreams of an overseas empire.

Louis XVIII

King after revolution, when the allies restored French monarchy; unpopular.

Great Fear

The panic and insecurity that struck French peasants in the summer of 1789 and led to their widespread destruction of manor houses and archives; a wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789.

Reign of Terror

This was the period in France where Robespierre ruled and used revolutionary terror to solidify the home front. He tried rebels and they were all judged severely and most were executed.

Napoleon's Grand Empire

The empire ruled by Napoleon; composed of three parts: the French Empire (the inner core of the grand empire), the dependant states (under the rule of Napoleon's relatives) and allied states (those defeated by Napoleon).

Consulate

Form of government which followed the directory -established by Napoleon-ended when Napoleon was crowned emperor.

Principle of Intervention

Idea that great powers have the right to send armies into countries where there are revolutions to restore legitimate governments.

Principle of Legitimacy

The idea that after the Napoleonic wars, peace could best be reestablished in Europe by restoring legitimate monarchs who would preserve traditional institutions; guided Metternich at the Congress of Vienna.

Congress of Vienna

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

Liberalism

A political ideology that emphasizes the civil rights of citizens, representative government, and the protection of private property. This ideology, derived from the Enlightenment, was especially popular among the property-owning middle classes.

Conservatism

A political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, favoring obedience to political authority and organized religion.

Naionalism

A devotion to the interests and culture of one's nation.

October Days

Demonstrations in Paris from bread shortage scare. March to Versailles, forcing royal family back to Paris. Signifies power of mob and will of the French people.

Concordat of 1801

This is the agreement between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon that healed the religious division in France by giving the French Catholics free practice of their religion and Napoleon political power.

Civil Code of 1804

Napoleon's reform that granted political and legal equality to all men; it recognized the equality of all citizens before the law, the right of individuals to choose their profession, religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom and feudalism.

Battle of the Nile

Part of Napolean's Egyptian campaign; forced to withdraw by British fleet; Napolean abandons his army.

Battle of Trafalgar

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

Napoleon's Grand Army

An army of 600,000 soldiers assembled to invade and conquer Russia after Czar Alexander openly defied the Continental System. More than half of the army was not French and lacked enthusiasm to fight for France; was defeated by the Russians when the Russians burned their own villages and countryside, so the French army didn't have any food, shelter and fuel.

Elba

This island in the Mediterranean Sea off of Italy where Napoleon was initially exiled after he abdicated the throne for the first time. He promised to never leave, but does so and regains power in France for a short period called the Hundred Days.

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.

Battle of Waterloo

This was the battle that Napoleon lost after his return from Elba that ended his reign as French ruler.

St. Helena

Area where Napoleon was exiled (the second time), where Napoleon eventually died.

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. The workers who wore loose-fitting trousers rather than the tight-fitting breeches worn by aristocratic men.