Chapter 23: The French Revolution and Napoleon (1789-1815)

A collection of vocabulary terms covering the social structures, key figures, and major events of the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the subsequent Congress of Vienna.

Old Regime

The social and political system in France during the $1770s$.

Estates

Three social classes of France’s Old Regime.

First Estate

The Catholic clergy who owned $10\%$ of the land and paid few taxes.

Second Estate

A class consisting of rich nobles who made up $2\%$ of the population and owned $20\%$ of the land.

Third Estate

The class comprising $97\%$ of the people, including peasants, urban workers, and the middle class, who paid heavy taxes and had few privileges.

Louis XVI

The King of France whose poor decisions, lack of patience, and extravagant spending doubled the nation’s debt.

Marie Antoinette

The wife of Louis XVI who was known for her extravagance.

Estates-General

A meeting of representatives from all three estates.

National Assembly

A new legislature established by the Third Estate to make reforms.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge by Third Estate delegates to write a new constitution for France.

Bastille

A Parisian prison that was attacked and seized by a mob on July $14, 1789$.

Great Fear

A wave of rumors and panic that spread throughout France, leading peasants to destroy legal papers binding them to the feudal system.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A document adopted by the National Assembly that used the slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

Legislative Assembly

A new body created in September $1791$ to pass laws.

Émigrés

Nobles who fled France and wanted the Old Regime to return to power.

Sans-culottes

Members of the lower class who wanted more change from the Revolution.

Jacobins

A radical political organization behind the governmental changes of $1792$.

Guillotine

A machine designed during the Revolution to behead people.

Maximilien Robespierre

A Jacobin leader who ruled France for a year as a dictator and leader of the Committee for Public Safety.

Reign of Terror

The period of Robespierre's rule, which included the killing of many opponents and the deaths of thousands.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A military genius who was born in Corsica and carried out a coup d’état to seize power in France.

Coup d'état

The sudden seizure of power, such as the one performed by Napoleon in November $1799$.

Plebiscite

A vote of the people, which was used to approve a new constitution under Napoleon.

Lycées

Government-run public schools established to train officials.

Concordat

An agreement signed with the pope to restore Catholicism in France.

Napoleonic Code

A uniform system of laws created by Napoleon.

Battle of Trafalgar

An $1805$ battle that ensured British naval superiority and forced Napoleon to give up his plan to invade Britain.

Continental System

An economic plan to strengthen Europe and weaken Britain through a blockade.

Peninsular War

A conflict in which Spanish guerrillas and British forces fought the French, resulting in the loss of $300,000$ French soldiers.

Guerrillas

Small groups that attacked and then disappeared, used by the Spanish against Napoleon.

Scorched-earth policy

The Russian strategy of destroying crops and livestock to prevent the enemy from utilizing resources.

Waterloo

The site where British and Prussian forces defeated Napoleon’s army in $1815$.

Hundred Days

Napoleon’s last attempt at power, which ended with his defeat at Waterloo.

Congress of Vienna

A series of meetings where European leaders tried to restore order and reestablish peace after exiling Napoleon.

Legitimacy

The principle that monarchs deposed by Napoleon should be returned to their thrones.

Holy Alliance

A pledge by Russia, Prussia, and Austria to fight revolution.

Concert of Europe

A series of alliances among European nations pledging to help fight revolutions.