FRENCH REVOLUTION

Louis XVI of France

Absolute Monarch of France at the beginning of the French Revolution

Causes of the French Revolution

1. French spending to support the colonists in the American War for Independence 2. Lavish spending by Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and the court at Versailles 3. famine following a failed harvest 4. exclusive taxation of the 3rd Estate 5. under-representation of the 3rd Estate 6. impact of enlightened ideas in support of natural rights 7. Louis XVI's weak leadership

Tennis Court Oath (1789)

Oath taken by representatives of the Third Estate in June 1789 pledging to form a National Assembly and write a constitution to limit the king's powers.

National Assembly of France

Governing body of France that succeeded the Estates-General in 1789 during the French Revolution. It was composed of, and defined by, the delegates of the Third Estate.

Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)

Parisian revolutionaries stormed and dismantled the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs, on July 14, 1789; signaled the beginning of the French Revolution.

The Great Fear

A period of panic and riot by peasants and others amid rumors of an 'aristocratic conspiracy' by the king and nobility to overthrow the Third Estate, led to widespread destruction of manor houses and archives by peasants.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Charter of human liberties, containing the principles of freedom and equality that inspired the French Revolution, adopted by France's National Assembly on August 26, 1789, served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791.

Women's March on Versailles

On 5 October 1789, a defining moment in the early months of the French Revolution, Parisian women marched on Versailles, demanding reforms, besieging the palace, and forcing King Louis XVI of France to return with them to Paris. Stripped the king of his remaining independence and authority. Delivered a final blow to France's system of absolute monarchy.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 1790

• Established by the National Assembly to address the Church. Clergy to be elected by 50,000 electors, including Protestants, Jews, and agnostics - No papal approval of appointments was necessary. The state was to pay salaries. - Significance: many did not approve and became counterrevolutionaries. This created great division and left the Catholic laity terrified.

Flight to Varennes 1791

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried to flee in the middle of the night but were caught at Varennes and placed under house arrest.

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.

Jacobins

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

Sans-culottes

Lower-middle-class people, craftsmen, apprentices, shopkeepers, and clerks in Paris and other French cities; their agenda was initially focused on justice and equality, but they quickly became pawns in the hands of experienced politicians like Robespierre.

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

Replaced the National Assembly, national parliament during part of the Revolutionary period and again during the Second Republic; created in September 1791 and was in session from Oct. 1, 1791, to Sept. 20, 1792.

National Convention of 1792

Declared France a republic and abolished the monarchy; governed France from September 20, 1792, until October 26, 1795, elected to provide a new constitution after the overthrow of the monarchy.

Execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

The National Convention put the king and queen on trial; they were convicted as traitors and the guillotine was used to kill them.

Maximilian Robespierre (1758-1794)

One of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution; led the Committee of Public Safety and was the leader of the National Assembly.

Committee of Public Safety

Established and led by Robespierre, supported by the radicalized sans-culottes, to defeat all enemies of the revolution in the name of 'safety'; a secret police force that also controlled the war effort and facilitated the Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

Ten-month period of brutal repression when some 40,000 individuals were executed as enemies of the French Revolution; the period of most extreme violence during the French Revolution.

The Directory

The Constitution established the French Revolutionary government from November 1795 to November 1799; created in reaction to the dictatorship under the Reign of Terror.

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.

Waterloo (1815)

Napoleon's final defeat; he was then exiled to Helena.

Estates General

France's traditional national assembly consists of representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners; the calling of the Estates General in 1789 led to the French Revolution.

Marie Antoinette

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