French Revolution and Napoleon

Old Regime

The political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution

3 Estates

1st - Clergy, 2nd - Nobles, 3rd - Peasants, Bourgeoisie, Farmers

Louis XVI

King of France (1774-1792). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.

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

France's traditional national assembly with 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.

National Assembly

A French congress established by representatives of the 3rd Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people

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

Storming the Bastille

July 14, 1789 event; 1st sybolic act of violence against the monarchy the beginning of the French Revolution

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

Jacobin

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre.

Guillotine

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

Maximilien Robespierre

"The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue., Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror

the historic period (1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed

Committee of Public Safety

Established and led by Robespierre, fixed bread prices and nationalized some businesses. Basically secret police and also controlled the war effort. Instigated the Reign of Terror.

National Convention

The legislative branch created by the second constitution, which created a republic in France and ended the monarchy in late 1792

Directory

(1795-1799) - The five-man executive committee that ruled France in its own interests as a republic after Robespierre's execution and prior to Napoleon's coming to power.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the France in 1804. Considered one of the greatest military leaders in history. Exiled from France in 1815.

coup de'tat

a sudden violent or illegal seizure of government

plebiscite

ballot in which voters have a direct say on an issue

lycee

French government-run public schools

Concordat of 1801

1801 agreement with the Pope engineered by Napoleon to end the rift after the 1790 Civil Constitution of the Clergy. This recognized France as largely Catholic but guaranteed religious freedom. The Church agreed to give up claims to lands the revolutionaries had seized and sold.

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.

Austerlitz

The battle in the early 1800's at which Napoleon proved his control of the continent by defeating the combined Austrian and Russian forces. Considered one of his greatest victories.

blockade

An act of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving

continental system

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

guerilla

A type of fighting where a smaller group uses covert tactics such as hit and run to chip away at the power of the larger force

Peninsular War

A conflict, lasting from 1808 to 1813, in which Spanish Rebels, with the aid of British forces, fought to drive Napoleons French troops out of Spain.

scorched earth policy

Military strategy that destroyed anything that would have helped Napoleon

Waterloo

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

Congress of Vienna

(1814-1815 CE) Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon.

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.

balance of power

distribution of military and economic power that prevents any one nation from becoming too strong

legitimacy

Principle by which monarchies that had been unseated by the French Revolution or Napoleon were restored

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.