CAS Ch 18 Study Guide-"The French Revolution and Napoleon"

ancien régime

a political and social system that that used to govern France: three social classes called esates

First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Second Estate

The second class of French society made up of the nobility

Third Estate

Third and largest class: consisted of the bourgeoisie, the san-culottes and the peasants; they paid high taxes and had no special privileges

Bourgeoisie

top of the middle class of french society: bankers, merchants, lawyers, manufacturers retc

deficit spending

spending more money than taking in: caused economic trouble in France

Louis XVI

King of France 1774-1792: he summoned the Estates-General, did not grant reforms demanded, executed in 1793.

Jacques Necker

financial expert of Louis XVI, advised Louis to reduce court spending, reform government, abolish tariffs, dismissed by nobles and clergy

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates

cahiers

list of grievances prepared by estates

Tennis Court Oath

July 20, 1789
oath made by the members of France's National Assembly: vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution, made in indoor tennis court due to guarded meeting hall

Bastilles

Medieval fortress used as a prison for political and other prisoners

Storming of the Bastille

July 14, 1789

faction

A group with a distinct political interest

Marquis de Lafayette

head of the French National Guard who fought alongside George Washington

Olympe de Gouges

French journalist who published the declaration of rights of women and the female citizens.

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular due to her extravagance and opposition to reform, she was guillotined

Émigrés

French nobles who fled from France during the peasant uprisings, hoped to restore the king to power

sans-culottes

"without breeches", working class men and women who considered themselves ordinary patriots

republic

A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting instead of a monarch

Jacobins

The most radical political faction of the French Revolution

suffrage

right to vote: extended to all male citizens in France, not just property owners

Robespierre

Established the Reign of Terror as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, promoted religious tolerance and wanted to abolish slavery

Reign of Terror

1793 to 1794, chief architect was Robespierre, hasty trials caused thousands of executions, many were cases of mistaken identity or false accusations

guillotine

device used during the Reign of Terror to execute thousands by beheading, used falling blade

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew the French revolutionary government 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

Nationalism

strong feeling of pride in ones country

Marseilles

French port city: troops marched to a patriotic song as they marched from this city, the song eventually became the French national anthem

Plebiscite

Ballot in which voters have a direct say on an issue

Napoleonic Code

A system of laws set up by Napoleon that equalized the rights of men, revoked some rights from women, increases religious tolerance

annexed

Napoleon incorporated Netherlands, Belgium and parts of Italy and Germany into his empire

Continental System

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

guerrilla warfare

A hit-and-run technique used in fighting a war, used by Spanish against France

scorched-earth policy

used by Russians against French army marching in Russia, burned crops and resources so they couldn't be used by French

abdicated

stepped down from power: Napoleon in 1814

Congress of Vienna

1814 Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon

legitimacy

Political authority of a monarch: restoration of hereditary monarchies in Europe after French Revolution

Concert of Europe

a series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century set up by Congress of Vienna

Execution of Louis XVI

January 21, 1793

Napoleon's invasion of Russia

1812

Battle of Waterloo

June 18, 1815.
Napoleon's final defeat, ending the Napoleonic Wars

What caused the French Revolution?

Social Inequity (unfair class system), Economic Crisi (France is bankrupt sue to deficit spending and wars), Enlightenment Ideas (liberty, equality and popular sovereignty and other ideas inspired the 3rd Estate), weak leader (King Louis XVI), the summoning of the Estates-General

Moderate Phase (National Assembly)

1789-1891
France becomes a constitutional monarchy.
Tennis Court Oath, Storming of Bastille, The Great Fear, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Women's March on Versailles, Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Constitution of 1791.

Radical Phase (Reign of Terror)

1792-1794
War with Europe, End of the monarchy (Tuileries palace stormed and National Convention declared France a republic), Committee of Public Safety, Levee en Masse

The Directory

1795-1799
Period of reaction against extremism.
Overthrown in a coup d'etat by Napoleon in 1799.

Age of Napoleon

1799-1815
Consolidation of many revolution changes and a period of war throughout Europe.
Napoleon rose to power through a plebiscite and became First Consul and then Emperor.
Napoleonic Code, public school system, Concordat of 1801, Continental System.