AP Euro - The French Revolution and Napoleon

Hope this helps, Tell me if anything is wrong :)

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

First Estate

They consisted of the Roman Catholic Clergy; they received special privileges and paid no direct taxes

Second Estate

The second class of French society; made up of the noblility

Third Estate

97% of the population (the rest of France)

They consisted of the bourgeoisie, the san-culottes and the peasants; they paid high taxes and had no special privileges

bread

Was very important to people. It was all they ate and was one of the main causes of the French Revolution because people could not afford it.

It is said that many bakers and peasants had to mix sawdust into their bread.

financial crisis

France was in debt, because of constant wars with England.

Soon, bankers refused to lend more money. King Louis XVI tried to convince the Estates General to raise taxes. This was a factor leading up to the French Revolution.

cahiers de doleances

statements of local grievances drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General, advocating a regular constitutional government abolishing fiscal privileges of the church and nobility

parlements

French regional courts dominated by hereditary nobles.

The Parlement of Paris claimed the right to register royal decrees before they could become law.

Abbe Sieyes

Wrote an essay called "What is the 3rd estate"

Argued that lower classes were more important than the nobles and the government should be responsible to the people.

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting (not disband) until they had drawn up a new constitution

Storming of the Bastille

In Paris revolutionaries destroyed the prison and it is seen as the true start of the French Revolution.

National Guard

Lead by Marquis de Lafayette, this army was formed after the Bastille to suppress revolutionaries

Great Fear

A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man

French Revolution document that outlined what the National Assembly considered to be the natural rights of all people and the rights that they possessed as citizens.

Olympe de Gouges

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

Women's March to Versailles

It was "spontaneously" organized by women in the marketplaces of Paris.

They complained over the high price and scant availability of bread, marching from Paris to Versailles.

Jacobins

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre. Protected the republic from foreign and domestic enemies

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

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

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.

• Him and his wife 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

National Convention

abolished the monarchy and established a republic

Maximmilien Robespierre

• the leader of the committee of public safety deciding France's enemies (Jacobins leader)

• his rule as a dictator will become known as the Reign of Terror

• anyone who challenged his leadership was an enemy

Jean-Paul Marat

A journalist and scientist, as well as an associate Jacobin; He helped launch the Reign of Terror and complied death lists, being an advocate of violent measures.

Fun fact: He was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday! :)

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.

Declaration of Pillnitz

A statement agreed upon by Leopold II (Austria) and Fredrick William II (Prussia) to intervene if Louis XVI was threatened by revolution

levee en masse

The creation under the Jacobins, of a citizen army with support from young and old, heralding the emergence of modern warfare.

Reign of Terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty"

de-Christianization

During the French Revolution, the campaign of extremist republicans against organized churches and in favor of a belief system based on reason.

Cult of the Supreme Being

a religion based on deism devised by Maximilien Robespierre, intended to become the state religion after the French Revolution

Haitian Revolution

A major influence of the Latin American revolutions because of its successfulness; the only successful slave revolt in history; it is led by Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy tried to realign French Catholicism with the interests of the state, making it subject to national law.

The document angered the pope and church officials and turned many French Catholics against the revolutionaries.

emigres

French nobles who fled from France during the peasant uprisings.

They were very conservative and hoped to restore the king to power.

Paris Commune

The small government in Paris who wanted to resist the conservative leaders of France

Tried to form their own government

Thermidorian Reaction

A reaction to the violence of the Reign of Terror in 1794

Resulting in the execution of Robespierre and the loosening of economic controls.

Directory

Established after the Reign of Terror / National Convention; a five man group as the executive branch of the country; incompetent and corrupt, only lasted for 4 years.

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.

Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

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

Code Napoleon (Napoleonic Code)

This was the French law put in place by Napoleon.

It promoted equality before the law, toleration of all religions, and outlawing serfdom and feudalism.

It also took away women's rights and outlawed trade unions and strikes.

Maurice de Talleyrand

Delegate to the Congress of Vienna and the genius representative of a defeated France

censorship

restriction on access to ideas and information

invasion of Russia

Napoleon's most disastrous military campaign. Russian winter forced Napoleon to retreat, lead to his downfall

He lost 310,000 troops to the cold and low supplies.

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe

intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

guerilla warfare

A hit-and-run technique used in fighting a war

fighting by small bands of warriors using tactics such as sudden ambushes

100 days

Period of time when Napoleon returned to France a year after his exile to Elba and restored himself as emperor for a few months.

He was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo

Congress of Vienna

Following Napoleon's exile...

This meeting of European rulers in Austria established a system by which the balance of power would be maintained, liberal revolutions would be repressed, as would imperial expansion, and the creation of new countries in Europe.

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

balance of power

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

conservatism

A political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes.

Edward Burke

He wrote the Reflections of the Revolution in France.

He considered the revolution blind rationalism and urged rebels to consider historical events.

Concert of Europe

a series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century prevent the outbreak of revolutions!!

devised by Prince Klemens von Metternich

principle of intervention

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

Neoclassicism

A style of art and architecture that emerged in the later 18th century.

Revival of interest in classical cultures

Neoclassicism was characterized by the utilization of themes and styles from ancient Greece and Rome.

Jacques-Louis David

French painter known for his classicism and his commitment to the ideals of the French Revolution. His works include The Oath of the Horatii (1784 and The Death of Marat (1793).