Chapter 4: French Revolution and Napoleon (1789-1815)

Vocabulary terms, key political factions, and major concepts from the Chapter 4 study guide covering the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.

Absolute Monarchy

The type of government in power in France at the start of the revolution, which denied people rights through arbitrary imprisonment.

Arbitrary imprisonment

How did the government deny people rights?

Bourgeoisie

The wealthy, educated middle class (including lawyers, doctors, and bankers) that emerged by the 1700s and was looked down on by the upper classes.

Wealthy, educated middle class

Who were the bourgeoisie?

Looked down on them

How did the upper class view the bourgeoisie?

First and Second estate owned most of the land even though they only took up 2%

Why might French peasant argue that the land distribution was unfair?

Wars and Royal Spending

Why was the French treasury bankrupt?

Crop failure and bread famine

What was the last economic failure?

To approve new taxes

why did the king call the estates general in 1789?

Voting system was unfair

Why was the 3rd estate frustrated with the Estates General

National Assembly

A representative body formed by the Third Estate in June 1789.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge by the National Assembly stating that they would not disband until a new constitution was written.

Storming of the Bastille

An attack by mobs on the Bastille fortress carried out to secure gunpowder and weapons.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A foundational document establishing liberty, equality, and equal rights.

Constitution of 1791

A governing document that created a constitutional monarchy in France.

Legislative Assembly

The lawmaking body established under France's limited monarchy.

National Convention

A governing body that abolished the monarchy to establish France as a republic; it began as a democratic republic but turned into a brutal dictatorship.

Committee of Public Safety

A governmental body formed to protect France from foreign enemies and crush internal rebellions.

Reign of Terror

A period from Summer 1793 to Summer 1794 in which the Jacobins empowered themselves through fear by executing anyone suspected of disloyalty.

National Razor

A nickname used during the French Revolution to refer to the guillotine.

Grand Terror

A severe escalation of the Reign of Terror during which executions increased and over 10,000 people were killed.

The Directory

A five-member elected council that governed France after the Terror, which was plagued by political corruption, inflation, and food shortages.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The military leader who took over France following the failures of the Directory.

Revolution

The overthrow of a government.

Dissident Elites

Rebellious members of the upper class.

Frustration of the Masses

Widespread public anger among the common population.

Shared Motivations

Unifying common goals held by people during a movement.

State Crises

Government economic failure.

First Estate

The social order comprised of the clergy, who paid no taxes.

Second Estate

The privileged social order comprised of the nobility.

Third Estate

The social class consisting of commoners, who bore the tax burden despite owning far less land relative to the first two estates.

Far Right (Legislative Hall)

Super Conservatives who favored total royal power.

Center (Legislative Hall)

Moderates who advocated for a limited constitutional monarchy.

Girondists (Left)

A political faction seated on the Left that wanted a republic with moderate change.

Jacobins (Far Left)

A faction seated on the Far Left that demanded a radical republic and the execution of the king.

Georges Danton

A charismatic radical speaker and Jacobin leader.

Jean-Paul Marat

A radical revolutionary journalist and Jacobin leader.

Maximilien de Robespierre

The dictator behind the Reign of Terror whose arrest and beheading marked the end of the Terror.