French revolution

Ancien Regime

old order; system of government in pre-revolution France

third estate

98% of the French population from wealthy and elite to peasant farmers and commoners.

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 noblility

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

Cahiers

list of grievances drawn up by delegates going to the meeting of the estates general

Louis XVI

King of France during the French Revolution

Marie Antoinette

queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular

Maximillen Robespierre

French revolutionary. He sent suspected traitors to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until his own death by the guillotine in 1794.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French general who became emperor of the French (1769-1821)

Elba

First island Napoleon was exiled to

St. Helena

After the Battle of Waterloo, the island off the coast of Africa where Napoleon was exiled to a final time

Scorched Earth Policy

Burning live stock and crops to prevent the enemy from living off the land

Continental System

Napoleon's attempt to hurt the British economy with a Europe wide boycott of British goods.

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon

Bastille Prison

hated royal prison, stormed by peasants who wanted arms

Versailles Palace

royal palace built during the reign of Louis XIV

Reign of Terror

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

Guillotine

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

Tennis Court Oath (1789)

When the 3rd Estate promises to meet until they make a constitution

National Assembly

a French congress established by the Third Estate to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people

San Coulottes

The laboring poor of Paris, so called because the men wore trousers instead of the knee breeches; the word came to refer to the militant radicals of the city.

The Directory

Group of five men who served as liaisons between Robespierre and the Assembly. Overthrown by Napoleon.

Women's March on Versailles

When an angry mob of Parisian women stormed through Versailles demanding Louis XVI end the nationwide food shortage and that the royal family return to Paris with them.

Jacobins

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

Bourgeoisie

French middle class

The 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 and Citizen

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.

"Let them eat cake"

saying attributed to Marie Antoinette that showed insensitivity to the unfortunate

Committee of Public Safety

Powerful group, led by Robespierre, set up to defeat all enemies of the revolution.

Battle of Waterloo (1815)

When Napoleon met his final defeat

Congress of Vienna

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