French Revolution

1st Estate

Social class made up of the clergy

Guillotine

Used by the revolutionaries to execute opponents; believed to be a "humane" form of execution

Financial crisis (national debt)

The French monarchy's greatest problem, prior to the onset of the French Revolution

Georges Danton

Leader of the September Massacres in 1792 who was put to death when he suggested the "Terror" should end.

Legislative Assembly

Law-making body established by the Constitution of 1791

Republic of Virtue

The Committee of Public Safety tried to establish this, a democratic nation composed of good "citizens"

2nd Estate

Social class made up of the nobility

Charlotte Corday

Arranged a meeting with Marat, claiming to have a list of conspirators against the revolution, and then murdered him to bring "peace" back to France.

Enlightenment

Belief in these kind of ideas, such as the influence of nature & human progress, was partly a cause of the French Revolution

Jean-Paul Marat

Wrote The Friend of the People, a journal which condemned suspected "traitors" of the revolution

Olympe de Gouges

Demanded equal political rights for women from the new French National Assembly

Abbe Sieyes

His pamphlet, "What is the 3rd Estate?," displayed the spirit of the Third Estate

De-Christianization

In its attempts to create a new order that reflected its belief in reason, the National Convention pursued this policy (which included a new calendar, changing street names, etc.)

Jacques Necker

Royal finance director who was popular with the people in France and once said, "The government had a duty to provide bread for all of its people."

Flight to Varennes

Revolutionary event in which Louis XVI and the royal family tried to flee France, but were stopped before they could reach the Austrian border

Sans-culottes

Members of this political group were ordinary patriots without fine clothes; means "without breeches"

Committee of Public Safety

This group was given broad powers to defend France from threats (internal & external) during the Reign of Terror

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Declared that bishops and priests were to be elected by the people

Bread

High prices for this commodity produced many riots throughout the winter and spring of 1789

Bourgeoisie

Middle-class of France; members of the 3rd Estate

Louis XVI

The King of France during the French Revolution; was a weak absolute monarch

Reign of Terror

The period when thousands of French political figures and citizens were executed

Girondins

Group of French citizens who favored keeping the king alive, lived in rural areas of France

Thermidorian Reaction

An attempt by the National Convention to return France to normalcy after the Reign of Terror

Declaration of Rights of Man

Charter of basic liberties that was based on the U.S. Constitution; supported rights for all men, not women

Women's March on Versailles

This revolutionary event forced the king to accept the National Assembly and agree to the Declaration of the Rights of Man (*royal family taken hostage)

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three social classes; King summoned (after 175 years) to try to raise taxes

Marie Antoinette

"Madame Deficit," had ties with Austria that concerned revolutionary leaders in France

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by members of France's National Assembly in 1789 in which they vow to meet until they had drawn up a new constitution

Napoleon Bonaparte

Military leader who overthrew the Directory and crowned himself leader of France

Republic

After abolishing the monarchy, the first step of the French National Convention was to establish France as this in 1792

Jacobins

Radical political organization that supported execution of Louis XVI; took control of government in 1793 and established a Reign of Terror, members included Marat and Robespierre

Bastille

A Paris prison that housed weapons used in the revolution; the attack on this prison marked the beginning of the revolution

The Great Fear

After the storming of the Bastille, peasant rebellions became part of the vast panic known as…

Paris Commune

Radical political group made up of the sans-culottes

Maximilien Robespierre

The Jacobin leader who set out to build a "republic of virtue" and was later beheaded

3rd Estate

Social class which included the bourgeoisie as well as professionals, artisans, and peasants

National Assembly

A French congress established by representatives of the Third Estate

Citizen

The Republic of Virtue preferred this title, instead of "mister," for people in society

Taille

France's property tax; only paid by 3rd Estate