Modern World History Unit 2: French Revolution and Latin American Revolutions

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering the Estates system, French Revolution, Napoleonic era, Congress of Vienna, and Latin American independence movements from Unit 2.

Ancien Regime

The political and social system of France divided into the First Estate, Second Estate, and Third Estate.

First Estate

The estate in French society composed of people who held positions of power in the Catholic Church.

Second Estate

The estate composed of people who held positions in the government or military.

Third Estate

The social class consisting of peasants and the middle class (the bourgeoisie) who bore all the taxes.

Bourgeoisie

The middle class of the Third Estate who were unhappy with the Ancien Regime because all of the taxes were placed on them.

Estates-General

France's national parliament consisting of representatives from each estate: 100 from the 1st Estate, 200 from the 2nd Estate, and 600 from the 3rd Estate.

Tennis Court Oath

An oath taken by all members of the National Assembly pledging that they would not disband until a constitution was created.

The Great Fear

A period of mass panic with frequent peasant revolts and rumors that the nobility would suppress the rebellion.

August Decrees

Decrees passed by the National Assembly in response to the Great Fear that abolished all legal privileges of nobles and clergy in the name of writing a new constitution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

An Enlightenment-inspired document, largely based on the Declaration of Independence, that established rights to liberty, property, and security for every person.

Women's March on Versailles

An event during which the royal family were made prisoners and forced to leave the palace to return to Paris.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

A measure placing the church under state control, authorizing the sale of church lands to increase state revenues, and requiring bishops and priests to be elected by the people rather than appointed by the pope.

Maximilien Robespierre

The individual who led the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.

Coup d'état

The method by which Napoleon Bonaparte, originally one of France's top military leaders, overthrew the government and seized power.

The Concordat

An agreement in which Napoleon recognized Catholicism as the majority religion in France, and in return, the pope agreed not to ask for the return of church lands seized under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Napoleonic Code

A legal code preserving Enlightenment principles such as equality of all citizens before the law, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom, while restricting women by preventing them from divorcing easily and owning land.

Lycées

State-controlled schools established by Napoleon to produce a loyal and capable administrative class by preparing students to become elite members of the country's military and government.

Censorship

The suppression of writing and ideas by the government, used by Napoleon to severely limit freedom of speech, press, and expression.

Continental System

A policy designed by Napoleon to weaken Britain's economy by stopping British goods from reaching the European continent.

Guerilla warfare

A military tactic characterized by ambushes and hit-and-run attacks, used during the Peninsula War to inflict significant costs on the French.

Scorched earth policy

A military strategy used by Russians during the 1812 invasion that involved retreating and burning their own villages to prevent Napoleon's army from finding food.

Battle of Waterloo

The battle that resulted in Napoleon Bonaparte's final defeat.

Congress of Vienna

A post-Napoleonic meeting with three goals: to restore the balance of power to Europe, suppress revolutionary ideas, and restore royal monarchies.

Peninsulares

People born in Europe who were the only group permitted to hold office in colonial Latin American government.

Creoles

A social group in colonial Latin America that could serve as high-level officers in Spanish colonial armies but was frustrated by being barred from holding high political office.

Saint Domingue (Haiti)

A French colony that became the first Latin American territory to free itself from European rule.

Padre Miguel Hidalgo

A priest in the village of Dolores who firmly believed in Enlightenment ideals.

Independence of Brazil

A unique Latin American independence movement where the royals escaped before Napoleon's army arrived, closed ports to British shipping, and ruled Portugal from Brazil for 14 years.