Honors Wagner Unit 3.6-3.8

Vocabulary flashcards defining key social terms, key figures, institutions, and major historical events of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era.

First Estate

The social class in France made up of the Clergy, numbering about 130,000 (less than 0.5% of the population), owning about 10% of the land, and exempt from paying taxes.

Second Estate

The social class in France consisting of Nobles, numbering about 350,000 (less than 1.5% of the population), owning about 30% of the land, holding top positions in government and military, and exempt from taxes.

Third Estate

The diverse social class making up over 98% of the French population—ranging from poor peasants to wealthy doctors, lawyers, and businessmen—who paid all the taxes.

Taille

France's chief tax from which both the First Estate (clergy) and Second Estate (nobles) were exempt.

Louis XVI

King of France from 1774 to 1791 whose massive financial debt crisis and attempt to use force against the Third Estate sparked the French Revolution.

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France and daughter of Maria Theresa, who was widely resented for her extravagant spending and parties during France's financial crisis.

Estates-General

The French representative assembly of all three estates that met on May 5, 1789, for the first time since 1614 to address the national financial crisis.

National Assembly

The governing body declared on June 17, 1789, by deputies of the Third Estate to represent the people and write a new constitution for France.

Tennis Court Oath

The pledge taken by Third Estate deputies after being locked out of their meeting place, promising to continue meeting at an indoor tennis court until they produced a constitution.

Bastille

A French prison stormed by about 900 peasants to get arms and ammunition, which was captured after four hours of fighting.

Great Fear

A panic that spread across France as peasant revolts broke out, leading to anti-noble violence, destruction of legal records, and formation of citizen militias.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

A revolutionary document adopted by the National Assembly in August 1789 that outlined natural rights and abolished all legal privileges of the first two estates.

Legislative Assembly

The governing body created by the 1791 Constitution that held power in a limited monarchy, elected by tax-paying men over 25 years old.

The Commune

A radical political group formed by the Paris poor who seized control of the city, arrested King Louis XVI, and forced the suspension of the monarchy.

Sans-Culottes

Radical revolutionaries, meaning 'those without fancy pants', who pushed for extreme political reforms and universal male suffrage.

Georges Danton

The Minister of Justice who led the Sans-culottes in attacking the royal palace and imprisoning the king, later serving on the Committee of Public Safety.

Jean-Paul Marat

A radical Paris leader who advocated violent change and promoted mass killings during the French Revolution.

Jacobins

A radical political group in the National Convention that insisted on the execution of King Louis XVI.

The Mountain

A radical political faction within the National Convention that successfully convinced the assembly to sentence Louis XVI to death.

Guillotine

A mechanical device used during the French Revolution for quick and uniform executions by beheading.

Committee of Public Safety

An executive committee dominated by Danton, Marat, and Robespierre given broad powers to manage defense, leading to the Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror

A violent period from 1793 to 1794 directed by the Committee of Public Safety, resulting in over 40,000 executions and mass killings across France.

Maximilien Robespierre

The radical political leader who directed the Committee of Public Safety and Reign of Terror until his execution on June 28, 1794.

The Directory

A corrupt five-member executive branch created by the Constitution of 1795 that ruled France relying on military power until 1799.

Coup d'état

A sudden takeover of government power; specifically carried out in 1799 by General Napoleon Bonaparte against the Directory.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A Corsican-born French general who seized power in 1799, established the Consulate, named himself Consul for life in 1802, and crowned himself Emperor in 1804.

Consulate

The government formed after the 1799 coup d'état, theoretically set up as a republic but entirely controlled by Napoleon as First Consul.

Napoleonic Code

A unified legal system created in 1804 establishing equal protection under the law, religious tolerance, and abolition of serfdom, while limiting women's civil rights.

Anne-Louis-Germaine de Stael

A prominent French writer who spoke out and protested against Napoleon's dictatorial censorship of newspapers and publications.

Continental System

An economic blockade instituted by Napoleon prohibiting trade with Britain to weaken the British economy and military capability.

Russian Campaign of 1812

A disastrous military invasion in which over 600,000 French troops entered Russia, but winter weather and Russian evasion tactics reduced the returning force to just 40,000.

Elba

A small island off the northwest coast of Italy where Napoleon was exiled in March 1814 after the collapse of his empire.

Louis XVIII

The brother of executed King Louis XVI who was restored to the French throne by Allied forces in 1814.

Battle of Waterloo

The final military battle on June 18, 1815, in Belgium, where a combined British and Prussian army permanently defeated Napoleon Bonaparte.

St. Helena

A remote island in the Atlantic Ocean where Napoleon was exiled following his defeat at Waterloo and lived until his death in 1821.