French Revolution Section 2 Review

Radicals

those who favor extreme change

Republic

A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws.

Dictatorship

A form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority; they usually take power by force

Absolute Monarchy

A government in which the king or queen has absolute power.

Limited Monarchy

a system of government in which the king or queen is limited by an elected legislature and/or a constitution.

Anarchy

absence of government

Marat

Radical French journalist that was assassinated by Charlotte Corday while soaking in his bathtub

Danton

French Revolutionary leader who was popular with the people and a compromiser between the other factions.

March on Versailles

The event where the "fish women" demanded bread and forced King Louis XVI and his family to return to Paris.

Bastille

Fortress in Paris used as a prison; French Revolution began when Parisians stormed it in 1789 looking for gunpowder

Maximilien Robespierre

The radical leader of the National Convention during the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution

Old Regime

The political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution

Guillotine

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

Jacobins

The most radical political faction of the French Revolution

Causes of the French Revolution

Financial crisis, widespread hunger, poor leadership from the king, inequalities, and the influence of the Enlightenment

Ways that French society was transformed by the Revolution

A new calendar, the metric system, churches closed, and people had to be addressed as "citizen."

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had written a constitution