The French Revolution and Napoleon

Flashcards about the causes, events, and outcomes of the French Revolution, and the subsequent rise and impact of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Ancien Régime

The pre-1789 French system of government, society, and the role of the Church.

Absolute Monarchy (France)

A system where France was ruled by an absolute monarch, Louis XVI, who had complete power with no constitutional limits.

Parlements

Judicial courts that could block royal edicts; the king appointed intendants to administer local government, but they faced resistance from these courts .

Voltaire

Enlightenment thinker who criticized the Church, religious intolerance, and the legal system.

Montesquieu

Enlightenment thinker who advocated for checks and balances in government and the rule of law.

Diderot

Enlightenment thinker who promoted knowledge and independent thinking.

Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker who wrote about power, liberty, and education.

Quesnay

Enlightenment thinker who argued for the removal of constraints on trade and production.

Calonne

Finance Minister who submits plan for major financial reforms in August 1786 and his dismissal in April 1787 led to financial crisis.

Civil Code

Published in March 1804 and later to become Code Napoléon.

Turgot

Finance Minister who attempted to implement economic reforms in France, including the introduction of free trade but faced opposition.

Estates-General

A legislative assembly in France that represented the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people, convened in 1789.

National Assembly

The revolutionary assembly formed by representatives of the Third Estate in 1789, which proclaimed itself the voice of the people.

Storming of the Bastille

A key event on July 14, 1789, symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, where revolutionaries stormed the Bastille prison.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A fundamental document of the French Revolution, issued in August 1789, outlining individual rights and the principles of democracy.

Reign of Terror

A period during the French Revolution (1793-1794) marked by extreme violence and repression, led by Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety