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Estates General
A legislative body in prerevolutionary France made up of representatives of each of the three classes, or estates. It was called into session in 1789 for the first time since 1614.
estates
The three legal categories, or orders, of France’s inhabitants: the clergy, the nobility, and everyone else.
National Assembly
The first French revolutionary legislature, made up primarily of representatives of the third estate and a few from the nobility and clergy, in session from 1789 to 1791.
Great Fear
The fear of noble reprisals against peasant uprisings that seized the French countryside and led to further revolt.
Jacobin Club
A political club in revolutionary France whose members were well-educated radical republicans.
second revolution
From 1792 to 1795, the second phase of the French Revolution, during which the fall of the French monarchy introduced a rapid radicalization of politics.
Girondists
A moderate group that fought for control of the French National Convention in 1793.
the Mountain
Led by Robespierre, the French National Convention’s radical faction, which seized legislative power in 1793.
sans-culottes
The laboring poor of Paris, so called because the men wore trousers instead of the knee breeches of the aristocracy and the middle class; the word came to refer to the militant radicals of the city.
Reign of Terror
The period from 1793 to 1794 during which Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety tried and executed thousands suspected of treason and a new revolutionary culture was imposed.
Thermidorian reaction
A reaction to the violence of the Reign of Terror in 1794, resulting of the execution of Robespierre and the loosening of economic controls.
Napoleonic Code
French civil code promulgated in 1804 that reasserted the 1789 principles of the equality of all male citizens before the law and the absolute security of wealth and private property, as well as restricting rights accorded to women by previous revolutionary laws.
Grand Empire
The empire over which Napoleon and his allies ruled, encompassing virtually all of Europe except Great Britain and Russia.
Continental System
A blockade imposed by Napoleon to halt all trade between continental Europe and Britain, thereby weakening the British economy and military.
Robespierre
Prominent figure during the French Revolution. Leader of the Committee of Public Safety. Known for his role in the Reign of Terror, where thousands were executed. Advocated for radical policies and a republic. Eventually arrested and executed himself.
Edmunde Burke
British conservative who predicted that reform in France would lead to chaos and tyranny, against republicanism.
Committee of Public Safety
Group formed by the National Convention to deal with threats with treason and threats to France.
George Danton
French Revolutionary figure, credited for being a main force in overthrowing the monarchy.
Jean Paul Marat
Radical journalist and during the French Revolution.
Olympia de Gouges
French playwright, executed for moderate beliefs during the French Revolution.
Thomas Paine
English author who wrote works to sway the public opinion towards American independence.
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