The French Revolution & Napoleon

Flashcards covering key concepts and terms related to the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.

Estates General

A legislative body in France made up of three estates (clergy, nobility, commoners), called by Louis XVI in 1789.

Tennis Court Oath

A vow taken by members of the Third Estate in June 1789, promising not to disband until they had drafted a new constitution.

National Assembly

The revolutionary assembly formed by the Third Estate that sought to represent the people of France.

Louis XVI/Marie Antoinette

The King and Queen of France during the French Revolution; both were executed in 1793.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A foundational document of the French Revolution proclaiming natural rights and equality before the law.

Storming of the Bastille

A revolutionary event on July 14, 1789, where Parisians stormed a prison, symbolizing the start of the French Revolution.

Maximilien Robespierre

A radical leader of the Jacobins and key figure in the Reign of Terror, later executed in 1794.

The Reign of Terror

A period (1793-1794) when Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety executed thousands suspected of being counter-revolutionaries.

Thermidorian Reaction

The fall of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror in July 1794.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A military leader who rose to power in 1799, declared himself Emperor of France, and expanded French influence across Europe.

Napoleonic Code

A legal code established by Napoleon emphasizing equality, property rights, and merit-based advancement.

Grand Empire

The empire under Napoleon's rule, encompassing most of Europe through conquest.

Jacobin

Radical revolutionaries during the French Revolution.

Sans-Culottes

Working-class revolutionaries who supported the Jacobins.