Unit 5 - Viva La France

Jacques Nacker

the royal director-general of France who issued a misleading report in 1781 to downplay France’s financial problems

Tennis Court Oath

the oath members if the National Assembly of France took at an indoor tennis court on June 20, 1789 after the king locked them out of their usual meeting place

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens

the statement in August 1789 of broad political principles issued by the National Constituent Assembly before they wrote a new constitution

Emigres

French aristocrats who fled France during the revolution

San-culottes (without knee breeches)

the lower middle classes and artisans of Paris during the French revolution

Reign of Terror

the period between the summer of 1793 and the end of July 1794 when the French revolutionary state used extensive executions and violence to defend the revolution and suppress its alleged internal enemies

Lord Nelson

the great British general responsible for the victory at Trafalgar against the French, who also destayed the French fleet at Abukir in 1798

Napoleonic Code

the Civil Code of 1894 through which Napoleon reformed and codified French law; confirmed the abolishment of all forms of property and privileges based one birth

Committee of Public Safety

a committee set up by the Convention in April 1789 carry out the executive duties of the government

First Estate

clergy (1%)

Second Estate

nobility (2%)

Third Estate

bourgeoisie and peasants (97%)

Congress of Vienna

an European conference where the delegates sought to create a long-term peace plan and restore conservative orders

Louis XVI (r. 1774-1793)

king of France who summoned the Estates General, but did not grant the reforms that were demanded and the revolution followed

Marie Antoinette

wife of Louis XVI who was unpopular due to her Austrian blood and expensive tastes

Estates General

legislative body of France with each of the estates represented, called in 1789 to help Louis XVI solve the debt crisis (unfair because although the 3rd estate made up of 98% of the population, each estate had an equal vote)

Coup d’etat

a sudden, powerful political stroke used to overthrow the government

Continental System

a blockade imposed by Napoleon to halt trade with continental Europe and Great Britain to weaken the British economy and military. however, it weakened France instead

Toussaint L’Overture

a free slave who led the revolt against French plantation owners and seized control of Hispaniola (Haiti)

Napoleon Bonaparte

military leader who used a coup to make himself leader of France. as emperor, he conquered more than half of Europe and established a civil code. he was defeated at Waterloo and and exiled to St. Helena until his death

Tsar Alexander I

at the beginning of his reign he ceased censorship and promoted education but he drew back the reforms due to fear of losing support from the Congress of Vienna

Consulate

French government dominated by Napoleon from 1799 to 1804

Great Fear

a time when members of the nobility began to fear for their lives because of the uprisings that were spreading across France

Girondists

a moderate political faction during the French Revolution, primarily composed of bourgeois leaders who initially supported the revolution but later opposed the increasingly radical Jacobin movement, advocating for a more controlled and constitutional approach to change

Romanticism

an artistic movement that emerged in late 18th century Europe, emphasizing emotion, individualism, and a deep appreciation for nature, often as a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution

Maximilien Robespierre

leader of the Jacobins who led the Reign of Terror because he believed the only way to protect revolutionary ideals was through violence

Jacobins

radical French faction who aimed to end the reign of King Louis XVI and establish a French republic in which political authority came from the people

Haitian Revolution

a slave revolt against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, leading to the establishment of the first independent Black state in the New World

Klemens von Metternich

Austrian diplomat who lead the Congress of Vienna where he championed conservative policies aimed at restoring the balance of power and suppressing nationalist and liberal movements across the continent; essentially establishing the "Concert of Europe"

Republic of Virtue

the sacrifice of one’s self and one’s interest for the good of the republic