Key Terms French Revolution

Old Regime

The social and political system of France in the 1770s, where people were divided into three estates.

Estate

The three large social classes in France under the Old Regime: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third Estate (everyone else).

Louis XVI

The king of France during the French Revolution, known for his indecisive leadership and extravagant spending.

Marie Antoinette

The queen of France during the French Revolution, infamous for her lavish lifestyle and unpopularity.

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three estates, called by Louis XVI in 1789 to approve new taxes on the nobility.

National Assembly

Formed by the Third Estate delegates in 1789, aiming to make changes in the government and represent the French people.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge taken by the Third Estate delegates in June 1789, vowing to remain assembled until they had created a new constitution.

Great Fear

A wave of panic that swept through France in the summer of 1789, leading to peasant uprisings and destruction of manor houses.

Bastille

A Paris prison stormed by a mob on July 14, 1789, in search of gunpowder and weapons, symbolizing the revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A statement of revolutionary ideals adopted by the National Assembly in August 1789, declaring equality and outlining basic rights.

Legislative Assembly

A new legislative body created by the Constitution of 1791, which had the power to create laws and approve or reject declarations of war.

Émigrés

Nobles and others who fled France during the Revolution, hoping to restore the Old Regime.

Sans-culottes

Parisian workers and small shopkeepers wanting more radical changes during the Revolution, named for wearing regular trousers.

Jacobins

A radical political organization during the French Revolution, notable members included Jean-Paul Marat and Maximilien Robespierre.

Guillotine

A machine used for executions during the French Revolution, considered a more humane method of execution.

Maximilien Robespierre

A Jacobin leader who rose to power in 1793 and ruled France as a dictator during the Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror

A period from 1793 to 1794 marked by mass executions of those considered enemies of the Revolution.