Louis XV
(r. 1715-1774) Bourbon king; , grandson of Louis XIV who led France into the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War
Madame de Pompadour
most famous mistress of 18th c. who influenced Louis XV in making important gov't decisions and giving advice on appointments and foreign policy
Parlement
the high court of Paris
Ren� de Maupeou
Louis XV's chancellor, appointed in 1768, who was ordered to subdue judicial opposition
Louis XVI
King of France (r. 1774-1792). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.
Marie Antoinette
queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular; her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)
First Estate
The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Gallican Church
Roman Catholic church in France, headed by the monarch, not the pope
Second Estate
the second estate of the realm: the nobility
Third Estate
made up of Bourgeoisie, urban lower class, and peasant farmers
bourgeoisie
educated, middle class of France; provided force behind the Revolution
corv�e
obligatory work for peasants demanded by nobles for several days a year
Lettre de cachet
gov't could imprison anyone without charges or trial
ancien regime (Old Regime)
Term used following the French Revolution to describe the social, political, and economic powers that existed in France before 1789. Became applied to all of pre-revolutionary Europe Rule of absolute monarchies with growing bureaucracies (excluding Great
Jacques Necker
financial expert of Louis XVI, he advised Louis to reduce court spending, reform his government, abolish tarriffs on internal trade, but the First and Second Estates got him fired
Assembly of Notables
A group of nobles and aristocrats invited by the king of France to discuss reform of the government.
Estates General
France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates, or classes, in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The calling of the Estates General in 1789 led to the French Revolution.
cahiers de dol�ances
each estate was instructed to compile a list of suggestions and grievances and present them to the king.
Abb�e Siey�s
the most influential writer in the 3rd estate; wrote "What is the Third Estate?
What is the Third Estate?
Pamphlet written by Abbe Sieyes in January 1789. It declared the nobility to be a useless caste that should be abolished. Only the Third Estate was necessary and was identical with the nation - should therefore be sovereign. Through these writings of Siey
Age of Montesquieu
first phase of the French Revolution; constitutional monarchy.
National Assembly
French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.
Tennis Court Oath
Declaration mainly by members of the Third Estate not to disband until they had drafted a constitution for France (June 20, 1789).
storming of the Bastille
July 14, 1789 when mob and some of the king's soldiers attacked the Bastille which was a jail where the gun powder was kept the effect was the people getting left out, only 7 but the impact was great and all the guards got killed
Great Fear
The panic and insecurity that struck French peasants in the summer of 1789 and led to their widespread destruction of manor houses and archives.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
This was the new constitution that the National Assembly wrote that gave all citizens free expression of thoughts and opinions and guaranteed equality before the law
Olympe de Gouges
A proponent of democracy, she demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding for themselves. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of
The Rights of Woman
1791, Following official Declaration in each of its 17 articles, de Gouges applied them to women explicitly in each case
Mary Wollstonecraft
British feminist of the eighteenth century who argued for women's equality with men, even in voting, in her 1792 "Vindication of the Rights of Women.
Vindication of the Rights of Woman
(1792) pointed out two contradictions in the view of women held by such enlightenment thinkers of Rousseau; women must obey men was contrary to the beliefs of the same individuals that a system based on the arbitrary power of monarchs over the subjects or
Madame de Stael
ran a salon and wrote widely read books; deplored subordination of women to men that the Revolution had done to little to change
Women's march to Versailles
Oct. 1789; women pushed the revolution forward in October when shortages of bread persisted; incited by Jean-Paul Marat, 7,000 women (along with the Paris national guard) marched 12 miles from Paris to Versailles demanding the king redress their economic
Jean-Paul Marat
radical journalist, physician, philosopher, skin disease, stabbed to death by Charlotte Corday
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 1790
1790, secularized religion, created a national church with 83 bishops and dioceses, biggest mistake made by the National Assembly (first significant failure); convents and monasteries abolished, archbishoprics abolished, clergymen elected and paid by stat
refractory clergy
half of French priests refused to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, had support of king, former aristocrats, peasants, and urban working-class
83 Departments
France was divided into these, governed by elected officials, replaced old provincial boundary lines
assignats
new paper currency, former church property used to guarantee value
Flight to Varennes
Louis XVI tried to escape France in June, 1791 to avoid having to approve the Constitution of 1791 and to raise a counter-revolutionary army with �migr� noblemen and seek help from foreign powers. He was captured and the King and Queen became prisoners of
Edmund Burke
1729-1797, A conservative leader who was deeply troubled by the aroused spirit of reform. In 1790, he published Reforms on The Revolution in France, one of the greatest intellectual defenses of European conservatism. He defended inherited priveledges in g
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Written by Edmund Burke, the philosophical conservative, in England. He had previously adivsed SLOW adaptation of liberties for England and commenting on the revolution in France he predicted anarchy and dictatorship as result of too rapid advance of libe
Thomas Paine
American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)
Rights of Man
1791, Written by Thomas Paine. It has been seen as a defense of the French Revolution, but it's also an influential work that embodied ideas of liberty and human equality.
Legislative Assembly
1791-1792; a completely new group of legislators replaced the National Assembly in the new government
Jacobins
Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794. Named after their political club. Dominated the Legislative Assembly.
Girondins
a group of Jacobins, became the left or advanced party of the Revolution in the Legislative Assembly and led the country into war; more rural
Declaration of Pillnitz
issued by Prussia and Austria in August, 1791, afraid that other countries would follow France's lead and begin revolutions, Emperor Leopold II of Austria and King Frederick William II of Prussia issued this declaration in August 27, 1791, inviting other
�migr�s
French nobles who fled France beginning in 1789, influenced Prussia and Austria to declare the restoration of the French monarchy as their goal
War of the First Coalition
French revolutionary forces wee soundly defeated by the Austrian military; only the conflict between eastern monarchs over the division of Poland saved France from defeat; intensified existing unrest and dissatisfaction of unpropertied classes
Brunswick Manifesto
July 25, 1792: issued by Prussia and Austria and threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed
storming of the Tuleries
August 10, 1792: the king's palace in Paris was stormed and the King was taken prisoner, after fleeing to the Legislative Assembly
Paris Commune
revolutionary municipal gov't set up in Paris, which effectively usurped the power of the Legislative Assembly
Georges-Jacques Danton
leader of the Paris Commune
September Massacres
led by Paris Commune, rumors spread that imprisoned counter-revolutionary aristocrats and priests were plotting with foreign invaders, mobs slaughtered over a thousand priests, bourgeoisie, and aristocrats who opposed their program; many were in prison. M
Age of Rousseau
second phase of the French Revolution; 1792-1799, France now a republic
National Convention
1792-1795; France was proclaimed a republic on Sept. 21, 1792; abolished the monarchy, installed republicanism, most members were Jacobins and republicans (well-educated middle class)
Equality, Liberty, Fraternity
ideas that the National Convention was based on
Mountain
radical republicans; urban class, led by Danton and Robespierre
sans-culottes
urban French workers (laboring poor) "without breeches
Enrag�s
radical working class leaders of Paris who seized and arrested 31 Girondist members of National Convention and left the Mountain in control
Committee of Public Safety
summer of 1793, emergency gov't to deal with internal and external challenges to the revolution
Maximilien Robespierre
Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror.
Louis Saint-Just
major leader alongside Robespierre in the Committee of Public Safety
Law of Maximum
a planned economy to respond to food shortages and related economic problems
Lazare Carnot
reorganized the French army
l�vee en masse
the entire nation conscripted into service as war was defined as a national mission
Reign of Terror
This was the period in France where Robespierre ruled and used revolutionary terror to solidify the home front. He tried rebels and they were all judged severely and most were executed
Law of Suspects
alleged enemies of the revolution were brought before Revolutionary Tribunals that were created to hear cases of treason
Vend�e
place in western France where many deaths occurred in open revolt against the Convention
Jacques H�bert
radical social democrat who led the "angry men
H�bertistes
followers of H�bert; party of extreme terror, most of its leaders were executed in March 1794, had been responsible for for deaths of 2,000 people at Nantes where they were loaded on barges and deliberately drowned, Paris Commune was thus destroyed
Cult of the Supreme Being
introduced June, 1794; Deistic natural religion, in which the Republic was declared to recognize the existence of God and the immortality of the soul
Temple of Reason
Notre Dame Cathedral after the switch from Roman Catholicism to Robespierre's new religion
Thermidorian Reaction
1794; ended reign of terror; , The violent backlash in France against the rule of Robespierre that began with his arrest and execution in July 1794, or 9 Thermidor in the French revolutionary calendar. Most of the instruments of Terror were dismantled, Ja
The Directory
1785-1799. Five man group. Passed a new constitution in 1795 that was much more conservative. Corrupt and did not help the poor, but remained in power because of military strength. By 1797 it was a dictatorship.
Conspiracy of Equls
led by "Gracchus" Babeuf, formed to overthrow the directory and replace it with a dictatorial "democratic" gov't which would abolish private property and enforce equality
Coup d'Etat Brumaire
November, 1799; Upon returning from Egypt with his forces, Napoleon drove legislators from the Legislative Assembly
Consulate Era
Started with a new constitution; Era after the Directory with Napoleon acting as head, took public vote of support that reaffirmed Napoleon's right to lead; ended when he was crowned emperor
plebiscite
general referendum