Louis XV
grandson of Louis XIV and king of France from 1715 to 1774 who led France into the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, more concerned with mistresses than matters of the state...eventually, he took action to defend his absolutist inhe
Madame de Pomadour
most famous mistress of 18th c, who influenced Louis in making important decisions and guiding advice on apointments and foreign policy
Parlement
Law court staffed by nobles that could register or refuse to register a king's edict.
Rene de Maupeou
abolished the Parlement of Paris and exciled its members to the provionces; created a new and docile Parlement of royal officials; began to re-tax the privlege groups; the nagority of philosophes and public sided with the old Parlement, however, abolished
Louis XVI
king of France from 1774 to 1792, 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 class of French society made up of the noblility
Third Estate
made up of Bourgeoisie, urban lower class, and peasant farmers
Bourgeoisie
educated, middle class of France; provided force behind the Revolution
corvee
forced labor that required peasants to work for a month out of the year on roads and other public projects
Lettre de cachet
a warrant formerly issued by a French king who could warrant imprisonment or death in a signed letter under his seal
ancien regime (Old Regime)
a political and social system that no longer governs (especially the system that existed in France before the French Revolution)
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
The French national assembly summoned in 1789 to remedy the financial crisis and correct abuses of the ancien regime. Hadn't been called since 1614, each estate got one vote
cahiers de doleances
statements of local grievances that were drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General
Abbe Sieyes
Wrote an essay called "What is the 3rd estate" Argued that lower classes were more important than the nobles and the government should be responsible to the people.
Age of Montesquieu
first phase of the french revolution-tennis court oath, national assembly, etc
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 Bastille
Paris-July 14, 1789~the medieval fortress and prison known as the Bastille contained only seven prisoners, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution and it subsequently become an icon of the French Republic
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
'The Rights of Women' french journalist who demanded equal rights for women
Mary Wollstonecraft
'Vindiction of the Rights of Women' nEnglish writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women
Madame de Stael
woman who was influenced by germany, became a leader of romanticism in France
Women's march to Versailles
Parisian women marched to Versailles to talk to King Louis XVI about bread prices on October 5, 1789
Jean-Paul Marat
radical journalist, led to many executions and eventually murdered by a Girondin women
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 1790
Established by National Assembly in dealing with issue of Church. Clergy to be elected by the 50,000 electors. Protestants, Jews and agnostics could take part. Number of diocese reduced from 130 to 83 and were to be coterminous with the new departements.
refractory clergy
members of the Roman Catholic clergy during the French Revolution who refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the state under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
83 Departments
france became a centralized national gov't based in paris once the feudal institutions, parlements, estates, provincial law codes, and tarrif and tax bodies were replaced by them
assignats
Paper currency, the French churches were used as collateral -the first French paper currency issued by the General Assembly.
Flight to Varennes
King Louis XVI and his families attempt to escape paris; made it only to Varennes where they were arrested and put on house arrest. End of French Monarchy
Edmund Burke
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 general and
Thomas Paine
Rights of Man" American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)
Legislative Assembly
replaced National Assembly; took away most of king's power
Jacobins
Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.
Girondins
A political party that emerged in revolutionary France after the fall of the monarchy in 1792 when the jacobins split into two factions. Named for the region in southwestern France where many of their leaders were from, not as radical
Declaration of Pillnitz
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 European monarchs to intervene on behalf of Lou
Emigres
French nobles who fled from France during the peasant uprisings. They were very conservative and hoped to restore the king to power.
War of the First Coalition
french revolutionary forces were soundly defeated by the austrian military
Brunswick Manifesto
1792, during the radical stage. Austria and Prussia made this saying that they would destroy Paris if any harm came to the French king(Louis XVI)
storming of the Tuleries
Responding to Brunswick Manifesto, mobs seized power in Paris. The king was taken prisoner. Marks the beginning of the "Second Revolution".
Paris Commune
The small government in Paris who wanted to resist the conservative leaders of France and tried to form their own government
Georges-Jacques Danton
French revolutionary leader who stormed the Paris bastille and who supported the execution of Louis XVI but was guillotined by Robespierre for his opposition to the Reign of Terror (1759-1794)
September Massacres
Louis's imprisonment was followed by the September massacres. Wild stories seized the city that imprisoned counter-revolutionary aristocrats/priests were plotting with the allied invaders. As a results, angry crowds invaded the prisons of Paris and summar
Age of Rousseau
second phase of the French Revolution-Republic, execution of Louis, Committee of Public Safety, Regin of Terror, Termidorian Rebellion, Directory
National Convention
The third estate of the Estates General -broke from the Estates because they wanted the Estates to sit as a committee and not as segregated groups.
Equality, Liberty, Fraternity
New government based on these ideals.
Mountain
Robespierre, urban radicals
sans-culottes
urban workers "with long pants
Enrages
radical gropu that opposed the jacobins, fought against by robespierre
Committee of Public Safety
The leaders under Robespierre who organized the defenses of France, conducted foreign policy, and centralized authority during the period 1792-1795.
Maximilien Robespierre
The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue.
Louis Saint-Just
major leader alongside Robespierre
Law of Maximum
The fixing of prices on bread and other essentials under Robespierre's rule.
Lazare Carnot
was in charge of military of Committee of Public Safety (one of prominent leaders of Committee of Public Safety)
levee en masse
The creation under the Jacobins, of a citizen army with support from young and old, heralding the emergence of modern warfare.
Reign of Terror
the historic period (1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed
Law of Suspects
Anyone who harms or intends to harm the revolution by thought, word or deed is prosecuted
Vendee
Counter revolution led by conservative forces (nobles, clergy, and the peasantry).
Jacques Hebert
Hebertistes" radical social democrat who led the angry men, hibertists were his followers
Cult of the Supreme Being
Robespierre's attempt to an alternative to Christianity with this DEISTIC cult
Temple of Reason
New name for the Cathedral of Notre Dame (nonchristain)
Thermidorian Reaction
extended Political Reign of Terror. Goal was increasingly an ideal democratic republic where justice would reign and there would be neither rich nor poor. their lofty goal was unrestrained despotism and guillotine. In Mar. 1794, to the horror of many sans
The Directory
(1795-1799) created by the new constitution it was the first bicameral legislature in French history. It consisted of a parliament of 500 representatives, but the majority of French people wanted to be rid of them.
Conspiracy of Equals
1796 plot led by Gracchus Babeuf which called for a return to many ideals of the Revolution and an overthrow of the Directory
Coup d'Etat Brumaire
Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate. This occurred on 9 November 1799, which was 18 Brumaire
Consulate Era
era after the directory with napolean acting as head, took public vote of support that reaffirmed napoleans right to lead
plebiscite
(general referendum) overwhelmingly approved