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.
American Revolution
This political revolution began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 where American colonists sought to balance the power between government and the people and protect the rights of citizens in a democracy.
assignats
Paper currency, the French churches were used as collateral -the first French paper currency issued by the General Assembly.
Bastille
The political prison and armory stormed on July 14, 1789, by Partisian city workers alarmed by the king's concentration of troops at Versailles
Cahiers de Doleances
statements of local grievances drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General, advocating a regular constitutional government abolishing fiscal privileges of the church and nobility
Catherine the Great
ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796, added new lands to Russia, encouraged science, art, lierature, Russia became one of Europe's most powerful nations
Citizen Capet
Louis convicted in front of national convention of treason, voted guilty. Stripped of all titles and honorifics by the egalitarian, republican government, Citizen Louis Capet was guillotined in front of a cheering crowd
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
A document, issued by the National Assembly in July 1790, that broke ties with the Catholic Church and established a national church system in France with a process for the election of regional bishops. The document angered the pope and church officials a
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.
Constitution of 1791
said that all 3 estates have equal power in government, National Assembly becomes Legasliative Assembly, absolute monarchy is abolished, forcing the king to obey
Constitution of the Year III
After the Thermidorean Reaction members of the Convention wrote a new constitution. Went into effect at end of 1795. Set up a Directory and a Bicameral legislature.
convention
a large formal assembly
Count of Artois
Brother of the king and leader of aristocracy who wanted to concede nothing. Emigrated with many others and prepared to agitate abroad and consult with foreign governments on how to overthrow the revolution.
Cult of Supreme Being
a religion based on deism devised by Maximilien Robespierre, intended to become the state religion after the French Revolution
Declaration of Pillnitz
the promise by Austria and Prussia to protect the French monarchy
Declaration of 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
departments
administrative districts of France
Directory
Group of five men who served as liaisons between Robespierre and the Assembly. Overthrown by Napoleon.
emigres
French nobles who fled from France during the peasant uprisings. They were very conservative and hoped to restore the king to power.
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. (p. 585)
Fight to Varennes
Louis XVI tried to escape France in June, 1791 to avaoid having to approve the Constitution of 1791 and to raise a counterrevolutionary army. They were captured and forced to accept and constitutional monarchy.
Frederick William II
King of Prussia whose mismanaged reign was marked by a costly war with Revolutionary France; boldly seized Silesia from Austria, sparking the War of the Austrian Succession; became known as Frederick the Great
Gabelle
a salt tax in France. This is an example of one of the ways monarchs could raise money by levying taxes on basic food and clothing
Girondists
These were the liberals of France who did not want to execute Louis XVI, but The Mountain did anyway
Great Fear
Followed the storming of the Bastille-people were scared of outlaws and reprisals-fanned flames of rebellion.
Jacobins
Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.
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
Jaques Danton
He was a leading member of the Jacobin Party and was the first president of the Committee of Public Safety. As time went on and the revolutionary politicians went against everything they fought for and became more corrupt. Danton was accused of being a co
Legislative Assembly
a French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.
Levee en masse
A national draft in France in 1794, created under the Jacobins, of a citizen army with support from young and old, heralding the emergence of modern warfare.
Louis XV
This great-grandson of Louis XIV ruled France from 1715-1774 -- He was an ineffective ruler who engaged in financially-ruinous wars, including the Seven Years War in which France lost most of its overseas empire -- The French nobility also began to reclai
Louis XVI
King of France (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)
Marquis de Lafayette
French soldier who joined General Washington's staff and became a general in the Continental Army.
Maximilien Robespierre
He was a lawyer and a member of the National Convention. Led the Mountain side of the National Convention. Had the Mountains join forces with the sans-culottes, as well as joining the Committee of Public Safety. Helped France's financial situation through
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. (p. 585)
National Constituent Assembly
The king eventually gave into the National Assembly and requested that the First and Second Estate to join the National Assembly. This new legislative body was known by this term., New name taken by the National Assembly
Old Regime
this term refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. As defined by the creators of the term, it developed out of the French monarchy of the Middle Ages, and was swept away
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
Paris Commune
The small government in Paris who wanted to resist the conservative leaders of France and tried to form their own government
parlements
French regional courts dominated by hereditary nobles. The Parlement of Paris claimed the right to register royal decrees before they could become law.
Reflections on the Revolution
Reflections on the Revolution in France , by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the French Revolution. In the twentieth century, it much influenced conservative and classical liberal intellectuals, who recast Burke's Whig
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
Republic of Virtue
a speech given by Maximilien Robespierre in 1794. In it, provided his political theory. advocates the use of terror in defending democracy, which he equated with virtue. advocated many of the ideals expressed in the French Constitution of 1793.The "Republ
sans-culottes
In the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian wage-earners, and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages
Republican Women
women fitted to make a contribution to the success of the new republic
- needed to be fitted mothers and wives
Tennis Court Oath
A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution.
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
Third Republic
French Republic started after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, which led to the demise of Napolean III, and survived until the invasion of the German third Reich. It was the longest regime from after the French Revolution.
Three estates
The clergy made up a very small percentage but owned 10% of the land; the nobles made up another small percentage but also owned most of the land; and the rest of the people made up 97% of France and owned very little land
William Pitt the Younger
son of Pitt the Elder; excellent prime minister; lot of parliamentary reform took place under him; removed restrictions on Catholics; very much for the abolition of slavery
Women's March on Versailles
This was the march by the women of Paris to the home of Marie Antoinette in order to demand action for the ridiculous raise in the price of bread.