| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Jean le Rond D'Alembert | Coeditor of the Encyclopedie. |
| Assignats | Paper currenty, the French churcehs were used as collateral - the first Grench paper currency issued by the General Assembly. |
| Bastille | Medieval fortress that was converted to a prison stormed by peasancts for ammunition during the early stages of the French Revolution. |
| Bourgeoisie | Comfortable members of the 3rd estate. Basically middle class, wanted the privileges of the nobility and upper clergy. |
| Revolutionary Calendar | Created by the National Convention, it was established after the French Revolution; day one was the first day of the French Republic. |
| Committee of Public Safety | Established and led by Robespierre, fixed bread prices and nationalized some businesses. Basically secret police and also controlled the war effor. Instigated the Reign of Terror. |
| Conspiracy of Equals | Led by "Gracchus" Babeuf, an attempt to renew violent rebellion after the Thermidore reaction, communistic in nature. |
| Consulate | Form of government which followed the directory; established by Napoleon; ended when Napoleon was crowned emperor. |
| 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. |
| Danton | Led the Mountains with Robespierre, also executed with Robespierre. |
| David | Napoleon's painter, painted the famous protrain of Napoleon's coronation. |
| Declaration of the Rights of Man | Written by the National Convention; declared all men could do anything as long as it did not harm others. |
| Directory | Group fo five men who served as liaisons between Robespierre and the Assembly. Overthrown by Napoleon. |
| Encyclopedie | Collection of works compiled during the Enlightenment; explained many aspects of society. |
| Estates General | Not called since 1614; finally called by Louis XVI at the advice of his financial minister; demanded control over the King's finances; he refused and dismissed them; sat as three segregated groups. |
| Gabelle | Tax on salt during pre-revolutionary France; included in the Estate's list of grievances. |
| Girondists | One of the two halves of the divided National Convention. |
| Great Fear | Followed the storming of the Bastille; people were scared of outlaws and reprisals; fanned flames of rebellion. |
| Guillotine | Fast and relatively humane; used for mass executions. |
| Intendants | Created by Napoleon; kept watch over their own area of France; allowed Napoleon not to have to worry about petty problems. |
| Levee en Masse | Law that obligated all French men between certain ages to enlist in the army. |
| Louis XVI | King of France; executed for treason by the National Convention; absolute monarch; husband of Marie Antoinette |
| Marie Antoinette | Louis XVI's wife; executed. |
| Robespierre | Member of the National Assembly; led the Mountains; began and led the Committee of Public Safety; began the Reign of Terror. |
| Sans-culottes | Petty laborers and laboring poor; wore pants not knee breeches; became a major political group in revolutionary France. |
| Tennis Court Oaths | Taken by the National Assembly; stated that they would not disband until they had made a new constitution. Met here because they were unable to go to their meeting place. |
| First Estate | Clergy |
| Second Estate | Nobility |
| Third Estate | Artisans, etc. Everyone not in the First or Second Estate. |
| Thermidorean Reaction | A reaction against the violence of the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was executed. |
| Ancien Regime | The old order before the Revolution in France. |
| Regicide | The killing of the king. |
| Versailles | Site of palace outside Paris. Women marched there to demand action from Louis XVI. |
| Mary Wollstonecraft | Wrote "Vindication of the Rights of Man" and "A Vindication of the Rights of Women". |
| Berlin Decree | 1806-issued by Napoleon; instituted the Continental System, in the response to British blockade of commercial ports under French control. |
| Joseph Bonaparte | Napoleon's brother, made king of Spain but unable to control the Spanish which led to the costly Peninsula War. |
| Confederation of the Rhine | League of German States organized by Napoleon in 1813 after defeating the Austrians at Austerlitz. The league colapsed after Napoleon's defeat in Russia. |
| Continental System | (1806-12) French economic plan to cripple Britain. Russia's refusal to conform led to the Russian campaign. |
| The Grand Army | Combined French armies under Napoleon. Virtually destroyed during Napoleon's ill-fated Russian camapgn. |
| Louis XVIII | (1814-1824) tried to issue a Constitutional Charter which accepted many revolutionary changes and guaranteed civil liberties. |
| Napoleonic Code | Passed by Napoleon. Took away many of the rights gained by women, aimed as reestablishing the "family monarchy". Modified after Napoleon's defeat. |
| Peninsula War | France was forces to invade Spain after the failure of Joseph Bonaparte. Very costly for Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington helped the Spanish. |
| Plebiscite | A vote of the people. |
| Rosetta Stone | Founded by one of Napoleon's officers during the Egyptian campaign. Allowed people to decipher hieroglyphics. |
| Talleyrand | French representative at the Congress of Vienna and limited the demands of other countries upon the French. |
| Saint Helena | South Atlantic island. Napoleon's final home after the battle of Waterloo. |
| Trafalgar | (October 1805) Britain's Admiral Nelson destroyed the combined French and Spanish navies. Nelson was killed by invasion of Britain now became impossible. |
| Metternich | Austrian foreign minister who basically controlled the Congress of Vienna. Wanted to promote peace, conservatism, and the repression of libaral nationalism throughout Europe. |
| Castlereagh | British representative at Congress of Vienna. |
| The Hundred Days | The time from Napoleon's return from exile on Elba to defeat at Waterloo. |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace