French Revolution
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54 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Paris Commune | An independent political force- a committee that ran the municipal wards of Paris. It cast itself in the role of protector of the gains of the revolution against both internal and external enemies |
| Thermidorean Reaction | The struggles of the previous stage lead to exhaustion. People lose focus and desire normalcy. There begins a period of "convalescence"- recovery, during which revolutionary excitement declines. The Radicals are crushed, the moderates are accepted again. There may even be moves by elements of the old order to reestablish themselves. This period of resignation and disagreement then leads to the acceptance of a dictator who still uses the words and ideas of the revolution. |
| the Great Terror | 3 months of quasi-judicial executions and murders stretching from autumn of 1793 to the midsummer of 1794- when the Revolution used extensive executions and violence to defend the Revolution and suppress its alleged internal enemies. |
| Revolutionary Tribunal | This was created to "try the enemies of the Revolution." Created by Danton, it was created to speed the work of repressing dissent during the Terror. It had 16 judges and 60 jurors and was divided into several courts. Mainly dealt with "counterrevolutionaries." People were sent to it not to be judged but to be "destroyed." |
| Danton | He was the "man of August 10." A rabble rouser, he was the strong man of the Paris Commune, "Boldness, more boldness, always boldness." He lost out in a power struggle with Robespierre in the spring of 1794 and was executed. |
| Jacobins | They were part of a network of political clubs that wanted a republic. They were called this because they met in a Dominican monastery. They drew their thinking from the radical side of the Enlightenment thinkers. They were the movers and shakers during the National Convention. |
| Robespierre | He was the powerful leading figure on the Committee of Public Safety. He was "the incorruptable" moved solely by his desire to fulfill the Revolution in France. He did not benefit financially and was the soul behind the Terror- but he would be one of its last victims. |
| September Massacres | 1200 were executed as mobs moved from jail to jail- some of the dead were aristocrats but most were just common criminals. The crowd assumed that the prisoners were counterrevolutionaries. |
| Edmund Burke | He wrote "Reflections on the Revolution in France." Conservative, outspoken critic of the Revolution, he said it was the "application of blind rationalism that ignored the historical realities of political development. He said that government should be anchored in tradition. No matter how poorly the French monarchy and its institutions had served the nation, they should be preserved. |
| Convention | Its first act was to declare France a republic. They put Louis XVI on trial and executed him. Its election in 1792 marked the beginning of political democracy- the first elected by universal manhood suffrage- yet only 10% of the potential electorate voted for it- many abstained or were turned away by Revolutionary watchdogs. It was the government of the radical phase of the revolution. |
| Committee of Public Safety | Its purpose was to carry out the duties of government- it enjoyed almost dictatorial power- the "12 who ruled." They believed that their job was to save the Revolution from enemies at home and abroad. Largely acted as a war cabinet. |
| Mountain | They were called this because they had the highest seats in the assembly hall- they were the radicals who worked with the urban masses to carry the Revolution forward. |
| Gracchus Babeuf | He led a "conspiracy of equals" and spoke out against The Directory. He wanted to make reforms and redistribute land equally. He and his followers felt that the rich monopolized land and controlled the government while the poor worked like slaves and had no voice in politics. He was arrested and executed. |
| White Terror | Royalists in southern and western France conduct a campaign of violence against the former Revolutionaries and supporters of Napoleon. |
| Society of Revolutionary Republican Women | Founded by Pauline Leon and Claire Lancombe. Its purpose was to fight the internal enemies of the revolution. Its members saw themselves as militant citizens. It became increasingly radical and was eventually banned. |
| the Directory | Created by the Constitution of the Year III (1795)- it was made up of an executive body with five members elected by the Council of Elders- chosen from a list provided by the Council of 500. |
| Abukir Bay | Nelson destroys the French fleet here in August of 1798. It is a harbor in Egypt. As a result, the French army in Egypt was cut off from France, dooming the expedition to failure. |
| Consulate | This effectively ended the revolution in France. Created by the Constitution of the Year VIII (1799), it had a complicated system of checks and balances that appealed to republican theory- but in reality was a set-up for dictatorship- effectively creating the rule of one man. |
| Treaty of Tilsit | Created by the meeting of Napoleon and Alexander I (on a raft in the middle of the Niemen River.) It confirmed French gains in Europe. Prussia lost half of its territory. Russia secretly became an ally of France. |
| Metternich | Conservative Austrian foreign minister. He feared both nationalism and liberalism. He was Austria's representative at the Congress of Vienna. |
| St. Helena | Island in the south Atlantic where Napoleon was sent after his final defeat in June of 1815. No return from here. |
| Waterloo | Napoleon is finally defeated by the combined Prussian and British armies of Blucher and Wellington. |
| levy en masse | This was a military requisition- a draft- on the entire population- everybody had a part to play- males were conscripted into army and all economic production was directed to military purposes. |
| Admiral Horatio Nelson | Commander of the English fleet that destroyed the French fleet at Abukir Bay. He was killed at Trafalgar. |
| Coup de'etat of Brumaire | This event brought Napoleon to power. He then dismissed the government and ruled as dictator. |
| Concodat of 1801 | This was the agreement between Napoleon and the Church. It restored the Church to its position in France- in return the Church gave up its claim to church property which had been seized. It cancelled the most obnoxious features of laws which had attacked the autonomy of the church and ended popular election of bishops. |
| Peninsular Campaign | This was fought against Spain and Portugal. It was primarily a guerilla war with huge losses to the civilian population. But it bogged down Napoleon's troops and was a serious distraction. England assisted the Spanish and Portuguese. |
| Trafalgar | The French fleet is destroyed off the Spanish coast. The British did not lose any ships. The British victory proved their naval superiority and guaranteed British domination of the seas for the remainder of the war. France lost all hope of invading Britain. |
| Borodino | Bloodiest battle fought in the Napoleonic era. It cost the French 30,000 soldiers and the Russians twice that many- but the Russian army was not destroyed and Napoleon gained little from the battle. He was left alone in a vast country far from home with little or no supplies and winter was approaching. |
| Congress of Vienna | This met at the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars to redraw the map of Europe. Its goal was to make sure that no single state dominated Europe again. States were built up to prevent France from gaining power. All of the powers were present- including France. |
| Leipzig | The so-called Battle of Nations. Combined armies of the 4th Coalition defeated Napoleon. Napoleon retreated and was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba. |
| Castlereagh | He was the foreign minister of England at the conclusion of the war and their representative at the peace conference. Author of the Treaty of Chaumont. |
| Quadruple Alliance | An agreement between Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia to preserve whatever settlement they agreed to regarding France. This "alliance" was to function as a watch-dog on Europe to prevent the rise of another Napoleon. It is one of the first attempts at collective security by European nations. |
| Chapelier Law | In its attempt to crush efforts by urban workers to protect their wages, the Assembly passed this which forbade workers' associations. |
| Olympe de Gouges | A butcher's daughter from Montauban in northwest France, she became a major revolutionary radical in Paris and composed a Declaration of the Rights of Women, which she addressed to Marie Antoinette. She demanded that women be regarded as citizens and outlined rights that would permit women to own property and require men to recognize the paternity of their children. She opposed the Terror and was executed in 1793. |
| Constitution of 1791 | This established France as a constitutional monarchy. Under it, the major political authority of the nation would be a unicameral legislature in which all laws would originate. The Assembly had the power to make war and peace. It provided for an elaborate system of indirect elections and citizens were divided into 2 categories- active and passive. Power was essentially transferred into the hands of all propertied wealth in the nation. |
| Flight to Varennes | Louis and his family, disguised as peasants, left the palace in a royal carriage and attempted to escape to the Belgian border. Louis was recognized and they were escorted back to Paris. |
| Jacques Necker | Swiss banker who became France's director-general of finances. He attempted to reform the budget and bring France some financial order. He produced a report that outlined France's financial situation angering the aristocracy so he was forced to resign- the end of attempted reform. |
| 3rd Estate | This was made up of 3 groups- the bourgeoisie, the urban middle-class merchants, manufacturers, doctors and lawyers; the urban working class; and the agricultural peasantry. They represented 97% of France's population. |
| assignats | In effect, these were government bonds backed by the sale of church property. They were so acceptable to the people that they circulated as currency- but the value fell. |
| the Great Fear | This was a violent uprising in the rural countryside by peasants in July of 1789- they burned chateaux, destroyed records of feudal obligations, and refused to pay feudal dues. Many aristocrats were killed. |
| emigres | These were aristocrats who fled France at the beginning of the Revolution, they settled near the French border and were a constant source of counterrevolutionary fervor. The threat they posed drove the Revolution in more radical directions. |
| Decrees of August 4, 1789 | This legislation effectively ended the Old Regime. In response to the Great Fear, the nobles and the clergy gave up all of their privileges- including their agreement to pay taxes. |
| fall of the Bastille | On July 14, 1789, a mob breaks into government buildings in search of arms. Part of the garrison is killed and many casualties are suffered by the mob. It had enormous symbolic significance and did much to ensure the destruction of the Old Regime. In its aftermath, Louis visited Paris and recognized the legitimacy of the National Guard. |
| Marie Antoinette | Youngest daughter of Maria Theresa. Ill equipped for her chore (badly educated and extravagant), rumors of her behavior incensed Parisian crowds. She was executed in October of 1793. |
| Civil Constitution of the Clergy | This made the Roman Catholic church a branch of the secular state. Clergy were paid by the state and became its employees. The clergy had to take an oath to support the Constitution. It redrew the ecclesiastical map of France. Reduced the number of bishoprics by more than a third, transformed bishops and priests into civil offices. |
| metric system | A new standard of weights and measures- intended to bring order and simplicity out of the older disordered system. Based upon natural law. |
| Assembly of Notables | This was drawn from the upper ranks of the aristocracy. It was called in 1787 in order to resolve the financial crisis by getting the first and second estates to agree to be taxed. They refused, stating that only the Estates General could create new taxes. This required the calling of the Estates General. |
| Declaration of the Rights of Man | Influenced by the Enlightenment writers and by the American Declaration of Independence, this document stated, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights...these rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression." It called property an "inviolable and sacred right." |
| Cahiers de Doleances | List of grievances. Traditionally, prior to the meeting of the Estates General each estate drew up this list. It included criticisms of government waste, church taxes and corruption and the hunting rights of the aristocracy. They also demanded periodic meetings of the Estates General, more equitable taxes, more local control of government and a free press. |
| Legislative Assembly | This was the legislature created by the Constitution of 1791. It was to function as part of a constitutional monarchy and would be responsible for forming laws. It was quickly split by elements that wanted a republic. |
| Tennis Court of Oaths | In this the National Assembly declared that it would not cease meeting until it had written a constitution for France. |
| sans-culottes | The shopkeepers, artisans, wage earners and factory workers that were more radical than the Jacobins. They hit the streets every time they were displeased with the course of the Revolution. Miniature popular assemblies in each of the 48 sections of Paris made up those "without knee pants." They were a displaced population of floating, seldom employed workers. They were united by the common fear that they could not buy bread and would starve. They were the cannon fodder of the revolution. |
| Declaration of Pillntz | Emperor Leopold II of Austria and Frederick William II of Prussia promised to intervene in France to protect the royal family and to preserve the monarchy if the other major European powers agreed. |
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