The French Revolution (1789-1799)

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.

Third Estate

Included about 98 percent of the population. At the top there was the bourgeoisie, or middle class. They included bankers, merchants, manufacturers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, professors, and skilled artists. The bulk however were urban workers. Some were even unemployed and to survive they turned to crime and begging.

The Fall of Bastille

July 14,1789 Bastille represented the torture of the lower class and the oppression hey faced by their government people tore down the Bastille brick by brick marked the beginning of the french revolution

Second Estate

The estate that consisted of aristocrats, nobles, and high-positioned government officials. They paid little taxes if at all and were as wealthy as the First Estate. They made up 2% of the French population.

First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. (also a few of the Monarchy)

Girondists

a group of moderates. Felt that the revolution had gone far enough and wanted to protect the wealthy middle class from radical attacks. Organized support to resist strength against the mountain

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

Republic

a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

The Great Fear

a vast panic that spread quickly through France in 1789; peasant rebellions became part of the Great Fear; citizens, fearing invasion by foreign troops that would support the French monarchy, formed militias

bourgeoisie

educated, middle class of France; provided force behind the Revolution

Montesquieu

(1689-1755) wrote 'Spirit of the Laws', said that no single set of political laws was applicable to all - depended on relationship and variables, supported division of 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.

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.

Rousseau

French philosopher from 1712-1778 who believed that people are naturally good, but are corrupted by society

Marat

French revolutionary leader (born in Switzerland) who was a leader in overthrowing the Girondists and was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday (1743-1793)

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)

Salons

informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and other exchanged enlightenment ideas

Radicals

sat on the left side of the meeting hall, wanted more sweeping changes, hated the king and wanted to set up a republic, believed commoners should have full power

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.

Robespierre

A French political leader of the eighteenth century. A Jacobin, he was one of the most radical leaders of the French Revolution. He was in charge of the government during the Reign of Terror, when thousands of persons were executed without trial. After a public reaction against his extreme policies, he was executed without trial.

The of Robespierre

A counter revolution brought Robespierre to the guillotine to end the reign of Terror

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement concentrated in France during the 1700's developed rational laws to describe social behavior and applied their findings in support of human rights and liberal economic theories.

The life of the peasants

Difficult, unhealthy, starvation, struggling, high taxes,

Calvinists

Doctrine was similar to that of Lutherans' except Calvinists also believed in *predestination* and the insignificance of humanity.

Monarchists

People who supported a Monarchy

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular due to her extravagance and opposition to reform, contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)

Jacobins

Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794.

Declaration of the rights of man and the citizens

The National Assembly adopted a statement of revolutionary ideas; it reflected the influence of the Declaration of Independence that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights" These rights included "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. The document also guaranteed citizens equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

Philosophes

Thinkers of the Enlightenment; Wanted to educate the socially elite, but not the masses; were not allowed to openly criticize church or state, so used satire and double-meaning in their writings to avoid being banned; Salons held by wealthy women also kept philosophes safe; They considered themselves part of an intellectual community, and wrote back and forth to each other to share ideas.

Louis XIV

This French king ruled for the longest time ever in Europe. He issued several economic policies and costly wars. He was the prime example of absolutism in France.

Versailles

This enormous, ostentatious monument to the power of the French Monarchy, built by Louis XIV over a long period of time, served as a manifestation of the power of absolute monarchy. Site of palace outside Paris. Women marched there to demand action from Louis XVI.

The reign of terror

This marks a one year period in which Robespierre was the head of the Revolution. During this period, approx. 40,000 were killed and 300,000 jailed for different crimes against the Revolution. Robespierre's men were known as the Committee of Public Safety. Comprised of the political alliance between the Mountain and the sans-culottes. This meant that his committee typically appealed to the urban poor. During this period, France employed a draft system to gain an army and to finish off the battles of the first coalition. If men were resistant, they were killed and anyone agreeing or helping them was jailed. The period ended when Robespierre and his men were executed by other men in the government that feared Robespierre becoming more powerful and more of a tyrant.

Voltaire

Wrote Philosophic Letters on the English & Treatise on Toleration. He admired the English freedom of the press, and religous toleration. He criticized France because of its royal absolutism and lack of freedom of thought.

San Culottes

urban lower class, butchers, brewers, weavers, etc. poverty showed in their dress with loose fitting trousers

Moderates

were people who were a part of the third estate, but did not want extreme change. They believed that it was possible to have a bloodless revolution, and suffer very little with only little reforms.