The French Revolution + the Rise and Fall of Napoleon

Third Estate

97% of the population (the rest of France) They consisted of the bourgeoisie, the san-culottes and the peasants; they paid high taxes and had no special privileges

Blockade

Cut off an area by means of troops or warships to stop supplies or people from coming in or going out; to close off a country's ports

Guerrilla

a member of a band of irregular soldiers that uses guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids, sabotaging communication and supply lines, etc.

Maximilien Robespierre

"The incorruptable;" the leader of the bloodiest portion of the French Revolution. He set out to build a republic of virtue., Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror.

Congress of Vienna

(1814-1815 CE) Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon.

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon

Peninsular War

A conflict, lasting from 1808 to 1813, in which Spanish Rebels, with the aid of British forces, fought to drive Napoleons French troops out of Spain.

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

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

Great Fear

A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789

Scorched Earth Policy

Destroying crops and livestock so that one's enemy has nothing to use for food as they invade. Used by the Russians when Napoleon invaded in 1812.

Balance of Power

Distribution of military and economic power that prevents any one nation from becoming too strong (especially in Europe).

Jacobin

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

Emigre

French nobles who fled from France during the peasant uprisings. They were very conservative and hoped to restore the king to power.

Sans-Culotte

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

Storming the Bastille

July 14, 1789: There had been a rumor that the king had been planning a military coup against the National Assembly. The people decided to defend their city and marched to the Bastille prison for gunpowder. The governor of the prison refused them, so they fought until the prison surrendered. This saved the National Assembly. Is now called the "Bastille Day" and is France's Independence Day and was the symbol for the French Revolution.

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.

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew the French revolutionary government (The Directory) in 1799 and became emperor of France in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

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)

Klemens von Metternich

The Foreign Minister of Austria; he had the most influence at the Congress of Vienna.

Hundred Days

The brief period during 1815 when Napoleon made his last bid for power, deposing the French King and again becoming Emperor of France

First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Reign of Terror

The period from mid 1793 to mid 1794, when Maximilien Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed.

Old Regime

The political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution

Second Estate

The second class of French society made up of the nobility

Waterloo

The site of Napoleon's defeat by British and Prussian armies in 1815, which ended his last bid for power

Estates General

The traditional group of representatives from the three Estates of French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. Louis XVI assembled this group to deal with the financial crisis in France at the time, but the 3rd estate demanded more rights and representation.

National Assembly

a French congress established by representatives of the Third Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people

Holy Alliance

a league of European nations formed by the leaders of Russia, Austria, and Prussia after the congress of Vienna

Concert of Europe

a series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century, devised by Prince Klemens von Metternich to prevent the outbreak of revolutions

Battle of Trafalgar

an 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon's forces were defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson.

Lycée

french government-run public schools

Coup d'état

sudden overthrow of government

Legitimacy

the hereditary right of a monarch to rule

Concordat

the peace agreement made between Napoleon and the Pope following the chaos of the French Revolution.

Plebiscite

vote of the people