French Revolution/Napoleon Flashcards
Old Regime
The political and social system of France before the French Revolution, 1770s.
Three Estates
The three social classes in France before the French Revolution.
First the estate: the clergy
Second estate: the nobility
Third estate: the rest of population
Estates General
An assembly of representatives from all three the estates
Louis XVI
King of France during the time when France’s government was deeply in debt. Paid little attention to government advisors and had little patience for governing as a whole.
Marie Antoinette
Unpopular Queen of France who spent money on gowns, jewels, gambling, and gifts. aka “Madame Deficit” Arranged marriage to form an alliance with Austria and France.
National Assembly
A French Congress established by representatives of the third estate to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people
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
Legislative Assembly
A French Congress with the power to create laws and improve declarations of war, Established by the Constitution of 1791
Emigré [EHM•ih•GRAY]
A person who leaves their native country for political reasons, like the nobles and the others who fled France during the peasant uprising of the French Revolution
San-Culottes
a radical group made up the Parisian wagearners and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in the government, lower prices, and an end to food shortages
Jacobins
radical political organization (club). The most radical and ruthless of the political groups and in association with Robespierre. (Left side)
Maximilien Robespierre
a Jacobin Leader. Tried to erase every trace of France’s past: changed the calendar (no Sundays because they thought that religion was old-fashioned and dangerous), closed all the churches.
Became leader of the Committee of Public Safety and governed France as a dictator.
Reign of Terror
The period when Maximilian Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed
Guillotine
And a machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution
Edmund Burke
British politician, was one of the earliest and most severe critics of the French Revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte
was first a french general then became Emperor of France. Wanted to control the rest of Europe and reassert French power in the Americas. Great military leader who almost took over all of Europe.
coup d’etat [KOO day•TAH]
A sudden seizure of political power in a nation
Concordat of 1801
A formal agreement that established a new relationship between church and state
Napoleonic Code
A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon
Battle of Trafalgar
In 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson
Blockade
The use of troops or ships to prevent commercial traffic from entering or leaving the city or region
Continental System
Napoleons’s policy of preventing trade between Great Britain in continental Europe, intended to destroy great Britain’s economy
Waterloo
Napoleons defeat. Battle against the British and France (Prussia allied to Britain arrived and helped drive out Napoleon an his troops).
Scorched Earth Policy
The practice of burning crops and killing livestock during war time so that the enemy cannot live off the land
Hundred Days
The brief period during 1815 Napoleon made his last bid for power, deposing the French king in again becoming emperor of France
St. Helena
remote island in the South Atlantic where the British shipped Napoleon to live there by himself for 6 years until he died of stomach cancer.
Congress of Vienna
A series of meetings during which to European leaders sought to establish long-lasting peace and security after the defeat of Napoleon
Klemens von Metternich
Foreign minister of Austria. He wanted to prevent future French aggression by surrounding France with strong countries, to restore a Balance of Power, And to restore Europe’s royal families to the thrones they had before Napoleon.
Balance of Power
A political situation in which no one nation is powerful enough to pose a threat to others
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
