history french revolution keywords

Question 1

Estate-based society

Answer 1

A society that is divided into three groups: clergy, nobility and citizens and peasants, the first and second estate have all kind of privileges.

Question 2

bourgeoisie

Answer 2

The wealthy citizens. They were the upper layer of the third estate in eighteenth century France. Before 1789 the bourgeoisie had money, but no power.

Question 3

privilege

Answer 3

A favour that was granted by the king to a cleric or nobleman.

Question 4

Ancien régime

Answer 4

Government in France where the king has absolute power and where there are estates with their own privileges.

Question 5

rational thinking

Answer 5

Logical thinking.

Question 6

Enlightenment

Answer 6

Period in which religion and tradition give way to ligical and rational reasoning. Enlightened citizens were critical about the church, government and society and wanted to improve them.

Question 7

religious tolerance

Answer 7

Acceptance with regard to other religions.

Question 8

natural rights

Answer 8

Natural rights Rights everybody has from birth, such as the right to freedom, the right to possession, the right to health.

Question 9

trias politica

Answer 9

A seperation of administrative power into three separate powers, conceived by Montesquieu. Parliament had the power to draft laws, the goevernment had the power to implement the laws and the judges had the power to punish.

Question 10

censorship

Answer 10

The government’s ban on the disclosure (openbaring) of, for example, texts, books, plays and pieces of music.

Question 11

public opinion

Answer 11

The views of the population which arise in meetings or through the media such as newspapers and magazines.

Question 12

constitution

Answer 12

Document stating the citizens’ rights and futies, and the goevernments organisation.

Question 13

french revolution

Answer 13

Large, sudden change in French society and its government, which began in 1789.

Question 14

girondists

Answer 14

A group of people during the french revolution who wanted to introduce changes gradually and who were proponets of a republic. Girondists thought that poor people should not have the right to vote. They were supported by the bourgeoisie.

Question 15

jacobins

Answer 15

A group of people during the French revolution who wanted major changes as quickly as possible. The Jacobins thought that commoners should have more power and that the land should be divided among the farmers. They came into power in 1793 led by Robbespierre.

Question 16

great terror

Answer 16

Period of the French revolution (1793-1794) in which a small group of radicals had complete control and retained it by using violence to scare the French.

Question 17

Directoire

Answer 17

A government in which only the bourgeoisie had a say.

Question 18

dictatorship

Answer 18

Government in which one person or a small group of people is in control.

Question 19

basic rights

Answer 19

Each citizen’s fundamental (basic) rights as laid out in a constitution, such as freedom of of religion and freedom of expression.

Question 20

napoleonic code

Answer 20

A reform by Napoleon of French legislature, in which the same laws applied to all citizens and everybody had the right to have a lawyer.

Question 21

continental system

Answer 21

Between 1806 and 1814, Napoleon forbade European countries on the continent to trade with England.