French Revolution Key Terms
1. Ancien regime – old order; system of government in pre-revolution France
2. estate – social class
3. bourgeoisie – the middle class
4. deficit spending – situation in which a government spends more money than it takes in
5. Estates-General – legislative body made up of representatives of the three estates in the
prerevolutionary France
6. Tennis Court Oath – famous oath made on a tennis court by members of the Third Estate in France
7. Bastille – fortress in Paris used as a prison; French Revolution began when Parisians stormed it in
1789
8. suffrage – right to vote
9. Reign of Terror – time period during the French Revolution from September 1793 to July 1794 when
people in France were arrested for not supporting the revolution and many were executed
10. guillotine – device used during the Reign of Terror to execute thousands by beheading
11. nationalism – a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one’s country
12. annex – add a territory to an existing state or country
13. guerrilla warfare – fighting carried on through hit-and-run raids
14. abdicate – to give up or step down from power
15. Congress of Vienna – assembly of European leaders that met after the Napoleonic era to piece
Europe back together; met from September 1814 to June 1815