NAME: ______________________________
October 2011
FRENCH REVOLUTION VOCABULARY
VOCAB
TERM
DEFINITION
1.
Estates
One of three distinct
social classes in France in
1700s.
2.
Estates General
Meeting of the three
estates to vote on new
taxation laws.
3.
Absolute
monarchy
King or queen with total
power.
4.
Louis XIV
5.
Louis XVI
6.
Palace of
Versailles
His extravagant lifestyle
and wars against Great
Britain and Spain depleted
France’s treasury.
Kind during the French
Revolution, he called the
Estates General together.
He was the last absolute
monarch of France.
Extravagant building that
represented Louis XIV’s
lifestyle.
7.
Tyranny
Unrestricted use of power.
8.
Taxation
When people are made to
pay a certain amount of
tax that is put on income,
property and sales.
9.
Marie
Antoinette
Extravagant wife of King
Louis XVI.
10. Bastille
Prison in Paris that was
overtaken by the Third
Estate, a symbol of royal
tyranny.
REPHRASE/SUMMARIZE
DRAW A PICTURE
NAME: ______________________________
11. Robespierre
(Radical) leader of the
Jacobins and Committee
of Public Safety. The
primary leader of the
French Revolution.
12. Committee of
Public Safety
Radical group who ruled
France during the Reign
of Terror and promoted
radical ideas and change.
13. National
Assembly
The gathering of the Third
Estate to set up a new
constitution.
14. Radical
Group favoring extreme
changes in government
policy.
15. Moderate
Group open to minor
changes in the
government.
16. Conservative
Group that favors
maintaining the status quo
(the old ways, traditions).
17. Guillotine
“More human” device
designed to behead people
during the French
Revolution’s Reign of
Terror.
18. “Liberty,
Equality,
Fraternity”
Slogan of the Radicals
during the French
Revolution.
19. Reign of Terror
Period in France during
the revolution when
opposition was killed in
the tens of thousands.
20. Directory
Council of five weak and
corrupt men who tried to
restore order to France
after the beheading of
Maximilian Robespierre.
October 2011
NAME: ______________________________
21. Jacobins
Extreme Radicals in favor
of the Reign of Terror
who killed tens of
thousands of people
during the revolution.
22. Declaration of
the Rights of
Man
Document created in 1789
stating that all men are
equal before the law.
Today it is France’s
constitution.
Agreement among the
Third Estate to keep
meeting until a new
constitution was formed.
Met from 1792-1795 and
wrote the first democratic
constitution.
23. Tennis Court
Oath
24. National
Convention
25. Constitution
Created in 1791 which
kept a monarchy but
limited royal powers.
26. Old Regime
French society before the
revolution.
27. Bourgeoisie
Top educated members of
the Third Estate (middle
class) who were educated
in the Enlightenment and
led the French Revolution.
28. 1789
Start of the French
Revolution.
29. Napoleon
French dictator at the end
of the Revolution who
will become the Emperor
of the French.
Unified law under
Napoleon that made
French law more clear and
concise.
Overthrow of the
government (often using
violence).
30. Napoleonic
Code
31. Coup d’état
October 2011
NAME: ______________________________
32. Scorched Earth
Policy
33. Nationalism
34. Continental
System
35. Metternich
36. Congress of
Vienna
37. Reactionary
When Russians retreated
from Napoleon’s
advancing troops they
burned everything as they
went destroying all
possible supplies and
lengthening Napoleon’s
supply lines.
Pride in one’s country.
Napoleon ordered all
European nations to stop
trade with the British
because he wanted to use
economic warfare against
the British.
Chief Minister of Austria
who wanted to restore
Europe to its prerevolutionary status (put
monarchies back in place).
Powerful European
aristocrats who gathered
to discuss ways to prevent
political and social unrest
in Europe.
Favors a return to
past/traditional policies.
38. Status quo
The existing state or
condition (the norm).
39. Concert of
Europe
The regular meetings held
to settle international
problems.
40. Prussia
Originally one of
Napoleon’s allies, but
revolted after the
Spaniards overthrew him.
October 2011