Name ______________________________ French Revolution Key Terms and Definitions
1) Estates – social classes of France
2) Clergy – leaders of the church in France (1 st Estate)
3) Nobles – members of the elite born into their status in society (2 nd Estate)
4) Bourgeois – middle class (top class of the (3 rd Estate)
5) Bastille – armory and prison that was stormed by peasants in order to arm themselves against the kings army
6) Tennis Court Oath – 3 rd Estate members who formed pledge to work together
7) National Assembly – 3 rd Estate members who formed together against the Estates General
8) Estates General – special meeting of the 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd Estates due to the taxation of the 2 nd
Estate
9) Women’s March on Versailles – October 5 th , women march to Versailles to bring the king and queen into France in Paris to prevent them from leaving the country
10) Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen – document written by the National Assembly declaring the need for equality, right to a fair trial, and freedom of religion
11) Liberty – freedom from tyranny and oppression
12) Equality – achieve equal rights
13) Fraternity – to work with others in their own nation and other nations to achieve justice
14) Napoleon Bonaparte – military leader and eventually emperor of France
15) Jean Paul Marat – journalist whose writings were used by the Jacobin Club
16) Jacobin Club – group led by Robespierre during the Reign of Terror
17) Maxim lien Robespierre – Revolutionary leader of the Jacobin Club
18) Girondins – opposition to the Jacobins within the Convention
19) Committee of Public Safety – powerful committee responsible for the death of thousands during the Reign of Terror
20) Reign of Terror – 1794, lasting one year, a period of time when suspicious actions led to the death of 40,000
21) Coup d’ etat – a sudden overtaking of government by a group, usually backed by the military
22) Jacques – Louis David – founder of Neoclassicism in painting in the 1780’s and was the official artist of the French Revolution, his most famous / successful painting was the “Death of Marat”
23) Abdicate – to relinquish power to another person
24) Elba – island off the coast of France where Napoleon is an exile
25) Exile – forced removal of a person from a country due to political reasons or situations
26) Battle of Waterloo – final battle where Napoleon is defeated by the English and German Armies
27) Wellington – Duke in charge of English Army at the Battle of Waterloo
28) Constitution of 1791 – France’s new constitution after the French Revolution
29) Napoleonic Code – system of laws set up under Napoleon’s rule
30) Versailles – Castle built by Louis XIV that was grander in size and artistry also a city in France