Causes
The era of new thought where new ideas such as natural rights, equality, and abolisment of torture influenced the revolution.
the Enlightenment
Absolute monarch in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Seen as week and eventually executed for treason.
King Louis XVI
King Louis XVI called this meeting, which had not happened in 175 years, in response to growing unrest among the people including the nobles and aristocrats whom he wanted to tax.
Estates-General
the term for classes of people during the Old Regime in France. Hint: there were three.
Estates
Approximately 40,000 "enemies of the Revolution" were put to death via this 'enlightened' form of capital punishment.
the Guillotine
term for Parisian workers who wanted the Revolution to bring great change. Their name means "those without knee breeches"
sans-culottes
A system of land ownership where wealthy nobles own the land and peasants live on and farm it with very little ability to change their lives or enrich themselves.
feudal system
Clergyman who was sympathetic to the needs of the the third estate and spoke up for them at the Estates General - wrote influential pamphlet "what is the 3rd estate?"
Emmanuel-Joseph "Abbe" Sieyes
The delegates of the Third Estate, rebelling against the Estates General, established themselves as the new government by the people and called themselves what?
National Assembly
Group that belonged to the third estate, comprised of wealthy merchants, bankers, and overall wealthier people who were well educated and influenced by Enlightenment ideals.
bourgeoisie
The National Assembly turned into the Legislative Assembly and finally, after the 'September Massacres', into the what?
National Convention
name for nobles and other who had fled France, who were hoping to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime
Emigres
What economic crisis significantly contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789?
crop failures/bread shortage
Wife of King Louis XVI, of Austrian descent, who in response to peasants not having enough bread, may or may not have said "Let them eat cake."
Marie Antionette
Named after the place where the 3rd Estate met to write a new Constitution after being locked out of the Estates-General.
the Tennis Court Oath.
a government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
a Republic.
What important document, inspired by the Enlightenment, proclaimed the equality and rights of all citizens during the French Revolution?
the Declaration of the Rights of Man
established a military draft that enlisted 300,000 people
Part of the economic crisis faced by France was due to their recent military spending in support for a foreign nation during what war?
the American Revolutionary War
What influential figure was a key advocate for radical political changes and headed the Committee of Public Safety?
Maximillian Robespierre
What iconic event on July 14, 1789, symbolized the beginning of the French Revolution, as Parisians stormed a fortress in search of weapons?
Storming of the Bastille
Led by Maximilien Robespierre, what period during the French Revolution was characterized by mass executions and political purges in the name of defending the Republic?
Reign of Terror
What two countries threatened French Revolutionaries in 1792 and 1793 and then went to war with France?
Prussia and Austria
The slogan of the French revolution became these three words, influenced by the Enlightenment.
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
What characterized the distribution of political and social power among these estates, and why did it lead to discontent among the lower classes?
Third estate had little power, only 1 vote in Estates General, paid all the taxes, and paid tithes to the church. The first and second estates were only 3-5% of the population but owned lots of land and paid no taxes.
Who emerged as a military leader during the French Revolution, eventually becoming Emperor of the French and expanding French influence across Europe?
Napoleon Bonaparte
During the early stages of the French Revolution, what term describes the widespread panic and unrest in rural areas, where peasants believed that nobles were plotting against them, leading to the destruction of feudal records and properties?
the Great Fear
What political club, central to the radical phase of the French Revolution, was known for its influential members like Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton, and played a key role in the development of revolutionary policies during the Reign of Terror?
the Jacobin Club
After the radical phase of the Revolution, the government was structured with a two-house legislature and an executive body of five men, known as what?
the Directory
The US foreign minister to France and eventual third president, he demonstrated his support for the French Revolution stating, "rather than it should have failed, I would have seen half the earth desolated"
Thomas Jefferson