Events
Bastille Day
July 14, celebrated as France’s national day, marking the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the start of the French Revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte
A French military general who became emperor of France and conquered much of Europe in the early 1800s.
National Assembly
The revolutionary assembly formed mainly by members of the Third Estate that created a new constitution for France.
Bastille
A French fortress-prison in Paris that held political prisoners and was stormed by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789.
Pedro I
The first emperor of Brazil after it gained independence from Portugal in 1822.
Battle of Austerlitz
A pivotal battle in 1805 in which Napoleon defeated the combined armies of Austria and Russia.
Simón Bolívar
A revolutionary leader known as “The Liberator” who helped free Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia from Spanish rule.
Tennis Court Oath
A pledge made by members of the National Assembly to continue meeting until a constitution guaranteeing rights for French citizens was written.
Gran Colombia
A republic formed after independence from Spain that included present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.
Otto von Bismarck
The chancellor of Prussia who used diplomacy and war to unify the German states into one nation in 1871.
Battle of Trafalgar
A naval battle off the coast of Spain in 1805 in which the British navy defeated the French and Spanish fleets, ending Napoleon’s chances of controlling the seas.
Louis XVI
King of France who was executed during the French Revolution in 1793.
Reign of Terror
The period during the French Revolution when thousands of people were executed as enemies of the revolution.
Kingdom of Guatemala
A Spanish colonial region that included modern-day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
Directory
The five-member government that ruled France from 1795 to 1799 after the Reign of Terror.
Battle of Waterloo
An 1815 battle in Belgium in which combined European forces defeated Napoleon and ended his rule.
Marie Antoinette
Queen of France and wife of Louis XVI who was executed during the French Revolution.
Napoleonic Code
A unified system of laws created by Napoleon that established legal equality and civil rights.
Jean-Paul Marat
A radical journalist and leader of the French Revolution.
Corps System
Napoleon’s military system of dividing his army into smaller self-contained units capable of operating independently.
Congress of Vienna
A meeting of European leaders from 1814–1815 to restore order and stability in Europe after the fall of Napoleon.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
An Italian nationalist who led military campaigns that helped unify southern Italy with the rest of the country.
Liberalism
A political philosophy that supports freedom, equality, and representative government.
Maximilien Robespierre
A radical leader of the French Revolution and a key figure during the Reign of Terror.
Nationalism
Strong devotion and loyalty to one’s own nation and people.