Key events, figures, and consequences of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Front: the term, event, or figure. Back: a one to two sentence explanation of its significance.
38 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- Storming of the Bastille
- Occurred on July 14, 1789; a Parisian mob attacked the fortress prison, symbolizing the beginning of the French Revolution and the breakdown of royal authority.
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
- Adopted in August 1789, it asserted the fundamental rights of all French citizens and reflected Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and property rights.
- Ancien Regime
- The social and political system of France before the Revolution, characterized by absolute monarchy, hereditary nobility, and the three-estate hierarchy of clergy, nobility, and commoners.
- The Three Estates
- The three social orders in pre-revolutionary France: the First Estate (clergy), Second Estate (nobility), and Third Estate (commoners), which bore most of the tax burden.
- Estates-General of 1789
- A representative assembly called by Louis XVI to address the fiscal crisis; its transformation into the National Assembly marked a turning point in the Revolution.
- Tennis Court Oath
- Sworn on June 20, 1789, by Third Estate deputies who vowed not to disband until France had a constitution, showing their determination to limit royal power.
- Louis XVI
- King of France during the Revolution; his indecision and lack of strong leadership contributed to the erosion of royal authority, and he was executed in January 1793.
- Marie Antoinette
- Queen of France, wife of Louis XVI; her extravagance and perceived disloyalty made her deeply unpopular, and she was executed by guillotine in October 1793.
- Civil Constitution of the Clergy
- A 1790 decree that placed the French Church under state control, required clergy to take an oath to the nation, and sparked conflict with the papacy.
- Royal Flight to Varennes
- On June 20-21, 1791, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted to escape France but were captured and returned to Paris, destroying the myth of royal power and widening the gulf between the monarchy and revolutionaries.
- Legislative Assembly
- Replaced the Constituent Assembly in October 1791; composed of delegates elected under a limited franchise, it proved ineffective and gave way to the radical phase of the Revolution.
- War of the First Coalition
- France declared war against Austria and Prussia in April 1792, partly to redirect revolutionary fervor outward and partly to protect the Revolution from foreign intervention.
- September Massacres
- In September 1792, Parisian mobs murdered over 1,000 imprisoned clergy and nobles; these killings revealed the violent radicalism underlying the Revolution.
- National Convention
- Established in September 1792, this radical assembly abolished the monarchy, proclaimed a republic, and became the center of power during the Reign of Terror.
- Jacobins
- A radical revolutionary club whose members, including Robespierre, pushed for state centralization, terror as a tool of governance, and the execution of the king.