French Revolution Flashcards
National Assembly
It was what the 3rd estate named themselves when the 1st and 2nd estates didn’t allow them to come to their assembly. They wanted to write a constitution. They are also trying to have a constitutional monarchy. They storm the Bastille prison for guns.
3 Estates
First Estate: Clergy, church officials. 2nd Estate: Nobility - king and family, people higher up in society. Third Estate: Commoners, peasants, 98% of people.
King Louis XVI
He squandered the
wealth of France and brought it to the brink of
bankruptcy. Not only were the royal treasures, drained, but two decades of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing prices kindled chaos among the peasants throughout the country.
Marie Antoinette
Marie-Antoinette, queen of France and wife of Louis XVI, became the symbol of the people’s hatred for the old regime during the French Revolution. According to legend, when informed that the poor people had no bread to eat, she responded, “Let them eat cake.”
Jacobins
They were radical revolutionaries that wanted a republic, and more and more power. They didn’t want the king to be in power any more.
Maximilien Robespierre
He was one of the main leaders of the Jacobins during the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror. His death was depicted as a divine retribution.
Reign of Terror
It was the period of time where the Jacobins killed people they see is a threat to their power, and it was not a good time either.
Napoleon Bonaparte
In the late 1790s the French military, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, won great victories on the battlefield. With France suffering from political instability, the government turned to Napoleon, who became first consul in 1799. As emperor (1804–14) Napoleon attempted to make France the supreme power in Europe.
