French Revolution & Napoleonic Age Key Concepts

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Old Regime

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The social and political system of France in the 1770s.

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Estates

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Three large social classes in France: 1. Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church (less than 1% of the population, owned 10% of the land, paid a 2% donation). 2. Rich nobles (about 2% of the population, owned 20% of the land, paid almost no taxes). 3. Third Estate (about 97% of the population, middle class, workers, and peasant farmers, paid the majority of taxes, few privileges).

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Louis XVI

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King of France during the 1770s and 1780s, known for weak leadership and excessive spending, which led to France's financial crisis.

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Marie Antoinette

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Queen and wife of Louis XVI, known for extravagant spending, nicknamed "Madame Deficit," and a symbol of the Old Regime's excesses.

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Estates-General

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An assembly of representatives from all three estates, called in 1789 for the first time since 1614. Each estate had one vote.

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National Assembly

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Formed by Third Estate delegates, marking the first act of revolution, aimed to end the monarchy and start a representative government.

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Tennis Court Oath

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An event where Third Estate delegates, locked out of their meeting room, vowed to continue meeting until a new constitution was established.

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Great Fear

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The rebellion that spread from Paris after the fall of the Bastille, leading to panic and destruction of noble property. It ended with the National Assembly's August Decrees.

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Legislative Assembly

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A new legislative body with the power to create laws and approve or reject declarations of war, while the king retained executive power.

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Émigrés

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Nobles and others who fled France to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime, later invited back under Napoleon.