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Chapter 23: The French Revolution & Napoleon (mod)
NOTE: You must choose SIX of the questions to answer on the test in short paragraphs. You
must answer AT LEAST one from each section of the chapter.
Section 1: The French Revolution Begins
Old Regime
3 estates
Louis XVI
Marie Antoinette
Estates-General
National Assembly
Tennis Court Oath
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Terms:
Old Regime – the social and political system in use in France in the 1700s
3 Estates – First Estate – Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, owned 10% of the land in France, Second Estate –
rich nobles, owned 20% of the land and held important government jobs. Third Estate – everybody else, 97% of the
population, made up of three groups. Bourgeoise (middle class) – well educated, many wealthy, paid high taxes
but lacked privileges. Urban Workers – poorest laborers, tradespeople, servants, low wages, hungry, Peasants –
largest group, resented the church and the nobles.
Louis XVI – king of France, weak leader
Marie Antointette – wife of Louis XVI of Austrian birth
Estates-General – an assembly of representatives from all three of the estates or social classes in France
National Assembly – the Third Estate delegates named themselves this and passed laws and reforms in the name
of the French people
Tennis Court Oath – the pledge or promise of the Third Estate to draw up a new constitution and reform the social
structure
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen – a document that stated the revolutionary ideals that claimed that
“men are born and remain free and equal in rights”
Questions:

Explain the three factors that led to revolution?
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Enlightenment Ideas
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Spread among the 3rd estate
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Inspired by success of American Revolution
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Questions ideas about the structure of society
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Began to demand equality, liberty and democracy
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Economic Troubles
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Cost of living rising sharply
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Bad weather caused widespread crop failure causing grain shortage and price of bread to increase
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Starvation
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Government in debt due to Louis XVI and Maria Antoinette’s spending
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The cost of helping the Americans in the Revolution against Britain
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Debt from previous kings
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Weak Leader
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Louis XVI was indecisive,
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Didn’t pay attention to government advisors
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Little patience for details of governing
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Marie Antoinette gave poor advise and unpopular with the people since she’s Austrian
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Wouldn’t cut expenses
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Describe the storming of the Bastille, the Women’s March on Versailles, and the Great Fear. How was
each significant to the French Revolution?
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Bastille – believed that weapons were stored here
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Urban workers storm the Bastille
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Mob seized control of building killing commander and several guards
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Significance -1st act of revolution
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Women’s March on Versailles – over rising price of bread
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Marched to Versailles demanding for something to be done about bread
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Turned on king and queen
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Significance - Women rebelled
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Great Fear – rumors that nobles campaign to terrorize peasants
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Peasants attacked nobles and manors
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Significance – peasants jointed the rebellion
Section 2: Revolution Brings Reform and Terror
Legislative Assembly
Committee of Public Safety
sans-culottes
Jacobins
Robespierre
Reign of Terror
guillotine
Directory
Terms
Legislative Assembly – a government body created by the new constitution, which had the power to create laws
and approve or reject declarations of war
Robespierre – leader of the Committee of Public Safety who governed France virtually as a dictator and the period
of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror
Committee of Public Safety – under the reign of Robespierre this committee’s chief task was to protect the
Revolution from its enemies
Reign of Terror – time in France when more that 40,00 French citizens were executed
Sans-culottes –Parisian workers and small shop keepers who wanted the Revolution to bring even greater change,
Guillotine – a machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution
Jacobins – a radical political group who called for the death of all those who continued to support the king
Directory – the five man executive body that ruled France
Questions:

Describe the actions the National Assembly took against the Church. How did those actions affect the
peasants and the Revolution?
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Church officials and priests now were to be elected and paid as state officials
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Catholic Church lost its land and political independence
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Proceeds (money) from sale of the land would help pay off France’s huge debt
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Peasants who remained loyal to the church were turned against the revolution

What new governing body replaced the National Assembly in 1791, what changes did it create in
France, and what happened to the king?
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National Convention
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Made a republic and abolished the monarchy
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Adult males given the right to vote and hold office but not women
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Executed Louis XVI
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Describe the Reign of Terror? Include in your answer the Committee of Public Safety, the person who
led the Reign of Terror, the group that made up the largest number of those executed, and why it was
significant.
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The Committee of Public Safety chief task was to protect the revolution from its enemies
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Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator
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Time when “enemies” of the Revolution were quickly tried and executed
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Most executed were the peasants
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The ones the Revolution was supposed to help
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It ended the Revolution
Section 3: Napoleon Forges an Empire
Napoleon Bonaparte
coup d’etat
plebescite
concordat
Napoleonic Code
Battle of Trafalgar
lycee
Terms:
Napoleon Bonaparte – a great military leader who seized power in France and made himself an emperor.
Concordat – Napoleon’s agreement that he signed with Pope Pius VII which established a new relationship
between church and state
Coup d’etat – a sudden seizure of power lie Napoleon’s literally meaning “blow to the state”
Napoleonic Code – a comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon
Plebescite – a direct vote in which a country’s people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal
Battle of Trafalgar – the only major battle that Napoleon lost which force Napoleon to give up on his plans of
invading Britain
Lycee – government-run public schools set up by Napoleon
Questions:

Describe Napoleon’s rise from army officer to Emperor.
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Army officer
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Put in charge of defending delegates to the National Convention against royalist rebels
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Kept news of his defeats out of the press
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Put in charge of fighting Austria – a success
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Weak directory
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Leads troops into Legislative Assembly
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Vote to dissolve directory
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Took title of first consul,
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Assumed power of a dictator
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Explain three accomplishments of Napoleon that restored order in France.
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Set up efficient method of tax collection
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Established a national banking system
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Dismissed corrupt officials
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Set up lycees (government schools) to train government officials
Section 4: Napoleon’s Empire Collapses
blockade
scorched-earth policy
Continental System
Waterloo
guerilla
Hundred Days
Peninsula War
Terms:
Blockade – the use of troops or ships to prevent commercial traffic from entering or leaving a city or region
Scorched-earth policy – a policy which involved burning grain fields and slaughtering livestock so as to leave
nothing for the enemy to eat
Continental System – the set-up of a blockade to prevent all trade and communication between Great Britain and
other European nations. It was supposed to make continental Europe more self-sufficient
Waterloo – a village in Belgium where the battle that ended the Hundred Days took place between Britain and it’s
allies versus the French
Guerilla – bands of Spanish peasant fighters who struck at French armies in Spain
Hundred Days – the time that Napoleon was emperor after his escape from Elba and his defeat at Waterloo
Peninsula War – Napoleon wants to fight Portugal because they ignored the blockade. The French marched into
Spain. This led to guerilla warfare by Spanish peasants that lasted six years. Napoleon lost the battle and was left
with only 2% of his men.
Questions:

What was Napoleon’s most critical mistake in 1812, what policy did his enemies use against him,
and what were the results of his 1812 campaign?

Invading Russia as he did not consider the role that the weather would play in his fight
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Scorched-earth policy
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Napoleon waited in Moscow until mid-October and then decided to retreat back to France
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Harsh winter and no food left army tired, hungry and cold
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410,000 died – gets back to France with 10,000 men of just 2% of his army
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What countries looked to take advantage of Napoleon’s weakness, what defeats did he suffer, and
what eventually happened to him (by 1814)?
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Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Austria
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Attacked at the Battle of Leipzig and was defeated
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Defeated because his new army was untrained and ill-prepared to fight
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Napoleon is exiled to the island of Elba
Map: Use the map on pg. 666 to locate the following:
Baltic Sea
Atlantic Ocean
Russia
North Sea
French Empire
Great Britain
Mediterranean Sea
Spain
Austrian Empire
Black Sea
Portugal
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