| A | B |
|---|
| Nobility | A person with a title and of high social class. |
| Absolutism | A form of government where the ruler has total power. |
| Estates General | A meeting of representatives from the three French Estates. |
| 1st Estate | Clergy |
| 2nd Estate | Nobility |
| 3rd Estate | Everyone else (the Bourgeoisie and the peasants) |
| The Bastille | A prison and a fort in central Paris. It was stormed and emptied by an angry mob on July 14, 1789. This is an immediate cause of the French Revolution. July 14 is also considered French Independence Day. |
| Contradict | To go against. To state ideas against. |
| Bourgeoisie | The middle class. |
| Urban | Relating to cities |
| Estate | French social classes during the ancien regime. |
| Liberal/ Liberalism | A person who supports the ideas of the Enlightenment./ Political beliefs based on the ideas of the Enlightenment. |
| Taille | A national tax on income and property. The 1st and 2nd Estates did not have to pay this tax. |
| Clergy | Church leaders. |
| Tennis Court Oath | Pledge taken by members of the National Assembly to continue to meet until a constitution was drafted. |
| The Great Fear | Earliest period of the French Revolution. It is a panic among peasants that leads to violent attacks on the nobility. |
| The Enlightenment | An 17th and 18th century intellectual movement that applied reason and logic to all aspects of human life. |
| ancien regime | The "old government". The absolute monarchy. |
| characterize | To describe with specific traits. |
| peasant | A poor person of low social class. Usually a farmer. |
| Counterrevolutionary | Wanting to reverse the effects of social or political change. |
| The Enlightenment | An 18th century intellectual movement based on science and reason. |
| Conservative | Resisting change; Political beliefs based on tradition and obedience. |
| Factions | Dissenting Groups |
| Directory | French government after the Reign of Terror |
| Sans Culottes | Members of the Paris Commune. |
| Radical | Extreme behaviors/ beliefs |
| Nobility | People with a hereditary rank |
| Committee of Public Safety | Governing body during the Reign of Terror |
| Reign of Terror | Period of the French Revolution from 1791-1793 marked by massive violence by government. |
| Republic | A form of government that is not a monarchy and where certain citizens have the right to vote. |
| Alliance | An association formed for the benefit of all involved |
| Treason | An action carried out to harm one's country |
| Girondin | Rural, moderate members of the Jacobin club |
| Reactionary | Wanting to return to an older system |
| Coalition | A temporary alliance |
| Guillotine | A device used to behead people |
| Revolution | A forcible overthrow of a political or social system. |
| Secular | Non religious |
| Moderate | Not extreme in beliefs or behaviors |
| Jacobins | A network of political clubs throughout France |
| coup d'etat | a sudden overthrow of the government |
| Nationalism | Pride in one's country; belief one's country is better than all the other countries. |
