| A | B |
|---|
| Old Regime | the political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution |
| estate | one of the three social classes in France before the French Revolution—the First Estate consisting of the clergy; the Second Estate, of the nobility; and the Third Estate, of the rest of the population |
| Louis XVI | Weak king who came to French throne in 1774 |
| Marie Antoinette | Unpopular queen; wife of Louis XVI |
| Estates-General | an assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France |
| National Assembly | a French congress established by representatives of the Third Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people |
| Tennis Court Oath | a pledge made by the members of France’s National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution |
| Great Fear | a wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789 |
| Legislative Assembly | a F rench congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the Constitution of 1791. |
| émigré | a person who leaves their native country for political reasons, like the nobles and others who fled France during the peasant uprisings of the French Revolution. |
| sans-culotte | in the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian wageearners and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end to food shortages |
| Jacobin | Member of the Jacobin Club, a radical political organization |
| guillotine | a machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution |
| Maximilian Roberpierre | Revolutionary leader who tried to wipe out every trace of France’s past monarchy and nobility |
| Reign of Terror | the period, from mid-1793 to mid-1794, when Maximilien Robespierre ruled France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed |
| Napoleon Bonaparte | Military leader who seized power in France |
| coup d’état | a sudden seizure of political power in a nation. |
| plebiscite | a direct vote in which a country’s people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal |
| lycée | a government-run public school in France |
| concordat | a formal agreement— especially one between the pope and a government, dealing with the control of Church affairs. |
| Napoleonic Code | Complete set of laws set up by Napoleon that eliminated many injustices |
| Battle of Trafalgar | British defeat of Napoleon’s forces at sea |
| blockade | Forced closing of ports |
| Continental System | Napoleon’s policy of preventing trade and communication between Great Britain and other European nations |
| guerrilla | Spanish peasant fighter |
| Peninsular War | War that Napoleon fought in Spain |
| scorched-earth policy | Policy of burning fields and slaughtering livestock so that enemy troops would find nothing to eat |
| Waterloo | Battle in Belgium that was Napoleon’s final defeat |
| Hundred Days | Napoleon’s last bid for power, which ended at Waterloo |
| Congress of Vienna | Meetings in Vienna for the purpose of restoring order to Europe |
| Klemens von Metternich | Key leader at the Congress of Vienna |
| balance of power | Condition in which no one country becomes a threat to the other |
| legitimacy | Bringing back to power the kings that Napoleon had driven out |
| Holy Alliance | League formed by Russia, Austria, and Prussia |
| Concert of Europe | Series of alliances to help prevent revolution |
