The French Revolution - AP European History

A victory for the French revolutionary army. First major victory proved French revolutionary armies could defeat European monarchies.

To end the Reign of Terror and moderate the revolution. Reaction against extremism that executed Robespierre and restored moderate policies.

Napoleon's coup d'état. Military takeover that established Napoleon's dictatorship and ended revolutionary idealism.

Commoners. Made up 98% of the population but lacked political power despite carrying the tax burden.

King Louis XVI. Indecisive monarch whose attempts at reform failed to prevent revolutionary upheaval.

The Jacobins. Radical republican faction that used violence to eliminate perceived enemies of the revolution.

The Guillotine. Efficient execution device that became synonymous with revolutionary justice and terror.

To demand bread and force the royal family to move to Paris. Economic crisis motivated women to march 12 miles, forcing royal accountability to Paris.

First Coalition. European monarchies united to prevent revolutionary ideas from spreading beyond France.

Clergy. Religious officials who owned vast lands and paid no taxes in the old regime.

Flight to Varennes. Royal family's failed escape attempt that destroyed remaining trust in constitutional monarchy.

The Girondins. Bourgeois faction favoring constitutional government and free-market economic policies.

A law prohibiting workers' associations and strikes. Banned guilds and unions to promote free-market capitalism over worker organization.

Jean-Paul Marat. Radical publisher whose death by Charlotte Corday symbolized revolutionary martyrdom.

It expedited the processing of political prisoners. Streamlined revolutionary justice by removing legal protections for accused counter-revolutionaries.

The Third Estate. Commoners gained political rights, land ownership, and social mobility through revolutionary changes.

Radical working-class militants supporting the revolution. Urban poor who pushed for radical measures and direct democracy during the revolution.

The Reign of Terror. 1793-1794 period when revolutionary tribunals executed thousands of suspected enemies.

The Legislative Assembly. Constitutional monarchy's legislature that declared war and radicalized the revolution.

To celebrate deistic beliefs promoted by Robespierre. Robespierre's attempt to replace Christianity with a revolutionary civic religion.

Mass killing of prisoners in Paris. Spontaneous violence against prisoners suspected of counter-revolutionary plotting.

A declaration to protect the French monarchy by foreign powers. Threatened Paris if the royal family was harmed, escalating revolutionary radicalism.

The Girondins. Moderate republicans who favored war but opposed radical domestic policies.

A law allowing the arrest of suspected enemies of the revolution. Enabled mass arrests without evidence, escalating the Terror's scope and intensity.

Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Popular uprising that overthrew constitutional monarchy and established the republic.

Maximilien Robespierre. His execution on 9 Thermidor ended the Terror and began moderate reaction.

Constitution of Year III. Established the Directory system with bicameral legislature and limited executive power.

A five-member committee governing France from 1795-1799. Weak executive system that led to political instability and eventual military coup.

To end the Reign of Terror and moderate the revolution. Reaction against extremism that executed Robespierre and restored moderate policies.