French Revolution
Guillotine era's catalyst
The French Revolution was the period of radical political and social upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799, marked by the overthrow of the monarchy, the execution of Louis XVI, and the rise of Napoleon.
The term evokes revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, but also the Reign of Terror.
Figuratively, any dramatic institutional overhaul may be called a French Revolution: The new CEO's restructuring was a French Revolution for the company.
French revolutionary faction
- MontagnardsIndigenous Vietnamese mountain dwellers
- royalistsSupporters of hereditary rule
- émigrésPeople who left their country
- counterrevolutionariesThose opposing revolutionary change
moderates · radicals · right · left · political clubs
Revolutionary mass execution period
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
- RobespierreRevolutionary who devoured himself
- executionsLegally sanctioned killings
- purgesForcible removals from power
Absence of unjust constraint
- equalitySame status for all
- fraternitySpirit of brotherly connection
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- democracyRule by the people
freedom · citizenship · justice · emancipation · sovereignty · self-determination · autonomy · republicanism
- BourbonFrench ruling family
- VersaillesFrench royal palace complex
- Ancien RégimePre-1789 French system
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
Marie Antoinette · nobility · divine right · absolutism · throne · crown · palace · courtier
Revolutionary who devoured himself
Paris fortress-prison
- stormingAttacking with force
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- mobDisorderly, aggressive crowd
riot · barricades · sans-culottes · Women's March · upheaval · tumult · bread riots · powder magazine
A nation's legislative body
- Estates-GeneralFrench representative body, three classes
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- metric systemDecimal-based measurement standard
- legal reformSystematic change to laws
Jacobins
French revolutionary faction
- MontagnardsIndigenous Vietnamese mountain dwellers
- royalistsSupporters of hereditary rule
- émigrésPeople who left their country
counterrevolutionaries · moderates · radicals · right · left · political clubs
Reign of Terror
Revolutionary mass execution period
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
- RobespierreRevolutionary who devoured himself
- executionsLegally sanctioned killings
liberty
Absence of unjust constraint
- equalitySame status for all
- fraternitySpirit of brotherly connection
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
democracy · freedom · citizenship · justice · emancipation · sovereignty · self-determination · autonomy · republicanism · secularism
Louis XVI
- BourbonFrench ruling family
- VersaillesFrench royal palace complex
- Ancien RégimePre-1789 French system
Marie Antoinette · aristocracy · nobility · divine right · absolutism · throne · crown · palace · courtier · royal
Robespierre
Revolutionary who devoured himself
Bastille
Paris fortress-prison
- stormingAttacking with force
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
mob · riot · barricades · sans-culottes · Women's March · upheaval · tumult · bread riots · powder magazine · mutiny
National Assembly
A nation's legislative body
- Estates-GeneralFrench representative body, three classes
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- metric systemDecimal-based measurement standard
- French Culturebaguette, baguettes, beret, berets, brie
- 1700sMozart, Voltaire, colonial period, William III, Declaration of Independence
- French HistoryNapoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon, Bastille, Reign of Terror, Charles de Gaulle
- 18th Century MovementsEnlightenment, Rococo, Neoclassicism, deism, rationalism
- 18th Century WarsSeven Years War, Great Northern War, War of Austrian Succession, War of Spanish Succession
- European UpheavalsPrague Spring, uprising, revolt, insurrection, putsch
French Revolutionconstitutional reform
Altering fundamental governing documents
Glorious Revolution · reformism · gradualism · status quo · stability
French RevolutionRestoration
1660s monarchical revival
Ancien Régime · Bourbon Restoration · divine right of kings · absolute monarchy · Vendée uprising
French RevolutionIranian Revolution
1979 regime change establishing theocracy
revolution, revolve, France, revolutionary, French, Francophone, revolutionize, revolutionaries, revolutionized