Understand one of history's most dramatic upheavals with this complete
flashcard deck on the French Revolution. Discover why France's rigid
social structure, financial crisis, and Enlightenment ideas combined to
overthrow the monarchy, and how a revoluti...
Understand one of history's most dramatic upheavals with this complete
flashcard deck on the French Revolution. Discover why France's rigid
social structure, financial crisis, and Enlightenment ideas combined to
overthrow the monarchy, and how a revolution born from ideals of liberty
and equality descended into the bloody Reign of Terror before ending with
Napoleon's rise to power.
Topics include the Three Estates, the storming of the Bastille, the
Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Tennis Court Oath, the execution
of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Robespierre and the Committee of
Public Safety, the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction, and
Napoleon's coup. Essential for AP European History, GCSE History, and
IB History students.
Ready to test yourself?
Flip through all 25 cards in interactive study mode.
From 1789 to 1799, ending with Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power.
Financial crisis, inequality between the Three Estates, weak leadership of King Louis XVI, food shortages, high taxes on the poor, and Enlightenment ideas about liberty.
First Estate: Clergy. Second Estate: Nobility. Third Estate: Everyone else (about 97% of the population) — commoners, peasants, and the middle class.
A French legislative body representing the Three Estates, called by Louis XVI in 1789 to address France's financial crisis. It sparked the revolution.
Formed in June 1789 when the Third Estate broke away from the Estates-General, declaring themselves the true representatives of the French people.
Members of the National Assembly swore not to disband until they had written a new constitution for France — a direct challenge to royal authority.
An angry Parisian mob stormed the Bastille prison, a symbol of royal tyranny. This event is considered the start of the French Revolution and is now France's national holiday.
A foundational document of the Revolution declaring that all men are born free and equal, with rights to liberty, property, and security — inspired by Enlightenment ideals.
Thousands of Parisian women marched to Versailles demanding bread and forced King Louis XVI to move to Paris, bringing him under the control of the people.
He was arrested, tried for treason, and executed by guillotine on January 21, 1793.
A period of radical political violence led by Maximilien Robespierre. Approximately 17,000 people were officially executed and up to 40,000 died in total.
A radical Jacobin leader who dominated the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror. He was eventually arrested and executed by guillotine in July 1794.
A device used for execution by beheading, widely used during the Reign of Terror. It was named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin who proposed its use as a humane method.
A radical political club during the Revolution that supported a republic and pushed for extreme measures, including the Reign of Terror. Led by Robespierre.
A moderate republican faction during the Revolution that clashed with the radical Jacobins. Many were executed during the Reign of Terror.
A powerful wartime government committee that effectively governed France during the Reign of Terror, led by Robespierre. It used mass executions to eliminate "enemies."
The overthrow of Robespierre by moderate members of the National Convention, ending the Reign of Terror. Named after the Revolutionary month of Thermidor.
The five-man committee that governed France after the Thermidorian Reaction. It was corrupt and ineffective, paving the way for Napoleon.
Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau (social contract) and Montesquieu (separation of powers) inspired revolutionaries to question monarchy and demand individual rights.
Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory in a coup d'état, ending the Revolution and establishing himself as First Consul — and later Emperor — of France.
It spread ideas of liberty, equality, and nationalism across Europe, inspired revolutions in other countries, and ended the age of absolute monarchy in France.
A law that made the French Catholic Church subordinate to the state, forcing priests to swear loyalty to the government rather than the Pope. It divided France deeply.
As Queen of France and wife of Louis XVI, she was seen as a symbol of royal excess and indifference to the poor. She was executed by guillotine on October 16, 1793.
A massive military conscription that mobilized the entire French nation for war, creating a citizens' army of over 1 million men to defend the Revolution against foreign powers.
It established the principles of popular sovereignty, nationalism, secularism, and human rights that shaped modern democratic governments worldwide.
