Title: The French Revolution (1789–1799): Key Terms | SparkNotes
Headings: The French Revolution (1789–1799)
The French Revolution (1789–1799)
Key Terms
Terms
August Decrees
Bastille
Bourgeoisie
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Committee of Public Safety
Constitution of 1791
Declaration of Pillnitz
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Directory
Estates-General
Girondins
Great Fear
Jacobins
Limited Monarchy
Monarchy
National Assembly
National Convention
Parlements
Reign of Terror
Sans-culottes
Tennis Court Oath
Thermidorian Reaction
Third Estate
Tuileries
Versailles

Content: Bastille
A large armory and state prison in the center of Paris that a mob of sans-culottes sacked on July 14, 1789, giving the masses arms for insurrection. The storming of the Bastille had little practical consequence, but it was an enormous symbolic act against the ancien régime, inspired the revolutionaries, and is still celebrated today as the French holiday Bastille Day. Bourgeoisie
The middle and upper classes of French society who, as members of the Third Estate, wanted an end to the principle of privilege that governed French society in the late 1700s. The bourgeoisie represented the moderate voices during the French Revolution and were represented by delegates in both the Estates-General and the National Assembly. Civil Constitution of the Clergy
A document, issued by the National Assembly in July 1790, that broke ties with the Catholic Church and established a national church system in France with a process for the election of regional bishops. The document angered the pope and church officials and turned many French Catholics against the revolutionaries. Committee of Public Safety
A body, chaired by Maximilien Robespierre , to which the National Convention gave dictatorial powers in April 1793 in an attempt to deal with France’s wars abroad and economic problems at home. Although the committee led off its tenure with an impressive war effort and economy-salvaging initiatives, things took a turn for the worse when Robespierre began his violent Reign of Terror in late 1793. Constitution of 1791
The new French constitution that in 1791 established a constitutional monarchy, or limited monarchy, with all executive power answerable to a legislative assembly. Under the new constitution, King Louis XVI could only temporarily veto legislation passed by the assembly.