Glossary of the French Revolution

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This glossary of the French Revolution generally does not explicate names of individual people or their political associations; those can be found in List of people associated with the French Revolution.

Contents

The terminology routinely used in discussing the French Revolution can be confusing. The same political faction may be referred to by different historians (or by the same historian in different contexts) by different names. During much of the revolutionary period, the French used a newly invented calendar that fell into complete disuse after the revolutionary era. Different legislative bodies had rather similar names, not always translated uniformly into English.

The three estates

The estates of the realm in ancien régime France were:

Fourth Estate is a term with two relevant meanings: on the one hand, the generally unrepresented poor, nominally part of the Third Estate; on the other, the press, as a fourth powerful entity in addition to the three estates of the realm.

Social classes

Constitutions

Governmental structures

In roughly chronological order:

Political groupings

Ancien régime taxes

Months of the French Revolutionary Calendar

Under this calendar, the Year I or "Year 1" began 22 September 1792 (the date of the official abolition of the monarchy and the nobility).

Events commonly known by their Gregorian dates

Events commonly known by their Revolutionary dates

War

Symbols

Cockades

Cockades ( cocardes ) were rosettes or ribbons worn as a badge, typically on a hat.

Other countries and armies at this time typically had their own cockades.

Religion

Other terms

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-François Rewbell</span> French lawyer and diplomat (1747–1807)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobins</span> Political club during the French Revolution

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the French Revolution</span> Timeline

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girondins</span> Political faction in the French Revolution

The Girondins, or Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initially were part of the Jacobin movement. They campaigned for the end of the monarchy, but then resisted the spiraling momentum of the Revolution, which caused a conflict with the more radical Montagnards. They dominated the movement until their fall in the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, which resulted in the domination of the Montagnards and the purge and eventual mass execution of the Girondins. This event is considered to mark the beginning of the Reign of Terror.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès</span> French Roman Catholic abbé and political writer (1748–1836)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Convention</span> Single-chamber assembly in France from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795

The National Convention was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly. Created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792, it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. The Convention sat as a single-chamber assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795.

<i>Sans-culottes</i> Armed working class people defending the French Revolution

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Commune (1789–1795)</span> Parisian government from 1789 to 1795

The Paris Commune during the French Revolution was the government of Paris from 1789 until 1795. Established in the Hôtel de Ville just after the storming of the Bastille, it consisted of 144 delegates elected by the 60 divisions of the city. Before its formal establishment, there had been much popular discontent on the streets of Paris over who represented the true Commune, and who had the right to rule the Parisian people. The first mayor was Jean Sylvain Bailly, a relatively moderate Feuillant who supported constitutional monarchy. He was succeeded in November 1791 by Pétion de Villeneuve after Bailly's unpopular use of the National Guard to disperse a riotous assembly in the Champ de Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Constitution of 1793</span> Document of the French Revolution

The Constitution of 1793, also known as the Constitution of the Year I or the Montagnard Constitution, was the second constitution ratified for use during the French Revolution under the First Republic. Designed by the Montagnards, principally Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Saint-Just, it was intended to replace the constitutional monarchy of 1791 and the Girondin constitutional project. With sweeping plans for democratization and wealth redistribution, the new document promised a significant departure from the relatively moderate goals of the Revolution in previous years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles-François Lebrun</span> French nobleman, lawyer and statesman (1739–1824)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coup of 18 Fructidor</span> 1797 seizure of power in France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph-Henri baron de Jessé</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques-Alexis Thuriot de la Rosière</span> French noble

Jacques-Alexis Thuriot, known as Thuriot de la Rosière, and later as chevalier Thuriot de la Rosière, chevalier de l'Empire was an important French statesman of the French Revolution, and a minor figure under the French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte.

References

For citations see the linked articles and also Ballard (2011); Furet (1989) Hanson (2004), Ross (1998) and Scott & Rothaus (1985).

Further reading