Unit 5 · Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century

De-Christianization ● (core concept) — The Jacobin republic's policy — pursued alongside the Terror and price/wage controls — of suppressing Catholic institutions and culture.

French Revolution ● (core concept) — The revolution that overthrew the French monarchy, dismantled the Estates System, and proclaimed liberty and equality.

Jacobins ● (core concept) — The radical revolutionary club that drove the Revolution's most extreme phase; an illustrative example.

Levée en masse ● (core concept) — Mass conscription that raised revolutionary armies seeking to bring the changes initiated in France to the rest of Europe.

Maximilien Robespierre ● (core concept) — Jacobin leader most associated with the Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror ● (core concept) — The radical phase of the Revolution marked by mass executions of perceived enemies under Robespierre.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen ○ — The French revolutionary charter proclaiming liberty, legal equality, and popular sovereignty; a famous illustrative example of revolutionary ideals.

Estates System ○ — France's division of society into three legal orders — clergy, nobility, and commoners — whose unfairness fueled revolution.

National Assembly ○ — The body formed by France's Third Estate claiming to represent the nation, launching the Revolution.

Olympe de Gouges ○ — Writer who demanded women's rights during the Revolution; an illustrative example.

Storming of the Bastille ○ — The Parisian crowd's seizure of the royal fortress-prison; the Revolution's symbolic first victory.

Tennis Court Oath ○ — The National Assembly's pledge not to disband until a constitution was written; an illustrative example of revolutionary resolve.

Napoleon Bonaparte ● (core concept) — French general who seized power, conquered much of Europe, and spread revolutionary legal reforms before his defeat.

Civil Code (Napoleonic Code) ○ — Napoleon's enduring legal reform establishing legal equality and property rights; listed by the CED as an illustrative example of his domestic reforms.

Continental System ○ — Napoleon's blockade attempting to cripple Britain's economy; an illustrative example of his economic warfare.

Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) ● (core concept) — The post-Napoleonic settlement that restored monarchies, redrew borders, and established a balance of power.

Romanticism ● (core concept) — The early-19th-century cultural movement emphasizing emotion, nature, and individualism in reaction to Enlightenment reason.

Ludwig van Beethoven ○ — An illustrative example of Romantic music.