CHAPTER
1
‹^119
The French Revolution
and Empire
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: In France in 1789, bourgeois representatives of the Third Estate,
influenced by the Enlightenment, launched a revolution aimed at curbing the
power and privilege of the nobility and clergy and establishing a constitutional
monarchy. This chapter reviews the various phases of the French Revolution
as it moved further to the left toward the Reign of Terror and then back to the
right (Thermidor). It also describes the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and the
creation of a Europe-wide French Empire.Key Terms:
✪^ Bourgeoisie A term for the merchant and commercial classes of eighteenth-
and nineteenth-century France. In Marxist social critique, the class that owns
the means of production and exploits wage laborers.
✪^ Ancien Régime^ (also Old Regime) The traditional social and political hierarchy
of eighteenth-century France.
✪^ Estates-General The representative body of eighteenth-century France.
Members representing each of the three Estates met to hear the problems of
the realm and royal requests for new taxes. In return, they were allowed to pre-
sent a list of their own concerns and proposals, called cahiers, to the Crown.
✪^ National Assembly The name taken by the representatives of the Third Estate
on June 17, 1789, declaring themselves to be the legislative body of France.
This event is often seen as the beginning of the French Revolution’s moderate
phase.KEY IDEA16
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