French Revolution

American  

noun

French History.

1. the revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

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French Revolution British  

noun

1. the anticlerical and republican revolution in France from 1789 until 1799, when Napoleon seized power

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French Revolution Cultural  

1. The event at the end of the eighteenth century that ended the thousand-year rule of kings in France and established the nation as a republic. The revolution began in 1789, after King Louis xvi had convened the French parliament to deal with an enormous national debt. The common people's division of the parliament declared itself the true legislature of France, and when the king seemed to resist the move, a crowd destroyed the royal prison (the Bastille). A constitutional monarchy was set up, but after King Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, tried to flee the country, they were arrested, tried for treason, and executed on the guillotine. Control of the government passed to Robespierre and other radicals — the extreme Jacobins — and the Reign of Terror followed (1793–1794), when thousands of French nobles and others considered enemies of the revolution were executed. After the Terror, Robespierre himself was executed, and a new ruling body, the Directory, came into power. Its incompetence and corruption allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to emerge in 1799 as dictator and, eventually, to become emperor. Napoleon's ascent to power is considered the official end of the revolution. (See Georges Danton and Jean-Paul Marat.)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

French Revolution

The new MGM+ version of “A Tale of Two Cities” isn’t overly faithful to the Charles Dickens book, but Dickens wasn’t overly faithful to the French Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

In the 18th Century, during the French Revolution, it was rescued from being cut up to make covers for soldiers' carts.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Held each year on 14 July, the national holiday marks the storming of the Bastille fortress in 1789, a key event from the French Revolution.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

His reforming zeal made him sympathetic to the Americans but would later come to seem discredited by the violent populism of the French Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Throughout the Adams presidency, Jefferson and his Republican followers had been insisting that the French Revolution was the American Revolution on European soil and that France was therefore America’s major international ally.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis