Ally – a state or country associated with another by treaty or agreement; to unite or form a connection or relation between countries or states or individuals

Approbation – proof, commendation, praise

Ardently – eagerly, zealously

Aristocrat – one believed to be superior or of noble birth

Authoritatively –  with authority; officially

Autocrat – a person (as a monarch) ruling with unlimited authority; one who has undisputed influence or power

Battery – an artillery unit in the army

Codify – make into law; classify; to arrange in accord with a definite plan or scheme

Concordat – an agreement between a pope and a sovereign or government for the regulation of church matters

Consulate – a government ruled by consuls; chief magistrates of the French republic from 1799 to 1804

Coronation –  the act of crowning an individual to hold the highest office or position of power

Coup d’etat – the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment

Customary – commonly practiced, used, or observed  

Decrepit – Weak; worn out; old; out of date

Democracy – government by the people; rule of the majority; government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Destiny – fortune; fate; a predetermined course of events

Dictator –  a person granted absolute power and control

Directoire (Directory) – the group of five officials who governed France from 1795-99

Divine providence – divine guidance or care; God conceived as the power that sustains and directs human destiny

Divine right – the right of a sovereign to rule as set forth by the theory of government that holds that a monarch receives the right to rule directly from God and not from the people

dix-huit Brumaire – “18 Brumaire"  is the date that Napoleon performed his coup d'etat and seized power as First Consul. The date translates to the 9th of November according to the 21^st century calendar.

Essence – something that exists

Evicted – to force out

Executor – person appointed to deal with carrying out the requirements for a will or an estate

Exemplify – to show or illustrate by example

Feudalism – the system of political organization prevailing in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th centuries having as its basis the relation of lord to vassal (person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed service and loyalty)  

Fraternity – a group of people associated or organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure; the quality or state of being brothers

Gazette – newspaper; an official journal

Gemdarmerie – a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. The members of the group are called gendarmes.

Grape shot – a mass of loosely packed metal slugs (could also be chain links, shards of glass or rocks) loaded into a canvas bag and used as ammunition. The balls resemble a cluster of grapes (hence the name). On firing, the balls spread out from the gun muzzle at high velocity, giving an effect similar to a shotgun but scaled up to cannon size.

Guillotine –  a machine for beheading by means of a heavy blade that slides down in vertical guides; Frenchman Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotine proposed in 1789 that a mechanical machine with blades (to become hereafter associated with his name) be used to carry out the death penalty.  In 1791 the French Assembly set forth that “Every person condemned to the death penalty shall have his head severed.”

Havoc – wide and general destruction; devastation; great confusion and disorder

Immemorial – extending/existing beyond memory, record or tradition

Inalienable rights – rights that can not alienated, surrendered, or transferred

Machination –  a plot; a scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end

Magistrate – an official entrusted with administration of the laws;  a principal official exercising governmental powers over a major political unit such as a nation

Meager – falling short; sparse, small, deficient in quality or quantity

Melodious – pleasing, sweet or agreeable sound

Millennium – a period of 1000 years

Minister Plenipotentiary – diplomatic agent ranking below an ambassador but possessing full power and authority

Monarchy – undivided rule or absolute sovereignty by a single person

Munition – ammunitions; weapons

Negotiations –  the act of arranging for or bringing about a desired result through conference, discussion, and compromise

Oppression – unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power

Peasant – a member of a European class of persons tilling the soil as small landowners or as laborers

Petit nobility – lesser noble class of people

Pure democracy – democracy in which the power is exercised directly by the people rather than through representatives

Purport – conveyed, professed, or implied; import

Reforms – a removal or correction of an abuse, a wrong, or errors

Republican government – a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president; a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law

Royalist – an individual supportive of a king or monarchical government

Self-government – government under the control and direction of the inhabitants rather than by an outside authority

Servitude – a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one's course of action or way of life; slavery

Shackles – something that prevents free action such as chains

Shirk – to avoid or evade the performance of an obligation

Sovereign – supreme authority; ruler

Sympathize – to share in suffering or grief

Tempest –  violent storm; uproar

Trustee – one to whom something is entrusted

Tutelage – receiving instruction or being under a guiding influence

Tyrannical – exercising absolute power oppressively or brutally

Universal – including all without limit or exception

Vigilance – alertly watchful especially to avoid danger

Vox populi, vox dei – the voice of the people is ever the voice of God  

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