This paper aims to present the manner in which the nation is defined in classic-liberal thought, i.e. how the concept of the nation was transformed by the far-reaching political, economic and social changes which accompanied the collapse of the Ancien Régime. In order to do so, the paper’s introductory section concerns with Begriffsgeschichte or the history of concepts which indicates the importance of context in studying the change in meaning of political and other concepts, as well as the importance of the morphology of ideology, a theoretical model by Michael Freeden which assisted in the analysis of the conceptual structure of classical liberalism. The second section of the paper presents the main concepts of classical liberalism and a historical perspective of the citizens’ offensive against the estate society and absolute monarchy. Ultimately, the political theory and undertakings of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, a key figure of the French Revolution's early period, is considered. He is prominent because of being among the first to recognize the importance of the integration of principles of classical liberalism with a new perception of nation based on popular sovereignty. Therefore, the nation is interpreted as a community of free and equal individuals subject to those laws whose general will is expressed through the representative system. Sieyès not only successfully translates the period’s theoretical ideas into political practice, thus directing the course of the Revolution, but also lays the foundation for the development of modern representative liberal democracy