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Deficit Spending
breadLouis XIV left France deeply in debt. The costs had rise which resulted in deficit spending on the wars like the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. This leaded to the third estate to pay more taxes and falling into debt themselves. The price for bread gone up which lead to fights and robbery just so they wouldn't starve. -
Louis XIV Calls the Estates-General
France fell into bankruptcy and bread riots were spreading so Louis XIV calls the Estates General to meet at Versailles. Delegates to the Estates General from the third estate were elected, but only men who owned property could vote. The delegates went to Versailles to solve the financial crisis and to insist reform. After the meeting in Versailles the delegates from the third estate decided to represent the people of France and declared themselves the National Assembly. -
Parisians Storm Bastille
More than 800 Parisians met outside the Bastille and demanded for gunpowder and weapons that they believed were hidden inside the Bastille. The commander of the Bastille refused to the doors so he opened fire on the huge crowd. Finally, the crowd had decided to break through the defenses. They killed the commander and five of the guards and released the prisoners that were being kept there. But they found no weapons. The Bastille was now a symbol the people of France. -
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National Assembly Acts
national assemblyThe storming of Bastille put the National Assembly into action. Feudalism becomes abolished, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued. This lead to women protesting and they marched to Versailles. The women refused to leave Versailles so the king agreed to return to Paris.The National Assembly voted to take over and sell church lands, the church is placed under state control. Finally, the Constitution establishes a New Government. -
Threats from Abroad
Louis XVI's escape failed, this brought more rumblings. The king of Prussia and the emperor of Austria issued the Declaration of Pilnitz, which threatened to intervene to protect the French Monarchy. -
Civil War
The new elected Legislative Assembly took office. The sans-culottes pushed the revolution into more radical action. They demanded a republic. The radicals soon held the upper hand in the Legislative Assembly. The French Revolutionaries and European Monarchs move onto the battlefeild. The radicals first declared war on Austria, then Prussia, Britain and then other states. The radicals won, and Robespierre was elected Estates General, where the terror of the revolutionary began. -
Monarchy is Abolished
A crowd of Parisians stormed the palace of Tuileries and killed the king's guards. The royal family escaped before the mob arrived. A month later, another crowd attacked prisons and killed about 1,200 prisoners. The radicals then take control. They called for an election for a new legislative body calle the National Convention. This convention was more radical than the other bodies. It voted to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. They put Louis XVI on trial, and was executed. -
Nationalism Spreads
The Revolution and war gave the people from France a sense of national identity. By 1793, France was a nation in arms. troops marched to a new song.This song "La Marseillaise" became the French national anthem. -
Robespierre and the Reign of Terror
The convention creates a new committee to deal with the threats of France. This committee was called the Committee of Public Safety. Robespierre became head of this committee. In 1793 Robspierre became a cheif architect for the Reign of Terror. He believed that to acheive the goals of the revolution, he had to kill the traitors. The engine of terror; the guillotine executed 17,000 people. Finally on July 27, 1794 Robespierre became arrested, and was executed for killing so many people. -
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Third Stage of the Revolution
napoleonNow that Robespierre is dead, executions slowly decreased. The revolution entered a third stage. Moderates created a new Constitution. In the election of 1797 supporters of the constitutional monarchy won the majority of seats in the legislature. Chaos threatened, so politicians turned to Napoleon. By 1799, the French Revolution had changed dramatically. all male citizens have liberty and equality, and all titles were eliminated. Everyone was a "citizen" now.
