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Intellectual - John Locke
John Locke is born. Locke was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers. Locke had his Second Treatise on Civil Government published in 1690 in which he rejected the divine right of kings, Locke said that societies form governments by mutual agreement. Thus, when a king loses the consent of the governed, a society may remove him. -
Intellectual - Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Born jan. 19th 1689, montesquieu was one of the great political philosophers of the Enlightenment period. In his work The Spirit of Laws, Montesquieu took Locke's view and incorporated the philosophy of a division of state and the separation of powers. -
Intellectual - Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a Geneven philosopher, writer and composer. He published the Social Contract in 1762 which challenges the roll of monarch. Sovereignty is not simply the will of those in power, but rather the general will. Sovereignty can be overriden by the will of an individual or even the collective will of a particular group of individuals, -
Impact of the American Revolution
With the end of the American Revolution in 1783 French troops had begun to return home. French troops had seen the impact over the English crown had on the American people and brought these thoughts and ideas back to France. The Founding Fathers also played a significant role with the Declaration of Independence and other Enlightenment thinking regarding the "natural rights" of man to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. -
Economic - Budget Crisis
The crown under King Louis XIV massed an incredibal debt that when Louis XVI took the thrown he reliazed the immense financial crisis he was in. He hired several people to try to get the debt under control but this only made matters worse. Finally in 1789 he had together the Estates-General to help remedy this situation. -
Class Tensions - The Estates-General
Beginning in May 1789 the Estates-General convened to deal with the financial crisis. The Estates had major differences that could not be overcome. The Third Estate (peasants and middle-class) felt that they should have more of a say in what happens since they are the largest Estate. -
The Tennis Court Oath
On June 20th, the commoners (Third Estate) found their regular meeting place barred to them. The meet in a nearby indoor tennis court and pledged "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm foundations." -
Storming of the Bastille
In July 1789 a crowd amassed outside the Bastille and demanded the release of political prisoners. The commander of the prison informed the crowd that no political prisoners were inside but the crowed did not believe him. The crowd blows down the gate and then attacks the soldiers killing the commander. The crowd when this is over only finds seven prisoners inside, none of them political prisoners. -
The Great Fear
In July 1789 the revolution spreads to the provinces. The Great Fear was the threat of reprisal for not doing what the peasants want. These riots, arose in part from rumors that the feudal aristocracy were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and pillage their land. -
Passage of the Declaration of the Rights of man and citizen
Passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789. This is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights. It is infuenced by the doctrine of "natural rights", the rights of man are held to be universal. -
March of the Heroines
The March of the Heroines was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among woment in the marketplaces of Paris who were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their deomnstrations quickly became mixed with the revolutionaries. They ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. -
Foreign Intervention - The Declaration of Pillnitz
This declaration stated that French affairs were the interest of all Europe and that the two sovereigns might intervene to protect Louis XVI if the other European powers would support them. The two sovereigns were Austrian King Leopold II and Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm. -
National Assebly yields to a more radical Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly was the ruling authority of France from October 1, 1791 through the end of 1792. Within the assembly were two opposing groups, the first were primarily moderate members of the bourgeoisie and the second group were made up of the democratic faction who no longer trusted the king. -
National Convention - The Republic
In September 1792 the monarch King Louis XVI was overthrown and the Republic was established. The Legislative Assembly gave way to a newly elected National Convention, which officially ruled France until 1795 and produced a new instrument of government, The Constitution of 1793. -
King Louis XVI is executed
On Jan. 21, 1793 after a long deliberation between the two ruling factions King Louis XVI is found guilty of treason and sentenced to die by guillotine. The event took place at the Place de la Révolution (Revolutionary Square) which was later renamed Place de la Concorde in 1795. -
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror also known as the Terror began on September 5, 1793 and ran until July 28, 1794. This was a period of violence that occured after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution." The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands. -
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt within the French Revolution against the leadership of the Jacobin Club over the Committee of Public Safety. It was triggered by a vote of the National Convention to execute Maximilien Robespierre and other leaders of the revolutionary government. This ended the most radical phase of the French Revolution. -
Ratification of the 1795 Constitution - The rise of the Directorate
During the Directorate (195 - 1799) power was shared by the executive and legislative branches, with the executive now consisting of five directores instead of a hereditary monarch. These five were chosen by the legislative body, after the first two years the legislative body was to replace one director annually. the legislative body was to consist of two councils, the Council of ancients and the Council of Five Hundred. -
The end of the Directorate and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
France one again in 1799 are being shaken by a series of riots. The Directorate not knowing what asks a young artillery officer Napoleon to bring the country under control. Napoleon while trying to squash the riots establishes a group of loyal officers who will support him whenever necessary. Finally on Nov. 9, 1799, Napoleon in a copu d'Etat takes control over France ending the rule of the Directorate.
