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Financial Status of France
Financial issues constantly affected French society due to constant war and inflation of grain prices, which caused bread to be more expensive. Peasants were already the backbones of France, economically, and they were starving due to the lack of affordability of their dietary staple, causing resentment towards Louis XVI and nobility. The effect of the financial crisis was Louis SVI summoning the Estate General, which had not been summoned for the past 200 years. -
Summoning of Estate General
Calling the Estate General presented the unfairness of the government system due to the lack of representation of the citizens, excluding the clergy and nobility. The First and Second Estate voted against the Third constantly, even though, together they only made up 3 percent of the total population. This unfairness with the treatment of the Third Estate allowed the Third Estate to use its great size to form the National Assembly and swore to establish new Constitution at Tennis Court Oath. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Oath taken by the Third Estate was vital during the French Revolution because they not only displayed that they were the official government of France but addressed the lack of Englightenment ideology, through the drafting of a new constitution, which would be adopted in 1791. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille, occurred because Louis XVI was going to dismantle the National Assembly. Sans-culottes invaded the prison, which symbolized the suppression of the French people. This commenced the French Revolution, causing more citizens to rise against the nobility by burning down their homes and destroying manorial records. This started the aggressive revolts is known as the Great Fear. -
Great Fear
This was a summer where peasants rose up against the nobility because they were tired of feudalism and the mistreat of them. This affected the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens, which expressed the natural rights of men and abolish feudalism in France. -
Adoption of Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizens
The adoption of the declaration, which expressed the natural rights of citizens and the separation of power, was crucial because it displays the Enlightenment ideology influencing the French government. These ideas expressed, influenced the construction of the Constitution of 1791, by becoming the preamble of it. -
Constitution of 1791
This Constitution was the first French Constitution and expressed Enlightenment ideology through the separation of power and the rights designated to the Legislative Assembly, the King, and the people. The Legislative Assembly had lawmaking power. Louis XVI agreed to this and said he would enforce it; however, he was untrustworthy and asked foreign powers to invade, such as Prussia and Austria. The Legislative Assembly had the power to declare war and so they did with them. -
Legislative Assembly Declaration of War on Austria
This event was significant because now the French Revolution turned into a war with foreign powers, which drew attention to the violence of the Revolution such as the execution of Louis XVI and his wife Maria Antonette. The execution of the monarchy worried European powers and they allied against France. -
Louis XVI Executed
The execution of Louis XVI displayed that the monarchy of France was dead and that a "republic" was formed. This new system of government allowed and aided,such as the installment of the Committee of Public Safety, the reign of terror because they were scared the revolution would be stopped, -
Reign of Terror
The significant of this event was that opposed everything that the revolution stood for by executing anybody that was too moderate or displayed counter revolutionary ideology. The reign of terror caused France not to have a stable government so it permitted Napoleon's coupe d' etat. -
Establishment of The Directory
This was a failed attempted at creating a new french government after the Reign of Terror. Executive power was given to 5 members on the committee, which only lasted for four year due corruption. It had to rely on the army to enforce its authority, which displayed the weakness of this new form of government, which allowed for Napoleon to take over in his coup. -
Napoleon's coup d'etat
Napoleon took over the government and abolished the directory and displaced it with a new system called the Consulate, which three chiefs would govern France. He named himself one of the Consuls,which gave him the ability to declare war on Russia, which ended with his defeat, due to Russia's Scorched Earth Policy. -
Napoleon becomes Emperor
This was significant because France is now a dictatorship instead of a monarchy. Napoleon grew the French Empire by invading foreign powers and winning, however, he fell to the Russians due to their scorch earth policy. -
Napoleon deafed by Russia
Napoleon was defeated by Russia, which caused the downfall of the Napoleonic Era. The reason for his defeat was that Russia used Scorched Earth Policy, causing the French army to die by starvation and the harsh winters presented in Russia. This weakening of his power allowed Prussia and Austria to defeat him. These continuous defeats caused his final downfall by being exiled to St, Helena. -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
This was crucial because it marked the end of the Napoleonic Era, which had encompassed a large area in Europe. The Congress of Vienna needed to restore stability in Europe so it redrew boarders and installed legitimate monarchs. This new monarchy, Louis XVIII, used the ideas of the revolution and drafted a new constitution, which was influenced by the Constitution of 1791.
