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Louis the XIV becomes King of France
King Louis the XIV becomes King of France in 1643.
Louis started the construction of the palace of Versailles.
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The Social Contract and General Will
The Social Contract is a book published by enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book outlined an ideal society. In this society, everyone would be "free". Citizens would agree to a social contract, and enjoy having the same rights, duties, and rules. The general will was the will of the people as a whole to want what is best for everyone. This influenced the idea of the Revolution.
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End of the Seven Years War
The seven years war is over. France has lost new France to the British. France is now in deep debt, partly due to what was spent on the war.
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Louis XVI marries Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette, 14 years old ,and Louis XVI, 15 years old marry in 1770. The graceful and fair Marie is Austrian. This marriage sealed an alliance between France and Austria. Many spoke negatively of her because she was foreign. Despite being uneducated, she had very strong opinions on government. She was also unfair because that she she would promote people she liked and demote those she didn't.
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The Affair of the Necklace
A jeweler offered an expensive necklace to the king and queen but they didn't accept. Rumors stated that the queen had commissioned and paid for this extravagant necklace. This gave the French people another reason to hate Marie Antoinette. -
Louis XVI becomes King of France
The death of his father lead to King Louis XVI becoming king of France. There were many problems that would need to be fixed. Politically, laws were different across the country. Econmically, there were struggles with inflation, taxes, and poverty. Most people wanted drastic changes which Louis was unable to deliver.
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The Estates General Meeting
The Estates general meeting was called by the king. He wanted to resolve the problem of taxation. The focus of the states general meeting is that the people were upset about the taxes they were paying. The consequence of having the Estates General meeting is that it was a contributing factor to the start of the revolution.
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The Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate broke away from the other two estates. They were led by count Mirabeau. They eventually declared that they were now forming the national assembly, a new government. They were going to write a new constitution for France. The king locked them out of their meeting rooms, so they responded by meeting in the tennis courts. They pledged that they would continue to meet until France had a new constitution. This pledge is called the "tennis court oath"
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The Fall of the Bastille
Poverty quickly became an issue. The people wanted to free political prisoners. The King sent out troops to try and re-establish peace. This made people frightened. On July 14 1789 a mob attacked the Bastille prison. they killed the guard and paraded his head on a stake. This resulted in King Louis creating a new army called the national guard.
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The Great Fear
After events such as the fall of Bastille, revolutionary feelings spread throughout France. People feared that the king's soldiers would bring a violent end to revolution and they responded with a mass panic called "Great Fear". Mobs spread through France and invaded the houses of aristocrats, along with other acts of violence. The National Assembly got rid of all feudal rights and privileges for the nobility. The consequences leading were that the peasants would soon feel more independent. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
This declaration was passed by the National Assembly. It set out basic rights that was to be followed by the government. The declaration featured: equality to all citizens, and freedom of thought, speech, religion, security, and property. It ended certain privileges for nobles, and put limits on the power of government. Although the declaration decluded the rights of citizens this didn't include everyone.
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The March on Versailles
Women in Paris are fed up with the food crisis. While in the marketplace, the women would meet and discuss what to do. On October 5, a woman arrived at a marketplace beating a drum.
Women began to gather. They decided to go to Versailles and confront the king themselves. Many joined them and they armed themselves. Upon reaching Versailles, only a small group could speak with the king. The rest of the crowd got restless and stormed the palace. They forced the royal family to go to Paris.
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The royal family go to Paris
After being forced to by an angry mob, the King and his family travelled to Paris. The reason they went to Paris is so they could see the reality of the extent of poverty on the people, instead of being isolated in Versailles. This was a clear sign that the people were gaining power over the monarchy. -
Legislative assembly convened
The legislative assembly tried to establish a workable government, but too many political groups were involved. The radicals wanted a republic, but the moderates wanted a constitutional monarchy. Monarchists wanted to restore the king's powers. -
France declares war on Austria
The French lost the first battles, but peoples'faith in the revolution grew. Jacobin leaders would make patriotic speeches, convincing people that troops from opposing countries would destroy France's new rights. A composer wrote an anthem to encourage the French people to fight. This became a popular song for the revolution. The French armies finally had a victory in Valmy. -
The End of the Monarchy
Louis was stripped of his title after trials were held against him. From here on he will be called "Citizen Louis Capet". Multiple charges were placed on citizen Louis Capet. He tried to defend himself but was unsuccessful. He was found guilty of treason and punished by death. He met his fate with the guillotine on January 21, 1793. -
Louis XVI executed
After the monarchy was gone, king Louis in now to be called "citizen Louis Capet". Numerous charges were put on against Louis. He tried to defend himself but couldn't prove himself. He was found guilty with the act of treason against the people of France. He was punished by guillotine on the 21 of January, 1793.
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Reign of Terror begins
The revolutionary government is now being controlled by the Committee of Public Safety. Robespierre is leading this terror. The Committee passed many ridiculous laws to kill anybody who were a threat to the revolution. Although this is extremely harsh, some benefits came out of the revolution. Such as; ordinary people participating in politics, free primary education, assistance to the poor, price controls, and a better system for taxing. New systems are introduced.
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Jean-Paul Marat murdered
Marat was a French political theorist. He became known for his radical ideas, which he published in his popular newspaper", l'ami du people". As well as being a writer, Marat was a leader of the sans-culottes, and later on a member of the mountain group. Charlotte Corday was a follower of the Girondins. She did not like the radicals. While Marat was bathing, Corday entered his house and stabbed him. Thousands attended his funeral. The murder of Marat lead to unease in France.
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Marie Antoinette executed
Louis XVI's queen, Marie Antoinette was accused of many charges. She was guilty of treason.. Although, some of these charges were most likely made up, so the government could have a good reason to execute her. Some of these even include having sexual relations with her own children. She was declared guilty and guillotined in October of 1793 -
Maximilien de Robespierre executed
Robespierre was a leader of the reign of terror. He was very passionate about the Revolution. Anyone who challenged him or the revolution were killed. After a while, he began to lose control. Other members of government started to disagree with him. He was arrested when he tried to condemn more people to execution. He met the fate that thousands of others did by guillotine.
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Directory established
Members of the national Convention reorganized the government by establishing the Directory. This gave political power to anyone who owned property. This also meant that only people with property could vote. Much of the change that happened during the revolution was reversed or not kept up. The revolution is over.
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Napoleon Crowns Himself Emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte has taken control of the French government years after King Louis XVI was overthrown.
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