-
The Three Estates.
In the 1770s, the social and political system of France the Old Regime remained in place. Under this system, the people of France were divided into three estates.
- First Estate: Made up of clergy of Roman Catholic Church
- Second Estate: Made up of rich nobles.
- Thrid Estate: Included bourgeoisie, urban lower class and peasant farmers. -
Economic Troubles.
During the 1770s and the 1780s, France's governement sank deeply into dept. Part of the problem was the extravagant spending of Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette. Marie's behavior made matters worse, she spent a lot of money on gowns jewels, gambling and gifts. She became known as "Madame Deficit. -
Storming The Bastille
Some people suggested that Louis was intent on using military force to dismiss the National Assembly. Others charged that foreign troops were coming to Paris to massacre French citizens. On Juliy 14, a mob stormed the Bastille. The angry attackers hacked the prison commander and several guards to death. The attack on the Bastille claimed the lives of about 100 people. The fall of the Bastille became a great symbolic act of revolution to the French people, it became the French National Holiday. -
Period: to
French revolution start and end date.
-
Great Fear
From one village to the next, wild rumors circulated that the nobles were hiring outlaws to terroize the peasants. A wave of senseless panic call the Great Fear. In October 1789, thousands of Parisian women rioted over the rising price of bread. They turned their anger on thr king and wueen. The women demanded that Louis and Marie Antoinette return to Paris. -
Louis Tries To Escape
As the National Assembly restructured the relationship between church and state, Louis XVI pondered his fate as monarch. Many supporters of the monarchy thought France unsafe and left the country. In June 1791, the royal family tried to escape from France to the Austrian Netherlands. Louis's attempted escape increased the influence of his radical enemies in the government and sealed his fate. -
End of Terror
The Reign of Terror, the radical phase of the French Revolution, ended on July 28, 1794, when Robespierre went to the guilotine. French public opinion shifted dramatically after Robespierre's death. In 1795, moderate leaders in the National Covention drafted a new plan of government, the third since 1789. -
Napoleon Seizes Power
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean. When Napoleon returned from Egypt, his friends urged him to seize political power. Napoleon took action in early November 1799. At the time of His coup, France was still at war. In 1799, Britain, Austria, and Russia joined forces to drive Napolean from power. As a result of war and diplomacy, all three nations signed peace agreements with France. By 1802, Europe was at peace for the first time in ten years. -
Napoleon Crowned Emperor
In 1840, Napoleon decided to make himdelf emperor, and the French voters supported him. On december 2, 1804, dressed in a splendid robe of purple velvet, He walked down the long asile of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Thousands watched, the new emperor take his crown from the pope and place it on his own head. Napoleon signaled that he was more powerful than the Church, which had traditionally crowned the rulers of France. -
Napoleon's Costly Mistakes.
The Continental System: In november 1806, Napoleon set up a blockade. A forcible closing of ports to prevent trade and communication between Great Britain and other European nations.
The Peninsular War: In 1808, Napoleon made a second costly mistake. In an effort to get Portugal to accept the Continental System, he sent an invasion force through Spain.
The Invasion of Russia: Napoleon's most disastrous mistake of all came in 1812. In June 1812, He and his Grand army marched into Russia. -
Metternich's Plan for Europe
Most of the decisions made in Vienna during the winter of 1814-1815 were made in a secret among representatives of five "great powers"- Russia, Prussia, Austria, Great Britain, and France. The most influential of these representative was the foreign minster of Austria.
