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Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was born on September (October) 1732 in Geneva, Switzerland & was a Swiss banker & director general of finance. He became a clerk for his father at the age of 16 & transferred to the bank's headquarters in 1750. Did you know that his beliefs are what brought & caused the storming of the Bastille. -
King Louis XVI of France
King Louis XVI was born in August of 1754 in Versailles & had possibly the worst life anyone could witness. He married Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette in 1770. In January of 1793, he was guillotined (executed) on charges of counterrevolution. -
Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre (AKA The Incorruptible)
Only living for 36 years, Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre (The Incorruptible) was a complete leader of the Jacobins & one of the French Revolution principal figures. He attended colleges such as the Oratorians (outlaws) of Arras in 1765, & the famous college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris by studying law & philosophy. He was guillotined, followed by 21 other allies during the Great Terror. -
Tennis Court Oath 1789
Tennis Court Oath, French Serment du Jeu de Paume, (June 20, 1789), dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the nonprivileged classes of the French nation (the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates-General (traditional assembly) at the beginning of the French Revolution. The deputies of the Third Estate, realizing that in any attempt at reform they would be outvoted by the two privileged orders, the clergy and the nobility, had formed a National Assembly on June 17. -
The Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille, a medieval fortress on the east side of Paris that became a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons charged with various offenses in the 17th and 18th centuries. On the morning of July 14, 1789, when only seven prisoners were confined in the building, a crowd advanced on the Bastille with the intention of asking the prison governor, Bernard Jordan, marquis de Launay, to release the arms and munitions stored there. -
Execution of Louis XVI
On January 20, 1793, the National Convention condemned Louis XVI to death, his execution scheduled for the next day. Louis spent that evening saying goodbye to his wife and children. The following day dawned cold and wet. Louis arose at five. At eight o'clock a guard of 1,200 horsemen arrived to escort the former king on a two-hour carriage ride to his place of execution. Accompanying Louis, at his invitation, was a priest, Henry Essex Edgeworth, an Englishman living in France. -
Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror, also called the Terror, is a period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, year II). With civil war spreading from the Vendée and hostile armies surrounding France on all sides, the Revolutionary government decided to make “Terror” the order of the day (September 5 decree) and to take harsh measures against those suspected of being enemies of the Revolution (nobles, priests, and hoarders). -
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1869 in Ajaccio, Corsica & lived for 51 years. He was a French general, emperor of the French, first consul (1799-1804). Napoleon believed that a political change was imperative, but, as a career officer, he seems not to have seen any need for radical social reforms. He is also known for revolutionizing military organization & training.
