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Divided French Society
Since the middle ages, French society was divided into 3 Estates. The 1st Estate was composed of the clergy and those who worked in the church. The 2nd Estate was composed of the Nobility and all Royalty. Furthermore, the last is the 3rd Estate wihich was everybody else. -
The Calling of the Estates General
In the meeting of the Estates General, the 3rd Estate had a chance to finally have a voice. Each Estate prepared a list of grievances and elected property-owning representatives. The 3rd Estate wanted the 1st and 2nd Estates no longer be exempt from taxes and to have relief form their property and extensive taxation. -
The National Assembly
Unlike past meetings where the estates voted on issues seprately, all of the classes voted together and did a headcount. In a long stalemate, the delegates of the 3rd Estate took a bold move; they began calling themselves the National Assembly. After being restricted from their meeting hall, they met at a tennis court. There they took the famous Tennis Court Oath: "never to seperate and to meet whenever the circumstances might require until we have established a sound and just constitution." -
The Fall of Bastille
Citizens of Paris heard rumors of royal troops occupying the city in order to gain more control over the population and secure the power of the monarchy. The Parisians, however, decided to storm <a href='http://ht, a medieval prison, which was believed to have weapons and gunpowder in order to fight the power. The commander of the Bastille then opened fire on the fiery Parisians. In the end, they took the Bastille but found no weapons. This also represented the fall of the oppressive government. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Modeled after the Declaration of Independance, this was France's first step towards a Constitution. This document declared that all men are "born and remain free and equal in rights..." and reinforced the natural rights to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." This document also asserted religious freedom and levied taxes according to earnings. The King, however, did not want to accept some of these reforms and his and the noble's lavish lifestyle continued. -
Women`s March on Versailles
On this date, 6,000 women marched to Versailles from Paris furious at the Queen and at the outrageous price of bread. They demanded to see the King and were shouting "Bread!" as they marched. Their only demand was to have the King relocated to Paris which he reluctantly agreed to. On the journey back, they sang, "Now we won`t have to go so far when we want to see our king!" -
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy
As the National Assembly presses onward, one of the actions they take is to place the Church under state control using the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Due to the agreements on this document, bishops and priests would now become elected, salaried positions. Under this Constitution, they Assembly also dissolved monestaries and convents. This act met much resistance and caused a major gap between two sides in the revolution. -
Civil War
When the Legislative Assembly took office, rebel groups began rising up demanding a republic. These rebel groups were the sans-culottes ("without breeches"; pushed the revolution toward more radical tendencies) and the Jacobins (a radical political group ready to murder for revolution). These two groups would spark a bloody and detrimental type of revolution. -
The King's Attempted Escape
The King while caught in a humiliating position (trapped in Paris), attempted escape to Austria, his wife's home country, with his family. This, however, was an unseccessful endeavor. They were caught ever-so-closely to the border and were escorted back to Paris. They were insulted and seen as traitors. -
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War on Tyranny
The wars abroad began in August 1791 when the King of Prussia ans the Emprorer of Austria released the Declaration of Pilnitz, where these two monarchs threatened to intervene and protect the French monarchy but French took it very seriously. Officially, the wars began in 1792 due to the radicals in France. During the war abroad, civil war also tore through the country leaving France in catastrophy. The wars went on and off until 1815. -
The Constitution of 1791
After taking care of many issues in society, the Assembly set out to accomplish their main goal: write a Constitution and form a new government. In this new system, a limited monarchy was set up and it was up to the Legislative Assembly now to collect taxes, craft laws, and decide actions to take in war; the members of this Legislative Assembly would be elected property-owning, male citizens over 25 years old. This Constitution overall put away the old and incorperated many enlightened ideas. -
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Monarchy Abolished
Radical Parisians stormed the royal palace looking for the blood of the King due to the impending fear that the King was in league with enemy armies. They slaughtered his guard but the royal family fled to the Assembly. Later, however, the radicals overpowered the Assembly and set up the National Convention. In the process, the King was executed and some time later, so was Marie Antoinette. All traces of monarchy were dissolved in France. -
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Reign of Terror
A new leader named Maximilien Robespierre rose up in the revolution. Once preaching peace and equality (giving hime the name "the incorruptable"), he later embraces and promotes the widespread death penalty and states "Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads." Victims were set to the Guillotine sometimes simply on grounds of suspiscion; 300,000 died. The Reign of Terror ended when Robespierre was executed for starting this whole fiasco. -
Third Stage of the Revolution
In the third stage of this revolution, another new Constitution was set up and a five-man directory took power. While dictatorial, it was weak and looked down upon by the people. In fact, in the election of 1797, majority of people in power wanted a constitutional monarchy set up again. With imminent threats from abroad, France looked to Napolean Bonaparte, a successful military leader, for help and to regain power. Napolean, however, then preceded to take over France himself. -
Widespread Nationalism
In light of the 10-year internal and forgein war, the people of France and the culture of France had drastically changed. No longer oppressed by the monarchy nor held captive under the cloud of terror and murder, the people had come together. No longer were they loyal and devoted soley to a monarch but they became dedicated to France itself.
