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Jacques Necker
France's government was deteriorating financially and was drowning in debt. King Loius XIV hired a financial expert, Jacques Necker, to come up with a way to fix this problem. Necker proposed that the king have the First and Second Estates pay taxes to bring up the economy instead of leaving it all up to the Third Estate. The king then fired him due to force by the clergy and nobles who feared taxation. -
"Great Fear"
The huge famine in France in 1789 was the worst one known to memory. People were spending 80% of their incomes on just bread, due to the excessively high prices. When rumors began spreading of attacks on villages/owns and that government tropps were seizing peasant crops, the peasants began to panic. Setting fires to old manor records, attacking nobles, and stealing grain from storehouses was the result of this and is known as the Great Fear. -
Marquis de Lafayette
People were fighting to gain power of Paris. The Moderates finally looked to Marquis de Lafayette for assistance. Lafayette organized the National Guard, which was arranged i response to the arrival of the royal troops in Paris. The Paris Commune replaced the royalist government in the city and mobilized the neighborhood for protests that furthered the revolution. Tons of political clubs & newspapers started, many of which demanding an end to monarchy, and spread scandals about the royal family. -
France Divided.
Due to France's outdated social system, the country was divided into three different estates. The First Estate consists of the clergy, the Second Estate was made up of the nobles, and the Third Estate was the bourgeoisie and the peasants. Even though the Thrid Estate made up most of the population, the First and Second Estates paid no taxes and lived in luxury, while the Third Estate was burdened by unfair taxes on virtually everything. -
Riots break out due to cut wages and high prices.
At a local Paris wallpaper factory, workers broke out in riots due to the owner of the company planning to cut their wages. Bread prices had risen due to poor harvest, and most workers couldn't afford it with their normal pay, let alone a wage cut. The owner's home was vandalized. -
Estates General
France was on the verge of bankruptcy and turmoil. The king finally grew tired of all the riots, nobles denouncing royal tyranny due to their fear of taxes, and the ecomnomy crumbling. King Louis had all three estates prepare cahiers, which are basically notebooks of their complaints and grievences. Delegates from each estate met in Versailles and each estate had to vote on how to solve the financial crisis/reforms. The first and second estates out-voted the third unfairly. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate declared themselves to be the National Assembly in order to represent the people, since they were unfairly out-voted by the other two estates. Delegates of the Third Estate took their "Tennis Court Oath" to never move from that spot until they get what they want, and to meet wherever the situation may need, until there is a fair and just constitution. Roform-minded clergy & nobles joined in and King Louis XVI gave in and joined the assembly. -
Storming The Bastille
The Bastille, a medieval fortress used as a prison in Paris, was rumored to also be a stroage center for weapons and gun powder. In July 1789, more than 800 Parisians assembled outside the prison, demanding gunpowder and weapons. The commander of the Bastille refused to open the gates and open-fired on the crowd. This began the battle where the citizens broke through the defenses, killing the commander and 5 guards, releasing some prisoners. No weapons were found in the fortress. -
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Declaration of the Rights of Man & the Citizen
image of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and CitizenThe storming of the Bastille caused the National Assembly to act. On August 4, 1789, they held an all-night meeting where they chose to end their own privileges, give up their manorial dues, and give up their exemption from taxes. This abolished fuedualism and gave all men equality before the law. Later that month, the Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen, which states that all men were born free and are equal in rights and natural rights. -
Threats From Abroad
King Louis XIV's failed escape let to more foreign leaders being hostile. The king of Prussia and the emperor of Austris, who happened to be Marie Antoinette's brother, isssued the Declaration of Pillnitz. In this document, the two monarchs threaten to intervene and protect the French monarchy if more revolts occur, due to fear of the same thing happening in their countries. Revolutionaries in France took this threat seriously, and prepared for war. The Revolution became even more radical. -
New Government in France
When the king went back to Paris with the women who marched for their rights, the National Assembly went with him in order to pay offthe huge government debt. The Assembly voted to take ouver and sold the church lands. The French Catholic Church was put under control of the state. In September, the Assembly established a constitution and created a new government with a limited monarchy instead of an absolute monarchy. The new Legislative Assembly made the laws and collected the taxes. -
Women March For Rights
Women were upset that the Declaration included no rights for women. A jornalist named Olympe de Gouges demanded that women have equal rights as men and that there be a Declaration of the Rights of Woman & the Female Citizen. Some women, including Olympe, were imprisoned & executed for their resistence for equality. On October 5, 6000 women marched from Paris to Versailles and demanded to see the king, refusing to leave until he met their demands. Louis gave in and went back to Paris with them. -
Radicals Take Over
Émigrés, nobles/clergy who fled France, spread rumors of attacks in France; this fueled the fear of the people. European rulers increased border patrols in order to stop the spread of the "French Plague." Other European rulers went against France. Working-class citizens called sans-culottes pushed the Revolution into more radical motion, while the Jacobins, being the middle-class of France, tried to advance a repulican cause. The Legislative Assembly declared war on Prussia, Britain, & others. -
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Royal Family Flees & The September Massacre
On August 10, a crowd of Parisians stormed the palace of the Tuileries and killed the king's guards, leading to the royal family fleeing before they were also killed. On September 10, citizens attacked the prisons that held nobles and priests and about 1200 prisoners were slaughtered, many being ordinary criminals. This was known as the September Massacre. -
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Monarchy is Abolished and King Louis XVI is Executed
Execution of King Louis XVIIn September 1792, the Convention met with more radical ideas than previous assemblies; they voted to abolish monarchy and establish a republic in France. The Jacobins who ran the Convention abolished all traces of old government, seized land from nables, and erased all titles of nobility. In January of 1793, King Louis XVI was tried by the Convention for being a traitor of France. He was soon mounted and beheaded; his attempt at a before-death speech was drowned out by the sound of a drumroll. -
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Robespierre and The Reign of Terror
Robespierre during the Reign of Terror.By early 1793, France was in war with much of Europe. As a result, the Convention built a 12-men council, called the Commitee of Public Safety. Robespierre led the Commitee's trials and executions; this was the start of his Reign of Terror. During this, Robespierre arrested about 300,000 people and executed 17,000; his weapon of terror was the guillotine. On July 27, Robespierre was arrested and executed the next day for members of the Convention fearing for their lives and Robespierre himself. -
Spread of Nationalism in France
By 1794, the ideas of Nationalism (a strong feeling of pride and devotion to one's country), had spread through France. French citizens began attending civic festivals that celebrated their nation and its Revolution. A vast amount of songs and dances of themes of the Revolution were common. France became a huge nation in arms, and troops marched to a new song in the port city of Marseilles. The song, "La Marseilles," pushed people to go against tyranny, and later became France's national anthem. -
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The Third Stage of The Revolution
Frech seeking assistance from NapoleonIn reaction to The Terror, Moderates in France created yet another constitution. This constitution had a 5-man Directory & a 2-house legislature. The Directory faced many issues, but made peace with Prussia and Spain, but war continued with Austria and Britain. The Directory was threatened by royalist ideas returning and politicians turned to Napoleon Bonaparte, a victorious military hero. Their plan was to use him to their advantage, but he out-smarted them and became ruler of France.
