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Nobility Forces King to Call the Estates General
- the king was in trouble
- nobility- was not happy with his attempt to tax their estate
- nobility wanted to pass the cost once again on the Third Estate
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Estate-General Meets in Paris
- King Louis XVI calls body into session to approve a new tax on the Third Estate
- Had not met in 175 years
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Third Estate Refused to Abide by the King's Voting Order
- the Third Estate was inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment
- they proclaimed themselves a legislature, the National Assembly. with the right to make laws for France
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Tennis Coart Oath
- representatives locked out of the National Assembly met in an indoor tennis court
- swore that they would not leave the court until they had written a constitution for France
- result: Louis relented and allowed each representative to have a vote
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The Storming of the Bastille
- became a powerful symbol of the French Revolution
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The Great Fear Begins
- a panic based on fiction and fact
- fear that the king would punish them (3rd Estate) and end the Revolution after the fall of the Bastille
- some rumors- king had hired foreign soldiers to punish the Third Estate
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The National Assembly Abolishes Feudalism
- First Estates's legal privileges were eliminated
- all feudal dues and services that the peasants owed the landowners were eliminated
- led to creation of new rights
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The Declarations of the Rights of Man
- laid out the basic principles of the French Revolution
- "liberty, equality, fraternity"
- inspired by the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and ideas of the Enlightenment
- all men are born equal and remain equal before the law
- guaranteed freedom of speech, the press, and religion
- did not extend to women
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Bread March to Versailles by Women of Paris
- broke into the palace
- Louis agreed to return to Paris abd live in the Tuileries Palace with his family
- a result of Louis making the same mistake he made earlier in the summer
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The Royal Family's flight from Varennes
- king and queen- suspected that they were not safe and so they dishuised themselves and fled to Paris
- were recognized and brought back to the Tuileries Palace
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New Constitution Adopted
- created a new legislative body- the Legislative Assembly
- citizens gained broad voting rights
- kept the monarchy, but severely restricted the king's power
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Beginning of the Legislative Assembly
- a new legislative body created by the new constitution
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Brunswick Manifesto Warns of the Royal Family to not be harmed
- Austria- sent 50,000 troops to the French border
- Legislative Assembly- declared war
- France's army = defeated
- financial strain; food shortages, and high prices = led to unrest
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Storming of the Tuileries Palace
- Louis and Marie-Antoinette- demoted to commoners and thrown in prison
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French Monarchy Finally Abolished
- Revolutionary Government votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the first Republic.
- Royal family imprisoned.
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French Defeat Invaders Who Support the Monarchy
- France turns the tide of the war and takes the offensive against the invaders
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King Louis XVI Executed in Paris
- places on a guillotine and executed
- reports of his death spread across Europe
- people outside of France reacted with horror
- London Times newspaper- condemned the revolution; execution of king = savagery
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Committee of Public Safety Established
- managed the country's military defense against the foreign forces on France's borders
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Laws of Suspects Passes- Beginning of the Reign of Terror
- created a wave of fear throughout the country
- punishment- execution by guillotine
- widespread violence
- king and queen were exectued this way
- many heads chopped off
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End of the Reign of Terror
- execution of Robespierre
- those who launched the Reign of Terror- eventually fell victims themselves
- Rpbespierre- sent Dantan and followers to guillotine for suggesting that the rule of terror be relaxed; then Robespierre himself became a victim
- his execution ended the Reign of Terror
- during the Reign of Terror- 17,000 people were executed
- widespread violence- increased foreign opposition to the Revolution
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The National Convention is Dissolved; Directorate Created
- France's financial troubles- continued
- their rule (Directory) shared many characteristics of the Old Ordaer
- result = a power vacuum- no one really in control
- leads to Napoleon's rule later on
- Directory: weak, corrupt, and inefficient; ended in 1799 when Napoleon seized power
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Napoleon Named First Consul
- a forced transfer of power
- Napoleon became a dictator4- promised order and stability
- French were exhausted by the chaos of the Revolution and constant warfare
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Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France
- took his authority for himself
- grabbed the crown and placed it on his own head
