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Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Louis XVI married Marie Antoinette when he was 15 years old and she was 14. It was an arranged marrage, and would prove to be a mistake. The people of France would end up detesting her for her connections to Austria and her disinterest in the third estate of France. She would become one of the most hated queens in the history of France, caught up in her extravagant and uncaring ways, she would prove to not care about the existing poverty and struggle during the revolution. -
Louis XVI Becomes King
20 year old Louis XVI comes into power after his father dies of smallpox. He was not suited for the position of king. He was a very easily persuaded man who didn't think he was suited for the throne. He would end up being a very stupid king who would not take action against the rising poverty, hunger and segregation. -
Bread Prices Rise
The Winter and Spring of 1789 are not prosperous and had bread rising to ridiculously high prices.This, in addition to the enormous amount of taxes the people had to pay made the third estate very hungry and angry. They were the poorest estate and the only one who had to pay taxes. This caused the third estate to resent the royal family and the first and second estates. -
The Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille marked the beginning of the rebellion of the third estate. Hundreds of peasants attacked the Bastille and took the gunpowder that was being stored there. The Bastille is destroyed completely because it symbolized the useless king and the old ways of France. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
This was a constitution written by the third estate that gave the people of France equal rights, freedom of religion, and gave everyone the right to hold office. This was a fundamental document of the French Revolution. -
March to Versailles
About 20,000 peasants mostly comprised of women marched to Versailles to demand that the king lower the price of bread and move back to Paris to be with the people. They ended up attacking the palace and forcing the king and queen to move back to Paris. This brought an end to the monarchy, and made the king and queen slaves of the people. -
France Austria War
In the spring of 1792 France declared war on Austria because they had begun to invade, had taken territory just 100 miles from the capital and had ties to the hated Marie Antoinette. Some did not think this wise becasue they were in the middle of a revolution and had no official army, but the majority of people didn't care and demanded France take up arms, even though the task seemed quite impossible. -
The September Massacre
During this time the people of Paris feared that the invading armies were coming to Paris and that the prisoners in the overcrowded prisons would be released and would begin attacking as well. This caused the people of Paris to panic and begin having rushed trials for the prisoners, almost always followed by a beheading. They killed almost everyone who had been in the prisons prior to the September Massacre. -
King is Executed
On this day King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine for conspiring with foriegn powers. This meant that there was no chance he would ever come back to power. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror began on this date, and was a time during the revolution in which anyone who was not a supporter of the revolution a was killed by guillotine. This time was spurred on by the Jacobins and the Girondins fighting each other. Around 25,000 people across France were executed without fair trial after being in prison, and about 16,000 were executed because they were anti-revolutionaries. This was one of the bloodiest times of the revolution.
