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Louis XVI becomes king of France in 1774
Louis XVI becomes king on France on May 10th 1774 due to his grandfathers death, he claims the throne. Louis XVI was very immature and lacked self confidence in which leads to a brutal disaster in the near future after becoming king. He was only twenty years old at the time and wanted to be a good king and help his people. The downfall of this was that he faced enormous debt and lacked leadership qualities that every king must have. He was also considered a geek because of him not being social. -
The calling of the Estate General took place on May 5th, 1789
The Estates General meeting was hosted by King Louis XVI in order to represent the French estates which were the Clergy, Nobles, and the peasants/workers/ bourgeoisie. This meeting was to propose solution to his government's financial problems, the Estates general sat for several weeks to discuss what they should do and who should be able to vote. The last time the Estates General had a meeting was over a hundred years ago, and it only takes place whenever the king wanted it to. -
The Revolutionary Assembly was formed
This was a revolutionary assembly formed by the 3rd estate. They petitioned the King of France to grant them many of their rights, just like the first and second estate have. They did not have any equal rights and paid high taxes in which lowered the amount of money they get to keep. Their money kept the higher authorities wealthy and in good living conditions. This was also the birth of the Declaration of Rights of Man is the French version of the Declaration of Independence. Ended July 9, 1789 -
The Attack on the Bastille
Filled with rage, the French people storm the Bastille, trying to kill anybody they can. The Bastille was a royal fortress that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the powerful monarchs. This action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution as we know it. A decade of anger and tragedy in which was soon to be King Louis XVI's fate. Thousands of people lost their lives on this tragic day to them seeking vengeance of no equal rights as all others have had. This soon sparked hell on earth. -
The Great Fear
This was the period of panic and riot of the French citizens, mostly by the peasants. This occurred because the King threatened to overthrow the Third Estate. The gathering of troops around Paris provoked insurrection. The peasants rose against their lords, in which they attacked chateaus and destroying important documents. This was one of the main events of the start of the Revolution. In response to rumors, fearful peasants armed themselves and attacked manor houses or defended themselves. -
Women force King Louis XVI out of Versailles
This was a women's march of nearly 7,000 working women, who were armed with pitchforks, pikes, and muskets. They marched in the rain from Paris to Versailles on what was to be a big event in making a change. They were supposedly chanting the word "bread" over and over again due to the fact of the food shortage and rotten soil, which slowed down their wheat growth, leaving peasants to starve. As they marched, King Louis and Maria fled out of Versailles to a safer place. -
National Convention has been Formed
The National Convention was formed and was the following second year of the National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly. This occurred during the most critical period of the French Revolution. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country to take over the monarchy. The convention had a total of 749 deputies. -
The Execution of King Louis XVI
The death of King Louis XVI was probably the most happiest day of all the peasants lives'. They finally got their chance to kill the man that ruined their entire lives for several years. The way of his death was by the famous machine known as the guillotine. It is ironic that he was killed by the guillotine because it was in a way, his invention. Before, the guillotine used to be a round convex blade, but Louis insisted that it would be more effective for killing in the blade was slanted. -
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of terror was a period of extreme violence during the French Revolution. Although King Louis XVI had died, the new man in charge was Robespierre and anyone that he thought wasn't agreeing with him or anyone that he thought was a traitor, went off with their head. Their was a total of 16,594 official death sentences in France, of which 2,639 were in Paris. After King Louis XVI had been silenced, his wife Marie had also been silenced alone with them and their heads were put on pikes. -
The Dirctory was formed
The Directory was the French Revolutionary government set up by the Constitution which lasted 1795 to 1799. It also included bicameral legislature known as the Corps Legislative This let people have the power to vote the proposed legislation. The directors chose government ministers, ambassadors army generals, tax collectors, and many other officials. The directory had suffered from widespread corruption. Its policies aimed at protecting and preventing the return of bourbons. -
Napolean took power in France
His success in evading the British, confirmed the growing belief in Napoleon's 'star'. In Paris he had a furious row with his wife Josephine, who had many affairs with other men while he was gone. . Other than that, Napoleon was a great fighter in war and made other European nations fear him. He improves the French Revolution by making taxes more fair, removed dishonest government workers, created public schools, gave the church back some power, and gave all citizens some rights. -
More about Napoleon
He gives up on his "New World" and agrees to sell huge Louisiana territory to Thomas Jefferson and the United States. Emperor Napoleon from 1804-1805 invades and conquers many European countries. The British navy was the only country to had him his defeat. His downfall happened because of 3 reasons. He kept trying to defeat the British, made his brother the King of Spain, and tried to conquer Russia. He was defeated in Germany in 1813, then gives up throne and goes into exile. -
Battle of Waterloo
After being sent into exile after he was defeated in Germany, he comes back into his throne and loses again to Britain in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18th 1815 and goes into exile once again. He stays in exile until he finally dies in 1821. With Napoleon defeated, European leaders come together in Vienna, Austria. They make sure France could never attack again. They guarantee power within Europe and was finally shared and balanced. Kings were put back in power in the native countries.