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american revolution
The American Revolution officially began when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, although fighting had begun in 1775. The French saw the possibility of success and formally joined the Americans by declaring war against Britain. By the time the war ended in 1783, France had borrowed 1500 million livres to finance its involvement in it. Interest payments on this money totalled 50% of the French government's total revenue. so it trigged the rev. -
enstates genaral
In July 1787 Comptroller-General Lomiene de Brienne, asked the Parlement du Paris to register the tax on property of all three estates. yhe parlement refused and France entered a year of intense conflict between the royal government and the parlements. on july 5, 1788, with the government at a standstill, and in spite of his misgivings, louis XVI gave in to the demands of the nobility and issued an edict calling the estates general to meet in May 1789. -
meeting with the estates genral
The Estates General was greeted by Louis XVI in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on May 2, 1789. On May 5 the meeting convened with an opening speech from the king. -
Bastille
stormed and taken by a Paris mob and it was used to being the the wapons place there . -
Nobles
National Assembly renounce feudal rights. and so what thet they can do and not do there. -
rights of man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man echoed the sentiments of the Enlightenment philosophes, the English Bill of Rights, and the American Declaration of Independence. It asserted the political and social equality of all men, the sovereignty of the people, and the natural right to liberty, property, security, and resistance to opposition. -
marching to versailles
The rumors of Louis XVI's offensive court party spreads throughout the streets of Paris, it was rumored that Louis XVI stepped on the flag of France. Women lead a march to Versailles to demand bread. The mob forces the royal family to return to Paris with them. Louis XVI signs the Declaration of the Rights of Man. -
royal family flees
Unrest in Paris in the spring of 1791 convinced the queen, Marie Antoinette, that the family must flee. With the help of a loyal friend, Count Axel von Fersen, an escape was organized. When they reached Varennes, they were recognized and National Guardsmen escorted them back to Paris through jeering crowds. -
France Goes to War Against Austria
On April 21, 1792, the French government declared war on Austria. As Prussia was allied with Austria, France found itself fighting a war against both countries. -
September Massacres
In the fall of 1792, hysteria, uncertainty, and fear gripped the city. Rumors circulated that the 3000 prisoners held in Paris prisons were planning to stage an uprising. News that Verdun was threatened by the Prussian army was the spark that began what are called the "September Massacres". An angry mob led by Jean Paul Marat stormed the prisons and killed about 1600 prisoners. -
the republic of virtue
Social and cultural changes were implemented by the Jacobins during the time they were in control in an attempt to erase all traces of the Old Regime. They called their new society, based on reason, the Republic of Virtue. -
The Execution of Louis XVI
After six weeks of debate in the National Convention, with the Girondins wanting clemency for the king, whereas the Jacobins wanting to execute him. On January 21, 1793, the French government sent its former king to the guillotine. -
Levee en Masse
On August 23, 1793, the Committee of Public Safety made a decree that mobilized the entire French population for war. All unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 were conscripted.
