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Deficit Spending
Louis XIV had France deeply in debt during the 1700`s. The cause for such troubled economic times was a mushrooming financial crisis. France suffered even more of a money loss during the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. -
Louis XVI Calls the Estates-General
Louis XVI called the Estates-General to meet at Versailles 1789. He summoned the Estates-General in hopes to repair the bankruptcy he was facing. -
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The Revolution Enters Its Third Stage
In reaction to the Terror, the revolution entered a third stage. Moving away from the excesses of the Convention, moderates produced another constitution, the third since 1789. -
Parisians Storm the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, the city of Paris seized the spotlight from the National Assembly meeting in Versailles. More than 800 Parisians assembled outside the Bastille. -
The National Assembly Acts
The National Assembly was really fueled into action when peasant uprisings and the storming of the Bastile. On August 4, in an eye-drooping meeting, nobles in the National Assembly voted to end their own privileges. They agreed to give up their old manorial dues, exclusive hunting rights, special legal status, and exemption from taxes. -
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Threats From Abroad
The failed escape brought further hostile rumblings from abroad. In August 1791, the king of Prussia and the emperor of Austria issued the Declaration of Pilnitz. The Declaration was mostly a bluff but Austria took it serious so they decided to go to war. -
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Civil War
In October 1791, the newly elected Legislative Assembly took office. It only survived for less than a year.. Economic problems fed renewed turmoil. The radicals soon had the advantage in the Legislative Assembly. In April 1792, French Revolutionaries and European monarchs went to battle one another. Radicals then took control of the Assembly. Radicals wanted a new Legislative body called the National Convention. -
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Monarchy is Abolished
On August 10, 1792, a crowd of Parasians stormed the royal palace of the Tuileries slaughtered the king`s guards. A month later, vitizens attacked prisons that held nobles and priests accused of political offenses. About 1,200 prisoners were killed. Radicals called for the election of a new legislative body called the National Convention. Suffrage was to be extended to all male citizens. The Convention that met in Seotember 1792 voted to abolish the monarchy and establish the French Republic -
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Robespierre and the Reign of Terror
Robespierre was one of the chief architects of the Reign of Terror. Revolutionary courts conducted hasty trials.