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Causes of the French Revolution
Resentment of royal absolutism.
Resentment of the seigneurial system by peasants, wage-earners, and a rising bourgeoisie.
The rise of enlightenment ideals.
An unmanageable national debt, both caused by and exacerbating the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation.
Food scarcity in the years immediately before the revolution. (www.bonjourlafrance.com) -
Estates general meeting
A general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobles (Second Estate), and the common people (Third Estate). Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June 1789 but came to an impasse as the three estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Oath signified the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI, and the National Assembly's refusal to back down forced the king to make concessions. (Wikipedia) -
Storming Of the Bastille
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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man (or D.R.M) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal.
(wikipedia) -
The Bread March.
A crowd of women demanding bread for their families gathered other discontented Parisians, including some men, and marched toward Versailles, arriving soaking wet from the rain. They demanded to see "the Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". The King agreed to meet with some of the women and promised to distribute all the bread in Versailles to the crowd. It was the last time the King saw Versailles.
(www.historywiz.com) -
Abolition of Nobility.
The National Assembly decrees that hereditary nobility is forever abolished. Consequently, the titles of Prince, Duke, Count, Marquis, Viscount, Vidame, Baron, Knight, Lord, Squire, Noble, and all other similar titles shall neither be accepted by, nor bestowed upon, anyone whomsoever.
(http://chnm.gmu.edu) -
The Royal Escape.
The royal family’s June 1791 flight to Varennes – a failed attempt to escape to the Belgian border where they would be met by loyal troops – was significant not for what it actually was, but for it represented: the death of any chance of a constitutional monarchy. The flight marked the end of any trust between the king and the revolutionaries, showing their supposed alliance to be fraudulent and unworkable, even as the Constitution of 1791 was being finalised.
(www.alphahistory.com) -
King Louis XVI accepts the Constitution.
"You have no doubt been informed that I have accepted the Constitution and you are aware of the reasons that I gave to the Assembly. These reasons will not be sufficient for you, so I shall give you all of them"
- King Louis XVI
(http://chnm.gmu.edu) -
Guillotine adopted as official means of execution.
It was not used much until it became the official instrument of execution for the French revolution. It was named for Dr. Louis Guillotin, who proposed that such a machine be used for official executions.
(www.historywiz.com) -
Trials of King Louis XVI
The Convention - composed of 721 deputies, voted out the verdict, – 693 voted guilty, and none voted for acquittal. The next day, a voting roll-call was carried out in order to decide upon the fate of the king, and the result was, for such a dramatic decision, uncomfortably close. 288 deputies voted against death and for some other alternative, mainly some means of imprisonment or exile. 72 deputies voted for death penalty. 361 deputies voted for Louis's immediate death.
(http://law2.umkc.edu) -
Death of King Louis XVI
On January 20, 1793, the National Convention condemned Louis XVI to death, his execution scheduled for the next day. At eight o'clock a guard of 1,200 horsemen arrived to escort the former king on a two-hour carriage ride to his place of execution.
(www.eyewitnesstohistory.com) -
Reign of Terror
In June 1793, the French Revolution enters its most violent and turbulent phase. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives.
(www.historywiz.com)
(www.history.com) -
Marie Antoinette Guillotined
Marie Antoinette was taken through the streets of Paris in an open cart. She maintained her dignity until the bitter end. On the scaffold she accidentally stepped on the executioner's foot, and her last words were, "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose."
(http://library.thinkquest.org) -
Execution of Maximillien Robespierre
On July 27Robespierre and his allies were placed under arrest by the National Assembly. The next evening--July 28--Robespierre and 21 others were guillotined without a trial in the Place de la Revolution.
(www.history.com) -
Results of the French Revolution
The French Revolution had far-reaching results. In France the bourgeois and landowning classes emerged as the dominant power. Feudalism was dead; social order and contractual relations were consolidated by the Code Napoléon. The Revolution unified France and enhanced the power of the national state. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars tore down the ancient structure of Europe, hastened the advent of nationalism, and inaugurated the era of modern, total warfare. (www.infoplease.com)
