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French Revolution started
The French Revolution was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a major impact on France and throughout the rest of Europe. -
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French Revolution
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The Great Fear
Between June and August 1789, peasants rioted the countryside and burned homes and other buildings. The Great Fear spread across the country and seized control of the people of Paris, people in surrounding areas began to demand cheaper bread and suspension of feudla dues. Aristocratic property was destroyed by the peasantry. -
National Assembly
The Estates General had been called on May 5, 1789 to deal with France’s financial crisis. Its members had been elected to represent the estates of the realm; the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. The Third Estate had been granted “double representation.” On the morning of June 20, the deputies were shocked to discover the doors to their chamber locked and guarded by soldiers. The deupites then gathered in the king's tennis court, where 576 men signed the oath. -
The Storming of the Bastille
Jacques Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette, the King's younger brother the Comte d'Artois, and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. The Assembly, meeting at Versailles, went into nonstop session to prevent another eviction from their meeting place. Paris was soon consumed by riots, chaos, and widespread looting. -
March on Versailles
The rumors of Marie Antoinetter spread throughout the streets of Paris, and 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. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family and the most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris. -
Legislative Assembly
Under the Constitution of 1791, France would function as a constitutional monarchy. The Legislative Assembly first met on 1 October 1791, and degenerated into chaos less than a year later. The Legislative Assembly consisted of about 165 Feuillants and about 330 Girondists (liberal republicans) and Jacobins and 250 deputies unaffiliated with either faction. -
The Royal Family Flees
In the spring of 1791, Marie Antoinetter convinced that the family must flee.With the help of a loyal friend, Count Axerl von Fersen, an escape was organized. When the reached Varennes, they were recognized and the National Guardsmen escorted them back to Paris through jeering crowds. -
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 were threated by the Prussian army was the spark that began what are called the 'september Massacres". An angry mob lef by Jean Paul Marat stormed the prisons and killed about 1600 prisoners. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. -
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. -
The Execution of Robespierre
Robespierre was arrested on July 27 and executed the next day. In the month of Thermidor in the new French calendar, Robespierre was deserted by his supporters, accused of being a tryrant. Robespierre wated to extand the emergency powers, but others felt that the emergencies were over and wanted to return to reuglar administration
