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Storming of Bastille (Bastille Day)
The midieval fortress and prison in Paris represented royal authority in the center of Paris. At the time, it only contained seven inmates at the time of storming but was a symbol of the abuses of the monarchy; it's fall was the flashpoint of the revolution. -
Ancien Regime abolished
Louis XVI, his ministers, and the widespread French nobility had become immensely unpopular. This was a consequence of the fact that peasants and, to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie, were burdened with ruinously high taxes levied to support wealthy aristocrats and their sumptuous lifestyles. The regime was overthrown in 1789. -
Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
Passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights. It defines the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson, working with General Lafayette, who introduced it. Influenced also by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, -
Women's March
March began among women in the market places of Paris who, on the morning of October 5, were rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. They eventually ransacked the city and marched to the Palace of Versailles. -
Creation (and use) of Guillotine
The device is best known for its use in France, in particular during the French Revolution, when it "became a part of popular culture" and it became celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents. The guillotine continued to be used long after the Revolution and remained France's standard method of judicial execution until 1981. -
King Louis XVI death by execution
After events on the 10 August 1792, which saw the fall of the monarchy after the attack on the Tuileries by insurgents, Louis was arrested, interned in the Temple prison with his family, tried for high treason before the National Convention, convicted in a near-unanimous vote and condemned to death by a slight majority. -
Jean-Paul Marat murdered
A physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution. His journalism became renowned for its fierce tone, uncompromising stance toward the new leaders and institutions of the revolution, and advocacy of basic human rights for the poorest members of society. -
Execution of Marie Antoinette
After her husband's death, the former queen plunged into a deep mourning; she refused to eat or do any exercise. Her health rapidly deteriorated and eventually she was tried and exectuted. -
Republican calendar decreed
A calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871. The revolutionary system was designed in part to remove all religious and royalist influences from the calendar, and was part of a larger attempt at decimalisation in France (which also included decimal time of day, decimalisation of currency, and metrication). -
Napoleon consecrated as Emporer
Near the end of the French Revolution, Napoleon instilled himself as the First Consul. He was emporer from 1804 to 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon was one of the greastest military commanders in history and his battle tactics are still very widely studied today.
