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There was a deep financial crisis rooted in the excessive international war spending of France that led King Louis XVI to establish a new tax by decree instead of calling an estates general (who had not met since 1614.). This was met with much protest and the initiative was declared null and void by Judges of Parliament. The king forced to call for a meeting of the estates general which allowed people to begin to demand change in France in a more formal way.
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This was a pledge taken by the Third Estate after they established themselves as the National Assembly where they vowed not to disband until they had written a new constitution.
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The Bastille, a French prison that had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictator-like rule, was attacked by an angry mob in search of arms and ammunition. This set off a series of events that led to the overthrow of King Louis XVI and their success gave commoners the courage to rebel throughout all of France.
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This was a fundamental document that established many human rights process that influences the entire world. It developed the rights of equality before the law, representative government, and individual freedom. However, it still excluded many people (like women) from its protections.
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7,000 women marched from Paris to Versailles and invaded the National Assembly in demand for bread. They invaded the royal apartment and killed bodyguards, search for Queen Marie Antoniette (Who was only saved by Lafayette and the national guard). Days after, the National Assembly went to King in Paris (per demands) and abolished the French nobility. They also moved forward with the creation of a constitutional monarchy.
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Drafted by the National Assembly and passed in September 1791 and was France's first attempt at a written national constitution. The Assembly eventually concluded that France should be a constitutional monarchy with a unicameral (one house) legislature
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The assembly declared war against Austria in 1792 by saying “The Assembly, deliberating on the formal proposition of the king, considering that the Court of Vienna, in contempt of treaties, has not ceased to grant open protection to rebel Frenchmen, that it prompted and took concerted action with several European powers against the independence and safety of the French nation". The French occupied all of the Austrian Netherlrands.
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Louis XVI was convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and failed to address France's financial problems which instigated the French Revolution that eventually sent him to be executed by the newly invented guillotine.
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Napoleon attempted to restrict British trade from continental Europe and plotted to attack the island. However, his fleet was destroyed by Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar and making his invasion of England impossible and destroying his hopes of a successful continental system.
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After being exiled to Elba when he abdicated the throne in 1814, he staged an escape and appealed for support. His former officers and soldiers who had fought alongside him for a long time came to his aide, but the allies united and crushed his forces at Waterloo.
