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Causes of the French Revolution
Back in the 1700's, France was the second most richest and arguably the most powerful country in the world. France was bankrupt because they had fought and spent a lot of money fighting against England. Marie Antoinette was known for throwing expensive parties. She spent tons of money on dresses. -
Harvests
Prior to the revolution, France had serve rough droughts. The results were food shortages, prices went up, and the average person farmed for a living and ate a loaf of bread each day. -
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French Revolution
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Estates
The first social class was the Clergy which was 1% of the population, owned 10% of land, and paid no taxes. The second class was the Nobility which was 1-2% of the population, owned 30% of land, and paid no taxes. The final class was the Commoners which was 98% of the population, owned 60% of land, and paid all the taxes. -
Enlightenment Philosophers
The French people were hearing from the philosophers ideas about how the kings power should be limited and people should have rights/freedom, the king is breaking the social contract, and philosophers are pushing the French people to revolt. -
Cont.
The king was forced to call a meeting of the estates general (French parliament) and the representatives from the three estates met at the Versailles palace. They would vote on should the 1st and 2nd estate pay the taxes. Each estate got an equal amount of votes; the 1st and 2nd estate outvoted the 3rd estate. The 3rd estate representatives stormed out of the meeting and decided to form their own parliament called the "National Assembly" and it would truly represent the French people. -
National Assembly
When the National Assembly returned the next day to meet, they discovered the door to the meeting room had been locked. -
D.R.M.
The National Assembly was forced to meet at a nearby tennis court. The plan was to create a document with rights the French people should have. They also made the "tennis court oath". The oath was that the 3rd estate would keep meeting until the DRM was completed. As the National Assembly continued to work on the D.R.M, the king wasn't very happy. King Louis 16 had his army surround the city of Paris. -
Cont.
The people of Paris freaked out and quickly formed local militias. They had plenty of guns but not enough gun powder. The French Revolution begins with the city of Paris had their gun powder supply at a fort/prison called the Bastille. -
Bastille
Thousands of Parisians attacked the fort and successfully got the gun powder. The city of Paris was now in the hands of the revolutionaries. The storming of the Bastille is the official start of the French Revolution on July 14th,1789. -
Bread March
Thousands of women from Paris marched the 12 miles from Paris to Versailles. They were armed with broomsticks,lances,pitchforks,swords,pistols,and muskets. They wanted food and for King Louis 16th to sign the DRM. The thousands of women break through the gates and slaughtered the guards. The guards heads were cut off and put on pikes. King Louis 16th and Marie Antoinette were captured and forced to sign the DRM. All the food at Versailles and the king and queen would never see Versailles again. -
the French Revolution
The revolution had been going on for about two years. The royal family was under house arrest in their palace in Paris. The national assembly kept forcing king Louis to sign law after law that took more and more power away from the king. -
The great escape
One night, the king and his family got in their royal carriage and using the cover of darkness they tried to head for Austria. They made it right right to the Austrian border, but were spotted and captured and brought back to Paris. -
King Louis 16th
The king was be-headed and as a result, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic declared war on France and invaded. If France lost this war, then the French Revolution would be crushed and France's absolute monarchy would be restored. -
Reign of Terror
When the war started, the French army was losing and the Austrian/Prussian army got to within 30 miles or so of Paris. Great Britain put a naval blockade on France's ports. As a result, the French government started killing anyone who was against the Revolution. 40,000 people (including Marie Antoinette) will be sent to the guillotine. The reign of terror ends with Maximillien Robespierre being sent to the guillotine. -
Napoleon Bonaparte
During the revolution, Napoleon rose through the military ranks. He became leader of the French army in Italy and he led France in taking Egypt from Great Britain. Napoleon is considered one of the greatest generals in all of history. -
Cont.
By 1799, Napoleon overthrows the French government and becomes dictator of France. Napoleon leads his million man army and they take over most of Europe including Spain, Portugal, Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Austrian Empire, Italian States and German States.