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Consisting of leading noblemen and ecclesiastics, rejected reforms.
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the Estates-General was an assembly of all three estates at Versailles.
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This was a statement of principles in support of personal liberty, equality before the law and the rights of property.
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In France, the Old Regime was destroyed by the French Revolution which had its origins in the failures of the system: social unrest, the economy and the Enlightenment.
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In this period the Old Regime ended by different attacks of the Third Estate.
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The people of Paris attacked the Bastille, a medieval fortress that had become a prision and a symbol of absolutism.
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On 4th August 1789, it abolished feudal rights such as the privileges of the nobility and the taxes paid to the Church
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In September 1791, France´s first written constitution ended royal absolutism, establishing a constitutional monarchy.
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A Legislative Assembly was formed in October 1791, and France now had a constitutional monarchy. however, this assembly lasted for less than a year, and failed to attract much support.
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A Legislative Assembly was formed in October 1791, and France now had a constitutional monarchy. however, this assembly lasted for less than a year, and failed to attract much support.
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Abroad, other European monarchs felt threatened by the ideas of the French Revolution. In 1792 Austria and Prussia declared war on France
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A National Convention governed FRance from September 1792. This assembly was elected by all adult males. The Convention immediately abolished the monarchy, and France became a republic.
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In this period was created the first french republic.
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Following the insurrection of August 1792, A National Convention governed France from September 1792
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In August 1792, there was an insurrection: the Tuileries Palace was attacked, and the royal family was taken prisioner.
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The Convention judged and condemned Louis XVI for treason, and he was executed by guillotine in January 1793
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Within France, there was a royalist, Catholic uprising in the Vendée region in western France.
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Believing that the revolution was in danger, the radical revolutionaries used support from sans-culottes to seize power from the Girondins in June 1793. The Jacobin leader Maximillien Robespierre assumed all powers, and established a dictatorship.
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In 1794, moderate revolutionaries arrested Robespierre and his followers, who were then executed by guillotine.
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Following the execution of the most radical revolutionaries, a new Constitution established limited suffrage based on property ownership
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A moderate government was led by a five-member Directory while legislative power was held by two chambers.
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In Europe, France won a series of victories against its enemies. The French general Napoleon Bonaparte conquered most of Italy on behalf of the Directory between 1796 and 1799
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However, in 1799 France´s enemies, led by Britain, formed a Second Coalition that reconquered many of the regions that France had occupied.
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In Novembe 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte carried out a coup d´état. A Consulate was created, in which authority was spposed to be shared between three consuls, but in fact Napoleon was now the real ruler of France.
