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In these two years, there was a period of crisis. Bad harvest occurs and manufacturing slowed down. Because of this, there was a shortage of food and unemployment.
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In 1789, the French Revolution began. Each estate had hundreds of representatives. They assembled and argued about laws and government.
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After the Third Estate got locked out of the assemblies, they swore that they would make a new constitution. This starts the separation of France. In July, the first physical fight occurred. French troops broke into the Bastille where people of the Third Estates were bunkered and they fought. The troops won the battle.
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Revolution spread across France, so the National Assembly added a Declaration of the Rights. This made everyone equal and affirmed peoples rights.
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People were still unhappy with the government, so they made changes. In the new constitution the king still had power, but a Legislative Assembly made the laws. The king did not like the changes and tried to flee France. He was caught and the Constitution was amended so that the king could be tried if he turned against the nation.
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Citizen's were still not happy. Their country was losing wars and starving so the Paris Commune was formed. They used violence to get their way. They even went to the extent of kidnapping the king. They wanted to suspend monarchy and called for a National Convention. The people who ruled would voted in and all adult males could vote.
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After the execution of Louis XVI, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic formed an alliance against France. Forces were pushed back and the threat of invasion rose. This forced the National Convention to give more power to the Committee of Public Safety control of France. The committee did not rule so well. People were rebelling and the government was killing the rebels .
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France formed a huge army. They largely defeated their foes. The Law of 22 Prairial was passed and it gave Robespierre, the Leader of the Committee of Personal Safety, more power. The National Committee feared his power and executed him. The Law of 22 Prairial was ended along with the Reign of Terror.
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After the Mountain convinced the newly made Convention to condemn Louis XVI to death, he was beheaded. This event shows that France truly was moving towards republic .
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After the end of Reign of Terror, many government changes were made. After four years someone named Napoleon, a military official, overthrew the government and took control. One of the first things he did was make peace with the church.
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Even though Napoleon is known for his military part of ruling, he made plenty of changes to the government. He codified the laws while preserving the Revolution ideas. Napoleon also created a new bureaucracy and aristocracy. He filled the bureaucracy with capable, not just high ranked, people. He also created thousands of nobles.
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Napoleon wanted peace, but France was at war with a coalition that consisted of Russia, Great Britain, and Austria. So, he formed a peace treaty. At first, it worked, but it didn't last very long.
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After only about a year, Great Britain broke the treaty. After Great Britain was joined by Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden.
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Napoleon tried over and over to defeat Great Britain, but he was never successful. First he tried invading Britain, but their naval power was too strong. Then he tried stopping British goods from reaching the rest of Europe, but this also didn't work. ironically, British sales were thriving. Napoleon put in a valiant effort, but never could quite defeat them.
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In a series of battles from 1805 to 1807 Napoleon's Great Army defeated the Russian, Prussian and Austrian armies. These countries were added to his empire.
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Russia did not like the Continental System Napoleon created, so they ignored it. Napoleon did not like this, so he marched is army into Russia. The people there were ready. As the army marched, the people moved farther into Russia and burned their towns. This left the army starving in freezing. They had to retreat and as they did, most of the soldiers died. This left France weak. So the other European states attacked France and they captured Paris in March 1814.
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The new king had little support. Napoleon was too restless and escaped the island he was exiled on. The king ordered soldier after him but most people were on his side. Napoleon took over France again, but the other states pledged again to defeat him. After a month of ruling again, Napoleon was defeated June 18, 1815 by a Prussian and British army. Napoleon was then exiled again and died in 1812.