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Period: to
The rise and fall of the First French Republic
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Louis XVI becomes King of France
Louis XVI, the last Bourbon King of France, and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Austrian family, rule France from the Palace in Versailles. -
Escalating Poverty and Hunger
The years leading to devastating poverty were results of the extravagant lifestyle of France's King and Queen, the troops, supplies and financial aid to the American Colonies, and wars France engaged in with several European countries. When America proclaimed its victory, it was Britain not France that became a major commercial partner with the new country. The French monarchy declared tax on wheat which priced bread out of the reach of peasants. France saw the Famine of 1788 to 1789. -
Louis XVI Summons the Estates-General at Versailles.
The Estates-General, a legislative body of three estates, was called for the first time since 1614. Louis XVI had to face the crippling debt. Royalty, nobility, and the clergy held the power over the middle class, the Third Estate, in decision making. The Third Estate broke away and formed the National Assembly. -
National Assembly is Formed.
Pledging to draft a new constitution, the Third Estate founded the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath was drafted in the meeting held at Louvre tennis courts. The last articles of Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen were approved August 26th. -
Mob Storms the Bastille
On the morning of July 14th, 1789, Parisian revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, a prison that had come to symbolize the absolutionism of the King and of the Bourbon monarchy. The head of the governor over Bastille was severed and stuck upon a pike to be paraded on the streets. This dramatic event was the beginning of the the French Revolution. -
Two Days of Violence
An angry mob of some thousands of armed women marched in the rain from Paris to Versailles intensifying the French Revolution. To the beat of a drum, the women chanted “Bread! Bread!” The royal family was forced to leave their palace to move to Tuileries Palace in Paris. -
Louis XVI Tried for Treason
The National Convention (legislative board) tried and sentenced the King to death for treason and crimes against the State. -
The Execution of Louis XVI
The King is executed like a criminal, beheaded by the guillotine. After which, the National Convention is faced with the growing inflation and food shortages. In the months to come the Convention passes legislation to increase wages and control prices, arrest revolutionary traitors and bring to record the suspects. -
Brunswick Manifesto
In defense of the Royal Family, Duke of Brunswick and the allied Austria and Prussia warn France not to harm the King and Queen. The reaction, however, was one of prepartion for war by the French National Assembly. -
Monarchy Abolished
Thousands were killed in the September Massacres. There was violence in the streets fueled with the growing fear of counter-revolution. A Republic was established on September 22. The day that was declared the first day of “year one.” -
Jacobian Rule
Moderate Girondins, who promoted decentralized government, was forced out of Convention by another liberal yet radical faction, Jacobians. Sans-culottes (the revolutionaries) supported the Jacobians by entering the meeting halls and apprehending the Girondin members of the Convention, giving Jacobians full control of the Convention and of France. -
Reign of Terror
Instituted by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety a temporary dictatorship to squelch any uprisings against the revolution. This ruling faction executed all potential enemies of the Republic. It was the course of control from September of 1793 until the death by the guillotine of Robespierre on July 27, 1794. -
Execution of Marie Antoinette
Nine months after her husband's death, Marie-Antoinette the Austrian princess, who was hated by her French subjects for her callous management of the State's affairs, was also killed by the guillotine. -
Arrest and Death of Robespierre
The Republic appeared a realty and with decreased need for radical rule. Jacobian leader Robespierre is arrested, tried, and executed the following day. The sans-culottes do nothing in his defense. -
The Directory
The Convention drew up a new constitution, setting up the Directory. The rule of the Directory was one of not only financial difficulties, but of corruption. It's was existence for four years, from 1795 to end of 1799. -
Napoleonic Era Begins
General Napoleon Bonaparte, with legion of allies, seized the French Government on Nov 9th. The Constitution of the year VIII was adopted December 24, 1799 and went into effect in 1800 with Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the Directory. As evidenced by the weak and ineffective governing of the middle class, Napoleon declares the people of France should have equality but not liberty.