The French Revolution
1
Mid 1780s France on the verge of bankruptcy.
1789 The beginning of the French Revolution.
Summer 1788 King Louis becomes desperate as he comes
short of money.
May
5,
1789
Meeting
of
the
Estates
General
held
at
Versailles.
June 17, 1789 The Third estate takes on the title ‘National
Assembly.’
July 14, 1789 Fall of the Bastille
August 4, 1789 National Assembly abolished the old feudal
system.
August 14, 1789 National Assembly met and passes the
decree of abolishing the ancien regime. In other words all
privileges the wealthy people had no longer existed. King Louis
XVI disagreed.
August 26, 1789 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen.
October 1789 The King and his family are forced to move to
Paris, away from Versailles.
July 1790 ‘Civil Constitution of the Clergy.’
June 1791 The royal family attempt to escape but fail and
are then treated as prisoners.
January 21, 1793 execution of King Louis XVI
May 1793 The Committee decreed a new law called the
‘Maximum’ which was to hold down the prices and if not
followed
by
any
shopkeepers,
being
guillotined
was
the
consequence.
October 16, 1793 execution of Marie-Antoinette
September 17, 1793 A new law was passed, which was that
anyone
suspected
of
being
an
enemy
of
the
revolution
execution was allowed.
April 1794 Georges-Jacques Danton, executed.
June 1794- Law of Prairial was announced. This law meant
that if anyone were sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal on
suspicion they would not be allowed to defend themselves.
July 27, 1794 Robespierre is guillotined. The Reign of
Terror had ended.
1796 Napoleon made commander of the French army in
Italy.
1797 Napoleon defeats Austria.
November 1799 Napoleon becomes first consul. This marked
the end of the French Revolution.
July 14, 1789the storming of the Bastille
The tension in Paris was increasing and the Parisians turned
to the Bastille, which stood as a symbol of all the bad things
about the government. They demanded the guards to hand over
any weapons for they believe ammunitions were stored within
there. The official commander refused to hand over the prison
to the people and that decision triggered a riot. As a ripple of
excitement spread through the mass of people the soldiers
became nervous. The soldiers opened fire and in a result about
a hundred people were killed.
This was probably the first riot the people initiated. The
nations of France were expected to abide to the decrees passed
by the government but the French Revolution started to lead
the nation to chaos. People perceived the revolution as an
opportunity to speak their mind and gain the demands they
had been seeking for.
January 21, 1793: Execution of King Louis XVI
The execution of King Louis XVI was an event that truly
demonstrated to the people of France and the rest of the world,
especially Europe that France was breaking away from the
ancien regime. No longer did the country abide to the systemic
rules
of
the
monarchy.
They
elected
people
to
form
a
government and the government would do what the people
wanted.
King
Louis
XVI
was
the
most
prominent
person
in
the
monarchy and for the new revolutionary government to pass a
death sentence upon him really made a strong statement. The
The French Revolution
3
people believe that King Louis was a weak king who couldn’t
lead the country with a strong lead. The execution of King
Louis XVI was the new revolutionary government and the
nations way of stating that no king would ever rule the
country.
June 17, 1789: The Third Estate takes on the title of National
Assembly.
The Third Estate, which was comprised from a range of
different people—poor to wealthy businessmen, took on the title
National Assembly. They declared themselves in charge. The
National Assembly wanted to change the way the government
worked. Their aim was to move towards a new government. The
King didn’t approve of the organization and their intention to
reshape the government. Despite the disapproval from the King
they set about to try and create a new government.
The National Assembly became the new government of France
and that meant they had to find other means of finding money
to run the country. One source they found was the Church. The
lands were overtaken and they sold off the land, earning
money. A proposal that stimulated disagreement between the
assembly and the church was a new reform declared by the
National Assembly. The reform ‘Civil Constitution of the
Clergy’ was issued in July 1790. This reform declared the
church under the authority of the Assembly. Priests would be
elected via the votes of the local assemblies and majority of the
priests disagreed. The priests believed that the church and the
government should be regarded separately.
July 27, 1793: The reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was a period of complete slaughter and
bloodshed. This violent event involved a conflict between
political rivalries, the Girondins and the Jacobins. The Reign
of
Terror
involved
massacring
any
enemies
or
suspected
enemies of the Revolution. The estimate death number ranges
from 14,000 to 40,000.
The two main leaders of The Reign of Terror were GeorgesJacques Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. Their intention
was to massacre any “enemies” of the revolution. Many were
guillotined and even those who were not enemies of the
revolution they couldn’t risk it so they executed any suspects.
The Reign of Terror ended when the new law ‘Law of Prairial’
was declared. The new law stated that if anyone were sent to
the Revolutionary Tribunal because of suspicion they would
not be allowed to defend themselves. This new law aroused a
lot of anger and disbelief so the Convention turned against
Robespierre and instantly guillotined him. The main stages of
the French Revolution came to an end and the only concern of
the nation was the war, which occurred on most of the borders
of France.
The Rise and fall of Napoleon
Following the execution of the King in 1973, France was at
war with manifold countries in Europe. Fortunately in 1975
they made peace with several countries like: Netherlands,
Spain and Prussia (Germany). The only countries that refused
to comprise a peace between France were Austria and Britain.
The general in charge of the campaign in Italy was Napoleon
Bonaparte, who plays an important contribution to the French
Revolution. Napoleon defeated Italy and their Austrian allies.
The Austrian were forced to sign a peace treaty with France in
October 1797. Majority of Italy was under the control of France.
In November 1799, his prominence was increasing and he
overpowered the Assemble. He was known as the first consul.
This was the end of the French Revolution. Whilst other
countries made peace with France, Britain refused and was
France’s main enemy. Napoleon aspired to attain total control
over England but unfortunately the French fleet vanquished
by the Britain’s fleet. After England’s defeat he continued to
overcome England by using different strategies.
The main intention for the initiation of the French Revolution
was to get rid of any unfair privileges the first and second
The French Revolution
5
Estates were receiving. The French Revolution aspired to obtain
equality for all men in the areas of taxation and law.
Napoleon continued some of these ideas.
France operated under a monarchy. There were three divisions:
First Estate, Second Estate and Third Estate. The First estate was
comprised from the clergies; the Second estate was comprised
from the nobilities and the Third estate was comprised from
the remaining people, which varied from poor, rural people to
businessmen. The first and second estate received special
privileges and in some cases they paid lower taxes. This
infuriated the Third Estate and they demanded for equality.
France was gradually being led to bankruptcy and King Louis
XVI didn’t know how to respond to this crisis. His advisors
couldn’t
assist
weakened
him
in
financially
anyway.
and
The
people
country
were
irked
was
being
with
the
unacceptable leadership of Louis XVI. People began to cause
chaos and started congregating to bring down the monarchy.
They believed that the government shouldn’t be under the
authority of a monarchy. The higher authorities were raising
the taxes, which were majorly paid by the Third Estate, merely
to support the aristocrats and their sophisticated lifestyle. It
was unfair and the people wanted a change.
The revolutionary idea was supported by many of the people
and the response to this ended in violent acts or death. King
Louis and his wife were executed and although this brought a
lot
of
shock
it
vanquished
the
monarchy
and
a
new
government took charge, striving to achieve the goals of the
revolution.
During the period of the French Revolution many upheavals
occurred
in
relation
to
political
and
social
issues.
The
dispensing of the monarchy was a powerful revolution. To
completely get rid of the monarchy evoked fear to the other
monarchy
countries
in
Europe.
It
challenged
the
other
countries’ people who were being treated unfairly. Politically
it changed France. New government, new decrees and new
leaders changed the France’s political system.
The Reign of Terror was an extremely social issue that brought
impact to France. The numbers of deaths were countless and it
just a period of pure bloodshed. People were guillotined if they
were suspected as an “enemy” of the Revolution.
The
French
Revolution
was
the
period
that
precipitated
disturbance in the French and European History in relation to
the political and social areas. The French Revolution occurred
during the years of 1789 to 1799.
It ended any sort of
authority from the French kings and it strengthened the
middle class. During this revolutionary event it eradicated the
kings, nobles or superior class to take their powers for granted.
High and supreme groups could no longer ignore the ideals of
liberty
and
equality
amongst
the
society.
Many
factors
contributed to the upheaval of France’s regime.
Bibliography:

Hetherton, Greg. Revolutionary France: liberty, tyranny and terror. 4. print.
ed. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print.

Sookram, Brian. France . New York: Chelsea House, 1990. Print.

Rees, Dylan, and Duncan Townson. France in revolution . 3rd ed. London :
Hodder Murray, 2005. Print.

"French Revolution Time Line." tgv reservation: timetable, maps and tgv
tickets reservation on bonjourlafrance.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-facts/france-history/timelinefrench-revolution.htm>.

"Causes of the French Revolution." tgv reservation: timetable, maps and tgv
tickets reservation on bonjourlafrance.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-facts/france-history/causes-of-thefrench-revolution.htm>.

"What Caused the French Revolution: Reasons for the Revolution in France."
Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2010.
<http://www.suite101.com/content/what-caused-the-french-
revolution-a51183>.

"French Revolution." The Victorian Web: An Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2010. <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist7.html>.

"Storming the bastille - start of the French revolution." Visit France with
France Travel Guide: Places to Visit, Holidays and Car Hire, and Hotels in
France.
N.p.,
n.d.
Web.
16
Nov.
2010.
<http://www.francethisway.com/history/storming-the-bastille.php>.
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