-Social conditions.
Meaning the
inequality among
those in the third
estate
- Enlightenment ideas shared
by the nobles and bourgeoisie,
appealing to ideas of freedom
and equality.
Economic Causes.
The economy collapsed, hurting the
French budget, mainly because
between the years of 1787 and 1788
both bad harvests and a slowdown
on manufacturing led to food
shortages, raising prices on food
and increasing unemployment.
-Also the French king and his
ministers spent enormous
amount of money on wars and
court luxuries.
Political Causes.
-The government decided to
destine a big part of its budget
to help the Americans on their
independence against Britain,
making a huge negative impact
in French economy.
The king Louis XVI
refused to change
the voting system in
the National
Assembly to favor
the third estate, this
caused only more
anger amongst the
third estate.
Main Chronology of the Revolution
1. Calling for the States General.
-The king Louis XVI called meeting of the
estates-general at Versailles on May 5 in 1789 to
attempt a change in the situation of france . Also on
june 20, 1789, the third estate declared a National
Assembly in which their respective representatives
gathered in a tennis court after being locked-out of
their original meeting place, and swore not to stop
meeting until they had assembled a new
Constitution, this is known as the Tennis Court Oath.
Key Characters
-The king Louis XVI
-Jacques Louis David: a
member of the third
estate who painted the
famous picture
illustrating the Tennis
Court Oath in 1789.
2. Fall/storming of
the Bastille.
-On July 14,1789. 900 Parisians gathered and demolished
the Bastille, which was an old fortress used as a prison and
armory. Also the kings authority collapsed, meanwhile
revolts all over France broke out. Since rumors that troops
were being sent out to put down such revolts, peasant
rebellious citizens became very concerned, this vast panic in
known as the Great Fear.
Key Characters
-Jacques Necker, at the
time the current finance
minister. It is known that
he supported the third
estate and during this
period of time he was
dismissed by the king,
which caused arousal
among Liberal Parisians.
-Marquise de Sade, a
former French
aristocrat,
revolutionary
politician, philosopher
and writer who was a
prisoner of the bastille
around this period of
time.
5. Reign of Terror.
-The national Convention gave birth to a new group called
the Committee of public safety and in 1793 it took over the
government. To defend France from domestic threats, the
committee adopted policies that became known as the
reign of terror. Basically revolutionary courts were set up to
prosecute and murder counterrevolutionaries and traitors,
over 40,000 people were killed, most of them at the
guillotine. Also in 1793, two women founded the Society for
Revolutionary Republican Women in Paris. Its members
were working-class women who wanted to defend the
republic. The convention also pursued a policy of
de-Christianization based on the idea of the use of reason
over religious ideas. Amongs many other things, this
campaign tried to replace the current calendar with a 12
month, 10 days per week calendar.
Key Characters
Maximilian Robespierre was a French
lawyer and politician. He was the leader of
the committee of public safety and an
important figure during the Reign of Terror
in the French revolution.
-Pauline Léon was a radical organizer
and feminist during the French
revolution. She was one of the two
women who founded the Society for
Revolutionary Republican Women in
Paris.
3. Declaration of the Rights
of Man and Citizen.
-On August 26, the national assembly
adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizen, which it proclaimed that all men
were equal and free before the law, that
appointment to public office should only be
based on talent and that no group shall be
exempt from paying taxes, also freedom of
speech and of the press were declared. Also this
declaration was inspired by both the English
Bill of Rights and by the American
Declaration of Independence and
Constitution. They all shared the concepts of
equality, liberty and certain rights inspired by
the ideas of enlightment.
Key Characters
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, was a political leader in
the early stages of the revolution, he also
played a key role writing the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen.
Marquis de Lafayette, he was a french
aristocrat and military officer who
helped write the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen with the
assistance of Thomas Jefferson
4. End of the monarchy, First French Republic.
-In September 1792, the newly elected National Convention
began meeting and called to draft a new constitution in which
they intended to abolish Monarchy and establish a republic. Also on
January 21, the king Louis XVI was killed, which reinforced the
idea of destroying the monarchy system and replacing it with
democracy.
Key Characters
-Marie Antoniette, former wife of the king Louis
XVI, she was killed by the guillotine a few months
later than her husband. It is known that she
caused resentment amongst members of the
third estate due to her extravagant lifestyle and
arrogance.
- Joseph-Ignace Guillotine was a
French physician who stood for the
National Assembly. He proposed on
October 10th 1789 the use of the
guillotine (named after him) to carry
out all death penalties in France as a
fair and less painful way of execution.
6. Directory.
-In 1795 after the reign of terror ended a new
constitution was created. It held that there would be
two legislative houses: The lower legislation in
charge of drafting laws and the upper legislation or
“The council of elders” who approved or dismissed
such laws. The executive power was a committee of
five called the Directory, it lasted until 1799 and it
was filled with corruption. It also faced a lot of
opposition from both the radicals and the
conservatives. Also in 1799 a very successful and
young general named Napoleon Bonaparte decided
to act against the directory in a “Coup d´etat” which
means to overthrow the current government.
Napoleon proved successful and seized control of
France.
Key Characters
Jean Francois-Auguste Moulin was a
member of the French directory
who strongly opposed the rise to
power of Napoleon Bonaparte, but
his efforts were fruitless eventually
concluding in prison for such
matters. He later on fought in the
Napoleonic wars until his death on
1810.
Napoleon Bonaparte Was a
French military and political
leader who rose to power
during the French revolution,
he was emperor of the French
empire from 1804 to 1814.
7. First French Empire.
In paris, Napoleon organized a coup d’état in 1799, overthrowing the
directory and arranging a new government called the consulate which
was supposed to be a republic but in reality it was not since Napoleon
had total control as he has appointed first consul, and in 1804 he named
himself Emperor Napoleon he first. Also the new government lead by
Napoleon changed many things, such as reestablishing a connection
between the government and the catholic church under certain terms
and conditions, he also filtered down the French legal systems among
many other new implementations. From 1807 to 18012 Napoleon was
the leader of the French empire which dominated most of Europe,
including Spain, Holland, The Kingdom of Italy, the Swiss Republic, the
Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the Confederation of the Rhine, Prussia,
Austria, Russia and Sweeden.
Key Characters
Joachim Murat, he was king of Naples from 1808 to
1815 due to the fact that he was the brother-in-law of
Napoleon Bonaparte, through marriage to
Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline Bonaparte.
Napoleon
Bonaparte
Consequences of the French Revolution.
Sociocultural Consequences.
A sense of liberalism al across most of
Europe, which include legal equality,
religious toleration, and economic
freedom. All of which favored the
creation of a Constitution which
included all of these concepts
formatted as rights for all men, since
liberals claimed that written
documents would help guarantee and
ensure peoples rights. Also the
abolishment of feudalism in which the
king gave land to the nobility in
exchange for its support. Instead, land
was more equally distributed among
citizens of the middle or even lower
classes.
Economical Consequences
The British lost commerce with
America as a result of the
Napoleonic wars, resulting in a lose
of profit for Britain. Also the French
Revolution gave France at the very
end a certain degree of economic
stability and progress, which it was
a major step forward from its
previous era before the revolution.
This economic progress primed the
country for what latter would be the
industrial revolution
Political Consequences
The revolution gave birth to Nationalism in a way, which is when people identify themselves as a
part of a community, group or nation, defined by several commonly shared elements such as
language, customs, etc. Also at the very end of the French empire, the Congress of Vienna was held
and as a result many of the European political boundaries of countries were re-shaped including the
expansion of Prussia and Austria.