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Period: to
French Revolution
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The Beginning
France had some blistering problems: Very poor due to war,
People were starving,
Nobilities (2% of population) were living it up while the rest of the French people (98%) had nothing.
The king and Queen at the time ( Louis XVI and Mari Antoinette) were Vern inattentive to the problems of their subjects and paid no respect to their advisors. When people are hungry and see other people living lavishly, anger spurs [ebooks via VHS chapter 23 section 1.1 & 1.2] [Khan Videos] -
Let's Talk Down to You
The French Government called the Convocation of the Estates General where representatives from the 3 social classes came together to talk. Because 3 classes each got one vote, the two privileged groups could always outvote the one poorer group. Because no change was made, and bc of the misrepresentation people got angrier. An angry majority is never good. [chapter 23 section 1.2 and 1.3] [khan videos] -
The National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath
Delegates for the 3rd Estate voted to create a National Assembly in which they would pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people (idea promoted by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès) This scared the King so he locked them out of their meeting room They instead assembled in the tennis court of Versailles until a new constitution was drawn up This signifies the first act of rebellion against the monarchy [ebook chapter 23 section 1.3] [Khan videos] -
Storming the Bastille
Rumors that Louis XVI was going to use militaristic forces to disband the National Assembly scared the members of the third estate. This caused them to want to arm themselves so they could fight back. A mob raided the Bastille, in search for weapons. This date has become a national holiday like that of the 4th of July in the US This was the first violent act of the revolution. [Ebook chapter 23 section 1.3] [ Khan videos] -
Womens March (October 1789)
Rumors that Marie Antoinette had been hoarding grain in Versailles got around. This lead to a band of armed women marching into the building and thus forced the king and queen out. They basically ended up under house arrest in the Tuileries in Paris. This caused a great amount a great amongst the nobility and some started to emagrate This was a serious statement of radical reforms throughout France [ebook chapter 23 section 1.4] [Khan videos] -
Failed Escape (July 1791)
The king and queen of France became scared of the revolutionaries and they tried to escape. They dressed as servants and had their servants dress as nobility in order to hide their identities. This failed which lead the revolutionaries to believe that they didn't want to be in charge. This furthered the ideas of the revolution in that the idea of a monarch is outdated and corrupt. [ebook chapter 23 section 2.2] [Khan videos] -
Jacobins Emerge (September 1792)
Having had war threats in August from the Prussians, the revolutionaries raided the Tuileries and held the king and queen captive. France eventually goes to war with Prussia and Austria The Jacobins declare France as a republic -- to build up the army then instituted a draft, convincing people that they are fighting for themselves, not just their king France is showing signs of a government by the people for the people [ebook chapter 23 section 2.3] [Khan videos] -
Reign of Terror (April 1793 - July 1794)
In Jan. of 1973 Louis XVI get executed via the guillotine
(in oct. Marie Antoinette also) In February war is declared on Britain and the Dutch Republic In April, the Committee of Public Safety (de facto govt.), mainly run by Maximilian Robespierre, starts killing all people who are nobles, or aren't radical enough or are too radical... (eventually max gets iced too) This goes to show how enraged people were that there was still nothing being done about the famine and the poverty problems. -
A New Republic (August 1795)
After Robespierre’s execution, the tired and weary people of France rarified a new constitution
a new government system, similar to that of GB.
It placed the power into the upper middle class, partly made of an executive body of 5, the Directory, which these men were not revolutionary idealists.
This government was slightly corrupt. This shows that while there was still no solution to the problems that spurred the chaos at the beginning, a government without a monarch was valued. -
Napoleon Bonaparte Rises to the top ( October 1795-1799)
Napoleon Bonaparte, an artillery expert, emerges from the chaos & initially becomes respected for saving the new govt.
His fame, along with his ego, gets him put in charge of leading armies into battle. Through all of his various lucrative successes, he becomes a national hero amongst the French people, and eventually makes his way to the into the govt. Bc the Directory was unpopular, he was easily able to take it over, eventually becoming the Emperor. Starts with monarchy, ends with Emperor
