French Revolution

Categories: Social Science | European History | Education

  • The French Revolution was a chaotic, violent 10 year period during which the French government transitioned from an absolute monarchy, headed by Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, to a Constitutional Monarchy based on Enlightenment principles, and finally into a Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte.

  • Fast Facts:

    1. Began with the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789
    2. King Louis XVI beheaded on January 21, 1793
    3. Time frame: 1789 - 1799
    4. Ended with the establishment of the Constitution of the Year VIII
    5. Approximately 50,000 people died
    6. Slogan: Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality
    7. Most noble families were executed by guillotine

  • Causes and Background

    There is still discussion and debate about the main causes of the French Revolution, though most of the leading theories involve financial concerns among the general public and resentment of the privileged aristocracy and clergy. The principles of The Enlightenment, which had spread throughout Europe during the 18th Century, surely also had an impact on the public's view of the monarchy.

  • Beginnings

    The members of the "Third Estate," who would in turn become the main legislative body of France, agreed to the Tennis Court Oath on June 20, 1789, naming themselves the National Assembly and agreeing to write a Constitution for a government of the people. The act was in defiance of the authority of Louis XVI.

    On July 14, 1789, insurgents stormed the Bastille prison, a symbol of the power of the French monarchy that housed many enemies of the King, beginning the French Revolution itself in earnest.

  • National Assembly and the Reign of Terror

    While composing the new Constitution, as laid out in the Tennis Court Oath, a number of factions and clubs formed in the National Assembly, including the powerful Jacobin Club, headed by Maximilien Robespierre. After the execution of Louis XVI, and under the threat of foreign invasion if the monarchy was not restored, the Jacboins instituted the Reign of Terror, a period in which at least 16,594 were executed by guillotine as enemies of the Revolution. The reign ended with the adoption of the new Constitution, on September 27, 1795.

  • Napoleon

    French General Napoleon Bonaparte took advantage of the chaos following the adoption of the new Constitution (which included the first bicameral legislature ever in French politics) to stage a coup on November 9, 1799, forming the French Consulate with himself at its center, as Emperor.

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