The start of the revolution
Beginning in the year 1789, The French people grouped together and began to rebel against the rule of King Louis XVI. King Louis ruled the people in what is considered to be an "Absolute Monarchy", an absolute monarchy is when a King or Queen has absolute power amongst his/her people in the state. King Louis involved France in the 7 years war, which put France in a lot of debt. King Louis was not particularly wise about how he spent his money and the types of things he put the country's money into. This angered the people because it was directly affecting them and their living standards. The people turned for a change to be brought to their society, and wanted new political reforms. The ideas of different citizens discussing, said that a whole new form of government was needed in order to resolve issues. Since Louis held complete power, he made sure he "worked to preserve royal authority and to maintain the social structure of the Old Regime." Louis was also very dependent on other people to help him. in 1789 he called the Estates General which consisted of representatives from each of the 3 classes of people. Due to unfair treatment the third group separated themselves and later was forced to rejoin. These groups ended up making plans for a new constitution. The social structure of France at the time consisted of 3 classes/estates. The first being The Church, whom had to pay very few taxes. The majority of the clergy were priests. Secondly, were the nobles who owned a lot of land, they were considered the wealthiest people and were taxed very lightly. Together, both groups consist of a mere 5% of the entire French population with the majority of people being categorized as commoners and city workers, median and lastly peasants. These were the people who worked very hard all day for a roof over their heads and were taxed the heaviest. The majority of people who wished for a change came from this group. Their over-taxation angered them and sparked the first ideas of rebellion. The 1st and 2nd group being so privileged, formed a bond and shared similar ideas. Clearly outnumbered, the Third estate alone often disagreed with the other groups. Not only were the people being over-taxed, but economically as well they were suffering. They had the worst harvest in forty years. Crops and plants died and the majority of people had nothing to eat but bread every day. This hit the 3rd estate the hardest because the farmers lost a lot of product and food to eat. Not only was money lost during trade, but during wars. King Louis had France in a lot of debt with other countries as a result of many wars. Louis was not smart when it came to money and often had to seek the help of others because he couldn't control the country's economic problems alone. Robert Turgot was a financial adviser who majorly helped both France and the King with the issues regarding debt. Robert was very smart, and forward thinking. However, when he proposed the idea of taxing the nobles, he was fired. The Fear of the People: When rumors of King Louis sending the military men to Versailles, the people became anxious. They were afraid their national assembly would be taken from them, therefore they caused havoc in Bastille and other areas. Peasants did the same and attacked the manors of their lords as well. In fact, they even destroyed all records of taxes because they wanted to make a point that they never planned to participate any further unfair taxation. The people began to revel and riot. Women, who were not concerned nearly as worth as men, also protested against the King. The national assembly began to create and form laws for the constitution to help France become stronger. In an attempt to come out of debt, they gave the freedom of religion and took away the overpowering authorities in the catholic churches by selling their land. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/430/ (Above describes the constitution) In order to achieve change, the current government had to be changed. Thats why in January of 1793, after being jailed for treason, King Louis XVI was executed, followed by his wife Mary Antoinette in October. The people didn't like Antoinette either because they believed that she once said "Let them eat cake" when they were starving. Although it is not positive whether or not she said this, the people hated her for it. After the death of King Louis XVI, the French military planned to invade Prussia, but was beaten by The Netherlands, Dutch, Spain and Great Britain, forcing them to lose a major war. This was a trying time in the revolution because the military was weak and many people were losing their lives. They were unsure of what was to come, and if they had taken the desire to revolt too far.This is when the Public Safety committee was established and run by a man named Maximilian Robespierre who set up this group in efforts to protect France and stabilize them during the war. After Robespierre was taken out of military control, a man by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte became the new head of army. He proved to be a very strong military leader and won many battles with his clever skills. Napoleon eventually was able to take over the government and display new ideas. A list of changes in France -Feudal System abolished -End to all slavery -No Monarchy, King was kicked out -Socialism and Nationalism -Stronger government. |
On the night before the Revolution, this portrait is of King Louis XVI during the peak of his reign.
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