The French government had become bankrupt and called the Estates General in June of 1789 to try and resolve its problem. The Third Estate, which was a parliamentary group that represented about 97% of the French population, payed all the taxes in France. Because of the heavy tax burden most commoners were on the point of extreme starvation and poverty. Louis XVI, King of France, tried to fix the problem by imposing taxes on the other two Estates, which were comprised of nobles and priests respectively, and they both vetoed and blocked the measure from passing. Finally, the Third Estate created a new governing body, the National Assembly, which eventually led to the Storming of the Bastille and the beginning of the French Revolution. The Revolution lasted from 1789-1799 and paved the way for three different inefficient governments, which eventually lead to the rise of the Dictator Napoleon Bonaparte.
-After the National Assembly was formed after the Estates General the National Assembly invades the Bastille prison in July 1789, freeing 7 prisoners and capturing an arsenal of artillery and gunpowder.
-The Great Fear began to sweep through France, and peasants began to brake into nobles' houses and destroy old feudal papers
-In October 1789, Parisian women began to riot in Versailles about rising prices of bread, and they forced King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette out of the Versailles Royal Palace and back to Paris.
-In October 1789, Parisian women began to riot in Versailles about rising prices of bread, and they forced King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette out of the Versailles Royal Palace and back to Paris.
-A couple weeks later, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen are formed, and give citizens equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion
-The National Assembly then seizes all Church land and creates the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that makes priests state employed
-The National Assembly then seizes all Church land and creates the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that makes priests state employed
-In 1791 The National Assembly forced King Louis XVI to create a constitutional monarchy, which created a new legislative body called the Legislative Assembly
-The Legislative Assembly eventually split into three factions, the left which wanted major change, the middle which was moderate, and the right who didn't want major change
-In 1792 France declared a war on Prussia after it urged Louis to get back to the throne, and the French eventually captured Louis, and started to massacre anyone who was against the revolution including priests and nobles
-This paved the way for the radical Jacobins to establish a republic called the National Convention, and they would eventually behead Louis and Marie Antoinette in January of 1793
-The National Convention began the Reign of Terror with the leader of the Committee of Public Safety Robespierre killed any anti-revolutionary, even some Jacobins themselves, numbering up to 40,000
-In 1794 the National Convention beheaded Robespierre and ended the Reign of Terror, which eventually established a bicameral legislature with five executives at the head called The Directory, which was very weak and indecisive and was overthrown in a coup by Napoleon in 1799
-The Legislative Assembly eventually split into three factions, the left which wanted major change, the middle which was moderate, and the right who didn't want major change
-In 1792 France declared a war on Prussia after it urged Louis to get back to the throne, and the French eventually captured Louis, and started to massacre anyone who was against the revolution including priests and nobles
-This paved the way for the radical Jacobins to establish a republic called the National Convention, and they would eventually behead Louis and Marie Antoinette in January of 1793
-The National Convention began the Reign of Terror with the leader of the Committee of Public Safety Robespierre killed any anti-revolutionary, even some Jacobins themselves, numbering up to 40,000
-In 1794 the National Convention beheaded Robespierre and ended the Reign of Terror, which eventually established a bicameral legislature with five executives at the head called The Directory, which was very weak and indecisive and was overthrown in a coup by Napoleon in 1799
-After a string of military defeats and a military coup,brilliant military general Napoleon Bonaparte gains control of France in 1799
-He crowns himself emperor in 1804
-He begins to gain great military wins such as Austerlitz in 1805, and establishes peak of his reign in 1807-1812, with small loss coming in naval battle of Trafalgar in 1805 to the British
-He also established a National Bank, created public schools, and a concordat with the Church
-He crowns himself emperor in 1804
-He begins to gain great military wins such as Austerlitz in 1805, and establishes peak of his reign in 1807-1812, with small loss coming in naval battle of Trafalgar in 1805 to the British
-He also established a National Bank, created public schools, and a concordat with the Church
-Napoleon tried to establish a blockade against Britain on the continent of Europe, which eventually lead to a conflict with the Russians when they refused to stop selling grain to Britain
-The Spanish created a guerrilla army to fight Napoleon in the Peninsular War in 1808, because Napoleon had deposed the Spanish king in favor of his brother Joseph, and with the aid of the British the Spanish won
-In 1812, Napoleon had decided to invade Russia, and using the scorched-earth policy of burning crops and killing livestock so the enemy can't live off the land, the Russians reduced the Napoleonic army to 10,000 men, and Napeleon finally surrendered in 1814 and was sent to the tiny island of Elba off the Italian coast
-After the new French monarch Louis XVIII didn't please the French people, Napoleon escaped the island of Elba and landed on March 1,1815 in France
-Napoleon was crowned emperor days later, and the British and the Prussians combined in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18,1815 defeated Napoleon and ended his "Hundred Day" Campaign sending him this time St.Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic
-The Spanish created a guerrilla army to fight Napoleon in the Peninsular War in 1808, because Napoleon had deposed the Spanish king in favor of his brother Joseph, and with the aid of the British the Spanish won
-In 1812, Napoleon had decided to invade Russia, and using the scorched-earth policy of burning crops and killing livestock so the enemy can't live off the land, the Russians reduced the Napoleonic army to 10,000 men, and Napeleon finally surrendered in 1814 and was sent to the tiny island of Elba off the Italian coast
-After the new French monarch Louis XVIII didn't please the French people, Napoleon escaped the island of Elba and landed on March 1,1815 in France
-Napoleon was crowned emperor days later, and the British and the Prussians combined in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18,1815 defeated Napoleon and ended his "Hundred Day" Campaign sending him this time St.Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic
Sources:
Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Orlando, FL.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub., 2012. Print
Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Orlando, FL.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub., 2012. Print