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Ruled by absolutism and divine right. Had 3 estates the people were divided into.

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I picked this video because it talks a lot about the estates and what the old regime was. It could be better at talking about relevant parts of it though.

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The French Revolution (Part I: The Old Regime)

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Highest estate, people in this estate were high ranking members of the church. People in this estate don't have to pay taxes.

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Middle estate, people in this estate were still considered high ranking. These people also don't have to pay taxes.

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Lowest estate, majority of the people were in this estate. They have to pay the all of the taxes for the country.

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King and Marie Antoinette spent more money than the country had. The government eventually found itself with no money because of wars. Privileged classes still refuse to pay taxes.

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I picked this link because it talks about the bankruptcy the French experienced and why they experienced this. It also has a plethora of other good information on the French Revolution.

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John and Abigail Adams | Article

Throughout the 18th century, France faced a mounting economic crisis. A rapidly growing population had outpaced the food supply. A severe winter in 1788 resulted in famine and widespread starvation in the countryside. Rising prices in Paris brought bread riots. By 1789 France was broke. The nobility refused to pay more taxes, and the peasants simply couldn't. Even the opulent King Louis XVI, fonder of hunting and locksmithing than governing, recognized that a crisis loomed. He convened the Estates-General, made up of the Roman Catholic clergy (the First Estate) the nobility (the Second Estate), and everyone else (The Third Estate). The First and Second Estates owned most of the land and were lightly taxed; the Third owned little and was heavily taxed.

La Bastille, Courtesy: Library of Congress

National Assembly
On June 17, 1789, after Louis denied its petition for a one man-one vote policy, the Third Estate seceded and formed the National Assembly. On July 11 Louis XVI ordered the army to disband it. On July 14 a mob stormed the Bastille prison in Paris looking for arms to protect itself from the king's forces. The capture of the Bastille ignited one of the greatest social upheavals in Western history, the French Revolution. Violence spread to the countryside, where peasants demanded the feudal system be dismantled. Fearing powerlessness, the nobility and landowners joined the National Assembly. On August 27, it issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man, guaranteeing all French citizens freedom of speech, press, and religion, as well as a representative government and equality before the law. Some citizens, however, were more equal than others; women and slaves were excluded, and only property owners could hold seats in the new legislature.

King Louis XVI, courtesy: Corbis

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite!
The following summer, the National Assembly created a new constitution. While King Louis XVI remained the nominal head of state, the National Assembly held all legislative power. On June 20, 1791, Louis and his family, including his despised Austrian queen, Marie-Antoinette, attempted to flee France and were captured. The newly created Legislative Assembly wanted to spread the revolution across Europe. In April 1792, France declared war on Austria. The war went badly, and Louis XVI was blamed. Accused of treason, he was stripped of his title and imprisoned. In September 1792 a new National Convention declared France a republic and abolished the monarchy. On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was marched to the guillotine. His severed head was paraded for the gathered thousands and met with cries of "Vive la Republique!"

Maximilien Robespierre, Courtesy: Library of Congress

Madame Guillotine
On September 5, 1793, Maximilien Robespierre began the Reign of Terror in response to the invasion of France by foreign troops. Thousands of so-called counterrevolutionaries were slaughtered; estimates range from 14,000 to 40,000. France remained in Robespierre's bloody grip for 10 months until he too was captured and beheaded. With the Reign of Terror over, France found some peace, but the country remained at war with Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain following Louis XVI's execution.

Napoleon, Courtesy: Corbis

Emperor of the French
In 1795, a new constitution was adopted, with the Directory - five men elected from the National Assembly - acting as an executive branch and remaining in power throughout much of John Adams presidency. Four years later, Napoleon Bonaparte and his army overthrew the Directory and signed the Convention of 1800 with the United States, a commercial agreement that ended the so-called Quasi War. Napoleon would eventually declare himself "Emperor of the French." John Adams had feared just such a chaotic end: A revolution of this sort, he had argued, would lead not to democracy but despotism. France had abolished its monarchy only to find itself under the rule of an emperor. Years later Thomas Jefferson would admit that his own support for the French Revolution was misguided: "Your prophecies," he wrote to Adams, "... proved truer than mine. ... I did not, in '89, believe they would have lasted so long, nor have cost so much blood."

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The French Revolution | American Experience | PBS

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John and Abigail Adams | Article Throughout the 18th century, France faced a mounting economic crisis. A rapidly growing population had outpaced the food supply. A severe winter in 1788 resulted in famine and widespread starvation in the countryside. Rising prices in Paris brought bread riots. By 1789 France was broke.

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Estates-General resembled a parliament but hadn't met in person for over 100 years. Voting was conducted by estate and each estate had one vote. The first and second estates could act as a block to the third estate. Third estate wants voting to be by population and would give an advantage to the third estate.

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Third estate representatives declared themselves to be a National Assembly. King Louis 16th locked them out of the Estates General meeting hall in response. Third estate moved to the tennis courts to make a vow to write a constitution for France. June 3rd, 1789- King Louis 16th gave in and allowed people to vote by population on new French constitution.

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King Louis 16th doesn't actually want a written constitution. July 14th, 1789- people find out about King Louis' plan to use military force on the National Assembly and storm the Bastille (national prison). The crowd wanted the valuable gunpowder reserves that are there.

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A state prison on the east side of Paris called Bastille, was attacked by an angry mob of people. The prison was a symbol of the monarchy's rule.

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Parisians feared that Louis 16th would have foreign troops invade France to stop the rebellion. Marie Antoinette, King Louis' wife, was the sister of the Austrian emperor. October 5, 1789-  group of women marched to Versailles and forced royal family to relocate to Paris. The royal family spent several years in Tuileries Palace as prisoners.

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I picked this gif because it shows many people marching and there were also lots of people marching during the march on Versailles.

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The national convention (new Revolutionary government) abolished the monarchy. As long as the royal family still lived, the monarchy could still be restored.

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A group of European monarchs was established because of growing fears about the French Revolution and the execution of the king and queen. Armies were gathered and they invaded France. France won!

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The liberal party (Jacobin Party) came to dominate the government. About 15,000 people died on the guillotine. Many people were accused of treason.

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Created by the National Convention in 1793 for them to defend the nation against foreign and domestic enemies. They were also supposed to oversee the new functions of the executive government.

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Was a lieutenant in the military when the revolution first started. He rose to power and eventually was exiled after being Emperor of France, and conquering lots of Europe.