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The Directory was a five-member committee which governed France from 1795, when it replaced the Committee of Public Safety, until it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (8–9 November 1799) and replaced by the French Consulate. It gave its name to the final four years of the French Revolution. Napoléon Bonaparte was a French statesman and military leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814.

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Napoleon's Education and Early Military Career

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), a lawyer, and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte (1750-1836). Although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not wealthy. The year before Napoleon's birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon later adopted a French spelling of his last name.

As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785. He then became a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment of the French army. The French Revolution began in 1789, and within three years revolutionaries had overthrown the monarchy and proclaimed a French republic. During the early years of the revolution, Napoleon was largely on leave from the military and home in Corsica, where he became affiliated with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group. In 1793, following a clash with the nationalist Corsican governor, Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the Bonaparte family fled their native island for mainland France, where Napoleon returned to military duty.

In France, Napoleon became associated with Augustin Robespierre (1763-1794), the brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), a Jacobin who was a key force behind the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), a period of violence against enemies of the revolution. During this time, Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the army. However, after Robespierre fell from power and was guillotined (along with Augustin) in July 1794, Napoleon was briefly put under house arrest for his ties to the brothers.

In 1795, Napoleon helped suppress a royalist insurrection against the revolutionary government in Paris and was promoted to major general.

Did you know? In 1799, during Napoleon's military campaign in Egypt, a French soldier named Pierre Francois Bouchard (1772-1832) discovered the Rosetta Stone. This artifact provided the key to cracking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics, a written language that had been dead for almost 2,000 years.

Napoleon's Rise to Power

Since 1792, France's revolutionary government had been engaged in military conflicts with various European nations. In 1796, Napoleon commanded a French army that defeated the larger armies of Austria, one of his country's primary rivals, in a series of battles in Italy. In 1797, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, resulting in territorial gains for the French.

The following year, the Directory, the five-person group that had governed France since 1795, offered to let Napoleon lead an invasion of England. Napoleon determined that France's naval forces were not yet ready to go up against the superior British Royal Navy. Instead, he proposed an invasion of Egypt in an effort to wipe out British trade routes with India. Napoleon's troops scored a victory against Egypt's military rulers, the Mamluks, at the Battle of the Pyramids in July 1798; soon, however, his forces were stranded after his naval fleet was nearly decimated by the British at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. In early 1799, Napoleon's army launched an invasion of Ottoman Empire-ruled Syria, which ended with a failed siege of Acre, located in modern-day Israel. That summer, with the political situation in France marked by uncertainty, the ever-ambitious and cunning Napoleon opted to abandon his army in Egypt and return to France.

The Coup of 18 Brumaire

In November 1799, in an event known as the coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon was part of a group that successfully overthrew the French Directory.

The Directory was replaced with a three-member Consulate, and 5'7" Napoleon became first consul, making him France's leading political figure. In June 1800, at the Battle of Marengo, Napoleon's forces defeated one of France's perennial enemies, the Austrians, and drove them out of Italy. The victory helped cement Napoleon's power as first consul. Additionally, with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the war-weary British agreed to peace with the French (although the peace would only last for a year).

Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope (who represented France's main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day.

In 1802, a constitutional amendment made Napoleon first consul for life. Two years later, in 1804, he crowned himself emperor of France in a lavish ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

Napoleon's Marriages and Children

In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), a stylish widow six years his senior who had two teenage children. More than a decade later, in 1809, after Napoleon had no offspring of his own with Empress Josephine, he had their marriage annulled so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. In 1810, he wed Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the emperor of Austria. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), who became known as Napoleon II and was given the title king of Rome. In addition to his son with Marie Louise, Napoleon had several illegitimate children.

The Reign of Napoleon I

From 1803 to 1815, France was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts with various coalitions of European nations. In 1803, partly as a means to raise funds for future wars, Napoleon sold France's Louisiana Territory in North America to the newly independent United States for $15 million, a transaction that later became known as the Louisiana Purchase.

In October 1805, the British wiped out Napoleon's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. However, in December of that same year, Napoleon achieved what is considered to be one of his greatest victories at the Battle of Austerlitz, in which his army defeated the Austrians and Russians. The victory resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine.

Beginning in 1806, Napoleon sought to wage large-scale economic warfare against Britain with the establishment of the so-called Continental System of European port blockades against British trade. In 1807, following Napoleon's defeat of the Russians at Friedland in Prussia, Alexander I (1777-1825) was forced to sign a peace settlement, the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the French defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram, resulting in further gains for Napoleon.

During these years, Napoleon reestablished a French aristocracy (eliminated in the French Revolution) and began handing out titles of nobility to his loyal friends and family as his empire continued to expand across much of western and central continental Europe.

Napoleon's Downfall and First Abdication

In 1810, Russia withdrew from the Continental System. In retaliation, Napoleon led a massive army into Russia in the summer of 1812. Rather than engaging the French in a full-scale battle, the Russians adopted a strategy of retreating whenever Napoleon's forces attempted to attack. As a result, Napoleon's troops trekked deeper into Russia despite being ill-prepared for an extended campaign.

In September, both sides suffered heavy casualties in the indecisive Battle of Borodino. Napoleon's forces marched on to Moscow, only to discover almost the entire population evacuated. Retreating Russians set fires across the city in an effort to deprive enemy troops of supplies. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving, exhausted army out of Moscow. During the disastrous retreat, his army suffered continual harassment from a suddenly aggressive and merciless Russian army. Of Napoleon's 600,000 troops who began the campaign, only an estimated 100,000 made it out of Russia.

At the same time as the catastrophic Russian invasion, French forces were engaged in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), which resulted in the Spanish and Portuguese, with assistance from the British, driving the French from the Iberian Peninsula. This loss was followed in 1813 by the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations, in which Napoleon's forces were defeated by a coalition that included Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish troops. Napoleon then retreated to France, and in March 1814 coalition forces captured Paris.

On April 6, 1814, Napoleon, then in his mid-40s, was forced to abdicate the throne. With the Treaty of Fontainebleau, he was exiled to Elba, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy. He was given sovereignty over the small island, while his wife and son went to Austria.

Hundred Days Campaign and Battle of Waterloo

On February 26, 1815, after less than a year in exile, Napoleon escaped Elba and sailed to the French mainland with a group of more than 1,000 supporters. On March 20, he returned to Paris, where he was welcomed by cheering crowds. The new king, Louis XVIII (1755-1824), fled, and Napoleon began what came to be known as his Hundred Days campaign.

Upon Napoleon's return to France, a coalition of allies-the Austrians, British, Prussians and Russians-who considered the French emperor an enemy began to prepare for war. Napoleon raised a new army and planned to strike preemptively, defeating the allied forces one by one before they could launch a united attack against him.

In June 1815, his forces invaded Belgium, where British and Prussian troops were stationed. On June 16, Napoleon's troops defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. However, two days later, on June 18, at the Battle of Waterloo near Brussels, the French were crushed by the British, with assistance from the Prussians.

On June 22, 1815, Napoleon was once again forced to abdicate.

Napoleon's Final Years

In October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-held island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. He died there on May 5, 1821, at age 51, most likely from stomach cancer. (During his time in power, Napoleon often posed for paintings with his hand in his vest, leading to some speculation after his death that he had been plagued by stomach pain for years.) Napoleon was buried on the island despite his request to be laid to rest "on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much." In 1840, his remains were returned to France and entombed in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, where other French military leaders are interred.

Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes

"The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope."

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

"Envy is a declaration of inferiority."

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment."

"If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing."

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Napoleon Bonaparte - Biography, Facts & Death | HISTORY

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Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d'état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804.

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On 17 January 1793 Louis was condemned to death for "conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety" by a close majority in Convention: 361 voted to execute the king, 288 voted against, and another 72 voted to execute him subject to a variety of delaying conditions. The former Louis XVI, now simply named Citoyen Louis Capet was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 on the Place de la Révolution, former Place Louis XV, now called the Place de la Concorde.

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Explore texts from ARC's holdings that focus on the abolishment of the monarchy and the execution of King Louis XVI, and the beginning of the First French Republic. This First Republican period is characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention, the infamous Reign of Terror, and the Thermidorian Reaction in 1799. Furthermore, this section also features texts that highlight the impact of the Revolution on French culture and several of the important monuments and arts institutions.

Trial & Execution of the King, 1792-1793

After being kept under what was essentially "house arrest," King Louis XVI and his family made an escape attempt from the Tuileries Palace to Varennes in 1791. The King attempted to flee France and raise an army to retake the country from the revolutionaries. This degree of planning reveals Louis' political determination; unfortunately, it was for this determined plot that he was eventually captured and charged with high treason.

This situation became an international point of focus, and some of the debates from the time can be seen in 1791's A Discourse on the Question Whether the King Shall Be Tried? (Call No. DC137.08 .B7 1791) by Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville which was translated into English for an American audience. This text was initially delivered before the Society of the Friends of the Constitution on July 10, 1791 poses the questions:

1. Shall the King be tried?

2. By whom shall he be tried?

3. In what form shall he be tried?

4. In what manner shall his place in the interim be supplied?

5. How shall it be finally be supplied, if he be deposed?

The author presents an answer to each of these questions based on the Constitution, and ultimately says: " It is necessary here, either to adopt the constitution, or the absolute sacredness of the King; either the revolution, or his trial; either the safety of the people, or outrageous revenge; either the glory, or the repproach of France."[1]

Louis XVI was officially arrested on 13 August 1792, and sent to the Temple, an ancient fortress in Paris that was used as a prison. On September 21, the National Constituent Assembly declared France to be a Republic and abolished the Monarchy. Louis was stripped of all of his titles and honours, and from this date was simply known as Citoyen Louis Capet.

After this point, it became uncertain what the revolutionaries planned to do with the former King. Some argued to keep him under arrest, while others demanded his immediate execution. Among those who were calling for immediate execution was Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) in his Défenseur de la Constitution (Call No. DC146.R6 A18) published in 1792. In this text, Robespierre argued quite strongly for summary judgement and the death of the King. Robespierre posits that the Constitution could not be used in the King's defence, since Louis had violated its terms with his actions. Furthermore, he also argues that the former King could function only as a threat to liberty and national peace, and that the members of the Assembly had a responsibility for public safety. He did not believe that Louis XVI should even be given a trial, and argued that giving him a trial was a counter-revolutionary idea because it placed the revolution itself in litigation.

Eventually, it was decided that he would undergo a trial in front of the National Convention, a single chamber assembly that replaced the Legislative Assembly in the fall of 1792. The Histoire du Procès de Louis XVI by J. Cordier published in 1793 (Call No. DC137.08 .C67) provides an analysis of the main points of the trial, including the interrogation, the defense, and the final verdict of the National Convention-execution by guillotine.

Revolution de Paris No.181-No.193 (Call No. DC140 .R55 v.15) provides an account of the King's trial, judgement, and execution that was meant for more popular and immdiate distribution. Pamphlet No. 185 supplies a detailed narrative of what happened in the last few hours of the King's life, from attending Mass, speaking with his confessor, seeing his family one last time to the journey to the scaffold in the middle of the Place de la Révolution (formerly Place Louis XV, which also featured a statue of Louis XVI's father). This account reports that Louis XVI's last words were:"Je meurs innocent, je pardonne à mes ennemis, & je désire que mon sang soit utile aux Français & qu'il appaise la colère de Dieu."[2] Louis XVI was executed on Monday, January 23, 1793.

This pamphlet also includes two illustrations of the King's execution. The first (seen below) depicts Louis XVI being led towards the guillotine; while the second image gruesomely depicts the executioner displaying the former king's severed head to the crowd. Both images also include the plinth where the statue of Louis XV used to stand, which further emphasizes the abolishment of the monarchy.

Also included in ARC's collection are Louis XVI's personal correspondence.These letters outline the French Revolution from his point of view and his attempts to curb and undermine the revolutionaries attempts at overthrowing the monarchy. ARC also possesses a copy ofhis last Testament in Revolution: a selection of pamphlets and documents (Call No. DC 141. R4 v.1).

The Reign of Terror, 1793-1794

The Reign of Terror was a period of violence that occurred after the execution of the King. It was incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". This period saw a staggering death toll that ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris), and another 25,000 in summary executions across France. The Reign of Terror also saw the rise of Maximilien Robespierre withinthe National Convention, and he also became the leader of the Committee for Public Safety. The Committee for Public Safety was the de facto government during this period, and assumed the role of protecting the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. For example, Robespierre wrote a text for the National Convention on the topic of the Committee for Public Safety: Rapport Sur Les Principes de morale politique qui doivent guider la Convention Nationale dans l'administration intérieure de la République fait au nom du Comité de Salut Public, le 18 pluviose, 1'an 2e de la Republique (Call No. DC177.R45). This text outlines Robespierre's policies that would come to inform the Terror, and also includes one of his more infamous quotes which characterizes the Terror: " Punir les oppresseurs de l'humanité, c'est clémence; leur pardonner, c'est barbarie."[3]

Influenced by Jacobin politics, the Committee of Public Safety took over the French police and offiicially sanctioned terror as a legal policy in a proclamation that read: "It is time that equality bore its scythe above all heads. It is time to horrify all the conspirators. So legislators, place Terror on the order of the day! Let us be in revolution, because everywhere counter-revolution is being woven by our enemies. The blade of the law should hover over all the guilty."[4] During this time, the Revolutionary Tribunal -a special judicial body made especially for the trial of political offenders during the French Revolution-ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives. The guillotine, the new instrument of egalitarian justice, was seemingly always at work. Civil liberties were suspended, and the promises of the Declaration of 1789 were forgotten. Public executions were considered educational, and women were even encouraged to sit and knit during trials and executions.

Constitution of 1793

The Constitution of 1793 was the first constitution of the Republican period. Drafted by the Committee of Public Safety which was enlarged with the purpose of producing it, the text was presented to the National Convention on June 10, 1793 and was subsequently accepted on June 23, 1793. The constitution was then ratified by a popular referendum. Though the Constitution was overwhelmingly popular, the convention set it aside indefinitely on October 10, 1793 and declared a "Revolutionary Government" until a future peace.

This Constitution was inspired by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, to which it added several rights, including: the superiority of popular sovreignty over national sovreignty; social rights (e.g. the right of association, right to work and public assistance, right to public education); the right of rebellion; and the abolition of slavery. The development of this new Constitution is outlined in Revolutions de Paris pamphlets No.189-No.193 (Call No. DC140 .R55 v.15) beginning in early 1793.

Execution of the Queen, 1793

After the excution of Louis XVI, the National Convention turned its attention to the fate of the former Queen, Marie-Antoinette. While some called for her exile, the Committee of Public Safety called for a public trial. She was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on October 14, 1783. Unlike the king, who had been given ample time to prepare a defence, the queen was given less than one day. On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the Place de la Révolution. She is considered one of the first victims of the Reign of Terror.

Below is the Bulletin du Tribunal Criminel Revolutionnaire (Call No. DC175.B8) advertising her criminal trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal. ARC has hundreds of these bulletins in its holdings. Accounts of her trial and execution can also be found in the revolutionary pamphlets in ARC's holdings.

ARC's collection also features first hand accounts of those imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, including the Mémoires d'un d étenu pour servir a l'histoire de la tyrannie de Robespierre by Honoré Riouffe in 1795 (Call No. DC183.8.R5). This text provides a detailed account of the horrors of a victim of the Terror and observations on the treatment of others during this bloody time.

Robespierre's Fall & the Thermidorian Reaction, 1794-1795

Robespierre, the mastermind behind the Terror, was known by his supporters as "The Incorruptible", while his opponents called him "dictateur sanguinaire", French for "bloodthirsty dictator." One account, State of France in May 1974 by Le Comte de Montgaillard and translated into English by Joshua Lucock Wilkinson (Call No. DC183.5.M613 1794), gives us a sense of what Robespierre's critics thought of him:
Born with only ordinary genius, destitute of those great talents, which create, continue, and decide a Revolution, Robespierre is much inferior to the dangerous and elevated situation at which he aims; but he reigns by the terror, which he inspires, and by the corruption of the enemies, he contends with...Robespierre aims at sovreignty; but he dare not assume the name, though every day his voice is more dreaded... The authorities, much stronger than his power (and this distinction is in his favour) are so confident of him, that it will require the greatest efforts to destroy it.[5]
Eventually, Robespierre's extreme policies came to alienate his own supporters among the Jacobins. When Robespierre called for a new purge in 1794, he seemed to threaten the other members of the Committee of Public Safety, and they came to realize how much of a dictatorship the French government had become. The National Convention quickly rallied to depose Robespierre. The text Rapport fait au nom de la commission charg é de l'examen des papiers trouv és chez Robespierre et ses complices by E.B. Courtois, Deputee of the department of Aube from 1795 (Call No. DC175.C86) provides a compilation of incriminating documents written by Robespierre's with critical commentary. Robespierre was arrested in July 1794 and sent to the guillotine the next day, the last victim of the Reign of Terror. This is known as the Thermidorian Reaction, as Robespierre's fall from power occurred during the Revolutionary month of Thermidor. The Committee for Public Safety's influence diminished, and it was disestablished in 1795.

The Impact of the French Revolution on France's Art Museums

The Transformation of the Louvre: From Royal to Public

The French Revolution had a deep and lasting impact on the French nation, but it also affected the art and monuments in French museums. With the Revolution, the museum now known as the Louvre entered a phase of intensive transformation. Previously, the Louvre was dedicated to the royal art collections; however during the revolutionary period, the art museum underwent a series of great changes that resulted in the creation of the first public art institutions in the world.

The Louvre's previous incarnation, the Museum Central des Arts, opened its doors on August 10, 1793. The works of art on display were mostly paintings from the collections of the French royal family and aristocrats who had fled abroad. There was a lot of work being done during this time to inventory and preserve these artworks for posterity.

In December 1793, the National Convention established the Commission Temporaires des Arts under the Committee for Public Instruction in order to take inventory and preserve the nation's artistic holdings. The 1794 pamphlet, Rapport fait au nom des commissaires envoyés dans le département de Seine-et-Oise, à la Commission temporaire des arts by Casimir Varon, a member of the commission and of the Conservatoire du Muséum National (Call No. DC150 .V37 1794), outlines the efforts being undertaken to inventory the art collections of Versailles for the Muséum central des arts de la République (which later became the Louvre)

Another pamphlet by Varon from the same year, Rapport du conservatoire du Muséum national des arts (Call No. DC150 .V366 1794), criticizes the confusing layout of the artworks in the Muséum, and defines what the Muséum should be: an encyclopeadia of the Fine Arts where the artworks are arranged according to their respective schools and periods; that the official catalogs should provide a complete explanation of the works of art and the artists' lives; and that a specialized library be founded under the aegis of the Muséum. Furthermore, he felt that the Muséum should be a sanctuary where people come to elevate their understanding of Beauty-which was something the Muséum's organization did not allow at the time. Both of these two pamphlets by Varon are important to the creation of the Louvre as the very first public art museum, and can be found in ARC's W. McAllister Johnson Collection of rare books.

Also in 1794, a painter from the Acad é mie de Peinture-Sculpture named Guillaume Martin wrote a pamphlet called Avis a la Nation, sur la Situation du Muséum National (Call No. N2030 .M374 1794), a text detailing his concerns and attempts to protect the paintings and treasures of what would become the Louvre. Martin felt that it was his civic duty to write about the situation of the museum's treasures, because he felt that they were about to be lost due to damage, and that some works of art required immediate conservation treatments. This text frames the importance of restoring the artworks to their original glory as a task to restore national honour. The Avis a la Nation also implies that the Muséum needed better administration in order to protect the artworks housed in its collection.

[1] Brissot de Warville, J.P. A Discourse Upon the Question, Whether the King Shall Be Tried? Trans. P.J.G de Nancrede. (Boston: 1791), 20-21.

[2] "Du 19 au 26 Janvier 1793: Mort de Louis XVI, Dernier Roi de France" Revolutions de Paris dediees a la Nation. No. 185. (1793), 202.

[3] Robespierre, Maximilien. Rapport Sur Les Principes de morale politique qui doivent guider la Convention Nationale dans l'administration intérieure de la République fait au nom du Comité de Salut Public, le 18 pluviose, 1'an 2e de la Republique.(Paris: 1794), 17.

[4] Andress, David. The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France (New York: 2005), 178-179.

[5] Le Comte de Montgaillard, State of France in May 1794. Trans. Joshua Lucock Wilkinson (London: 1794), 12-13.

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1792-1799: The Beginning of the First French Republic

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Explore texts from ARC's holdings that focus on the abolishment of the monarchy and the execution of King Louis XVI, and the beginning of the First French Republic. This First Republican period is characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention, the infamous Reign of Terror, and the Thermidorian Reaction in 1799.

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The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution in France, created after the collapse of the absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty.

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The Storming of the Bastille French: Prise de la Bastille pʁiz də la bastij occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuses of power; its fall was the home base of the French Revolution.

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Writing of the Declaration of the rights of men

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Writing of the Declaration of the rights of men

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The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson, working with General Lafayette, who introduced it. Influenced also by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included in the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958) and is still current. Inspired by the Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a major impact on the development of freedom and democracy in Europe and worldwide.

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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, French Declaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France's National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791. Similar documents served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1793 (retitled simply Declaration of the Rights of Man) and to the Constitution of 1795 (retitled Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Citizen).

The basic principle of the Declaration was that all "men are born and remain free and equal in rights" (Article 1), which were specified as the rights of liberty, private property, the inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression (Article 2). All citizens were equal before the law and were to have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly (Article 6); no one was to be arrested without a judicial order (Article 7). Freedom of religion (Article 10) and freedom of speech (Article 11) were safeguarded within the bounds of public "order" and "law." The document reflects the interests of the elites who wrote it: property was given the status of an inviolable right, which could be taken by the state only if an indemnity were given (Article 17); offices and position were opened to all citizens (Article 6).

The sources of the Declaration included the major thinkers of the French Enlightenment, such as Montesquieu, who had urged the separation of powers, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote of general will-the concept that the state represents the general will of the citizens. The idea that the individual must be safeguarded against arbitrary police or judicial action was anticipated by the 18th-century parlements, as well as by writers such as Voltaire. French jurists and economists such as the physiocrats had insisted on the inviolability of private property. Other influences on the authors of the Declaration were foreign documents such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) in North America and the manifestos of the Dutch Patriot movement of the 1780s. The French Declaration went beyond these models, however, in its scope and in its claim to be based on principles that are fundamental to man and therefore universally applicable.

On the other hand, the Declaration is also explicable as an attack on the pre-Revolutionary monarchical regime. Equality before the law was to replace the system of privileges that characterized the old regime. Judicial procedures were insisted upon to prevent abuses by the king or his administration, such as the lettre de cachet, a private communication from the king, often used to give summary notice of imprisonment.

Despite the limited aims of the framers of the Declaration, its principles (especially Article 1) could be extended logically to mean political and even social democracy. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen came to be, as was recognized by the 19th-century historian Jules Michelet, "the credo of the new age."

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declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen

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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen | Summary

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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a basic charter of human liberties containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. It was inspired by French Enlightenment thought and became influential as the 'credo of the new age.'

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The estates general was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy the first estate, the nobility the second estate, and the commoners or the third estate. The First estate are the rich and wealthy and don't have to pay or pay as much taxes than the third estate the poor people.
Summoned by King Louis XVI, it was brought to an end when the Third Estate formed into a National Assembly, inviting the other two to join, against the wishes of the King. This signals the outbreak of the French Revolution.

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On 4 May 1789 the last grand ceremony of the Ancien Régime was held in Versailles: the procession of the Estates General. From all over France, 1,200 deputies had arrived for the event. The deputies of the Third Estate (the Commoners) were the greatest in number, dressed in black with a gold and black overcoat. They were all holding a candle in their hand, except for those carrying the banners and the King's Falconers. The king himself was wearing an overcoat of golden fabric and was surrounded by the most important Officers to the Crown. On his hat he wore the Regent Diamond, which was the largest diamond in the kingdom. The queen was wearing a gold and silver dress. The king was cheered, but not the queen. The procession started at Notre-Dame, crossed the Place d'Armes, and finished at the church of Saint-Louis, where Monseigneur de La Fare, bishop of Nancy, stood at the pulpit and gave his famous speech in which he severely rebuked the luxury of the Court. For the first time in history a bishop was applauded in a church.

The solemn opening ceremony began on 5 May. The convocation had been sent out on 5 July the previous year, assembling the Estates General for the first time since 1614. A temporary hall with columns had been built behind the Menus-Plaisirs building on Avenue de Paris. However, contrary to the depiction in the famous engraving, the hall was very small. The king officiated from his position at the end of the hall beneath a majestic baldachin, with the queen and the princes of the blood around him. The deputies were seated in rows around the edge. The members of the Third Estate and a few of the Clergy and the Nobility would later constitute the first National Assembly.

Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General. As a peaceful king, he declared himself "the people's greatest friend". This was followed by speeches by Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals, and Necker, the Minister of Finances, concerning the economic situation in the kingdom. The budget deficit was 56 million. Necker claimed that new taxes would be enough to make up for the deficit, but the Commoners, who were only too aware of the country's expectations, were dissatisfied with such a mediocre discourse, and decided to take things into their own hands. The Revolution had begun...

ANECDOTE

Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General. As a peaceful king, he declared himself "the people's greatest friend".

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The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. This assembly was composed of three estates - the clergy, nobility and commoners - who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country.