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Ah, yes, the Estates General meeting, how could I forget. One of the most important meetings in modern history. The people vs the nobility, fighting for change. I was a man of people, one who would lay out his heart and soul to procure the rights of each and every citizen of France. During the Estates General meeting, my colleges and I debated back and forth with the other two estates, whose minds we clouded by wealth and corrupted by greed. Decisions during these meetings could only be formulated by a majority vote over the other remaining estate. Unfortunately, the other two estates seemed to have shared interests, and would always outvote us in every decision regarding new tax reform. For in order to bring about proper change, and to resolve France's towering debt, the King needed to rein in more money. Although, the other two estates were not willing to give up even a morsel of their precious fortune to relieve some stress off the backs of the people. The Clergy and the Nobility were not willing to sacrifice a portion of their wealth to aid their country in its time of need. And it is with this, the reluctance to recognize the failing state of France's economy, and the unwillingness to bring about proper change, had fermented a union between those displeased with the government's inaction, known as, the National Assembly.

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Unfortunately, my vigorous words of persuasion did not seem to sway the other two estates. The Estates General meeting concluded with no issues resolved, leaving France to resume its inherent suffering. This infuriated people, for those who were once hopeful that the meeting would signify a new era of change, were now beginning to turn more hostile and adverse to the King and to those in power. My colleges and I were also through with the unwillingness of the other two estates and realized that our chances of influencing them were slim. We needed to take a stand against this unjust system. So after the conclusion of the meeting, my fellow colleges and I decided to once and for all come together and create the French National Assembly. This collation of the delegates from the third estate was meant to represent the views of the entirety of the French people and to prove to the king that inaction would no longer be tolerated. Together we sought to not only achieve equality and proper tax reform but to procure justice and to secure the rights of each and every citizen. We spoke for the entirety of the nation against the top 3%. "Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all" (Maximilien Robespierre, 24 April 1793)

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What better way to rally the masses than with the iron grip of terror? That is something I learned early on in my career. The best way to achieve political change is to give the public something to hate. Give them something to rally behind, something to bring them together. That is what the Great Fear gave to the people. The rumors of the nobles hiring outlaws to terrorize the masses was the spark they needed to ignite their rage. The people were through with the nobles and their generations of oppression over the 3rd estate. They rioted through the streets, attacking nobles and their homes, destroying any records of their debts or obligations. Those outside of Paris in the countryside grew wary of this violence reaching them and decided to forfeit their feudal privileges. By the end of the Great Fear, the National Assembly had gained enough ground to permanently abolish feudalism, ending the nobles' oppression of the people of France.

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The Fall of the Bastille, one of the most infamous events in all of French history, marked the end to the power of the nobility over the people. As King, watching such a mighty stronghold be torn down is almost like losing a long-loved family pet. The Bastille had maintained order during the era of the Old Regime, threatening those who did not pay off their debts with a variety of unspeakable horrors. It symbolized everything that the Old Regime stood for, those tied to the land shall serve those above them indefinitely or face gruesome punishment. Without it, the people would have nothing to fear, nothing to keep them in check, nothing to keep society from falling into chaos. Although, I'm afraid that my worst fears have come true. The people, coaxed into maddens by radicals blinded by enlightenment ideals, have torn down the Bastille brick by brick. Their quest for false state equality has led them to destroy a beautiful monument of our very way of life. All for what? To acquire new rights for the common people of France, and to undermine everything that had made France such a successful and prosperous nation over the last 300 years. Unfortunately, these poor uneducated people fail to understand that your rights are meaningless when there isn't a stable government to enforce them.

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The war with Austria and its allies was one of both honor and patriotism. My army of 800,000 men stood defiant against those who wished to see the revolution fall. My men were fighting, not for any king or queen, but for their country, for their homeland. This mentality helped drive my men through each and every conflict that they encountered. For instance, early on in the war, my armies and I struggled against the Prussian army, who was slowly conquering more and more land in the north. But on September 20, 1792, at Battle of Valmy, we successfully drove out the Prussian invaders and were able to occupy the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). Unfortunately, while Great Britain was tolerant in allowing us to have any form of government of our choosing, they were not so happy with our invasion of Belgium and decided to join Austria and their allies in February of 1793.  By 1793, we were fighting a war from all sides, against Austria, Spain, and Prussia, along with Great Britain and the Dutch. This was known as the First Coalition, an alliance made by a group of powerful nations, meant to undermine me and my armies, which lasted until 1797. The First Coalition fought against us for years, but was unable to push any further into French territory, and signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in April of 1797. This tremendous victory brought grace and glory to France and helped initiate my inevitable coup of the revolutionary government.

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Maximilien Robespierre, ironically, once called "the incorruptible", had turned his back on his friends and the very morals that he stood by during the beginning of the revolution. The two of us, once allies in our quest to overthrow the monarchy, turned into bitter enemies. After the fall of the monarchy, the people were at odds about how the new revolutionary government should be run. I for one wanted to start slowly building back up the government, install a new constitution, and slow the pace of the executions. Although, Robespierre on the other hand, did not. He became more radical, calling for more blood, and wanting to erase every piece of evidence from the old regime. Although, not everyone was too thrilled with these radical ideas, starting counter-revolutionary movements such as in the province of Vendée. Along with that, the rest of Europe was becoming worried that these revolutionary ideas would begin to spread, causing the war with Austria and its allies to pick upstream. Knowing this, the National Convention created a new organization with absolute power called, The Committee of Public Safety, with Robespierre as its figurehead, to "save the revolution". Unfortunately, the committee used its power to silence the people and to execute anyone even remotely accused of defying the revolution, killing around 17,000 people. And sadly for me, I never got the chance to see this committee fall, for I too was executed on the account of being suspected of treason against the revolution on April 4th, 1794. Nevertheless, Robespierre would join me soon enough, having his own people rebel against him, calling the once "incorruptible" a tyrant, and sentencing him to the same fate as all those before him.

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As I withered in agony, emaciated from months of stress and neglect, I hear the cannons roar from outside of my prison cell. I know far too well that they are celebrating one thing only. I collapse in horror, my husband, the once mighty king of France, is dead. Up until his power was stripped from him by the ruthless so-called "revolutionaries", he had been a wonderful man, one who was trying his best to serve the many needs of his country and his family. Although, he did not always have the best reputation with the masses, often unintentionally making decisions that would make life harder for the people. Even so, when the hoards of angry mobs came to our door and began slaughtering our guards, demanding blood, he nevertheless fought to keep us safe. He appeased the revolutionaries, signing all of their new outlandish laws, hoping in doing so we, his family, would be kept unharmed. Although, he was unsure about how long these savages would keep us around before they would remove our heads. So we decided to escape, unsuccessfully, of course, getting caught miles from the border of Austria. If the French people did not loathe him already, they absolutely did now. Unfortunately, our escape attempt helped fuel a moment wanting to wipe out all traces of the Monarchy and the Old Regime, beginning with their traitorous king. On January 21, 1793, my husband was found guilty of treason and was sentenced to death.

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Hello, my name is Louis-Alexandre de Launay, otherwise known as Comte d'Antraigues. I have studied the revolution for years, recording my findings in my book, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, and have bared witness to the atrocities that have occurred. After the period of the Robespierre and his Committee of Public safety had come to pass a new type of government was put in place called, The Directory. This group was mostly made up of older, middle-class men who had become rich during the revolution. The Directory was a committee of five men, with a council beside them of 500, and an upper chamber of 250. In fear of reenacting the Reign of Terror, the directory decided to separate the legislative and the executive power, in order to create a balance between the branches. The directory faced a few challenges during its time in power, mainly being the continuing war with Austria and its only remaining ally, Great Britain. Another challenge was dealing with rumors of corruption within the legislative branch, of people trying bribe over the support of those within the directory to return France back into a monarchy. Both of these issues required heavy reliance on the military, which managed to suppress the monarchist movement, and helped ratify France's conquest of both Italy and the Netherlands. Unfortunately, this showed how vulnerable the government really was, allowing Napoleon Bonaparte to step in and take over the government in a coup d'etat on November 9, 1799.

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