Back in 1789, there was a very unfair government, which was the Estates General. The Estates general was unfair to the third estate, the commoners. they were forced to pay taxes, and they made ONLY fifteen-to-twenty cents a day! The first estate, which included Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, didn't have to pay taxes, and they owned 10% of the land. The second estate, which were the nobles, also didn't have to pay taxes! The commoners were outraged at this, plus the fact that they were always getting outvoted two-to-one. This led to them yearning for representation, and ultimately leading to the National Assembly. In May 1789, The National Assembly was focused on representation based on population. The National Assembly was supposed to give the third estate an equal playing field, since they made up 89% of the population while the first and second made up 11%. This gave the third estate a fair chance to vote, which was not in favor of the first and second estate based on population percentages. Robespierre was also an advocate for the third estate when the third estate was fighting for fair representation. While the National Assembly meeting sounded amazing on paper, it was ruined by the first and second estate. On the day of the meeting, they locked out the third estate in order to remove their thoughts on the voting problem. The third estate, outraged by this, ended up meeting at a nearby tennis court, and created the Tennis Court Oath. This oath stated that the third estate would not disband unless the people were free! King Louis XVI did not like the idea of this and arrested all of the people.

In July, 1789 The Storming of the Bastille happened. This was due to the commoners feeling that their rights were being attacked by King Louis XVI. They were outraged and so they stormed the Bastille which was a success. They freed political prisoners and they also gained many weapons. Along with the Storming of the Bastille, the March on the Palace of Versailles took place only 4 months later. This was due to people who were angry at Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI because of the prices of bread, and also because they assumed they were hoarding the bread. The commoners shamed Marie because of her spending, and believed she was wasting France's money. This was for a good reason since the commoners had been struggling for quite a while and both the king and queen stayed oblivious. There was then another attempt at a government, which was the Legislative Government. This was made to try to make amends with the king and with the people. The people were supposed to be happy but ended up STILL feeling neglected! This government also failed because the King and Queen tried to create a counter revolution which did not land well with the commoners. The brand new government was labeled as the First Republic, and Robespierre led France into this government. This government was supposed to support peoples' rights, and anyone who spoke against this was sent to the guillotine. The Reign of Terror was deemed as necessary in order for the republic to thrive, and it was a very violent era. The execution of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI occurred during this. Robespierre had let the power get to his head during this Reign of Terror, and he became a dictator. The commoners did not let him dictate for long, and he was put to death which marked the end of the Reign of Terror.

The new government installation was called The Directory. This directory worked with 2 groups, the lower house and the upper house. The lower house proposed laws and the upper house decided whether or not to accept or decline them. This was not the most efficient way for a government to work because there was no way to balance out the upper house, and they controlled the lower house. Napoleon Bonaparte, who was a military genius ended up throwing a coup d'etat to overthrow The Directory. He eventually overthrew them, and he made many political changes. He added his own Napoleonic Codes, which favored men over women, and gave the men all the rights. He also sold territory to the U.S to try to fund his campaigns, which did work and was financially helpful. He restored a centralized government to France which calmed the people down and was a good change. He eliminated the Estates system which was a great change since it had been very unfair. He also increased reform in education, and also funded education which allowed for people to get education more freely. He also allowed religious freedom/toleration which allowed the people to get along better and not have one dominant religion. He also improved relationships with the Pope, which overall made everyone happy. Sadly, he tried to invade Russia in 1812, which led to his downfall. It ended up being unsuccessful and the other European powers grouped together to defeat Napoleon. He was defeated and exiled, but he ended up coming back just to get exiled AGAIN in Waterloo. His legacy included; France dominating Continental Europe, and making his family the rulers of his conquered nations.