THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by

5th May, 1789

mariogarsam — 2023-11-10 08:39:34 UTC

It was an assembly in which the king met representants from the third estates to approve a tax reform

17th June, 1789

mariogarsam — 2023-11-10 08:57:24 UTC

When the Third Estate's requests were ignored during the Estates-General, they left the meeting and escaped to the tennis court at Versailles, where they formed the National Assembly and gave each delegate one vote. They decided not to leave until a new constitution was approved

14th July, 1789

mariogarsam — 2023-11-10 08:59:59 UTC

The Bastile was a prison in Paris which was considerated a symbol of absolutism. The Third Estate took the weapons and attacked it to show their power

4th August, 1789

mariogarsam — 2023-11-10 09:13:14 UTC

They approved a decree that abolished the privileges and manorial rights of the nobility and clergy

26th August, 1789

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 15:20:04 UTC

They estabilished rights and freedom for new citizens, excluding women and slaves

20th June, 1791

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 21:58:37 UTC

King Louis XVI tried to flee France to lead a counter-revolution, but he was recognized and detained in Varennes and returned to Paris considerate as traitor

7th September, 1791

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:08:18 UTC

The National Assembly approved the first French Constitution, which included:

– The separation of powers (legislative, executive and judicial)

– Equality before the law and sovereignty for the nation

– Census suffrage, a system to men over 25 years with some level of wealth to vote

– Beginning of parliamentary monarchy and Legislative Assembly elections

The aim of this constitution was to create a liberal society with economic freedom and taxes for everyone. The National Guard was formed to fight against the absolutists

April, 1792

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:17:41 UTC

The National Assembly declared the war to Austria and Prussia, but in July the Prussian army reached the gates of Paris, putting the Revolution in danger

10th August, 1792

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:23:30 UTC

The sans-culottes (the normal people) were decided to rise up again, so they attacked the Tuileries Palace, where the kings lived. They arrested Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

21st September, 1792

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:29:37 UTC

A new assembly was elected by male universal suffrage and, on the 21st of September, the National Convention abolished the monarchy, proclaimed the republic and beat the Austrian and Prussian armies at Valmy.

This National Convention was divided in two factions: Girondins and Jacobins

Note: the factions

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:34:18 UTC

During the Revolution, there were different groups based on their political opinion:

ABSOLUTISTS. They wanted to maintain the Ancient Régime, and they were Royalist, mainly people from nobility and clergy
PATRIOTS OR LIBERALS. They wanted to have a liberal revolution. They were divided in Monarchists, who defended a constitutional monarchy, and Republicans, who defended the republic and wanted that all the powers were elected. Inside Republicans there are two groups: Girondists, that were moderated, and Jacobins, that were radicals

21st January and 16th October, 1793

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 22:41:32 UTC

First Louis XVI, and then Marie Antoinette, were executed by guillotine, being declared guilty of conspiracy by the National Convention.

These executions divided even more the Convention, because the Girondins didn't find necessary the violence but Jacobins did, and absolutists took advantage of this situation and organized rebellions against the republicans. These alarmed the rest of European nations, who were decided to end with the revolution

June 1793

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 23:04:51 UTC

The Jacobins, supported by part of the bourgeoisie and the sans-culottes, rose to power and started what we call as Reign of Terror. They established a dictatorship through the Committee of Public Safety, liberated by Roberspierre. They created mass conscription, that means that they recited citizens to defend the nation, and approved a new constitution and Declaration of Rights. They implemented compulsory education and other reforms for the commoners. They also imprisoned and executed people suspected of opposing the Convention (Law of Suspects)

27th July, 1794

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 23:11:00 UTC

The Jacobin Convention brought very positive reforms and defeated European armies, but a lot of people were opposite to them. The moderated republicans, tired of the Reign of Terror, organized a coup d' état that was named as Thermidorian Reaction

25th October, 1795

mariogarsam — 2023-11-16 23:11:23 UTC

The moderate republicans created a committee of five members called the Directory, an institution that promoted economic liberalism and a bourgeois society. They were very instable because of radical conspiracies and they faced Neo-Jacobins, who wanted to reinstaurate universal suffrage and the Constitution of 1793

15th September, 1791

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 18:46:02 UTC

A writer and activist called Olympe de Gouges wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, despite the governors didn't take this into account. She was accused to be royalist and she was guillotined in 1793

1790

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 18:51:06 UTC

During the elaboration of the new Constitution, France was always instable. The National Assembly wrote the Proclamation of the National Assembly for everyone to know what was the purpose of the National Assembly

14th July, 1790

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 18:56:27 UTC

They organized a festival to celebrate the first anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille. Later, in 1880, they proclaimed the 14th of July as the National Day

9th November, 1799

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 19:00:16 UTC

A young and popular army general called Napoleon Bonaparte headed a new coup d'état, that ended with the Directory and with the French Revolution, adopting a moderate liberalism position

About NAPOLEON

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 19:05:03 UTC

Napoleon was inspired by the changes between 1789 and 1791, pretending to show to the whole world the power of France, thinking of the nation as the one that defeated absolutism and aspired to dominate Europe.

He had fought against the Austrian and Prussian armies, and he had been very successful in his battles, that's the reason why many people followed him to the coup d'état

After The Revolution...

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 19:07:38 UTC

The Coup of 18th Brumaire finished with the French Revolution, but the government of Napoleon extended about 15 years. It was divided in two stages.

The Consulate (1799-1804)

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 19:11:27 UTC

A new constitution was written, in which the Consulate was established, but it hadn't a declaration of rights and another important points, so it restricted drastically the citizen freedoms and public opinion was censored. Napoleon created a personal dictatorship, proclamation himself First Consul and assuming the most of the powers

The Napoleonic Empire (1804-1815)

mariogarsam — 2023-11-17 21:33:23 UTC

Napoleon was felling very powerful, so he asked the Pope to crown him emperor. During the empire period, Napoleon started to attack and conquer a large part of Europe with a huge army and new war strategies. He abolished absolutism and established constitutional regimes with the intention to make the people think that the napoleonic domain was beneficial for them, but later, people started to feel a desire to be independent and developed the Nationalism. In 1812, the French Empire reached its peak, but it began to decline due to its inability to conquer Russia and the War of Independence in Spain. The European territories allied themselves to defeat France and in 1815, Napoleon lost the war in the Battle of Waterloo and was exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821