French Revolution by ALBA MARÍA HORJE TORRES

The Constituent Assembly (1789-1791)

4725962 — 2024-05-20 19:30:53 UTC

On August 26, 1789, the French National Constituent Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, becoming a fundamental legacy of the French Revolution; which has a universal value, and formed the basis of the United Nations Declaration in 1948. The suppression of seigneurial privileges, putting an end to the existing differences of the estate society of the Old Regime and definitively abolishing feudalism.

Execution of King Louis XVI (1793)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 16:45:42 UTC

King Louis XVI of France was executed in the Place de la Révolution (now Place de la Concorde) in Paris around 10 a.m. on January 21, 1793. The guillotine ended the life of the French sovereign, after a trial in which he was accused of treason against the country and against the revolution. After being restrained, he exclaimed "my people, I die innocent!".

Loss of power of the Church (1789)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 16:51:06 UTC

In August 1789 the State canceled the Church's power to impose taxes. The issue of religious ownership of land would be key in the policies of the new revolutionary government. It was declared that all Church lands in France belonged to the nation and were to be confiscated and auctioned.

From the Federation Festival to the Varennes Escape(1791)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 16:56:31 UTC

King Louis XVI of France (reigned 1774-1792), his wife Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-93), and their children attempted to escape from Paris on the night of June 20-21, 1791. King Louis, incapable of a great effort of will and reluctant to leave France, was goaded by Queen Marie Antoinette herself, who astutely perceived the degradation of royal authority and the loss of the royal prerogatives that her son would inherit.

War of Austria and Prussia against France (1792-1797)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 17:02:41 UTC

After Austria refused to withdraw its troops from the French border and back down from the perceived threat of using force, France declared war on Austria and Prussia in the spring of 1792; Both countries responded with a coordinated invasion that was finally repulsed at the Battle of Valmy in September.

The Directory (1795-1799)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 17:05:13 UTC

The Convention approved a constitution on August 17, 1795, ratified on September 26 in a plebiscite. The so-called Year III Constitution conferred executive power on a Board of Directors, made up of five directors. Legislative power would be exercised by a bicameral assembly, composed of the Council of Elders (250 members) and the Council of Five Hundred. This Constitution abolished universal male suffrage and reestablished census suffrage.

Napoleon and the seizure of power

4725962 — 2024-05-23 17:07:25 UTC

The new Constitution was opposed by monarchist and Jacobin groups. There were revolts, repressed by the army, which motivated General Napoleon Bonaparte, returning from his campaign in Egypt, to carry out a coup d'état on November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire), installing the Consulate.

The Consulate (1799-1804)

4725962 — 2024-05-23 17:10:00 UTC

The Constitution of the Year VIII, written by Pierre Daunou and promulgated on December 25, 1799, established an authoritarian regime that concentrated power in the hands of Napoleon, for the supposed salvation of the republic in the face of a possible monarchical restoration. Contrary to previous constitutions, it did not include any declaration on the fundamental rights of citizens. Until May 18, 1804 (floor 28 of the year XII), when a new senate-consult proclaimed the First Empire and the extinction of the First Republic, thus closing the historical chapter of the French Revolution.

The French flag and the symbols of the Revolution

4725962 — 2024-05-23 17:12:01 UTC

The colors blue, white and red were already common in various pavilions, uniforms and flags of France before the 18th century. Blue and red were the colors of the town of Paris since the 14th century, and white was at that time the color of the kingdom of France, and by extension of the Bourbon monarchy.