French Revolution and Napoleon

By georgehannaum
  • Excessive spending and poor harvests lead to a financial crisis in France

    Excessive spending and poor harvests lead to a financial crisis in France

    Decades of war debt, especially from the American Revolution, court extravagance, and repeated crop failures left the French monarchy near bankruptcy. This fiscal crisis directly caused Louis XVI to call the Estates-General, since traditional taxation reforms were blocked by privileged estates.
  • King Louis XVI calls the Estates-General

    King Louis XVI calls the Estates-General

    The Estates-General, which had not met since 1614, was convened to approve new taxes. Disputes over voting procedures led to the Tennis Court Oath, paving the way for National Assembly.
  • The Tennis Court Oath

    The Tennis Court Oath

    This meeting occurred when the organizers of the third Estate swore not to disband until France had a constitution. This was an act of defiance from the monarchy and paved the way for uprisings like the storming of the Bastille.
  • First and Second Estates join the Third Estate in the National Assembly

    First and Second Estates join the Third Estate in the National Assembly

    Members of the clergy and nobility supported the Third Estate in their efforts to represent France. This legitimized the National Assembly and weakened royal authority and displayed the importance of the Tennis Court Oath.
  • The Storming of the Bastille

    The Storming of the Bastille

    Crowds of Parisians seized the Bastille, which was a stronghold of the military and symbolized the power of the monarchy. This event inspired rural unrest known as the Great Fear.
  • The Great Fear in the countryside

    The Great Fear in the countryside

    Peasants revolted on a large scale as a result of fear of aristocratic retaliation to their demands. This peasant violence pressured the National Assembly to abolish feudal privileges, leveling the playing field for members of the third estate, bringing them closer to the first two estates.
  • The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

    The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

    A foundational document that pushed the ideals of natural rights, equality under the law, and popular sovereignty. Inspired by Enlightenment ideas and earlier foundational American documents, it formed the basis for the Constitution of 1791.
  • The Constitution of 1791 establishes a constitutional monarchy

    The Constitution of 1791 establishes a constitutional monarchy

    France became a constitutional monarchy, limiting the role of the royals and bringing a legislative assembly in. Louis XVI’s resistance and attempted flight highlighted fading confidence in the monarchy, which eventually led to its eventual abolition.
  • Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine

    Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine

    After the monarchy was abolished, the former king was executed for treason. His execution radicalized the Revolution and helped justify the Reign of Terror.