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Description: Excessive spending on the royal court, American Revolutionary War, and lack of a central bank leads the crown into debt, causing a financial crisis.
Effect: After the crisis begins, King Louis XVI calls the estates general into order to enact new taxes and reform the tax code to raise revenue for the crown. -
The first, second, and third debate gathered to approve new tax laws to help save the French economy and government. Political infighting eventually leads the third estate to break off, eventually leading to the French Revolution.
Cause: This was caused by the economic crisis facing France under Louis XVI. Excessive spending and poor harvests led for a desperate need for increased crown revenue. -
Representatives of the Third Estate are blocked out of their meeting hall, and go to a tennis court, where they vow not to disband until they write a constitution.
Cause: Eventually leads to the first and second estate joining the newly formed National Assembly after the Oath forms a fracture between the monarchy and the people. -
Members of the First and Second estate broke from the traditional estates general, joining the third estate in the National Assembly. This may have been due to the Third Estate being the majority of the population, threatening the second and first estate.
Effect: This was prompted by the Tennis Court Oath, in which the third estate pledged to create a constitution. -
Declaration by the National Assembly, recognizing enlightenment principles of natural rights, equality, and popular sovereignty. It symbolizes the ideals of the new government.
Effect: This Declaration set up for the constitutional monarchy established in The Constitution of 1791. The Declaration had already established that the monarch was responsible for its citizens through social contract, and the constitution formalized it through a constitutional government. -
Common Parisians attack and capture the Bastille, a prison seen as a symbol of monarchical oppression. This prompts Louis to recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly, and is the first outbreak of violence.
Effect: This event will lead to the great fear in the countryside. This standoff between the royalty and the common folk leads to widespread fears of a plot to kill peasants in the countryside. -
Peasants in the countryside go up in arms following rumors of a royalist plot to kill/poison peasants. They attack manors, feudal records, and resist paying dues.
Cause: This was connected to the storming of Bastille in Paris. This attack led to fear of reprisals that spread into the countryside, culminating in the great fear. -
Established France as a constitutional monarchy. Created a unicameral legislature, removed Louis XVI's absolute authority, and established equality of the law.
Cause: Nearly all the elements of this constitution were drawn directly from the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Equality under the law, and social contract, were formalized under this constitution. -
Louis XVI is executed. He was convicted of treason by the National Assembly. This was a turning point, as it was the end of the French monarchy, and led into a more chaotic and violent phase of the revolution.
Effect: The removal of the king from power would lead to a power vacuum that many attempted to fill. Eventually, Robespierre would take power as an effective dictator in France, reigning with terror and violence. -
The Committee of Public Safety ruled over France with an iron fist. Robespierre led this committee, reigning over mass executions, political repression, and chaos. He was eventually arrested and executed once the tides changed against him.
Cause: This Reign of Terror was caused by the factions who vied for power following King Louis XVI's execution. Through this power vacuum, Robespierre eventually took the effective "throne" of France. -
Created under the constitution of 1795, the directory was a five-person executive, with a bicameral legislature. It was plagued with corruption, and despite being organized to prevent dictatorship it remained unpopular.
Effect: The Directory would lead to Napoleon's rise due to its widespread unpopularity and ineffectiveness. Napoleon was able to easily gain enough support to overthrow the directory, and eventually establish his own empire. -
Napoleon, a military genius, gained the support of the military and political allies to lead a coup against the directory. He established the Consulate, naming himself as First Consul.
Cause: This was prompted by an era of ineffectual leadership under the Directory. Having been established to end the reign of terror, it did not prevent another charismatic leader from taking control of France. -
Napoleon was declared First Consul following his coup against the directory, establishing the consulate. Although there were three consuls, the first consul had much more power and effectively ruled the state.
Effect:
Establishing himself as First Consul would give Napoleon the initiative to begin his military campaigns against the rest of Europe. Eventually, this would lead him to declare himself as the emperor of France. -
Taking the crown from the Pope himself, Napoleon established himself as emperor of France. It created a new hereditary empire.
Effect:
As emperor, Napoleon would lead even more campaigns to truly establish himself as emperor over Europe. Coalitions formed to defeat him, eventually leading to his final defeat in the Battle of Waterloo. -
This is Napoleon's final defeat, permanently ending his rule in France. British and Prussian forces ended his Hundred Days return to power. Following the defeat, he was exiled to Saint Helena.
Cause: This defeat was rooted in Napoleon's decision to declare himself emperor, leading to rapid expansion that tore his empire apart. A strategic genius, he was unable to overcome the overwhelming odds facing him.