ALLOF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Calling of the Estates-General

-France had ~5 billion livres of national debt (mainly from the American War of Independence).
-1,200 deputies (600 Third Estate, 300 each from clergy + nobility) gathered at Versailles.
-Louis XVI needed new taxes to fix the financial crisis, but resistance from nobles forced him to call the Estates-General.

Forming the National Assembly

-The Third Estate made up ~98% of the population but had only one-third of the votes.
-577 deputies of the Third Estate declared themselves the National Assembly.
-The Third Estate wanted fairer representation and to push political reform when blocked in the Estates-General.

Tennis Court Oath

-20-25% of France's population was unemployed or underemployed in Paris at the time, fueling unrest.
-~576 deputies swore not to disband until a constitution was written.
-Louis XVI locked the Third Estate out of their meeting hall; they regrouped in a tennis court and vowed to draft a constitution.

Storming of the Bastille

-~900 insurgents stormed the fortress; ~100 attackers + 1 defender killed.
-Bread price = ~88% of worker's wages.
-The people feared a royal military crackdown and wanted gunpowder to defend the National Assembly.

The Great Fear

-Grain prices rose ~50% in summer 1789; rural hunger + rumors of aristocratic plots spread panic.
-Peasant revolts hit ~2/3 of France's provinces.
-Fear of noble retaliation and starvation led peasants to attack manors, burn feudal records, and seize food.

Women's March on Versailles

-~7,000 women marched 20 km to Versailles.
-Bread prices doubled (1788-1789); up to 90% of income went to food.
-Anger over bread scarcity + suspicion the royal family was hoarding grain and ignoring the people's suffering.

Flight to Varennes

-Royal family caught ~50 km from border; ~6,000 guards deployed in Paris.
-National debt ~4 billion livres (20× annual income).
-Louis XVI tried to escape to rally counter-revolutionary forces after losing trust in the revolution.

Champ de Mars Massacre

Scale of event: ~50 killed when National Guard fired on ~6,000 protesters.
Scale of problem: Paris ~600,000 people; radical clubs + press multiplying.
Why it happened: Republican protesters demanded abolition of the monarchy; leaders ordered a crackdown to preserve order.

Foreign Wars with Austria and Prussia

Problem stat: France's army had ~140,000 troops, but ~6,000 officers emigrated after the Revolution, weakening command.
Scale stat: ~600,000 French troops were mobilized by 1793.
Why: Revolutionary leaders wanted to spread revolution + distract from domestic crisis; Austria and Prussia wanted to restore Louis XVI.

Storming of the Tuileries

Scale of event: ~20,000 insurgents attacked; ~600 Swiss Guards massacred.
Scale of problem: ~50% of Paris workers unemployed.
Why it happened: Anger at Louis XVI's betrayal, foreign invasion threat, and the monarchy's perceived sabotage.

September Massacres

Scale of event: ~1,200 prisoners killed (~half of Paris prisons).
Scale of problem: ~150,000 Austro-Prussian troops on French borders.
Why it happened: Fear that political prisoners would rise up to help invading enemies.

Reign of Terror

Scale of event: ~16,000 executed; ~300,000 arrested.
Scale of problem: France fielded ~800,000 soldiers, largest European army.
Why it happened: To crush counter-revolution and enforce loyalty during wartime crisis.

Committee of Public Safety (April 1793 creation)

Problem stat: ~60 out of 83 French départements were in revolt, especially in the Vendée, after the king's execution.
Scale stat: The committee had 12 members, including Robespierre, effectively running France as a wartime government.
Why: To centralize power, defeat foreign enemies, and crush internal rebellion during the crisis.

Fall of Robespierre

Scale of event: ~100 Robespierrists arrested + executed.
Scale of problem: ~10,000-17,000 executed during Terror, triggering backlash.
Why it happened: Fear among moderates + revolutionaries that Robespierre would turn on them next.

Directory Established

Problem stat: ~25,000 royalists rose in the Vendémiaire Uprising (Oct 1795), showing political instability.
Scale stat: The Directory was run by 5 directors + 2 councils (500 and 250 members), trying to balance power.
Why: To avoid dictatorship or another Terror after Robespierre's fall and to stabilize a divided France.

Napoleon Overthrew the Directory

Problem stat: Inflation had devalued the currency by ~99% since 1795; the Directory was corrupt + unpopular.
Scale stat: Napoleon took power with ~600 soldiers, and the councils were cleared out under military pressure.
Why: The Directory was weak, France faced internal crisis + war, and elites wanted a strong leader to restore order.

Calling EG, 3rd estate asks for more representation

May , 1789

Forming National Assembly, 3rd estate breaks away, claims to represent France

June, 1789,

Tennis Court Oath, A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in ---- in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution,

June 1789,

Storming Bastille, Paris- the medieval fortress and prison known as the Bastille contained only seven prisoners, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution and it subsequently become an icon of the French Republic

July 14 1789~

The Great Fear, A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille

July-aug, 1789

August Decrees: Decrees passed by the National Assembly of France in ----- renouncing and abolishing most of the traditional privileges of the nobility and the clergy.

1789, August.

Declaration of the Rights Of Man and Citizen, created by the National Assembly to give rights to all (except women).

Adopted August 26, 1789

Women's march on Versaille-the __ occurs when Parisian women lead a mob of people to Versailles and force the royal family back to Paris.

On October 5 and 6 in 1789,

Flight To Varennes- The Royal Family's attempt to flee France

June 20-21, 1791.

Constitution where all 3 estates have equal power in government, National Assembly becomes Legislative Assembly, absolute monarchy is abolished, forcing the king to obey.

1791

Champ de mars massacre

July 1791

Foreign wars with austria and prussia

Start April 1792

September massacres, slaughter of royalists making plans in prison, brutal slaughter

September 1792,

Attack on palace, arresting the royal family,

The Insurrection of August 10th

Execution Of Louis XVI

January, 1793

Reign Of Terror- during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty"

(1793-94)

Creation of Committee of Public Safety: Created to run the war effort in ------ It could determine foreign policy, appoint and fire commanders, issue warrants and sanction decrees. 7/9 came from the Montagnard, including Danton. The committee had to meet monthly with the Convention.

April 1793

Robespierre Death, When Maximilien Robespierre was arrested on.

July 1794

Directory establishing

Was established in 1795

Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory in a coup,

1799.

Napoleon Comeback and then Exile

1814: Exile to Elba,
1815 July: Abdicated again, exiled to Saint Helena.

National Assembly

1789-1791

Legislative Assembly

Oct 1791 - Sept 1792

National Convention

Sept 1792- 1795

Directory

1795- 1799