French Revolution

Ancien regime - system of kings and nobles

Third Estate was taxed excessively because France was going bankrupt

Third Estate tired to create own National Assembly

Found indoor Tennis Court and swore the Tennis Court Oath - they wouldn’t give up until a French constitution was established

Louis XVI responded by sending troops to Paris to quell uprisings over food shortages

Revolutionaries responded by seizing the Bastille Prison on July 14th - to free prisoners and get guns

Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen - everyone has the right to liberty, property, and security - radical ideas

Eventually, Louis XVI was sentenced to death via guillotine - marked beginning of the Reign of Terror

Maximillian Robespierre was the leader

After the terror, revolution put a new constitution that gave power to wealthy people

Coup in 1799 established Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul of France

Napoleon was basically an emporor

After Napoleon, France restored the monarchy, so it succeeded in spreading Enlightenment ideas, but did not establish a democracy or republic