The French Revolution
In 1789, France was bankrupt after many lost wars, and king Louis XVI was forced to summon parliament, called the estates general, for the first time in 175 years.
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In 1789, French people were divided among three `Estate’- the nobles, clergy and middle class – plus the peasants. Nobles owned all the land, but were exempt from paying taxes, and the tax burden fell on the peasants.
In 1789, France was bankrupt after many lost wars, and king Louis XVI was forced to summon parliament, called the estates general, for the first time in 175 years.
The three estates had met separately in the past, but now insisted on meeting in a national assembly to debate how to limit the power of the king. The assembly was dominated by the third estate, the middle class.
On 14 July 1789, the poor people of Paris, tried of debates, stormed the prison fortress of the Bastille.
Fired by the fall of the Bastille, peasants rose all over the country and refused to pay taxes. The women in Paris marched to Versailles and dragged the king back to Paris.
The national assemble became more radical, ending serfdom and attacking the nobles and the church. Many nobles fled the country in panic.
The assembly speakers who had the power to move the Paris mobs, like Georges Danton, came to the fore. The assembly renamed itself the national convention and set up the committee of public safety to govern France by terror.
Many nobles were sent to the guillotine and in 1793 Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, were themselves guillotined.
The reign of terror was presided over by Robespierre, who saw more and more of his rivals to the guillotine, including Daton. But in the end even Robespierre himself was guillotined, in July 1794
With Robespierre gone, conservatives regained control. Emphasis shifted to defending the revolution against foreign kings and to napoleon’s conquests.
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