The French Revolution

The French Revolution took place between 1789 and 1799.

The causes of the revolution were;

France was ruled by Absolute Monarchy meaning the King, Church and Nobles.

Louis XV and XVI supported the American Revolution, and helped during the 7 year war, leaving France poor and with huge debts.

The price of bread was through the roof, meaning that the poor couldn’t afford it, and so went hungry, causing resentment of the rich Nobles who could afford to eat properly.

The Roman Catholic Church put a tax on crops which made it even harder for the poorest to live well, as they were already hungry and suffering from malnutrition.

The people could see from the new America that people had more influence and freedom of religion, and so disliked the total rule in France.

The King Louis XVI failed in his duty to sort these problems out and so leading to the revolution.

The National Assembly (NA) was made up of the third Estate, on the 10th June 1789, because the First and Second estates would not listen to what they had to say. On the 20th of that same month they took an oath to work until there was a new constitution in France.

The attack of Bastille prison took place in the same year; this is the event that started the revolution. Jacques Necker had been fired as the director general of finances, and so people thought the King would try to shut down the NA. This caused mass riots and looting in Paris, and this lead to the attack on Bastille. On the 14th July, the attack was commenced; the prison was a symbol of the power of the Absolute Monarchy. They stormed the prison and released the seven prisoners held there, then beheaded the governor, placing his head on a stick as a mark of triumph.

Soon the NA took over Paris and Necker was reinstated, but by the end of July the revolution had spread all over France. The king was given a ‘Suspensive Vito’ on law, so he could not stop laws being passed. The King moved to Paris after being attacked by 7,000 women.

In 1790 all taxes and other powers of the church were revoked, and so taken from them. The first jury trials were held, trade barriers were abolished, unions, guilds and so on were also ended, and striking was banned. In 1791 the Monarchy fled Paris, but were caught and the King and his wife Marie Antoinette were imprisoned by the NA. The King was reinstated after the new constitution came into force, but with little power, much like the British Queen today. The NA gave up its government of France because a new constitution had been created, and the Legislative Assembly (LA) took over.