The French Revolution (1789–1799) also known The Revolution of 1789 to distinguish it from the ones of 1830 and 1848, was a transformative decade that reshaped France and reverberated across Europe. Sparked by economic crisis, social inequality, and discontent with the rule of Louis XVI (reign 1774–1792), it began with the convening and collapse of the Estates-General in May 1789. The storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789) and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen marked the Revolution’s radical momentum, as the Ancien Régime crumbled and the monarchy was formally abolished in 1792. In its place, the French Republic was declared, committing France to a new experiment in sovereignty, citizenship, and popular representation.

The Revolution was not a single moment but a sequence of escalating upheavals: the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, the radical Jacobin phase and Reign of Terror (1793–1794), the Thermidorian Reaction, and the rise of the five-member Directory (1795–1799). Revolutionary wars against Austria, Prussia, and Britain transformed France into both a beacon of republican ideals and a destabilizing force in Europe. The Revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), abolishing the Directory and establishing the Consulate, which inaugurated the Napoleonic era and set the stage for new conflicts and imperial ambitions.