French Revolution

Q: What was the French Revolution?

The French Revolution was a period of major social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789-1799. Its goals were to dismantle France's oppressive old regime and create a new society based around Enlightenment Age principles such as the general will of the people and natural rights.

Q: What were 3 main causes of the French Revolution?

3 main causes of the French Revolution include a financial crisis caused by mounting state debt, rampant social inequality, and the incompetence of the French monarch and the Ancien Régime (old regime).

Q: What began the French Revolution?

The French Revolution is generally agreed to have begun on 5 May 1789 with the meeting of the Estates-General, although there is a valid argument to be made that it began on other dates, such as the Day of Tiles in 1788 or the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.

Q: What ended the French Revolution?

The Coup of 18 Brumaire in November 1799 is generally considered to have ended the French Revolution, as it was the moment when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in France and ushered in the Napoleonic era.

Q: What are some important events of the French Revolution?

Important events of the French Revolution include the Storming of the Bastille by the people, the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the overthrow of the monarchy and establishment of the French Republic, the execution of King Louis XVI, the Reign of Terror, and the French Revolutionary Wars that evolved into the Napoleonic Wars.

Harrison W. Mark

Definition

The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period of major societal and political upheaval in France. It witnessed the collapse of the monarchy, the establishment of the First French Republic, and culminated in the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and the start of the Napoleonic era. The French Revolution is considered one of the defining events of Western history.

More about: French Revolution

Timeline

13 Apr 1747 - 6 Nov 1793
Life of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, also known as Philippe Égalité. Head of the House of Orléans, and a supporter of the French Revolution.
22 Oct 1761 - 29 Nov 1793
Life of Antoine Barnave, French revolutionary leader.
11 Jun 1775
Coronation of King Louis XVI of France.
1781
Jacques Necker, French Director of Finance, publishes the Compte rendu au roi, the first record of royal finances ever made public.
Jan 1789
Abbé Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès publishes his influential pamphlet "What is the Third Estate?"
5 May 1789
The Estates-General convenes in Versailles for the first time in 175 years.
20 Jun 1789
The Tennis Court Oath is sworn at an indoor tennis court in Versailles, France by the Third Estate who had been locked out of the Estates-General meeting, vowing not to disband until they had created a new constitution for France and sparking the beginning of the French Revolution.
11 Jul 1789
Jacques Necker, popular Chief Minister of France, is fired from King Louis XVI's cabinet for a second time and ordered into exile.
11 Jul 1789
The popular public figure Jacques Necker is dismissed from his position as Director-General of Finances by King Louis XVI of France, angering the general population of Paris and leading directly to the storming of the Bastille on 14 July.
12 Jul 1789 - 14 Jul 1789
The dismissal of Jacques Necker causes over 6,000 Parisians to take to the streets. They fight with soldiers, burn toll booths, and raid armories and gunsmiths for weapons.
14 Jul 1789
The Bastille in Paris is stormed.
14 Jul 1789
The Storming of the Bastille, the royal fortress-prison in Paris, becomes the most famous event of the French Revolution. Although the Bastille held only seven prisoners, the event of liberating them was seen as a symbolic blow against the tyranny of the monarchy. The date is celebrated today as Bastille Day.
15 Jul 1789
Lafayette is appointed commander of the newly formed National Guard, and charged with keeping order in Paris.
c. 19 Jul 1789 - c. 6 Aug 1789
The Great Fear sweeps across the French countryside, as peasants attack the feudal estates of the nobility.
4 Aug 1789
The National Constituent Assembly discards their privileges, decides to abolish feudalism in France.
11 Aug 1789
In France, the August Decrees are passed.
26 Aug 1789
The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is adopted by the National Constituent Assembly of France during the French Revolution, declaring the universality of human rights.
26 Aug 1789
France's National Assembly approves a final version of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Oct 1789
The Women's March on Versailles increases demand for a French constitutional monarchy, relocates the royal family to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
5 Oct 1789 - 6 Oct 1789
Women's March on Versailles; King Louis XVI of France is forcibly moved to Paris.
Jan 1790
The National Assembly passes a decree making Corsica a department of France; Corsican hero Pasquale Paoli is invited back from exile after 22 years.
13 Feb 1790
The National Assembly abolishes monastic vows in France.
12 Jul 1790
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed, making the French Catholic Church subordinate to the French government.
14 Jul 1790
Lafayette helps organize and lead the Fete de Federation, a festival celebrating the French Revolution. He takes an oath swearing loyalty to the nation, the law and the king.
20 Jun 1791 - 21 Jun 1791
The Flight to Varennes, an attempted escape by the French royal family from Paris, is foiled; public disdain for the monarchy increases.
17 Jul 1791
National Guard soldiers under Lafayette's command open fire at an anti-monarchy demonstration at the Champ de Mars in Paris. Several French citizens are killed.
27 Aug 1791
The Declaration of Pillnitz is issued by Austria and Prussia, threatening war against France should any harm befall the French royal family.
3 Sep 1791
France's National Assembly adopts the Constitution of 1791, with the Declaration of the Rights of Man serving as a preamble.
Mar 1792
Napoleon Bonaparte is elected lieutenant colonel of the Corsican National Guard; weeks later, he suppresses an Easter Sunday uprising in Ajaccio.
20 Apr 1792
Revolutionary France declares war on Austria, sparking the War of the First Coalition.
29 Apr 1792
French General Theobald Dillon is butchered by his own soldiers.
11 Jun 1792
King Louis XVI of France vetoes rulings by the Legislative Assembly, angering many.
20 Jun 1792
King Louis XVI is accosted in the Tuileries Palace by a swarm of sans-culottes; he is forced to wear a liberty cap and drink a toast to the nation.
9 Aug 1792
The Insurrectionary Commune gains power in Paris, stripping authority from the king and Legislative Assembly.
10 Aug 1792
Insurrectionists storm the Tuileries Palace in Paris, massacring the Swiss Guards; King Louis XVI of France is imprisoned in the Temple prison fortress two days later.
13 Aug 1792
The family of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette are imprisoned in the Tower of the Temple.
2 Sep 1792 - 7 Sep 1792
Between 1,100-1,400 prisoners, or half of Paris' total prison population, are killed in the September Massacres.
2 Sep 1792
The September Massacres begin in Paris during the French Revolution when over 1,000 of the prisoners held in the city are summarily executed owing to the fear that they would rise up in support of the Prussian army then advancing on Paris. The killings continued until 6 September.
20 Sep 1792
The Battle of Valmy results in a French victory over Prussian invaders.
20 Sep 1792
The Battle of Valmy is fought near Valmy, France, during the War of the First Coalition between French forces and the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire, ending in a victory for the French who stopped the invasion and capture of Paris.
21 Sep 1792
The National Convention abolishes the French Monarchy during the French Revolution.
21 Sep 1792
The First French Republic is established.
6 Nov 1792
The Battle of Jemappes is fought between the army of the new French Republic and the forces of the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the First Coalition, ending in a victory for the French and proving the abilities of the new French volunteer army under General Charles Francois Dumouriez.
1793 - 1794
Thomas Paine is imrpisoned in Frnace during the ongoing French Revolution.
21 Jan 1793
In the wake of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in Paris after his conviction on the charge of treason brought by the National Convention.
21 Jan 1793
King Louis XVI of France, now known as Citizen Louis Capet, is executed by guillotine.
6 Apr 1793
The Committee of Public Safety is set up by the National Convention.
24 Apr 1793
The trial of Jean-Paul Marat results in his acquittal, and is a major blow to the Girondins.
4 May 1793
The National Convention passes the "law of the maximum" which imposes a price cap on grain and wheat.
31 May 1793 - 2 Jun 1793
The Insurrections of 31 May-02 June 1793 lead to the arrests of prominent Girondins and the political purge of their faction.
Jul 1793
Napoleon publishes his pro-Jacobin pamphlet Le Souper de Beaucaire, gaining the notice of Jacobin leader Augustin Robespierre.
27 Jul 1793
Maximilien Robespierre elected to the Committee of Public Safety; the National Convention institutes death penalty for hoarders of goods.
5 Sep 1793
The Reign of Terror begins in France during the French Revolution, killing an estimated 45,000 people through public executions, deaths in prison, or other murders before it ends in July 1794.
14 Oct 1793 - 15 Oct 1793
Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal. She is found guilty of high treason and is sentenced to death.
31 Oct 1793
21 leading Girondins, including Vergniaud and Brissot, are executed.
3 Nov 1793
French playwright and human rights activist Olympe de Gouges, best known for her *Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen*, is executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. De Gouges, initially a supporter of the revolution, denounced the radical policies of Maximilien Robespierre and was arrested and then executed.
16 Nov 1793
The Mass Drownings at Nantes begin during the Reign of Terror era of the French Revolution when 90 Catholic priests are taken out by barge and drowned in the Loire River. Catholic clergy, as well as anyone suspected of being a "royalist sympathizer" and anyone who did not ardently support the revolution was drowned between November 1793 and February 1794, with a death toll of over 4,000.
8 Jun 1794
Maximilien Robespierre introduces the new state religion of the Cult of the Supreme Being, a form of Deism, to replace Roman Catholicism and the Cult of Reason during the French Revolution.
28 Jul 1794
Maximilien Robespierre is executed by guillotine in Paris, France, along with 21 of his supporters during the French Revolution, ending the period known as the Reign of Terror.
9 Aug 1794 - 20 Aug 1794
Following the Thermidorian Reaction, Napoleon Bonaparte is arrested in connection to the Robespierres; he is eventually released.
5 Oct 1795
During the French Revolution, the royalist revolt of 13 Vendemiaire is crushed by Napoleon Bonaparte.