The angry, mid-class French citizens. The taxes. Wealthy nobility like Marie Antoinette, a young and extravagant queen. And Maximilien Robespierre, a radical revolutionary.
How did the French Revolution start? Let us see…
In 1789, King Louis XVI (the 16th), called a meeting of the Estate General which divides into three groups. The clergy, nobility, and the commoners. The clergy are exempt from taxes but owns much property. The nobility is up of the king, queen, lords, and the wealthy landowners. They pay little tax, but they owned 1/5 of France. The commoners are called the bourgeoisie (boor-zhwa-zee). The commoners are the serfs, farmers, poor, businessmen, and merchants. They pay hefty taxes (50% of their income) to support the whole country and the excessive lifestyle of the clergy and nobility.
King Louis wanted an absolute monarchy. He did not want to ask anyone. So, the estate generals of the parliament have not been called in for a session for 170 years. King Louis called them because death has tripled France, and they were bankrupt because of the American revolution. In the meeting, the generals presented all their grievances.
They argued about the voting rights since May-June, but nothing happened. The three estates had three votes, but the 3rd estate (the commoners) were 95-98% of the population.
Most of the people were so angry that they stomped out of the meeting and went to the tennis court and made the tennis court oath. They said, “we will not disband until our rights of liberty are good!” They stomped back into the room and took over! They renamed themselves the national assembly. A few clergy and nobility joined them. They wanted unbridled (uncontrolled) freedom. After they had power, they went crazy. Mobs rioted against the king, the peasants, armed with pitchforks and shovels, sacked houses of the nobility. On July 14, they stormed into the Bastille (old castle jail) castle. The invasion is known as Bastille Day. It was a 4-hour bloody attack. While they were attacking, they kept on shouting: Liberty! Equality! Fraternity! The jail only holds seven prisoners, but the dungeon represents a long history of oppression by the rich and royal. It was also a house of weapons.
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette is the 13th child of Maria Theresa. Maria Theresa wants Marie to marry the King of France. The French were not thrilled because Marie was Austrian, and she was nicknamed “Madame Deficit” because of her wild spending. She bought an excessive number of shoes, gowns, and diamonds. Marie also gambled, hosted lavish parties, and snuck out to masquerade balls. She had many servants who watched her every move. Because of this, she requested a Petit Trianon house. Petit Trianon is a small home away from court. It was still in the palace of Versailles, but it let her have privacy. She lived a simple life there, away from fancy clothes, she grew vegetables, raised chickens, milk cows, and played with her children. While they were enjoying their life, there was a food shortage in Paris. The peasants had no bread to eat.
In October 1789, a group of women and a few men dressed like women-led an all-night riot to force Marie and her family to go to Paris to see how hard it is for them. Thirty thousand people escorted them to Paris. In 1791 the National Assembly drafted The Declaration of the Rights of Man with Thomas Jefferson. Nevertheless, it did not thrive. France entered the war with Austria and Prussia. Louis the XVI conspired with foreigners to give him back the rights that he wanted. Louis was executed in January 1793 and Marie in October 1793.
Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror
In 1792, the National Assembly became the National Convention. The French had won the war between Austria and Prussia. Inside the convention, however, there were two disagreeing sides: the right and the left. The right is traditional, and the left is radical (no king!). On the left, there was Maximilien Robespierre. He was one of the Jacobins who started their religion. They are the cult of the supreme being and made the week ten days instead of 7 days. Maximilien Robespierre made the Committee of Public Safety. However, it turned out to be a killing machine. He made the Guillotine (GEE uh teen). The Committee of Public Safety uses the Guillotine to kill people who are against Maximilien Robespierre and thieves without trial. It has killed 5000 nobles and 20000-40000 citizens. The people called this time, the reign of terror. In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre was condemned to die to end the reign of terror. In the end, Maximilien Robespierre was killed by his own machine. Because of his death, the Jacobins broke off, and the cult soon died off as well. Later, the Guillotine will be used to behead King Louis XVI.
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