French Revolution
In summary
The French Revolution (1789-1799) ended centuries of absolute monarchy in France. Triggered by a severe financial and social crisis, it began with the convening of the Estates-General and the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, then abolished feudal privileges and proclaimed the rights of man and the citizen. The country then went through several phases: constitutional monarchy, the execution of Louis XVI and the proclamation of the First Republic in 1792, the Terror under Robespierre in 1793-1794, and finally the Directory. It ended with Napoleon Bonaparte's coup d'état on 9 November 1799. By profoundly transforming French society, it spread across Europe the ideals of liberty, equality and popular sovereignty on which modern democracy is founded.
What you need to know
By the late 1780s, the Kingdom of France was facing a severe financial crisis, worsened by the cost of wars, particularly the support given to American independence. The tax system, built on the privileges of the nobility and the clergy, placed most of the burden on the Third Estate, while poor harvests caused food shortages and rising bread prices. Facing budgetary deadlock, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General, which met at Versailles on 5 May 1789 for the first time since 1614. Feeling inadequately represented, the Third Estate proclaimed itself the National Assembly on 17 June, then took the Tennis Court Oath on 20 June, pledging to give the kingdom a constitution. Tensions culminated in the storming of the Bastille by the people of Paris on 14 July 1789, a founding event that symbolically marked the beginning of the Revolution.
In the months that followed, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudal privileges on the night of 4 August 1789 and, on 26 August, adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, affirming liberty, equality before the law and national sovereignty. The monarchy became constitutional with the adoption of the 1791 Constitution, but tensions worsened: the king attempted to flee the country and was arrested at Varennes in June 1791, permanently discrediting the monarchy. In 1792, war against Austria and Prussia, together with the uprising of 10 August that overthrew the monarchy, paved the way for the proclamation of the First Republic on 22 September 1792.
The fledgling Republic had to face both foreign war and civil war, notably in the Vendée. In this perilous context, the National Convention granted exceptional powers to the Committee of Public Safety, dominated from 1793 by Maximilien Robespierre. The Terror, from September 1793 to July 1794, resulted in thousands of executions, including those of King Louis XVI in January 1793 and Queen Marie-Antoinette in October of the same year, as well as a policy of total national mobilisation. The regime ended with the fall and execution of Robespierre on 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor Year II), opening a more moderate period.
The Directory, established in 1795, governed France amid persistent political and economic instability, caught between royalist threats and popular unrest. Weakened by corruption and its inability to stabilise the country, it was overthrown on 9 November 1799 (18 Brumaire Year VIII) by General Napoleon Bonaparte's coup d'état, which established the Consulate and brought the revolutionary period to an end.
The French Revolution profoundly transformed French society and influenced the entire world by spreading the ideals of liberty, equality and popular sovereignty. It abolished the structures of the Ancien Régime, laid the groundwork for modern civil law with the Civil Code that followed under Napoleon, and inspired numerous revolutionary and democratic movements throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica, article « French Revolution »
- Jean-Clément Martin, La Révolution française, Presses universitaires de France, coll. Que sais-je ?
- Michel Vovelle, La Révolution française, 1789-1799, Armand Colin
- Archives nationales (France), dossiers pédagogiques sur la Révolution française
Key Events
Louis XVI convenes the Estates-General at Versailles for the first time since 1614, in an attempt to resolve the kingdom's financial crisis.
The deputies of the Third Estate, gathered as the National Assembly, swear not to disband until France has a constitution.
The crowd storms the fortress-prison on July 14. Symbol of the fall of the Ancien Régime and start of the French Revolution.
The National Assembly adopts on August 26 the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a founding text of modern democracies.
On the night of 4 August, the Constituent Assembly abolishes feudal rights and the privileges of the nobility and clergy.
The Constituent Assembly adopts a founding text proclaiming liberty, equality before the law and national sovereignty.
The king, attempting to flee France, is recognised and arrested at Varennes, permanently discrediting the monarchy.
The people of Paris storm the Tuileries Palace; the king is suspended from his functions and imprisoned.
The National Convention abolishes the monarchy and proclaims the French Republic on September 21, 1792.
The National Convention abolishes the monarchy and proclaims the Republic, a day after the victory at Valmy.
King Louis XVI is guillotined on January 21 at the Place de la Révolution in Paris. An irreversible break with the Ancien Régime.
The king is guillotined on Place de la Révolution in Paris after being sentenced to death by the Convention.
The Convention decrees that terror is the order of the day; the Committee of Public Safety intensifies the repression of opponents.
The former queen is guillotined after a summary trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Robespierre is arrested and guillotined the next day, bringing the Terror to an end.
A new regime, led by five directors, replaces the Convention under the Constitution of Year III.
Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the Directory and establishes the Consulate, bringing the revolutionary period to an end.