The French Revolution

The French Revolution of 1789 shook all of Europe. It began as a protest for fairness, food and democracy. The French people, most of whom were denied a say in government, rose up against the ‘old order’. The years of bloodshed led to the emergence of a dictator, who made himself emperor – Napoleon Bonaparte.

In the 18^th century, society in France was divided into three classes, or estates. The first estate was the nobility, the second was the clergy and the third was everyone else. Only people in the third estate paid taxes. Educated people, by now familiar with the ideas of the Enlightenment, knew how unfair the system was. Their discontent increased in 1788, when a bad harvest pushed up prices, leaving many people facing starvation. After years of extravagant kings and costly wars, the government had little money to deal with the crisis. When, in 1789, King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General (the nearest France had to a parliament) to raise more money, the third estate said that if they had to pay taxes, they should have a say in how the country was run. Louis XVI refused this request.

The rebels, calling themselves the National Assembly, refused to leave Versailles until the king listened to their demands. In Paris, a mob attacked the Bastille, a royal prison, and riots broke out all over France. The National Assembly made a ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’. These included liberty, equality and the right to resist oppression. Louis XVI and his family were arrested and held until 1793. Finally, the king was put on trial and executed in January of that year. This was the start of the Reign of Terror.

During the Terror, led by Maximilien Robespierre, thousands of people were put to death. Austria, Britain, the Netherlands, Prussia and Spain all went to war with France. Alarmed by this turn of events, Robespierre’s colleagues ordered his execution. The threat of civil war in 1795 led to the rise of an ambitious French soldier, Napoleon Bonaparte.

MARIE ANTOINETTE

Marie Antoinette (1755-93), daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, was married to King Louis XVI of France. At first, she was popular, but her extravagance soon turned people against her. On hearing that Parisians were rioting over bread shortages, she is reputed to have said: ‘Let them eat cake!’