This book is dedicated to all of the people who lived during through The French Revolution!

Thank you for reading and learning all about The French Revolution! I hope you enjoy it!

So how did The French Revolution start?

*France was in bad shape in the late 1780's. 

*They had lots of debt, crop failures, and their people were suffering. 

*Enlightenment ideas about power and authority spread to the Third Estate. They wanted structure and demanded equality, liberty, and democracy. More than 80% of France's people were peasents that belonged to this group.

*All of this caused major alarm among the people in France!

The Revolution Begins!

*King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antionette were big spenders. He did not want to cut expenses so taxes went up!

*The Second Estate forced him to call a meeting of the Estates General. This was a group from all three estates that would have to approve the new tax.

*Voting was changed by The Third Estate so every delegate has a vote. The Bourgeoisie, were well educated and believed in the Enlightenment ideas of liberty and equality. This gave them advantage because they had more people than the other two estates combined! 

I AM NOT GOING TO STOP SPENDING! 

TAX THE PEOPLE!

All of the Third Estate will vote! 

*The King ordered the Estates -General to follow medieval rules but the Third Estate said NO!!!

*Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes gave a speech and said the Third Estate would be called the National Assembly and would pass laws for the French people.

*The were then locked out of the meeting room but broke down a door to an indoor tennis court. They pledged to stay until a new constitution was done! 

This pledge was called the Tennis Court Oath.

We will be called the National Assembly! 

I pledge The Tennis Court Oath! 

The people have had enough and are 

about to take charge with the 

Storming the Bastille!!

People were scared and angry and wanted the National Assembly to not have power. A mob of people stormed a Paris prison called the Bastille.

This attack killed 100 people and became a symbol of revolution to French people. They celebrate the date of July 14 as a national holiday. 

Before long, chaos from Paris and rumors of violence towards peasants started to spread into France. A wave of absolute panic, the Great Fear, took over France. 

Bastille Day in Paris

The people of France loved bread. In 1789, the price of bread got too expensive. Thousands of Parisian women rioted and marched on Versailles. They demanded the National Assembly provide bread!

The women broke into the palace and demanded King Louis and Marie Antionette return to Paris. 

After the king and his family left Versailles, this is when France had a major change in power.

We demand our bread cheap and need it to live! 

The delegates were making changes in France's government and society. Churches were taken over by the assembly and officials and priests had to be elected and paid as state officials. The Catholic Church lost its land and independence and the money made helped pay off France's debt. 

As the National Assembly restructured the relationship between the church and state, King Louis XVI was warned he was in danger, They tried to escape from France but were caught near the border.

In 1791, a new constitution was completed but this created limited monarchy and King Louis lost most of his power. Food shortages and debt still remained a problem. The Legislative Assembly divided into three groups; radicals, moderates, and conservatives. This kept the limited monarchy in place.

Only elected official's can be a your priest.

This also caused other groups like the Emigre's and 

sans-culottes, or Parisian workers, who tried to influence the government.  They hoped to undo the Revolution and go back to the way things were.

Leaders in other European countries did not like the changes in France and were fearful it might happen in their own country. Austria and Prussia told the French to put King Louis XVI back in power. This caused the Legislative Assembly to declare war in 1792.

We will use our power to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime!

The war started badly for the French. Prussian forces threatened to destroy Paris if anyone from the royal family was harmed. Then a mob of Parisians invaded the palace where the royal family was staying and imprisoned them. 

The Constitution of 1791 was set aside and a new governing body, the National Convention, took office. 

It abolished the monarchy and France became a republic. It also gave men the right to vote and hold office. Women were not give the right to vote but had an important part in the Revolution.

No women can vote! Only men!