Introduction: Who are the players?

● Three Estates  

   ◦ First Estate - made up of clergy; scorned Enlightenment ideas

     ◦ Second Estate - made up of rich nobles; held highest offices in government;                  disagreed about Enlightenment ideas

     ◦ Third Estate - made up of bourgeoisie and lower class peasant farmers; had no          power to influence government, embraced Enlightenment ideas

● Bourgeoisie - middle class bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, and skilled artisans; believed strongly in the Enlightenment ideals 

● Peasants - formed the largest group within the Third Estate;  resented the clergy and the nobles for their privileges

● Limited Monarchy - the National Assembly completed the new constitution which declared France a limited constitutional monarchy, stripping the king of his authority 

● Impact of the Enlightenment - the Third Estate delegates views were shaped by the Enlightenment; people began to demand equality, liberty, and democracy due to Enlightenment ideals

● King Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette - due to Louis XVI and Marie Antionette's selfish spendings, France’s government sank deeply into debt;  Louis put off dealing with this until he had no money left

Revolution Begins

The Meeting of the Estates General in 1789

We, the representatives of the Three Estates, are attending the Estates General, which is an assembly taking place in May of 1789.

Tennis Court Oaths

In this meeting, we are debating voting procedures, such as voting by order versus by head. This meeting marks the beginning of the French Revolution. 

I am apart of the Third Estate, so this Tennis Court Oath, which was an official pledge declaring that political authority came from the nation's people, represented by the National Assembly, and not from the monarchy, means a lot to me and my freedom.

The People Take Charge

The Storming of the Bastille

We wanted to overpower the monarchy, so we formed a mob and stormed the Bastille, which represented royal authority.

In Versailles, France, the price of bread was raised, which was not ideal for us because the excruciating winter was already taking away our food. So when October came, we started a bread riot.

The French Revolution adopted the motto, "Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity”, which I figured was bound to be displayed on uniforms and the flag of France.

🖱️

 Along with this mob, another violation of protest, took place due to a great panic, known as the Great Fear. We broke into and burned nobles' houses to express our negative feelings.

     October Bread Riot

Taking on the World

Changes to France

We, the National Assembly, are enacting the Constitution of 1791 to establish a constitutional monarchy so the monarch's power can be limited. We also passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790 to declare state and government control of the Catholic Church in France. We can not satisfy everyone with our changes though. Emigres have fleet France with hopes to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime.

War with Europe

To settle a rivalry between we, Prussia, and Austria, the Austro-Prussia war started and resulted in our, Prussian, dominance over the German states.