French Revolution

The French Revolution began in 1789 and transformed France's political and social order. Under the monarchy of Louis XVI, the kingdom faced serious financial difficulties, partly caused by the cost of wars and support for the American Revolution. Society was divided into three estates, while the clergy and nobility enjoyed privileges that were increasingly criticized. Poor harvests in the late 1780s raised food prices and increased hardship among ordinary people.

In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General to address the financial crisis. The representatives of the Third Estate soon declared themselves the National Assembly, claiming to represent the nation. On July 14, the storming of the Bastille in Paris became a powerful symbol of the uprising. In August, the Assembly abolished many feudal privileges and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Revolution then entered a more radical phase.

In 1792, the monarchy was overthrown and France became a republic. King Louis XVI was executed in January 1793, while the revolutionary government faced war with several European powers and internal rebellions. During the Reign of Terror, roughly from 1793 to 1794, the Committee of Public Safety and revolutionary courts pursued those considered enemies of the Revolution. Thousands of people were executed, including Queen Marie Antoinette.

After the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in July 1794, political repression gradually declined. The Directory governed France from 1795 until 1799, when General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in a coup. The Revolution therefore did not produce a stable political system immediately, but it profoundly changed ideas about citizenship, political authority, equality before the law, and the relationship between the state and society.