French Revolution: Facts & Related Content
Facts
| Also Known As | Revolution of 1789 |
|---|---|
| Date | 1787 - 1799 |
| Location | France |
| Participants | bourgeoisie • Montagnard • peasant • philosophe • sansculotte |
Did You Know?
- The Jacobins attempted to eradicate Christianity in France.
- The storming of the Bastille is still honored in France as a national holiday.
- The later Bolsheviks admired the French Revolution and especially the Jacobins, the extremist French revolutionaries who had instigated the Reign of Terror.
- When Louis XVI was executed in January 1793, his severed head was paraded around for the crowd and was met with exclamations of "Vive la République!"
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Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic
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Timeline
Tennis Court Oath
June 20, 1789
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
July 12, 1790
French Revolutionary wars
April 1792 - c. 1801
September Massacres
September 2, 1792 - September 6, 1792
Wars of the Vendée
February 1793 - July 1796
Reign of Terror
September 5, 1793 - July 27, 1794
Thermidorian Reaction
July 27, 1794
Coup of 18 Fructidor
September 4, 1797
Coup of 18–19 Brumaire
November 9, 1799 - November 10, 1799
Key People
Louis XVI
king of France
Marie-Antoinette
queen of France
Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, princesse de Lamballe
Italian-French courtier
Napoleon I
emperor of France
Maximilien Robespierre
French revolutionary
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent
French statesman and diplomat
Jacques-Louis David
French painter
Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
French politician and orator
Georges Danton
French revolutionary leader
Louis de Saint-Just
French revolutionary
Lazare Carnot
French military engineer
Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet
French philosopher and humanist
Jean-Paul Marat
French politician, physician, and journalist
Joseph Fouché, duc d’Otrante
French statesman
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
French politician
Paul-François-Jean-Nicolas, vicomte de Barras
French revolutionary
Camille Desmoulins
French journalist
François-Noël Babeuf
French political journalist
Jacques Hébert
French political journalist
Jacques-Pierre Brissot
French revolutionary leader
Causes and Effects
Causes
- The growing popularity of the works of a number of intellectuals who argued for social reform
- Crop failures in 1788 compounded existing economic restlessness
- French participation in the American Revolution that drove the government to the brink of bankruptcy
- Resentment among the bourgeoisie about being excluded from political power
- The French monarchy, no longer seen as divinely ordained, was unable to adapt to the political and societal pressures being exerted on it
- Widespread inequality between the rich and poor classes alongside growing dissatisfaction with the antiquated feudal system among the poor
Effects
- Establishment of a republic in France
- Establishment of civil equality in the country (but not in the French colonies) and radical social change
- The Reign of Terror, during which the Revolutionary government arrested 300,000 suspects, resulting in at least 25,000 deaths
- The abolition of feudalism in France
- The abolition of the monarchy and the deaths of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
- The rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte
- Wars with a number of other countries, including Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain
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