THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789

ESTATES In France at the time, there were three “estates”. The first estate was the princes and lords, the second one was the nobles and the third one was all the rest. In the picture you can see the priest and the noble sitting on the old peasant’s back. (The priest is sitting on the noble and the peasant) The Third estate was 90% of France population

King Louis XVI ruled France at the time. He was a not a good king because he was shy and had no confidence. Other pepole could easily sway his decisions. Louis was a man with a big appetite. For his breakfast he would eat four chops, a fat chicken, six poached eggs and a slice of ham. Then he washed it down with a bottle and a half of champagne. He was kind to his family and he was honest. King Louis XVI

The National Assembly Many people were starving to death because the crops failed. The third estate refused to pay taxes unless they had a say in how the country was run. King Louis was very angry with the people and refused to listen The people met in the Oath Tennis Court and came up with an idea to create a group called the National Assembly to stop King Louis being a king.

The Storming of the Bastille On the morning of July 14th, 1789 a mob of Parisians attacked a prison called “The Bastille”. They didn’t attack the prison to rescue the prisoners. They attacked to steal muskets. There were only 7 prisoners in The Bastille. The Parisians stole 28,000 muskets.

Sans culotte were the peasants soldiers. They wore long trousers, a short-skirted coat, the red cap of liberty and clogs. Sans-culotte (without breeches)

French Soldier French soldiers were very skilful. They wore a blue coat, a cap usually black and breeches. They used muskets as a weapon.

Jacobins In September 1793 a group called “The Jacobins” took power. Their leader was a man called Maximilien Robespierre. At the time when Jacobins had power, anyone who resisted the revolution was arested and executed. Maximilien thought that every one was against him and he started executing many people. That time was known as “The Reign of Terror”.

The Guillotine The guillotine was used to execute people by cutting their head off. The guillotine was used because it was quick and painless. During “The Reign of Terror” many people died by the guillotine.

In 1794 people in the goverment got furious about Robespierre executing all the people and turned against Robespierre and he was beheaded. That was the end of Reign of Terror. The revolution ended in 1799 when a French general called Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. The End of the Revolution