Key People of the French Revolution Louis XVI: King of France during the Revolution Marie Antoinette: Queen of France during the Revolution Maximillian Robespierre: The official leader of the Third Estate during the French Revolution and the architect of the Reign of Terror. The First Estate: The extreme wealthy religious leaders, made up about 1% of total population The Second Estate: The extreme wealthy nobility, lords & dukes, made up about 2% of the total population The Third Estate: France’s middle and poor classes, made up 97% of the total population The Bourgeoisie: France’s middle class, mostly made up of business owners, craftsman and artisans Sans Culottes: Nickname of France’s poorer class Napoleon Bonaparte: French general during the revolution who later assumed control of the government after the Reign of Terror and crowned himself emperor

The French Revolution The French Revolution took place from For centuries, the quality of life in Europe had been determined by the status that a person or family held. This status could not be earned, but was determined by the family to which someone was born. 97% of Europe’s people struggled to survive while the remaining 3% lived a life of wealth and comfort. This gap between the wealthy and the poor created resentment. In a group of people at the bottom of society rebelled against those who were at the top, and they won. The British Colonies in America declared their independence and then enforced it by beating back the most powerful military on Earth. This gave the French people a great deal of inspiration. The American Revolution sent shockwaves throughout Europe, and gave hope to many poverty stricken peasants, who wanted to see the powerful aristocracies of Europe fall. The lower classes decided to rebel, and create a new, more fair society. The changes for reform were based on the desire for democracy, citizenship, and undeniable rights. During the Reign of Terror, everyone was afraid they would be accused of being a traitor. The penalty for that was being beheaded in the guillotine. The French Revolution, though it seemed a failure in 1799, and appeared nullified by 1815, had far-reaching results.

The Reign of Terror After the French Revolution, a group of Third Estate citizens formed the Jacobins and attempted to gain control of France’s government. They were led by Maximillian Robespierre. Seeing that the Revolution would go on forever if certain portions of the population were allowed to live, the Jacobins decided that they would crush any resistance within their new nation. They established neighborhood watches that were intended to find anyone who was not loyal. These watches would turn in suspected traitors, who would often be put to death on the Guillotine. This time period of purging France’s population that did not support the Jacobin’s was known as “The Reign of Terror”

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon was born to a wealthy family in Corsica and while growing up became very involved in Corsica’s rebellion During the French Revolution he served as an artillery commander, by age 24 he became a general After the Revolution, he kept European armies from invading France He helped rebuild France’s interior and was awarded as France’s protector and interim ruler Soon he begins to invade all of Europe, winning almost every battle, but in Russia most of his army is killed or froze and Napoleon is exiled to Elba He quickly returns, raises a new army, sells half of France’s lands in the New World to America and then is defeated for good at Waterloo, Belgium Napoleon dies alone 6 years later as an outlaw in exile