The French Revolution

In France, King Louis and Marie Antoinette were King and Queen.

King Louis was a lazy king and didn’t like making big decisions.

The people didn’t like Marie Antoinette because she spent too much money and was from Austria.

People in France lived under the Old Regime. This was a rigid class system with three estates. The first and second estate had all the rights. The third estate was treated very unfairly. First Estate (.5%) Second Estate (1.5%) Third Estate (98%)

The third estate became very angry by the way they were treated. At the Estates General the third estate demanded rights. Although they were promised rights during the Tennis Court Oath, by King Louis, they never got them.

The French Revolution started when the third estate stormed the Bastille.

The people killed the King and Queen.

Robespierre came to power and started the “Reign of Terror”. Many people were killed using the guillotine. Eventually, the people killed Robespierre.

After Robespierre was killed, Napoleon came to power and gained lots of land and power for France.

Napoleon wanted to conquer Russia, but was defeated by “General Winter”.

The people of France were angry at Napoleon because so many soldiers died in the Invasion of Moscow and they exiled him to Elba.

He returned to France to fight the “Battle of Waterloo”, which he lost.

The people of France sent Napoleon to St. Helena where he died.

With Napoleon no longer in power, his empire was divided up and land was given back to the kings he had taken it from at the Congress of Vienna.