1. 1789-1815

2.  In the 1600s and 1700s, French kings still ruled by “divine right” with absolute power.  And they lived more luxuriously than perhaps anyone, anywhere in the history of the world.

3. Louis XIV, King of France 1643-1715

4. Palace of Versailles

5. Hall of Mirrors

6.  Society was divided into 3 social classes called ESTATES: 1 st 2 nd 3 rd Clergy Nobles Commoners The first 2 estates had special privileges that that 3 rd did not.

7. The problem was that the 3 rd Estate made up 98.5% of the population.

8. Commoners crushed by the Clergy and Nobility

9.  In the 1600s, French commoners looked on while the Brits executed Charles I and chased off James II.  In the 1700s, they watched the Americans break away from England under King George III.

10.  By the late-1780s, France was in deep financial trouble.  At the same time, a terrible harvest created bread shortages.  King Louis XVI was unsure about how to deal with the crisis.

11.  Louis XVI decided to call a meeting of the Estates-General.  Similar to Parliament, but with 3 houses, one for the reps of each estate.  Each estate got one vote, as a result, the king always won!

12.  E-G met at Versailles in 1789.  3 rd Estate demanded some rule changes be made.  They wanted each rep to get one vote instead of each house.  Commoners would then have the advantage, 610-589.

13.  Louis XVI refused and locked the 3 rd Estate reps out of their meeting hall.  The Commoners took over one of his tennis courts and took the “Tennis Court Oath.”  They now called themselves the “National Assembly.”

14. The Tennis Court Meeting

15.  Louis XVI paid lip service to the National Assembly.  In the meantime, he called for troops to surround Paris.  The people in Paris feared the king was planning to crush the budding revolution.

16.  The commoners decided to strike a blow against the “Old Regime.”  On July 14, 1789, they stormed the Bastille.  This was their “declaration of independence” from absolute monarchy.

17. Storming the Bastille

18. Bastille commander’s head on a pike