Turning Point Timeline
The origin and conclusion to the sociopolitical changes brought about by the French Revolution (1789 - 1799) can be divided into four general categories:
- Pre-Revolution: characterized by the rise in precedence of Enlightenment values such as liberty, equality, and freedom of thought and speech. Explored the argument that the ideas of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau regarding individual rights, social contracts, and ideal governance models could be applied to the outdated French system.
- Beginning of the Revolution: arose primarily from the voting issues at the Estates General regarding the representation of the Third Estate. This controversy led the Third Estate to declare itself a National Assembly, and as a result of rising revolutionary fervor, the French Revolution was officially begun with the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 and closely followed by the Great Fear. These events catalyzed the drafting of a new constitution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which addressed issues such as human rights and the authority of both the church and the state.
- Radicalization of the Revolution: resulting from the symptom of disunity that pervaded the National Assembly from 1789 - 1791, the beginning of the Reign of Terror was piloted by Robespierre and culminated in the retraction of many rights, especially for women, who were entirely erased off of the face of French politics at the time.
- Rise of Napoleon: fueled by the Thermidorian Reaction's disposal of radical Robespierre in July 1794, Napoleon's rise to power culminates in the Brumaire Coup of 1799 when he installs himself as First Consul, thus marking the dawn of the Napoleonic Era.
American Revolution (1775 - 1783)Due to France's highly involved role during the American Revolution, two developments emerged that would drastically impact the course of the French Revolution: excessive war debts and a resurgence of confidence in the practicality of Enlightenment ideals (which had been proven by the Declaration of Independence's exercise of them).
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Calling of the Estates General (May 5, 1789)Representing the straw that broke the Third Estate's back (on top of the combined weights of the nobility and clergy), the meeting of the Estates General was a pitiful act of desperation on a most indecisive king's part, primarily for reasons rooted in France's past. As voting controversies electrified Louis XVI's desperate attempt to dig his country out of bankruptcy, important questions regarding the outdated estates system pitted progressive ideals against conservative tradition. Eventually, this debate led to the creation of a National Assembly and the earth-shaking transformation of France, Europe's most advanced country of the time, from an absolute monarchy to a mercurial constitutional monarchy.
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Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)Following King Louis XVI's dismissal of the "champion of the people," finance minister Jacques Necker, and his imprudent installation of soldiers across the city of Paris, the French people were up in arms. Adamant, impassioned, and frenzied in their demands for reform and revolution, a Parisian mob laid waste to the Bastille prison.
A symbol of the people triumphing over the tyranny of the king, the storming of the Bastille served a dual purpose: not only did it equip Parisians with the ammunition to resist the king's troops, but it also embodied the crippling of an oppressive model of monarchical government. The product of said repressive government, the Bastille and its criminal population chiefly consisted of political prisoners who had been denied their right to due process (a great equalizer). However, the most significant effect of the storming of the Bastille came after the bloodshed and flame. Emerging with the continued meetings of the National Assembly, the importance of the storming of the Bastille was that it handicapped Louis' response to this administrative seed of revolution, thus permitting the French Revolution to not only gain momentum, but a popular dimension as well. |
Feudalism is Abolished in France (August 4, 1789)Without a doubt, France's retraction of the feudal system was one of the most shocking developments of the early phase of the French Revolution. An institution that had endured for thousands of years was humbled in one fell swoop by the rabid fear that infected France's nobility, thus leading to the toppling of the manorial regime. Signifying the burgeoning trend of popular violence determining the course of revolution, the Decrees of August 4th were a landmark turning point that subjugated the authority of the nobility to the unbridled power and fury of a general agrarian insurrection. The Great Fear thus paved the road for future popular violence by taking the first few baby steps that officially began the French Revolution in earnest.
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Reign of Terror (1793 - 1794)Like a wild animal cornered, the French Revolution seemed to have reached a breaking point by May, 1793. Following the defection of a leading French general, the encroaching force of Austria's army, and seemingly international condemnation, the true power of enragés and popular societies keen on accelerating the pace of change emerged. Based on the idea of a Republic of Virtue, the Reign of Terror commenced with Robespierre's blessing and his creation of the Committee of Public Safety, an institution consisting of 12 members of the Convention whose actions were executed (no pun intended) with the help of revolutionary courts, supreme political police, and the liberty to undertake any radical action for the sake of suppressing anarchy, civil strife, and counterrevolution. Claiming the lives of 40,000 individuals, victims mostly gleaned from the working class and peasants, the Reign of Terror was prompted by a war emergency and characterized by dictatorship and bloodshed, leading to international revulsion towards the revolutionary fervor that had mobilized the French against the Old Regime.
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The Napoleonic Era (1799 - 1815)Following ten years of upheaval and instability, Napoleon's genius as a manipulator, general, and statesman captivated the French people. Appeasing all social groups that constituted the French nation, Napoleon set about to creating a new world order based on his conquest and seemingly blessed intellect and founded on his identity as a son of both the Revolution and the Enlightenment. Undeniably encapsulating the definition of a transformer of the course of human history, Napoleon's rise to power was years in the making, creditable to the power vacuum left in the wake of the terrors of the French Revolution.
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French Revolution Summary by John Green
With the witty insight and braniac humor that can only be exhibited by the incomparable Vlogbrothers, this video addresses the effects of the aforementioned causes of the Revolution, in addition to connecting the early Revolution's main historical events.