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= = **The French Rev olution (1789-1799) **  **First Part of the Revolution(1789-93) ** Assignments French Revolution Key Terms and Figures Timeline Revolution Videos Group Notes Grades

Overview of the Revolution (1789-93) The cost of prior wars (including French participation in the American Revolutionary War) greatly added to the French government's debts. As a result the monarchy increased taxes to help minimize its debt. There were three groups or classes of people in France before the revolution. Each group was called an estate. People who worked for the Roman Catholic Church were in the first estate. Rich nobles were in the second estate. People such as peasants, city workers, lawyers, doctors, and merchants were in the third estate. Only a very small percentage of the French population was in the first and second estates. Most of the population made up the third estate. The government was searching for a solution to its debt crisis. By calling the Estates General, the medieval assembly of France, for the first time since 1614 to help create a solution the crisis the Royal Ministers were taking a huge risk. The deputies of the estates expected to be able to demand changes that would go beyond finance. Many arrived resentful of having sat on Consultative bodies whose advice the government had ignored. Many of the deputies arrived with complaints from the peasants. Most of the deputies demanded lower taxes. They also demanded relief from the traditional obligations of peasants and the traditional privileges of lords. The lords had exclusive rights to keep certain animals and hunt game, to evade taxes, to charge fees to hold markets and fairs, to mobilize forced labor. In June the Estates General gave itself the title of the National Assembly. The National Assembly gave itself the right to interpret the general will of the nation. In August the National Assembly enacted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The Declaration stated that sovereignt y   no longer rested with the king but with the people. In 1790-91, the revolutionaries concentrated on the church by enacting a civil constitution of the clergy that turned priests into public servants and nationalized church property. The pope and king Louis XVI rejected this radical reform. Once the king's opposition to reform became known the king became a prisoner of the assembly. Many of the opponents of the revolution began to leave the country. Foreign powers feared the revolution might spread to their countries. In March of 1792 war broke out and Austria and Prussia invaded France. In August 1792, when it was obvious that Louis XVI was in contact with the invaders, the monarchy was overthrown. In 1793, the royal family was executed.

** Some Additional Sources if you are intere sted in more information on the French Revolution. ** Websites: > (Great website to uses for the newspaper project) Books:
 * http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/ (Great website to uses for the newspaper project)
 * http://library.thinkquest.org/C006257/revolution/storming_of_bastille.shtml
 * http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/browse/glossary/ (An excellent source of terms related to the revolution)
 * http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/frenchrevolution/causesoffrenchrev1.pdf
 * http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0819666.html
 * http://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_politic/frenchrev/page_1.html
 * //The French Revolution edited by Horizon Magizine(located in school library)//
 * //A Short History of the French Revolution// by Jeremy D. Popkin(located in school library)
 * //Stories of the French Revolution// by M.and G. Huisman(located in school library)
 * //Companion to the French Revolution// by John Paxton(located in school library)
 * //The French Revolution:Vioces From a Momentous Epoch edited// by Richard Cobb(located in school library)
 * Pages 268-272 in //The Mental Floss: History of the World// by Erik Sass and Steve Wiegand(located in classroom library)
 * //Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France// by Lucy Moore (located in classroom library)

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