Queen Marie Antoinette

and

King Louis XVI

I have no interest sharing my authority.

If the people have no bread, let them eat cake

The monarchs of France enforced heavy taxes on the French citizens to fund their lavish living, but never paid the money back. Their debt was so heavy that banks had began to reject their loan proposals. Due to the low funds, the king had confronted the Estates General to ask for more money. In thus meeting, King Louis XVI failed to address France financial problems, which caused tensions to rise.The Queen, Marie Antoinette did not help ease these controversies due to her lavish spending on the Palace of Versailles and full support for her husband. The queen also had no sympathy for their citizens' lack of food supply is said to have made some insensitive comments. 

I can't take this anymore

What are the French Estates?

 Estates were the different social classes in France. The estates ranked with the First Estate (the Clergy) ranking the highest, the Second (the Nobility) in the Middle, and the Third (Everyone Else) at the lowest rank. The Third Estate faced the most oppression despite including the doctors, lawyers, wealthy merchants etc. Half of their income was surrendered to taxes and they had little rights; whereas the Second Estate consisted of the Nobles and owned twenty percent of the land. Lastly the First Estate was the Roman Catholic Clergy and held a lot of power. The Estates General consisted of all of the estates, which means that rich or poor, all of the people in France collectively agreed to rebel  against the king when they were called for the first time in 150 years.

Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was a pledge signed that helped spark the French Revolution because it displayed that the political authority came from the nation's people. 

Storming of Bastille

An angry mob stormed the Bastille. When the mob stormed the prison, they beheaded the garrison leader defending the fortress and led peasant uprisings through Paris.

How did these lead to the War?

The French citizens were growing increasingly tired of the tyranny presented onto them by their monarchs and sought to make change and were starting to use radical tactics to get their point across, even if it meant violence.

On October 5, 1789 when female (and males disguised as female) Parisians marched to the Palace of Versailles to confront the king about the food shortage.

The Revolution was just exiting its moderate stage and was then followed by the radical one. Congress started limiting the king's power (moderate) and creating a Constitutional Monarchy. The king did not take too lightly to this, sparking the radical phase.

Revolutionary War Battle

FOR FREEDOM!!!

One of the last steps in the moderate phase of the Revolution was the draft of constitutions, which would switch the government from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, which would eliminate tyranny.

 The Declaration of the Rights of a Man and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy took action in reforming the church and the government, giving the Second and Third Estates a fair balance of power in society. The social classes still existed of course but members of the Third Estate and the Estates General came together to form the National Assembly in 1789, giving those in it more social and political power.

AU REVOIR!

The King and his family attempted to flee from France to Austria to spark a counter revolution. However they were captured and sent back to Paris.