What was the French Revolution?

Question: What was the French Revolution!?
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The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of nationalism, citizenship, and inalienable rights!.

These changes were accompanied by violent turmoil, including the trial and execution of the king, vast bloodshed and repression during the Reign of Terror, and warfare involving every other major European power!. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy, and two additional revolutions as modern France took shape!.

In the following century, France would be governed variously as a republic, dictatorship, constitutional monarchy, and two different empires!.

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I'm going to try and give you a short summary!.
The French King Louis the 16th was very unpopular!. He was an uneffective monarch and France was doing very bad!. France was in very bad debt, so the peasants who made up 98 % of the population had to pay higher taxes while the aristrocracy and clergy paid NO taxes and the King's friend bathed in crushed sapphires!.
There was a shortage of food!.
France was in debt, mainly because it had helped the Americans against Britain in the American Revolution!. This made the French think they could fight back against the monarch!.
The Revolution started in 1789 and overthrew Louis XVI and his unpopular Austrian wife Marie-Antoinette!. They were executed by the guillotine!. A man called Maximiellien Robspierre hijacked the revolution and killed millions by the gullitione during the Reign of Terror!. Robspiere was later killed, by, you guess it, the gulliotine!. Eventually Napoleon would take control of France!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Frnech love revolution!. However the French revolution could be avoidable!. But these would mean a lot of differences!.

I will give you some background, which may help you in your history class and may give you more details!.

The French like msot European countries during it's time was ruled by a Monarch!. This means it was ruled by a King!. Countries that were simialr to France during this time period were the British, Russian, Austria etc!.

The social and political system in France was called the ancien regime (meaning old order), which is a system of the seventeeth and eighteenth century!.

The monarch as you know it, the King was with the belief, that the King had the divine right to rule, the King is the head of the conutry no matter what, you can see exmaples of this ni Shakespeare's Macbeth!. When Macbeth kills King Duncan, he stuffs up the natural order of things, because King Duncan is the rightful monarch of Scotland etc etc!.

The King had the msot authority and he was supreme!. The French Kings were known as the Sun Kings!. The French King Louis XIV had once declared himself as head of state and in 1787 declared that his acxtions were legal because he wished it so!. His authority was carried out by his beurecrats and even though he had advisors and nobles to advise him, he did not have to lsiten to them!. Very different to a Parliament today!.

Now in 1754, Louis XVI (Sixteenth) became heir when his father died in 1765!. He had a bad education by an incompetent nobleman (not a good sign, there is a sort of pattern, like the Russian Tzars, the Monarch was incompetent, revolution, the Moanrchy is finished)!. In 1770 he also married the beautiful Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I!. The Holy Roman Empire is actually Austrian-german!.

The marriage was arranged but it cemented Austraian and French relations!. However, both of these two leaders, Marie and Louis were incompetent to the people and ignroed the majority of peopel's needs and lvied extrvagent lives!. Both were quite lazy as well and only thougth of their own personal interests and had bad advisors!.

Antoinette was also resented by the French because she was Austrian, arrogant and to extrvagent!.

tehre were nobles, most were wealthy except some who were nobles in the rural areas!. There was also the corrupt Catholic church which I need not give further info!. Unless you want to read it yourself, http://www!.google!.com/search!?hl=en&q=cor!.!.!.

There was also the middle class known as the bourgeoisie who were mainly merchants, rich finaciers and bankers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and shopkeepers!. They wanted to be like nobles but couldn't so resnented the nobles!. The middle class hated the government and wanted to see a new regime where they would be mroe important!.

Ok!.!.!. So you may think, well these lvies seem good and there is a middle class!. Unfortunately, the majority of people over 90 percent were made out of poor peasents!. They were poor, had hard jobs, had to pay taxes, to their lords, the church and their King!. They had to pay so many fees and taxes, there is a famous picture, http://www!.historyteacher!.net/images/Est!.!.!. which shows the classes and the peasents carrying the weight of the country!. Peasents are very important, peasents change the conutry when angry!. When rallied they can help a cause that helps them such as Communism!. A famous quote is, "the people shouldn't fear the government, the government should fear the people!." The peasents protested agaisnt the government for improvements, but the government did nothing!. Not a good sign!.

The people who oppsoed the government at this point, were mainly those wh osaw the government's uselessness mainly authors and poets as well as philosophers!.

Now back on track!.!.!.

Louis XVI, the sixteenth, inherited a throne with many financial problems!. He did little and tried to help but in 1776, because France hated the English, helped the American in their struggle for independence!. American vrs British (1776-83) which we know the Americans won but not without a large amonut of French support/

The France benefited little, except the ability to gloat over the British with a price tag of 2,000 million livres (the french currency)!.

The Louis government had alrge debts and hat to spend half of it's mnoey jsut to pay on interest!. The tax collection was even worse and scammed many of the peasents!. BAD!!!!
The financial advisors for King Louis wanted to tax the nobles and church, who before this period were exempt from tax!. Even though they were the richest of the popualtion!. Both advisors were dismissed because of high nobiltiy opposition!.

That's just a lil background!. Big topic, so what happens next is the people start forming togather and then start revolting!.!.!. http://www!.encyclopedia!.com/doc/1E1-Fren!.!.!. for more expanding on what I explained to you!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The poor masses rose up and slaughtered to aristocrats who controlled and oppressed them totally!.Www@QuestionHome@Com