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The French Revolution: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!!!
The French Revolution was a bloody uprising in which the common people of France rose up against the king, King Louis XVI, his wife Marie-Antoinette of Austria, and the rest of his royal entourage. France was in a very poor economical situation at the time of the French Revolution; it was in a huge national debt and food was scarce. There was high unemployment rates; bread, the main food of many European countries, was sold for higher prices; taxation was often higher than many commoners would prefer; and it was frustrating that King Louis was unable to deal with their growing problems.
King Louis and his nobles lived in lavish palaces such as Versailles, using most of the royal treasury for their own benefit. The French people were enraged by the fact that while they were living in poverty, heavily taxed and bearing the weight of a national debt on their shoulders, their sovereign was enjoying a merry life full of dance and drink at his palace.
It was enough for France's common people. On July 14, 1789, angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and captured the royal family, imprisoning them in the palace of Tuileries. Shaken by the sudden turn of events, the King made an unsuccessful attempt to flee to Austria, the native homeland of his wife, Marie-Antoinette, but the plan did not work and they were captured again and brought to Paris, where the King was forced to swear obedience to the new French constitution. This was 1791 and almost the end of the decade.
Louis continued to plot against the revolution, but in 1792 when France became a republic he was tried as a traitor and condemned to death.
The French Revolution promoted the use of the guillotine, a device that consisted of one thick and heavy medal blade, quite large, and a wooden structure. One's head would be put beneath the blade, which was suspended at the top of the medal structure by an executioner. Once one's head was firmly set on the structure, the executioner would let the blade fall, causing one's head to be chopped off. It was quick and painless, or at least it was so thought. This device of execution was the device that put an end to Louis XVI's life, on January 21st, 1793. His wife Marie-Antoinette was guillotined some time later.
The French Revolution was somewhat inspired by the American revolution which happened only a short time before, and the French constitution was somewhat modelled on the American version. At the time there were quite a number of revolutions worldwide, and France had quite a reason to start one of its own.
For more info about the French Revolution, go to wikipedia.org and search The French Revolution, or go to http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/ .
Thank you.
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