On 14th July 1789, a furious mob attacked the Bastille prison in the centre of Paris. The riot marked the beginning of a bloody revolution in which the rebels demanded, ' Liberty and Equality. In the 18th century, France was in crisis. Food was scarce, prices were high and the government was facing bankruptcy. To get more money Louis could either borrow it or raise taxes, but first he would have to recall an ancient assembly, the States General, which had not met for 175 years. Discontent among the middle class led to the States General turning it's self into a new national assembly which demanded reform. Louis sent troops to try and dismiss the assembly, but when the Paris citizens heard this, they rebelled. In the countryside the peasants also rioted. The assembly introduced a new government in 1791, with laws based on freedom and equality.
2 BOURGEOURS : By 1789 the states General had not met wince 1614. In June the Third estate, the commoners in the parliament, met in the royal tennis court where they took an oath not to disband until France had a new assembly and constitution. The Tennis court Oath was the beginning of the revolution.
Although Louis XVI gave in to the Third estate and ordered that a new national assembly should meet, rumours spread through Paris that the King would soon disband it. The rumours started riots both outside Paris and in the city, where on 14 July an angry mob captured the Bastille prison, a symbol to Parisians of royal power.
In 1789 many working men and women in Paris were jobless and hungry. On 14th July the price of bread was doubled. The unemployed joined the shopkeepers and trades men to form the mob that stormed the Bastille.
The period form mid 1793 to mid 1794 is called the Terror. France was then ruled by the Jacobins, a group of extremists revolutionaries led by maximilian Robespierre, The Jacobins ruled by fear. Thousands of innocent people from all classes were condemned for their opposition to the revolution. Large crowds watched the public executions on the guillotine,
France went bankrupt as they relied on the poorest people for income. When there was The French joined in with the Americans war of independence. and they wanted revenge on English
In the 18th century King Louis ruled with absolute. The King favoured the Nobles, and if they fought in wars, they didn't have to pay tax, which were feudal dews, this left the Artisans, peasants and the Bourgeois to pay the taxes. They didn't have much money so the little money they had, they had to pay taxes.
When there was a famine in 1788, the weather destroyed the harvests. This caused an inflation in prices. This lost money for the country and the King asked the clergy for some money, The clergy wouldn't give any extra money without representation of how the country was run. The King refused as he wanted to rule in absolute. The monarchy was getting bankrupt, and they had lost more money due to the American Independence war. The King wasn't given any money as he had already borrowed some money, and not been able to return it. The King was bankrupt so he had to tax the nobles. 1788 the King was bankrupt.
Nobles middle class trades men peasants were the majority of France. They paid the countries tax, and the very rich minority didn’t pay any. The Nobles were dissatisfied with Louis absolute ruling, and liked the idea of England's parliament. The Nobles wanted Oligarchy. The crown was getting short of money due to wars. Poor clergy were unsatisfied as they couldn't be in the high arhcy. Peasants were unhappy as they had to pay feudal tax to the clergy, The Bourgeoisie, middle class, had to pay a lot of tax. In the Bourgeoisie, there were many famous philosophers which the French used to read, The philosophers were angry about the tax payments, and also about the religions, as the whole fo France was Catholics. Bourgeoisie read these books and agreed with them. The Nobles were asked for money, they refused unless they got representation.
