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French Revolution Essay The world has seen many revolutions in history. One of the biggest revolutions was the French Revolution because it came with many consequences and influences. Nothing else like this had ever happened this powerful to change the political status quo. Many people surprisingly don’t know how the French Revolution started but through this paper we will be learning more about it. Starting in 1789 through 1794 the people of France dethroned and arrested their king Louis XVI, took apart his monarchy, and executed him, his wife, and thousands of nobles. The French people then set up a new system of government on concepts of popular rule, personal liberty, and equal justice for all to replace their old leaders. This was a new start for France and would hopefully put them in the position they wanted to be in as a country. France was one of the biggest and most powerful countries in the world and had good monarchy, a large army and navy, and many foreign colonies and responsibilities. Much of this was very expensive to keep up, but not having it could end up becoming even worse. Paying for all these different things would be costly but this would not put them in their economic struggle. It would be their support in wars like â€Å"The Seven Year War† that caused them to borrow too much money to the point they could not pay back. Louis XVI would now take the thrown and try to help France in these horrible economic times. He came up with a plan to aid the Americans in their dependence from the British. He hoped this would get some influence in North America, but even though this was much help in the American victory France made no progress and went farther into debt. France was in big trouble and now had no national budget and little central financial planning. The French people were already overtaxed. Knowing the French was stuck in a hole and must find a way to get money Louis had to talk to his advisors. Many of King Louis financial advisors told him the only way to build up the France economy was to tax vast lands owned by the church and nobility, but the only way to tax them was to have a meeting with the Estates General. In 1788 Louis called a meeting with the Estates General and this would be a big part in setting the stage for the beginning of the French Revolution. The meeting would consist of representatives of each Estate. Even though the Third Estate made up 97% of the French population Louis would rely on the First and Second Estate to overrule the third. But things would soon turn for the worst for Louis, because the commoners (the third Estate) with a few of the members of the other estates disobeyed the king and named themselves the National Assembly. Their goal was to get all the all French citizens basic civil rights. They were willing to be very peaceful at the beginning, but Louis would not even come to an agreement with any of the Third Estate’s demands. Louis called a meeting between himself and the delegates of the three estates on June 23, 1789 three days after the Tennis Court Oath. There Louis told the delegates he would negotiate a number of reforms. The reforms Louis named had nothing to do with the demands of the Third Estate. The revolutionaries would not give up that easily and wanted Louis to know it. This made the king upset and now he would begin to use the army to force his will on the people. In late June Louis ordered four regiments of soldiers to advance on Paris and Versailles and soon after that ordered up several more. A large group of people went to Bastille to get ammo and gun powder and were met by a large number of troops where there was a big battle. This battle put the revolutionaries on top and Paris was pretty much theirs. Rumors went around that Louis was sending troops into the rural areas to handle the peasants, this became known as the â€Å"Great Fear†. When the troops did not come, the peasants went crazy and started to attack and sometimes burn the rich lord’s mansions. Doing this they also burned records of feudal obligations. Now the National Assembly had wanted to focus on getting a new constitution for France. The first draft was made August 27, 1789 named the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and showed to Louis on October 2, 1789. Louis said he would look over the draft but the revolutionaries needed to know how long it would take. They were worried that the king might be stalling to set up some attack. Inspired by the concern and mad about the latest lost in bread, part of the populace took action. On October 5th a large group of women went to Louis’s palace demanding he use his wealth to provide bread for hungry families and that he approve the declaration. When Louis’s wife, Marie Therese heard about the peasants not having any bread she then said â€Å"Let them eat cake† not even knowing that cake was a food that the rich ate because they could only afford it. This made the women very angry and was a very big part of the revolution. Fearing that the women would soon get violent he agreed to their demands. The women still didn’t trust Louis and made him and his family move to the old palace (Tuileries) in Paris so he could be watched. Later Louis and his family then tried to flee France when they were caught and sent back to Paris for Louis to stand trial. Leaders of the Assembly then realized that killing Louis would be best for all. So on January 21, 1793 Louis XVI was publically executed hoping that the French monarchy would soon end. This was the start of the revolution and would now hopefully let France start over. Louis was now gone and the people could now try to make their own decisions. This might not be the end of all their worries but they are now pointed in the right direction.