The French Revolution was a time of great turmoil in French history. It began in 1789 and ended in 1799. During the French Revolution, the previous absolute monarchy and the entire social three estate system was overthrown. People in the third estate were especially tired of being treated like this, and wanted radical changes right away,
Louis XVI was the first king to come into power at the start of the revolution. He was a very weak and indecisive ruler, which was terrible for the country at that point. He also had a wife, Marie-Antoinette from Austria, who was obsessed with spending money. Together, they put the country into debt with over 2 billion livres. Despite national lack of food, they always ate immense amounts, and spent money which didn't even belong to them, but to the country. This put the country into a worse state, and eventually, both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed.
The Third Estate was tired of being treated how they were. They wanted more respect and an actual say in the government. They were given a tithe for their crops, which caused them starvation and malnutrition. They had the most trouble paying for bread, while others feasted away. Finally, they began violent revolts.
Then, in 1794, after Louis XVI's execution, a ruler named Robespierre came into power. He was a terrible ruler, who killed thousands of men by the guillotine. There weren't fair trials, and anyone suspected was killed. Finally, he was arrested and overthrown one year later, and the New Constitution, with much newer ideas that gave people unalienable rights, was issued.
After many reforms, and new enlightened ideas, the revolution was over. Clearly, with all of these new reforms, the third estate had gotten exactly what they wanted and succeeded in the revolution. There were new ideas such as enlightenment, citizenship, nationalism, and inalienable rights. After this ten years of upheaval and turmoil, the new, modern France was finally formed, inspired by the American Revolution.
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