The French Revolution: from the Estates-General to the Terror
AdvancedBankruptcy and the injustice of the three estates ignited the French Revolution of 1789: the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the execution of Louis XVI, Robespierre's Terror — until Napoleon's coup of 1799 closed the decade, with privilege abolished and liberty, equality and nationalism spreading across Europe.
- Five causes: absolutism, bankruptcy, failed harvests, estate injustice, Enlightenment ideas
- The 1789 line: May Estates-General → June Tennis Court Oath → 14 July Bastille → August Declaration of the Rights of Man
- Monarchy abolished 1792 for the First Republic; Louis XVI executed January 1793
文體小知識：歷史敘事課：由三級會議行到霧月政變，十年革命四幕劇——君主立憲→共和→恐怖→督政府；留意「攻陷巴士底獄」與「處死國王」是兩回事，年份不要撈亂。
§Text Passage
1France in the late 1780s was a state in crisis: Louis XVI ruled absolutely while court spending and foreign wars — including aid to the American Revolution — had bankrupted the treasury; the failed harvest of 1788 sent bread prices soaring. Society was split into three estates: clergy and nobility ranked first and second, exempt from the main taxes and monopolising high office, while the Third Estate — the commoners, the vast majority — bore nearly the whole burden. Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and popular sovereignty had spread widely, and calls for reform were loud.
2In May 1789 Louis XVI was forced to summon the Estates-General — the first since 1614 — to discuss new taxes; a quarrel over voting drove the Third Estate out, and in June it declared itself the National Assembly, swearing the Tennis Court Oath not to disperse until France had a constitution. On 14 July the Paris crowd stormed the Bastille, the fortress symbolising despotism: the Revolution had begun. In August the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: people born free and equal in rights, sovereignty in the nation, equality before the law, property inviolable.
3The Constitution of 1791 set up a constitutional monarchy, but the king's secret flight to the frontier garrison and capture destroyed his credit. War with Austria and Prussia came in 1792; an August rising imprisoned Louis XVI, and in September the monarchy was abolished for the First Republic. In January 1793 Louis went to the guillotine. The Reign of Terror (1793–94) followed: Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety executed 'enemies of the revolution' in droves — some 17,000 died by the guillotine — until the Thermidorian coup of July 1794 sent Robespierre himself to the scaffold.
4The Directory that ruled from 1795 was corrupt and weak, and in November 1799 Napoleon's coup of 18 Brumaire closed the decade of revolution. Its gains endured: feudal privileges and the tithe were abolished; the Declaration of the Rights of Man became the fountainhead of modern rights documents; liberty, equality and nationalism spread through Europe with the wars. The Terror, though, left a warning — a revolution without the restraint of law can devour its own children.
1Summary 重點摘要
Bankruptcy and the injustice of the three estates ignited the French Revolution of 1789: the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the execution of Louis XVI, Robespierre's Terror — until Napoleon's coup of 1799 closed the decade, with privilege abolished and liberty, equality and nationalism spreading across Europe.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
The consultative assembly of the three estates, unsummoned since 1614; Louis XVI had to recall it in May 1789, and it became the revolution's starting point.
The assembly the Third Estate declared itself in June 1789, vowing not to disperse until France had a constitution and claiming to speak for the nation.
On 20 June 1789, locked out of their hall, the deputies swore in a Versailles tennis court not to disperse until a constitution was made.
On 14 July 1789 the Paris crowd stormed the Bastille, the fortress of royal despotism — the revolution's outbreak; the date is France's national day.
Adopted August 1789: people born free and equal in rights, sovereignty in the nation, equality before the law, property inviolable.
Bourbon king of France whose Estates-General triggered the revolution; deposed in 1792 and executed in January 1793.
Robespierre's rule in 1793–94, executing 'enemies of the revolution' in droves — some 17,000 died by the guillotine.
Leader of the Jacobins and core of the Committee of Public Safety, master of the Terror; guillotined in the Thermidorian coup of 1794.
The execution machine adopted by the revolution and made the emblem of the Terror; both Louis XVI and Robespierre died beneath it.
The July 1794 coup in the Convention that toppled Robespierre, ending the Terror and swinging policy conservative.
3Step by step Steps
- Para 1: causesThe Revolution came from several forces converging. Politically, Louis XVI ruled absolutely and the Estates-General had not met for over a century and a half; economically, court extravagance and the huge cost of aiding the American War of Independence bankrupted the treasury, and the harvest failure of 1788 sent bread prices soaring; socially, clergy and nobility enjoyed tax exemption while the Third Estate bore the whole burden; intellectually, Enlightenment ideas circulated everywhere. In 1789 all five forces were in place at once.
- Para 2: Estates-GeneralTo solve the fiscal crisis Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General in May 1789 — the first meeting since 1614. The voting rule at once ignited the conflict: voting by order let the privileged estates outvote the Third forever, voting by head offered reform a chance. Rebuffed on head-count voting, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly in June and swore the Tennis Court Oath: not to disband until France had a constitution.
- Para 2: Bastille and the DeclarationOn 14 July 1789 the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, the fortress symbolising absolute rule, and the revolution spread from parliamentary struggle to popular insurrection. In August the Assembly abolished feudal privilege and the tithe, and adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, proclaiming that men are born free and equal, that sovereignty rests in the nation, that all are equal before the law and property inviolable — Enlightenment ideas made, at a stroke, the manifesto of a revolution.
- Para 3: from constitutional monarchy to republicThe Constitution of 1791 established a constitutional monarchy, but the king intrigued secretly with foreign courts and war radicalised the revolution. France declared war on Austria and Prussia in April 1792; an August rising in Paris imprisoned the king; in September the monarchy was abolished and the First Republic proclaimed. In January 1793 Louis XVI went to the guillotine for treason, and the monarchies of Europe formed coalitions against France.
- Para 3: the TerrorUnder siege within and without, the Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre ruled by terror through 1793 and 1794: revolutionary tribunals streamlined trials, about 17,000 were formally executed and many more died without trial, most of them commoners. Terror bred universal fear, and in July 1794 the Thermidorian coup sent Robespierre himself to the guillotine — the revolution had begun to devour its own children.
- Para 4: Directory and finaleThe Directory, founded in 1795, was corrupt and weak, twice surviving only by calling out the army against royalists and Jacobins, and it leaned ever more on its generals. In November 1799 Napoleon, freshly returned from the Egyptian expedition, seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire, toppling the Directory and naming himself First Consul. A decade of revolution closed, France passed from the age of revolution into the age of the strongman, and a war-weary society gained a spell of stability.
- Summary: the legacyThe Revolution abolished feudal privilege and the tithe root and branch; the Declaration of the Rights of Man opened the line of modern rights charters; the metric system, carried by the Revolution, later circled the globe; and war and reform spread nationalism across Europe. The lesson was as profound: revolutionary passion unchecked by legality leads to terror — a warning that shaped the next two centuries of revolutionary history.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: analyse the causes of the French Revolution under politics, economy, society and ideas.
- Politics: Louis XVI's absolutism, an Estates-General unsummoned since 1614, privileged orders monopolising office and blocking reform
- Economy: court extravagance and foreign wars (including the American one) bankrupted the treasury, and the 1788 harvest failure sent bread prices soaring
- Society: the first two estates — clergy and nobility — were exempt from the main taxes while the Third Estate, the vast majority, bore them all: a glaring injustice
- Ideas: Enlightenment doctrines of natural rights, popular sovereignty and the social contract circulated widely, arming opposition to despotism
- Answer: Absolutism and privilege drained the system of flexibility (politics, society); bankruptcy and harvest failure provided the spark (economy); Enlightenment thought supplied legitimacy and goals (ideas). Together they made 1789 explode. Tip: use the four-way frame — politics, economy, society, ideas — with a concrete example each.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1How was French society divided into three estates, and who paid the taxes?
Q2What was the Tennis Court Oath?
Q3When did the Bastille fall, and why does it matter?
Q4What principles did the Declaration of the Rights of Man proclaim?
Q5Who ran the Terror, and how did it end?
8Recap Recap
- Five causes: absolutism, bankruptcy, failed harvests, estate injustice, Enlightenment ideas
- The 1789 line: May Estates-General → June Tennis Court Oath → 14 July Bastille → August Declaration of the Rights of Man
- Monarchy abolished 1792 for the First Republic; Louis XVI executed January 1793
- The Terror (1793–94): Robespierre, some 17,000 executed, ended by the Thermidorian coup
- Legacy: privilege abolished, the Rights of Man the ancestor of modern rights charters, nationalism spreading; 1799 handed the stage to Napoleon