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Humanities

This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

 

Political Issues and Timeline of the Revolution

  • July 1788: France Bankrupt: Louis XVI calls the Estates General to address taxation
  • June 1789: Third Estates declares itself the National Assembly
  • July 14, 1789: Storming of the Bastille
  • August 4, 1789: Nobles surrender their privileges
  • June 1791: Failed escape of Louis XVI (with Austrian troops waiting to greet them at the border--and initiate a counter-revolutionary plan, disguised in bourgeois clothing, the royal family was caught at Varennes, France).
  • April 20, 1792: France declares war on Austria
  • September 1792: Abolition of the Monarchy, Terror Begins
  • Jan 21, 1793: Execution of Louis XVI (the Queen’s execution followed in October)
  • April 5, 1794: Execution of Georges Danton (and his loyal friends)
  • July 28, 1794: Last execution of the Reign of Terror: Maximilien Robespierre

Revolutionary Influences

Rousseau Voltaire
Enlightenment
Diderot Montesquieu

 

King and Queen of France monument: Photograph taken by Dawn Ady, June 2016

The King and Queen of France

During the Revolution, 1774-1792

 

In Historical Epochs of the French Revolution, 1795, published two years after the execution, Henry Goudemetz tells the story of Louis XVI and his last words.

 “The King walked, alone, up the steps of the scaffold. The guillotine - the instrument which would end his life - was positioned nearby. Far from opposing those who came to cut off his hair, and bind his hands, ‘Do with me,’ said he, ‘what you will, it is the last sacrifice.’" He then made a motion with his hand to obtain silence. – ‘I die perfectly innocent of all the pretended crimes laid to my charge - I forgive all those who have had any hand in my misfortunes, and I pray that my blood may be of use in restoring happiness to France...’”

 

 

 

Photograph of monument to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France

(both executed in 1793) located at the Basilica of St. Denis, Paris. Photograph taken May 30, 2016.

 

Public domain

 

 

 

 

 

The Guillotine

The Guillotine was developed by a doctor and politician, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin who advocated medical reform and opposed the death penalty. Guillotin's revolutionary method was considered least painful means of execution, and therefore--for the person being executed--most humane.

Guillotine History

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie Antionette awaiting execution - Jacques-Louis David, Musée du Louvre, Paris

 

These works are public domain in country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

 

Text Resources

The Estates General: three political bodies with the majority of voting power being held by the 3% of the population, which included clergy (first estate) and the nobility (second estate). The third estate, 97% of the population, included peasants, artisans, and the bourgeoisie (middle class, which also owned most of the land in France). Moreover, the nobility and clergy were exempt from taxation!