French Revolution Dbq

The French Revolution began with a negligible crisis and soon intensified into a revolution. Louis XVI was crowned as the King of France in 1775. Louis was an absolute king meaning that he had all the power above the government. There were many components that helped lead France towards the revolution.

The king was incompetent in the responsibility of managing state finances. Funding wars from the midcentury and involvement in the American Revolution was costly. The government had no other choice than to raise taxes. This raise was hard on the economy because the tax was dispersed unevenly among social classes. Even with the raise of taxes the state failed to have enough money for state expenses and required loans to be taken out. These loans

The Estates-General was divided into three Estates: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. Louis did not take initiative and the deputies were left to figure it out on their own. In June, the Third Estate confirmed them to be the National Assembly. After this event Louis called a royal session and banned the deputies from continuing their meetings. This information did not reach the deputies. On June 21, 1789, when the National Assembly went to meet they found the doors had been locked by royal troops. Moving to a nearby tennis court, the group took the Tennis Court Oath. This oath swore that they would not disperse until they had written France a constitution. A few days later the royal session was held and he ordered all members of the clergy and nobility to join the National Assembly. Then, weeks later he ordered his army to separate the National Assembly by force. When this was discovered Paris became filled with fear, panic, and tension. People began breaking into arsenals for weapon and ammunition. On July 14, a crowd headed to Bastille. The crowd was armed with cannons. They went to negation with the governor to receive ammunition, but they resorted to taking Bastille by force. In the process of seizing Bastille prisoners were released and the governor was murdered. Out of fear the king ordered his troops to dismiss his original

Napoleon Bonaparte was part of a minor noble family. By the age of ten, he attended a French military school. He was successful in his studies, but he did not fit in with other students. When the French Revolution began he was only a lieutenant in the royal army. The revolution opened up the opportunity for career advancements.

In 1793, he became a general and in 1795, he helped in disbanding a royalist uprising in Paris. This accomplishment landed him the title of commander of the Army of Italy. During this time he fell in love with a woman named Josephine de Beauharnais. Soon they were married, but the marriage did not last. He heard rumors, after the marriage, of her love affairs. This incident caused him to avoid building close relationships with other people. Napoleon’s focus was now only on his career moves. He also drove Austria out of Italy and negotiated a treaty in 1797. These actions brought a period of peace to Europe for the first time since