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Jacques Necker
The French financier and statesman Jacques Necker (1732-1804) served King Louis XVI as director general of finances. His efforts to reform French institutions prior to 1789 and to compromise with the Estates General after the start of the Revolution failed. In 1765 Necker founded his own bank -
Louis XVI
Louis XVI approved French military support for the American colonies in their successful struggle against the British, but the expense nearly bankrupted the country. Louis convened the Estates-General in an effort to solve his budget crisis, but by doing so he unwittingly sparked the French Revolution. Louis XVI adopted the policy of not raising taxes, and taking out international loans which included the funding of the American Revolution -
Marie Antoinette
Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna, better known as Marie Antoinette, was the last queen of France who helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792. Her alleged remark “Let them eat cake” has been cited as showing her obliviousness to the poor conditions in which many of her subjects lived while she lived decadently. -
Marquis de Lafayette
Marquis de Lafayette was a French general who played an important part during the Revolutionary War. He helped the colonists against the British. He volunteered his time and money to help the Americans. He was able to help the Americans win the war and was treated as a hero. -
Georges Danton
George Jacques Danton was a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution, in particular as the first president of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed, many historians describe him as "the chief force in the overthrow of the French monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic" -
Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday was the young Girondin woman most famous for stabbing Jean-Paul Marat to death as he lay in the bath. Born into a family of minor nobility in Normandy, Corday was given a solid education and encouraged to read. -
Calling of the Estates-General
The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was significant because it showed the growing unrest against Louis XVI and laid the foundation for later events, including: the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the storming of the Bastille. -
Attack on the Bastille
On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. -
Women’s March to Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles was an important event at the start of the French Revolution. It gave the revolutionaries confidence in the power of the people over the king. In 1789 France, the main food of the commoners was bread. -
Flight to Varennes
The royal Flight to Varennes during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant episode in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, his queen Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family unsuccessfully attempted to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution. -
Execution of Louis XVI
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed for treason. Louis had failed to address France's financial problems, instigating the French Revolution that eventually descended upon him. He made matters worse by often escaping to more pleasurable activities like hunting and locksmithing. -
Jean-Paul Marat
He was a journalist and politician during the French Revolution. He was a vigorous defender of the sans-culottes and seen as a radical voice. He published his views in pamphlets, placards and newspapers. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror, commonly The Terror was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and spurious accusations. -
Napoleon Invades Russia
Napoleon hoped to compel the Emperor of All Russia, Alexander I, to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia.
