THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
... rejected in an effort to protect economic privileges. Entiene Charles Lominie de Brienne was Calonne’s successor. He also made attempts to obtain money, which were ultimately opposed by the Parliament of Paris. This led King Louis XVI agreeing to the calling of the States-General. There were three states: nobility, clergy, and the third state (commons). Each made their grievances known to the King. Former clergyman Abbe Sieyes expressed the concerns of the third state. The aspirations were expressed via a widely circulated phamplet called Qu'est-ce que le tiers état?(Who Is the Third Estate). Within these readings, the third estate proclaimed that they were representative of the nation, and eventually named themselves the National Assembly. Many lower clergymen as well as a few nobles then joined them. They then took an oath, not to disperse until a constitution was written. On July 14, 1789, the Bastille fortress was ambushed. The Bastille was a fortress and state prison in Paris used to house mostly political prisoners and people of influence. The mission was to obtain ammunition. Shortly thereafter, on August 4th members of the Assembly adopted The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, which later, was embedded in the French Constitution as the preamble. The most direful aftermath was the Assembly’s anti-religious policies. This included church lands being nationalized and religious orders being suppressed. The clergy was required to take an oath to swear to adhere to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Only a little more than half of the clergymen took that oath, thus disturbances arose. Louis XVI was aroused to action and obtained foreign aid to renew his authority. This marked the beginning of the revolution. Another revolt took place on August 10, 1792. The Tuileries were stormed and the Commune of Paris, an insurrectionary government, overthrew the legally elected government. Many arrests of loyalists were succeeded by the September massacres, where mobs killed more than 2,000 prisoners. September 21, 1792 was the date of the first meeting held by the Convention. The results of this meeting were the abolition of monarchy, the establishment of the republic, and to proceed at trying the King for treason. The King was convicted and executed. This heightened royalist resistance, forming a wider alliance against France. The convention participated in foreign wars, but was internally torn. A democratic constitution was approved by 1.8 million voters, but never came into force. Rather than a democracy, the Convention established a dictatorship through the Committee of Public Safety, the Committee of General Security, and other numerous agencies i.e. the Revolutionary Tribunal. This period was known as the Reign of Terror, and consisted of the effort of a few men to govern and wage war. This new government was dominated by Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. Danton was the more dominant of the two. Wage maximums and prices were unjustly carried out, and the use of inflated paper currency was mandated. Many were arrested and even more were executed, including Marie Antoinette. April of 1794, Danton and his followers, known now as the Indulgents, were then executed. Robespierre proclaimed the cult of the Supreme Being. With the strong military success, the need for strong domestic measures was not as great. However, Robespierre called for new clearances...