Causes of the French Revolution

Financial Crisis: France was heavily indebted from wars and excessive spending, leading to a severe financial crisis.
Social Inequality: The Estates-General system divided society into three classes: clergy, nobility, and commoners, with the latter bearing the burden of taxation.
Enlightenment Ideas: The spread of Enlightenment ideas, such as liberty, equality, and democracy, inspired the masses to demand change.

Estates-General of 1789: The representatives of the three estates met to address the financial crisis, leading to the formation of the National Assembly.
Tennis Court Oath: Members of the National Assembly took an oath to continue their work on a new constitution, marking the beginning of the Revolution.
Storming of the Bastille: A mob stormed the symbol of royal tyranny, marking the fall of the absolute monarchy.
Great Fear: A wave of panic and violence spread across the countryside, leading to the abolition of feudalism and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Reign of Terror: Radical Jacobins, led by Maximilien Robespierre, executed thousands of perceived enemies of the Revolution.
Rise of Napoleon: Napoleon Bonaparte, a military general, seized power and eventually became Emperor of France.

King Louis XVI: The monarch who was executed during the Reign of Terror.
Queen Marie Antoinette: The queen who was executed and became a symbol of the monarchy's excesses.
Maximilien Robespierre: The radical Jacobin leader who dominated the Reign of Terror.
Georges Danton: A leading figure of the early Revolution who was eventually executed by Robespierre.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The military general who seized power and became Emperor of France.

End of Absolute Monarchy: The French Revolution marked the end of absolute monarchy and the rise of democratic principles.
Spread of Enlightenment Ideas: The Revolution inspired the spread of Enlightenment ideas across Europe and beyond.
Modern Nation-State: The French Revolution established the modern nation-state, with a centralized government and a codified system of laws.
Influence on Future Revolutions: The French Revolution inspired future revolutions, including the Haitian Revolution and the Russian Revolution.

Financial Crisis: France was heavily indebted from the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, leading to a severe financial crisis, with a national debt of 5 billion livres.
Social Inequality: The Estates-General system divided society into three classes: clergy (1%), nobility (2%), and commoners (97%), with the commoners bearing the burden of taxation, despite making up the majority of the population.
Enlightenment Ideas: The spread of Enlightenment ideas, such as liberty, equality, and democracy, inspired by thinkers like Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu, influenced the masses to demand change and challenge the absolute monarchy.

Estates-General of 1789: The representatives of the three estates met on May 5, 1789, to address the financial crisis, leading to the formation of the National Assembly on June 17, 1789.
Tennis Court Oath: On June 20, 1789, members of the National Assembly took an oath to continue their work on a new constitution, marking the beginning of the Revolution.
Storming of the Bastille: On July 14, 1789, a mob stormed the symbol of royal tyranny, the Bastille prison, marking the fall of the absolute monarchy.
Great Fear: A wave of panic and violence spread across the countryside in July and August 1789, leading to the abolition of feudalism and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on August 26, 1789.
Reign of Terror: Radical Jacobins, led by Maximilien Robespierre, executed thousands of perceived enemies of the Revolution, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, from 1793 to 1794.
Rise of Napoleon: Napoleon Bonaparte, a military general, seized power on November 9, 1799, and eventually became Emperor of France on May 18, 1804.

King Louis XVI: The monarch who was executed by guillotine on January 21, 1793, during the Reign of Terror.
Queen Marie Antoinette: The queen who was executed by guillotine on October 16, 1793, and became a symbol of the monarchy's excesses.
Maximilien Robespierre: The radical Jacobin leader who dominated the Reign of Terror and was executed by guillotine on July 28, 1794.
Georges Danton: A leading figure of the early Revolution who was eventually executed by guillotine on April 5, 1794, by Robespierre.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The military general who seized power and became Emperor of France, ruling from 1804 to 1815.

End of Absolute Monarchy: The French Revolution marked the end of absolute monarchy and the rise of democratic principles in France.
Spread of Enlightenment Ideas: The Revolution inspired the spread of Enlightenment ideas across Europe and beyond, shaping modern western society.
Modern Nation-State: The French Revolution established the modern nation-state, with a centralized government and a codified system of laws.
Influence on Future Revolutions: The French Revolution inspired future revolutions, including the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and the Russian Revolution (1917).