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| The storming of the Bastille prison on July 14th is commemorated today as ]. Although only seven prisoners were released -- four forgers, two lunatics, and a dangerous sexual offender -- it became a potent symbol of all that was hated of the ''Ancien Régime''. | The storming of the Bastille prison on July 14th is commemorated today as ]. Although only seven prisoners were released -- four forgers, two lunatics, and a dangerous sexual offender -- it became a potent symbol of all that was hated of the ''Ancien Régime''. | ||
| The new French Republic soon was at war with its neighbors. It helped revolutionaries in other countries to set up their own republics (e.g. the ], but soon these states were little more than vassal states. | |||
| Unfortunately, unlike the American Revolution, which brought about a republic, the French revolution resulted in a condition of general civil war known as the ], culminating in the rise to power of ]. | Unfortunately, unlike the American Revolution, which brought about a republic, the French revolution resulted in a condition of general civil war known as the ], culminating in the rise to power of ]. | ||
Revision as of 06:18, 12 August 2002
The French Revolution occurred during the years 1789-1792, just a few years after the American Revolution.
The King of France, Louis XVI was overthrown in a popular rebellion, caused in part by the rise of a middle class no longer controllable by the old regime, by ideological changes brought about by such authors as Voltaire, Denis Diderot, A. R. J. Turgot, and other theorists of the Enlightenment, and most proximately by the financial disarray of the government resulting in sharply higher taxes.
The storming of the Bastille prison on July 14th is commemorated today as Bastille Day. Although only seven prisoners were released -- four forgers, two lunatics, and a dangerous sexual offender -- it became a potent symbol of all that was hated of the Ancien Régime.
The new French Republic soon was at war with its neighbors. It helped revolutionaries in other countries to set up their own republics (e.g. the Batavian Republic, but soon these states were little more than vassal states.
Unfortunately, unlike the American Revolution, which brought about a republic, the French revolution resulted in a condition of general civil war known as the Reign of Terror, culminating in the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte.
see also French Revolutionary Calendar