What was the French Revolution?
The French Revolution was a period of radical change in France from 1789 to 1799. It overthrew the monarchy, ended the old feudal order and spread ideas of liberty and equality.
France faced debt, food shortages and anger at the privileges of the nobility and clergy. On July 14, 1789, crowds in Paris stormed the Bastille, a royal prison, a moment now celebrated as France's national day. The National Assembly soon issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
In 1792, France became a republic. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were executed in 1793. During the Reign of Terror, thousands of people accused of opposing the revolution were sent to the guillotine.
How it ended
The revolution ended in 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in a coup. Its ideas, summed up in the motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité, influenced democratic movements around the world.
Did You Know?
The metric system was introduced during the French Revolution, as part of an effort to replace confusing local measurements with a logical decimal system.