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| Louis XVI (1774-1791), King of France, was a well meaning, dull, shy, and awkward leader. He presided over court w/ dignity. He was married to Marie Antionette. He had three finance ministers: Turgot, Necker, and Colonne. Thomas Jefferson advocates the overthrow of him during the French Revolution (1789-1799). King Louis XVI and his family lived in Versailles, 11 miles outside of town. This made the people angry, so they marched out to his palace and brought them back to live in Paris. He had lost all of his power. The leaders of Austria and Prussia came together in the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791. |
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Marie Antionette
(1774-1791) |
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| Marie Antionette (1774-1791) married Louis XVI and became the Queen of France. She was the daughter of Maria Theresa, and she was from Vienna, Austria.The people called her the Austrian B*tch. She could get anything she wanted from Louis, and the French people hated her. Louis's second finance minister, Necker, put her on a budget. She had Louis fire him. She was held prisoner with her husband and children in Paris until the day she was beheaded, in 1793. |
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| Necker (1776-1781) was King Louis XVI's second Finance Minister of France. He was a Swiss banker who believed in treating the government as a business. He helped in the decision to have France intervene in the American Revolution. He tried to put a budget on Marie Antionette. She got angry and had her husband fire him. |
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Turgot (1774-1776) was King Louis XVI's first Finance Minister of France. He believed in a laissez-faire government and getting rid of tariffs. Everyone wanted him out, so he was replaced with Necker in 1776.
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| They wanted to do something to stop the overthrow of the autocratic government in France. In 1792, the Brunswick Manifesto was passed, saying that if anyone tried to harn the King, Prussia would kill them. Fearing this, Danton and Robespierre start planning to overthrow the monarchy. The Jacobins said Louis XVI was guilty of treason. He was tried by the people and found guilty. He was beheaded. |
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| Colonne (1781-1787) was King Louis XVI's third Finance Minister of France. He was Neckers' replacement. The American Revolution was expensive, so he tells the clergy and nobles that they need to learn to tax themselves if they want to be a successful nation. They said no. They ask Louis to fire him, which he does. |
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Archbishop de Brienne
(1787-1789)
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| Archbishop de Brienne (1787-1789) was King Louis' fourth Finance Minister of France. He was Colonne's replacement. |
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Term
| Estates General called in 1789 |
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Definition
| The Estates General was called in 1789 in France, because there had been a drought, and the crops were failing. It was made up of the three estates: The clergy, the nobles, and the burgoise. There were 291 clergy members, 270 nobles, and 578 burgoise. The burgoise were the only ones who were taxed, so they had to be taxed very heavily. They, however, had more people than the clergy and nobles combined, so if they were allowed to vote by head they would have been able to outvote them. |
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| The Estates General was called in May of 1789 |
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Definition
| It was tradition to vote by estates, though, so the burgoise were always outvoted by the nobles and clegymenm, who voted together. So, the burgoise decide to leave the estates general and meet separately for three days. On June 20th, 1789, the nobles and clergymen had them locked out of their meeting building. So, they moved to a Tennis Court, and they came up with the Tennis Court Oath on June 20th, 1789. They had deicded to not leave the courts until they had written a constitution. They called themselves the National Assembly. |
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Abbey Sieyes (Father Sieyes)
(1748 – 1836) |
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Definition
| Abbey Sieyes (1748 – 1836) was a very good politician and priest. He wrote the pamphlet, What is the Third Estate? According to the rules, it is nothing. He wants to make the Estates General change and vote by head instead of by estates. Louis said no to keep the clergy happy. |
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Tennis Court Oath
(June 20th, 1789) |
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Definition
| The Tennis Court Oath (June 20th, 1789) occured in France after Louis XVI refused to allow the Estates General vote by head. The burgoise left the E.G and had their own meeting that lasted for three days. The nobles and clergymen locked them out of their meeting building, and demanded that they come back. |
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Tennis Court Oath
(June 20th, 1789) |
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Definition
| They simply found a tennis court to continue their business on, and made an oath not to leave until they had written a constitution. This became known as the Tennis Court Oath of 1789. Their first revolutionary step was to call themselves the National Assembly. It took them two years to write a constitution. |
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The Bastille
(July 14th, 1789) |
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| The Bastille (July 14th, 1789) in France is where political prisoners were held. The peasants wanted freedom, so Louis XVI finally agreed to let them vote by head. They said it was too late, and they stormed the Bastille. They demanded that the commander let them in. He refused. They found an oak tree and used it as a battering ram. Soilders started firing into the crowd. The commander told them to stop and let them in. The peasants killed the commander and the soilders, and then they freed the seven prisoners. Today, Bastille Day is celebrated in France on July 14th, as their Independance Day. |
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