The Great Changes during French Revolution

The time of the revolutions brought great changes to their focus. The French Revolution, which took place in late 18th century France, was aimed at overthrowing the King or Absolute Monarch who had control over France. The people of France took action upon themselves to dethrone the King and execute him for the crimes he had committed, leading to a war being waged with other countries. These actions led to the Reign of Terror, a bloody and gruesome phase for France, and ended with the rise of the Napoleonic era.

The main circumstances that led to the start of the French Revolution were the storming of the Bastille Fortress and the execution of King Louis XVI. In 1789, the Bastille Fortress served as a storeroom for gunpowder and a prison. It was stormed and captured on July 14th, 1789 by thousands of armed peasants. As depicted in “So, on July 14th, 1789, nearly a thousand peasants arrived, armed to the teeth and prepared to lay siege to the fortress. The garrison was tiny compared to the mob, the prison was no longer functioning as anything other than a symbol of tyranny and a place for nearly retired soldiers to spend their time. With only around one hundred soldiers, the prison was forced to negotiate for their own safety.”

“The governor of the prison, Bernard-Rene de Launay, tried to negotiate with the French patriots, but his negotiation skills were almost useless in the face of their fervor.” (Hale, 2017, p. 11). This quote describes how the peasants stormed the castle to eliminate the last symbol of tyranny in Paris, signaling the start of the revolution. This event underscores the objective of the storming – to remove any signs of tyranny and obtain the gunpowder stored there for the impending war.

Another turning point in the French Revolution was the execution of King Louis XVI on charges of treason. The King was suspected of treason for trying to leave France for Austria while under confinement by the National Assembly. This action led to his execution when Austria and Prussia declared war against France, as evidenced in “…”. (Shutter, 1996, p. 1).

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