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The French Revolution: The National Assembly and the king's death
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What is the period after the execution of the French royal family called?
In France, the Bastille has fallen and the country is now ruled by the newly formed National Assembly. Most members of the National Assembly are from the wealthier sections of the third estate. They are merchants, lawyers, and doctors. But also there are also some nobles and priests, and a few workers. Roaming the streets of Paris are unskilled and skilled workers who have become armed revolutionaries.
They kill those of the king's officials who have not already fled the country. The uprising is not only happening in Paris. In many other places in France, farmworkers and handworkers have heard that the Bastille has fallen; they too burn castles and kill the nobles. Many nobles flee abroad. The few nobles and priests who belong to the National Assembly feel scared and threatened by the third estate.
The night of August the 4th, 1789, they agree to renounce all their privileges. Now, only the king's signature is missing. Then everyone has to pay taxes, and laws shall be the same for everyone. The king, Louis XVI, does not like the National Assembly's decision; he refuses to sign. The people in Paris don’t like this.
Demonstrations break out. Women demonstrate against the lack of flour. And 7,000 women march to Versailles where the king and his wife Marie Antoinette live. They require the king to accompany them to Paris. Some angry protesters even break in on the king.
People don’t really dislike the king, but the queen who, originally comes from Austria they hate. When she was told that people were hungry, the story goes that she said, "But if they have no bread, let them eat cake!" But most probably, she never actually said this. The king has to give in, and go with them to Paris. The National Assembly establishes more laws to get rid of the oppression of ‘l'ancien regime’, the old regime. Everything that the nobility and church owns will now be owned by the state.
The farm workers in rural areas are quickly satisfied; now they don’t have to pay unjust taxes to the nobility. They return to their old way of living. Many of the priests and bishops try their best to hide their riches away. Unlike the city dwellers, the farm workers don’t have a big problem with this, as they are often deeply religious, and have trust in the church. In 1791, the National Assembly decides that France should, after all have a king, but with very limited power.
King Louis XVI becomes increasingly concerned about the safety of his family, and in June 1791, the family is trying to escape. The escape plans have been prepared by the Queen’s admirer, Count Axel von Fersen, secretly sent by the Swedish king, Gustav III. The king and his family are discovered during the escape and taken back to Paris. Now the royal family are prisoners in their own palace. In 1792, the National Assembly abolishes the crown.
They change their name to the national convention. The king secretly seeks support from other kings, and nobles who already escaped from France. Some of his letters are discovered, and the people decide that the king is guilty. Guilty of what is not really clear, but guilty he is. He is charged with treason and sentenced to death.
In January 1793, a carriage rolls into a square in Paris. In the carriage is Louis XVI. In the square stands a new invention, a tool invented for making executions quick, humane and painless - a guillotine. Gentlemen, I die innocent! Drummer!
Long live freedom! Long live the republic! Even Marie Antoinette is accused of treason, and executed. Around Europe, kings and nobles are scared and angry when they find out that Louis XVI has been executed, and the nobility abolished. If it can happen in France, then it might happen here!
After the execution of the royal family, a period in France, called "the reign of terror" begins. 35,000 people are executed in a short period of time, and no-one knows who is next.