Influential People of the French Revolution

     King Louis ruled France from 1774-1792. Because of his poor leadership skills, he and the queen were unpopular with the French people. He was quick to give aid to the American side of the American Revolution, and was not careful with his spending of the country's money. After not paying attention to his financial advisors suggestions, he finally led the country to bankruptcy in 1789.
       Finally, in 1789 Louis called a meeting with the Estates-General, the French legislature, to help solve France's financial crisis. Finally admitting that a king needed help running a country, the Estates-General convened.
       When the Third Estate proposed the idea of becoming a National Assembly, where each person would have a vote, the king rejected the idea. Paris mobs began showing their feelings by demonstrating against the king in many ways. Then, Louis backed down and allowed for the formation of the National Assembly.
        The National Assembly then vowed to make a constitution for France and when they did, France was declared a limited monarchy. The King did not like his loss of power and tried to escape the country in 1791 with his queen Marie Antoinette. But they were caught and brought back.
        After the King was accused of dealing with his enemies, the legislature called a election of a National Convention that would govern France and draw up a new constitution.
         The new National Convention shortly after tried Louis XVI and convicted him of treason. The King was beheaded in early in 1793.

      The Estates-General was the French legislature made up of 1200 representatives - 300 from each the First and Second Estate and 600 from the Third. Votes in this legislature were cast by estates, meaning each estate could only have on vote. Therefore, the majority of the people could be outvoted by others.
       Later on however, members of the Third Estate were able to turn the Estates-General into the National Assembly, meaning each person would count as a vote.
      The National Assembly was able to accomplish a lot. They were able to abolish the special treatment of the First and Second Estates, they wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man (see events), help the country financially and in religious measures. They were also able to setup local governments that were controlled by local assemblies. Probably the most important thing however, was they developed the Constitution of 1791, which limited the kings power and made him share it with the elected Legislative Assembly.

      The Jacobins were a radical political party that represented the city workers. However, since they paid no taxes, they were not allowed a voice in the government, under the new constitution. They Jacobins did not favor the king nor the bourgeoisie instead wanted a government run by the poorer people.
         Even with their radical views the Jacobins were able to recruit many followers due to their many clubs and use of media demonstrations. But, most of all, they prospered because of their leaders Marat, Danton, and Robespierre.
        Somehow, the Jacobins were able to take control of the National Convention. In order to protect the revolution against its enemies, they made sure all the governmental powers were centralized into the Committee of Public Safety, a small dictatorial group. They ruled France from 1792 to 1795 not really paying attention to any constitution.
       This Committee was able to spread throughout the country and strongly rule during the Reign of Terror (see events). Many were sent to the guillotine without a trial. Finally the people were so frightened they turned against they Jacobins. After their leaders were beheaded, the moderates were able to regain control of the National Convention.

       Towards the end of the major revolution, Napoleon became noticed by the people of France because he had helped drive out British troops from ports in France and helped keep peace between Paris mobs that were threatening the National Convention. In 1796, he gained control of the French army in Italy, where he was honored and became known as a hero to the people of France.
        In 1799, France had gone through major changes and was ready for a stable government. He was able to overthrow the already existing Directory with force - Coup d'Etat (see events.) Here he created a constitution, which called for a republic, but was really headed by the First Consul, himself. He was more like a military dictator than part of a republic.
        The French people however were impressed by what Napoleon had done to help change France. So, when he change his supposed republic into an empire, the people approved. And the results of the major revolution, resulted in a dictatorship.