Fall of the Monarchy

In 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes. Hundreds of thousands of Protestants emigrated, while others rose in rebellion. The revocation, as well as France's territorial expansion, turned the Protestant nations of Europe against France. In 1686 they formed the League of Augsburg (which later became the Grand Alliance). In 1688 war broke out. France was defeated and in 1697 had to give up the greater part of its recently acquired territories. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701--14), the French suffered numerous defeats. By the end of Louis XIV's reign, almost constant warfare had brought high taxes and great suffering to the French people.

During the reign of Louis XV (1715--74), most of the French colonial possessions in North America, including Canada and various islands in the West Indies, were lost to Great Britain. Louisiana was divided between Great Britain and Spain as a result of the Seven Years' War (1756--63). These losses together with the inefficiencies and administrative abuses of the government caused widespread unrest. By the time Louis XVI came to the throne, there was little popular support for royal authority. As a result of scattered movements of revolt and the threat of bankruptcy, Louis XVI summoned the States General (an assembly composed of representatives from the clergy, nobility, and common people) for the purpose of raising revenue.

The States General met in 1789. The representatives of the Third Estate, the Commons, were convinced that the government must be reformed. When their grievances went unheeded, they proclaimed themselves the National Assembly. The people of Paris began to riot and stormed the Bastille, a state prison, on July 14, 1789. Revolution erupted throughout the country, causing many royalists to flee. Peasants rioted in rural areas, attacking feudal estates and terrorizing landlords. The king became a virtual prisoner, and in 1791 he was forced to sign a constitution limiting his powers. Extremists, however, continued to demand the overthrow of the monarchy. In 1792, after more riots broke out in Paris, a convention, called by the Assembly, drafted a constitution and established a republic. Louis XVI was convicted of treason and guillotined in 1793.

Various factions struggled for power in the new government. The Jacobins, led by Max-imilien de Robespierre, gained dominance, and during a period known as the Reign of Terror they executed thousands of people in an attempt to crush all opposition to the new republic. Reaction against violence led to their overthrow. A new constitution, in which executive power was vested in a five-man committee called the Directory, went into effect in 1795.

Meanwhile, events in France had alarmed Europe's monarchs, who feared similar uprisings in their own domains. In 1792 Austrian and Prussian forces invaded France. The French drove out the invading troops and then took the offensive.