Main causes behind this war were poverty, starvation and taxation. The people of France were upset with Louis XVI, the leader at that time because he was greedy and undependable, not set in his ways. Marie Antoinette, his wife was greedy. She hoarded food, spent an unnecessary amount of money and on top of it all, had no male heir. Liberty, equality and fraternity were the main ideologies behind the French revolution. This was also weighed heavily upon by the Enlightenment and philosophical ideas. The American revolution showed the French an example of a successful revolution and functioning constitution. To the French,the definition of liberty was freedom from oppression by the government. They also found the french regime unfair, and believed that to achieve equality, a different system would have to be put into place. Lastly, was fraternity, or the idea that the nation 's citizens should be bound together in …show more content…
His attempt to reform France with the enlightenment ideas failed. He was indecisive, selfish, and conservative. Soon the people of france began to hate him. He and his wife, Marie Antoinette were guillotined on January 21st, 1793. However, following the king’s death, the reign of terror began. Robespierre, the head of The Committee of Public Safety ordered all the people who disagreed with his ideas, along with those of the revolution to the guillotine.Robespierre and The Committee of Public Safety worked to shape a French society and had the words “mister” and “mistress” to “citizen” and “citizeness”. Robespierre attempted to de-Christianize France, which was a failed project because of the density of the religion in that area. Eventually Robespierre was executed for treason. Lastly there was Napoleon Bonaparte, who crowned himself Emperor in 1804. Napoleon conquered much of Europe brutally, and was eventually exiled. At the age of 51, he took his last breath. The French Revolution resulted in political and economical gains for the lower class. They were no longer being squished by the higher classes taxes and power. The revolution developed liberalism, the belief that the government should not control prices and rages but rather let the demand of something control its price or worth. Unfortunately, the revolution had some negative effects. After Napoleon’s reign, ideas of totalitarianism appeared. This