| The
French Revolution in Paris (1789-1799):On the 14th July 1789, an insurrection
broke out in Paris. The Bastille, a fortress symbolic of the arbitrary power of
the King, was taken by an armed mob. It was the beginning of the Revolution, which
comprised three phases: -From 1789-1792 the movement was controlled by the elite
who wanted to reform the kingdom. The king remained at the head of the regime,
but he had, nevertheless, to accept a constitution and an Assembly which voted
on the laws. The Parisian mob went to Versailles to seek him and to install him
in the Tuileries in Paris. They wanted to keep a watch on him. Thus the monarchy
returned to Paris. During this period utopian ideas reigned. In a frenetic atmosphere,
everyone understood that power had passed from the hands of a single man –
the absolute monarch – to the entire population. |