Napoleon: Revolution to Empire

It is a revolt ... No Sire, it is a revolution.

Duc de Liancourt informing King Louis XVI of the fall of the Bastille,
14 July 1789

The National Assembly – Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

The Third Estate and the people of France generally loved their King, believing that he upheld the best interests of his people, and blamed instead the nobility and clergy for their problems. However, King Louis’ continued inaction on the matter of civil rights caused public opinion to turn. The three Estates debated separately over reform, reaching little consensus. Finally the Third Estate asked the First and Second Estates to join them in a single assembly. The Commons not only demanded greater power but also usurped the power of the other two Estates and confronted the King. On 17 June 1789, without royal authority, the National Assembly was declared. An aura of optimism and euphoria prevailed; the people had created their own ideology based not on class systems but on freedom and equality in which all men could follow their own destiny through ability rather than privilege.

The Tennis Court Oath

On 20 June, when the National Assembly met to discuss reforms, the doors of the meeting rooms were locked. The King declared the National Assembly illegal and held over the meeting until 23 June. In an unprecedented move, the National Assembly – armed with a new sense of purpose and power – convened in an adjacent tennis-court hall. Defiantly the Assembly took an oath declaring its right to assemble to establish and consolidate a new constitution.

The King Takes Action

On 23 June, the King tried to annul the National Assembly and announced a number of concessions regarding taxes and duties, censorship and imprisonment. The National Assembly refused to be summarily dismissed, rejecting royal authority and reaffirming its right to assemble. Soldiers hired to prevent the Assembly supported their fellow ‘citizens’ and by 27 June the King was forced to concede.

Bastille

Despite the King’s order to allow the Estates to meet as a whole, continued unrest ravaged Paris. More than 15,000 royal troops gathered around the outskirts of the city. Food shortages forced the Parisians to attack customs barriers to allow food to enter. The King dismissed Jacques Necker, his popular finance minister, blaming him for the failure of the Estates-General, prompting riots throughout the city and rallies against the King.

On 14 July 1789 the crowds became uncontrollable. Seeking to arm themselves against the King’s forces they set their sights on the weapons cached in the prison fortress of the Bastille. Negotiations with the prison governor failed and violence erupted. The Bastille – a symbol of the despotism of the old regime – was overpowered.