“Louis XVI on a Visit to Medellin” (1990) by Francisco Botero
In 1792, France becomes a Republic.
The government closes the churches, makes money by raising taxes on the rich and selling property owned by the church and by wealthy families that leave the country.
The Republic helps the poor and disabled and makes education free and required for all.
The leaders of the Republic also unleash a wave of horrific violence.
They force all unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 to join the army.
They arrest, try, and behead thousands who are accused of opposing the Revolution.
Many more die in prison or are killed without any kind of trial.
When the King tries to escape France, he is captured and returned to Paris.
In 1793, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are beheaded.
Both are beheaded in the Place de la Revolution, now the Place de la Concorde at the eastern end of the Champs Elysee: Louis on January 21st and Marie on October 16th.
In 1793, the leaders of the French Revolution begin to turn on each other and a reign of terror begins.
On July 17, Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated.
On September 5, Maximilien Robespierre’s government makes “terror the order of the day."
On July 27, 1794, Robespierre is arrested and beheaded.
Many of the Republic’s most progressive laws are overturned.
Since the start of the Revolution, other nations have been planning to invade the young Republic to rescue the King, to discourage rebellions in their own countries, and to take advantage of the chaos to increase their power.
At the same time, France’s new leaders want to spread their revolutionary ideas, to bring down kings in other countries, to increase their own power, and to unite the French in wars against external enemies.
In 1799, Napoleon abolishes the government, says the Revolution is over, and makes himself leader of France. He needs money for his wars.
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