French Revolution

The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four... Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV. The era covers the period from 1714 to 1837, with the sub-period of the Regency defined by the Regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III. Often the short reign of the fifth and final Hanoverian king King William IV is also included. The last Hanoverian monarch of the UK was William's niece Queen Victoria who is the namesake of the following historical era, the Victorian, which is usually defined as occurring from the start of her reign, when William died, and continuing until her death. The term "Georgian" is typically used in the contexts of social history and architecture.
more

The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille... represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération . It is usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution , and exacerbated by a regressive system of taxation. On 5 May 1789 the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and amounting to only 2% of France's population at the time.
more

The Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and... most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the royal palace at Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and in a dramatic and violent confrontation they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and the entire French Assembly to return with them to Paris. These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king.
more

The Fête de la Fédération of the 14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the establishment of the short-lived... constitutional monarchy in France and what people of the time considered to be the happy conclusion of the French Revolution the outcome hoped for by the monarchiens. The Fête de la Fédération in Paris was the most prominent event of a series of spontaneous celebrations all over France: from August 1789, Fédérations appeared in towns and countryside; on 5 June 1790, with lots of individual feasts to celebrate the new state of France, a constitutional monarchy. The National Assembly approved the suggestion by the Commune de Paris to organise a "general Federation". Organised late, it was largely an improvisation. The idea was not to contest the legitimacy of the king Louis XVI, but to show the general will for stable institutions and a national reconciliation and unity. In the words of Jean Sylvain Bailly, astronomer and mayor of Paris: "We suggest that this meeting be sworn on the next 14 July, which we shall all see as the time of liberty: this day shall be spent swearing to uphold and defend it".
more

The Battle of Wattignies was fought at the village of Wattignies-la-Victoire, France, on 15 and 16 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars.... The French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Lazare Carnot defeated the army of Habsburg Austria led by Prince Josias of Coburg. This French victory of the War of the First Coalition forced Coburg to lift the siege of Maubeuge and retreat eastward. Wattignies is located nine km south-southeast of Maubeuge. On 13 September, Feldmarschall Coburg's army accepted the surrender of the fortress of Le Quesnoy from its 4,000 surviving French defenders. The Austrian army moved 24 km east and laid siege to Maubeuge and its 20,000-man garrison under General of Division Jacques Ferrand on 30 September. Coburg assigned an Austrian-Dutch corps of 20,000 men led by General William V, Prince of Orange to prosecute the siege, while Feldzeugmeister François Clerfayt de Croix's corps covered the operation. Coburg disposed Clerfayt's covering force of 21,000 astride the Avesnes-Maubeuge road, facing south. The 5,000 troops on the right rested their flank on the Sambre.
more