The French Revolution

<p>Foreword v</p>
<p>Introduction ix</p>
<p>1. The Old Regime To 1789 1</p>
<p>The Great Surprise 1</p>
<p>The Origins of French Absolutism 2</p>
<p>Eighteenth–Century France 4</p>
<p>The Financial Crisis 21</p>
<p>The Revolt of the Nobles 24</p>
<p>Preparations for the Estates–Genera 25</p>
<p>2. 1789 28</p>
<p>The Estates–General 28</p>
<p>Paris Erupts 33</p>
<p>Municipal Revolutions and the Great Fear 39</p>
<p>The Declaration of the Rights of Man 43</p>
<p>The Legislature and the Veto 44</p>
<p>3. Government by the National Assembly 46</p>
<p>The October Days 46</p>
<p>The Political Clubs 49</p>
<p>Nationalization of Church Property 50</p>
<p>Civil Constitution of the Clergy 53</p>
<p>Administrative and Judicial Reform 56</p>
<p>The Flight to Varennes 57</p>
<p>Massacre of the Champ de Mars 61</p>
<p>The Constitution of 1791 63</p>
<p>The Radicalization of the Revolution 65</p>
<p>4. The Fall of the Monarchy 67</p>
<p>The Legislative Assembly 67</p>
<p>War 68</p>
<p>The Tuileries 71</p>
<p>The September Massacres 74</p>
<p>The Battle of Valmy 77</p>
<p>The Convention 78</p>
<p>The Trail and Execution of Louis XVI 81</p>
<p>The Fall of the Girondins 84</p>
<p>5. The Reign of Terror 86</p>
<p>The Terror 86</p>
<p>The Republican Calendar 88</p>
<p>The Organs of the Terror 89</p>
<p>The Vend&eacute;e 97</p>
<p>The Federalist Revolts 99</p>
<p>The Nation at War 101</p>
<p>Other Accomplishments 103</p>
<p>De–Christianization 105</p>
<p>H&eacute;bertists and Dantonists 109</p>
<p>Cult of the Supreme Being 111</p>
<p>Thermidor 113</p>
<p>6. The Directory and the Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte 116</p>
<p>The Thermidorian Reaction 116</p>
<p>Military Victory in the Vend&eacute;e 118</p>
<p>Paris, the Convention, and the Constitution of the Year III 120</p>
<p>Thermidorian Last Acts: The Cultural Legislation 125</p>
<p>The Directory (1795–1799) 125</p>
<p>Napoleon Bonaparte 127</p>
<p>Brumaire 136</p>
<p>Conclusion 139</p>
<p>Bibliographical Essay 143</p>
<p>Index 157</p>