Claim: The French Revolution began in 1789.

The French Revolution -LRB- Révolution française -LSB- ʁevɔlysjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz -RSB- -RRB- was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799 , and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire . The Revolution overthrew the monarchy , established a republic , experienced violent periods of political turmoil , and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond . Inspired by liberal and radical ideas , the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history , triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies . Through the Revolutionary Wars , it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East . Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history .   The causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians . Following the Seven Years ' War and the American Revolutionary War , the French government was deeply in debt and attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes . Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy . Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789 . The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate taking control , the assault on the Bastille in July , the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August , and a women 's march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October . A central event of the first stage , in August 1789 , was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime . The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms . The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy . In a momentous event that led to international condemnation , Louis XVI was executed in January 1793 .   External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution . The Revolutionary Wars beginning in 1792 ultimately featured French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula , the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine -- achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries . Internally , popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly , culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins . The dictatorship imposed by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror , from 1793 until 1794 , established price controls on food and other items , abolished slavery in French colonies abroad , dechristianised society through the creation of a new calendar and the expulsion of religious figures , and secured the borders of the new republic from its enemies . Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror , with estimates ranging from 16,000 to 40,000 . After the Thermidorian Reaction , an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 . The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections , debt repudiations , financial instability , persecutions against the Catholic clergy , and significant military conquests abroad . Dogged by charges of corruption , the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 . Napoleon , who became the hero of the Revolution through his popular military campaigns , went on to establish the Consulate and later the First Empire , setting the stage for a wider array of global conflicts in the Napoleonic Wars .   The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution . Almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor . Its central phrases and cultural symbols , such as La Marseillaise and Liberté , égalité , fraternité , became the clarion call for other major upheavals in modern history , including the Russian Revolution over a century later .   The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day . The Revolution resulted in the suppression of the feudal system , the emancipation of the individual , the greater division of landed property , the abolition of the privileges of noble birth and the establishment of equality . The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national , for it aimed at benefiting all humanity .   Globally , the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies . It became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies , leading to the spread of liberalism , radicalism , nationalism , socialism , feminism , and secularism , among many others . The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France and the lives of its citizens towards the objective of military conquest . Some of its central documents , like the Declaration of the Rights of Man , expanded the arena of human rights to include women and slaves , leading to movements for abolitionism and universal suffrage in the next century .