In 1795 the new French constitution established an entirely new form for the French government. Several local revolts broke out, primarily caused by peasant outrage at the treatment of the Catholic Church at the hands of the Revolutionaries, but these were crushed with great ferocity. Later in 1793 the 'Committee for Public Safety' unleashed the 'Reign of Terror,' ensuring public safety by guillotining some 15,000-40,000 of the public, many without trial. The revolutionary government saw this as evidence that the king was conspiring with the enemy he was condemned to death and executed in January of 1793. Austria and Prussia demanded the restitution of the king, threatening retaliation against the French population if they resisted. In September 1792 a Constitutional Convention met and abolished the monarchy, declaring a republic. Without government sanction the Paris Commune murdered some 1350 prisoners.

But the new Assembly degenerated into warring factions struggling for primacy and was unable to govern. In the early phases of the Revolution the people marched on the Bastille, abolished the nobility, and forced the king to accept a constitutional monarchy.

The Revolution was a brutal, bloody affair, with the king and perhaps 50,000 other French citizens being executed by the newly invented guillotine (a triumph of Enlightenment science).

In 1789, close on the heels of the American Revolution, the French peasants and middle class revolted against the nobility and the king. 5.1.1 Compile the Code Civil des Francais.

France civ 5 strategy