Editing History of Europe (section)

===Era of the French Revolution===
{{main|Atlantic Revolutions|American Revolution|French Revolution|French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars}}
Historians [[R.R. Palmer]] and [[Joel Colton]] argue:
:In 1789 France fell into revolution, and the world has never since been the same. The French Revolution was by far the most momentous upheaval of the whole revolutionary age. It replaced the "old regime" with "modern society," and at its extreme phase became very radical, so much so that all later revolutionary movements have looked back to it as a predecessor to themselves.... From the 1760s to 1848, the role of France was decisive.<ref>R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World (5th ed. 1978), p. 341</ref>

The era of the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic wars was a difficult time for monarchs. Tsar [[Paul I of Russia]] was assassinated; King [[Louis XVI]] of France was executed, as was his queen [[Marie Antoinette]]. Furthermore, kings [[Charles IV of Spain]], [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]] and [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden]] were deposed as were ultimately the Emperor Napoleon and all of the relatives he had installed on various European thrones. King [[Frederick William III of Prussia]] and Emperor [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II of Austria]] barely clung to their thrones. King [[George III]] of Great Britain lost the better part of the First British Empire.<ref>Steven Englund, ''Napoleon: A Political Life'' (2004) p. 388</ref>

The [[American Revolution]] (1775–1783) was the first successful revolt of a colony against a European power. It rejected aristocracy and established a [[Republicanism|republican form of government]] that attracted worldwide attention.<ref>Gordon S. Wood, ''The radicalism of the American Revolution'' (2011).</ref> The French Revolution (1789–1804) was a product of the same democratic forces in the [[Atlantic World]] and had an even greater impact.<ref>R.R. Palmer, ''The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760–1800: The Challenge'' (1959) pp. 4–5</ref> [[François Victor Alphonse Aulard|French historian François Aulard]] says:
:From the social point of view, the Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity."<ref>{{cite book|editor=A. Aulard in Arthur Tilley|title=Modern France. A Companion to French Studies|url=https://archive.org/details/modernfrancecomp00tilluoft|year=1922|publisher=Cambridge UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/modernfrancecomp00tilluoft/page/115 115]}}</ref>

[[File:Prise de la Bastille.jpg|thumb|right|The storming of the [[Bastille]] in the French Revolution of 1789]]

French intervention in the [[American Revolutionary War]] had nearly bankrupted the state. After repeated failed attempts at financial reform, King Louis XVI had to convene the [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]], a representative body of the country made up of three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The third estate, joined by members of the other two, declared itself to be a [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] and created, in July, the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]]. At the same time the people of Paris revolted, famously [[Storming of the Bastille|storming the Bastille prison on 14 July 1789]].

At the time the assembly wanted to create a [[constitutional monarchy]], and over the following two years passed various laws including the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], the [[Abolition of feudalism in France|abolition of feudalism]], and a [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy|fundamental change]] in the relationship between France and Rome. At first the king agreed with these changes and enjoyed reasonable popularity with the people. As [[anti-royalism]] increased along with threat of foreign invasion, the king tried to flee and join France's enemies. He was captured and on 21 January 1793, having been convicted of treason, he was guillotined.

On 20 September 1792 the [[National Convention]] abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Due to the emergency of [[French Revolutionary Wars|war]], the National Convention created the [[Committee of Public Safety]] to act as the country's executive. Under [[Maximilien de Robespierre]], the committee initiated the [[Reign of Terror]], during which up to 40,000 people were executed in Paris, mainly nobles and those convicted by the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]], often on the flimsiest of evidence. Internal tensions at Paris drove the Committee towards increasing assertions of radicalism and increasing suspicions. A few months into this phase, more and more prominent revolutionaries were being sent to the guillotine by Robespierre and his faction, for example [[Madame Roland]] and [[Georges Danton]]. Elsewhere in the country, counter-revolutionary [[war in the Vendée|insurrections]] were brutally suppressed. The regime was overthrown in the [[Thermidorian Reaction|coup of 9 Thermidor]] (27 July 1794) and Robespierre was executed. The regime which followed ended the Terror and relaxed Robespierre's more extreme policies.