The Age of Enlightenment to the Revolution

The Revolution of 1789 and the Republic change the face of Paris

© Amelie Dupont

1715 - 1789: It is the Age of Enlightenment. Its bold ideas are spread in the salons of Paris by the great philosophers: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot... In the second half of the century, Louis XV has the Ecole Militaire constructed as well as the Panthéon and has the future Place de la Concorde laid out.

1789: The taking of the Bastille, on 14 July, marks the start of the French Revolution and the decline of the monarchy by divine right in France. On 17 July, the tricolour national flag, consisting of the colours of the city of Paris (blue and red) and those of the king (white) is adopted at the Hôtel de Ville by Louis XVI.

1792: Proclamation of the République.

1793: Execution of Louis XVI and the queen Marie-Antoinette on the Place de la Concorde. It is the beginning of the Terror. Opening of the Museum of the Louvre.

1799: On 9 November (18 Brumaire, Year VII in the Republican calendar), Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’etat brings an end to the Directoire regime and the Revolution proper.

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