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French Revolution and Wars 1789-99
A map illustrating the outbreak and course of the French Revolution (aka The Revolution of 1789 to distinguish it from the ones of 1830 and 1848) and the consequential conflicts between France, the largest and most populous state in Western...

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Mercy Otis Warren
Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) was an American poet, playwright, and activist during the era of the American Revolution (1765-1789). Through her works of political satire, she advocated for the Patriot cause and became acquainted with several...

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The Scientific Revolution in Europe
The Scientific Revolution in Europe, roughly 1500 to 1700, was a profound intellectual and cultural transformation that forever altered humanity's understanding of the natural world. The period witnessed a seismic shift from medieval beliefs...

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An Allegory of the Revolution
Allégorie révolutionnaire ("Allegory of the revolution") by Nicolas Henri Jeaurat de Bertry, 1794. It was made in honor of Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), whose portrait is seen at the top of the painting. Rousseau...

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Louis XVI, the Girondins, & the Road to Revolutionary War (1791-92)
On 20 April 1792, King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) stood before the Legislative Assembly and, with a faltering voice, read a declaration of war against Austria, to the ecstatic delight of the gathered deputies. This declaration sealed...

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Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday (1768-1793) played a prominent role in the French Revolution (1789-1799) when she assassinated radical activist Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub on 13 July 1793. Despite her aristocratic background, Corday was an avowed republican...

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Antoine Barnave
Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave (1761-1793) was a French lawyer, politician, and one of the most influential orators of the early stage of the French Revolution (1789-1799). He is notable for being a champion of constitutional monarchy...

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Robespierre & the Death Penalty
"I come to ask, not the gods, but legislators…to erase from the code of the French the blood laws that command judicial murders" (Robespierre, 6). These impassioned words, spoken by Maximilien Robespierre before France's National Constituent...

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Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a joint statement issued on 27 August 1791 by Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1790-1792) and King Frederick William II of Prussia (r. 1786-1797). The declaration appealed to all European powers to unite...

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Haitian Revolution
Attack and take of the Crête-à-Pierrot (4-24 March 24, 1802) during the Haitian Revolution. Original illustration by Auguste Raffet, engraving by Ernst Hébert, published in Histoire de Napoleon, by M. de Norvins, 1839.