The Road to 1789

Global History · The French Revolution

The Road to 1789

How France went broke, cold, and hungry

6 minutesCaptions are built into the pictureBuilt from real paintings, prints, and mapsMusic from the 1700s

The question it ends on

Who is really to blame?Or was France going to explode, no matter who wore the crown?

The six causes, in order

A party king and a costly war
Nobles who won't pay
A shy, young king
A hated queen
A second costly war
Weather and hunger

Pictures used (47)

Helman after Monnet, Execution of Louis XVI, 1794 (public domain)
Antoine-François Callet, Louis XVI, 1779 (public domain)
Pierre-Denis Martin, Versailles, 1722 (public domain)
Moreau the Younger, Coronation of Louis XVI, c. 1779 (CC0)
Workshop of Louis-Michel van Loo, Louis XV (public domain)
The Battle of Rossbach, c. 1757 (public domain)
Nicolas Lancret, The Parlement of Paris, 1723 (public domain)
Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, Louis XVI, 1777 (public domain)
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Marie Antoinette with a Rose, 1783 (public domain)
Joseph Vernet, Shipwreck in a Storm, 1773 (public domain)
After Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XV as a boy, c. 1716 (public domain)
Charles-Nicolas Cochin, The Yew Tree Ball, 1745 (public domain)
Carle van Loo, The Hunt Picnic, 1737 (public domain)
Jean Dambrun after Moreau the Younger, The Game of Whist, 1783 (CC0)
François Boucher, Madame de Pompadour, 1756 (public domain)
Nicolas Poussin, The Flood, 1660-64 (public domain)
Robert de Vaugondy, map of the world, 1761 (public domain)
Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe, 1770 (public domain)
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, map of New France, 1744 (public domain)
French cartoon, 1789 (public domain)
Niquet after Girardet, Assembly of Notables of 1787 (public domain)
After Vigée Le Brun, Marshal de Ségur (public domain)
Bonnet after van Loo, Louis-Auguste, 1770 (CC0)
Joseph Ducreux, Marie Antoinette, 1769 (public domain)
Fireworks for the royal wedding, Paris, 1770 (CC0)
Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, the Dauphin Louis-Joseph, 1784 (public domain)
Louis-Jean Desprez, the Dauphine greeted in Paris, 1773 (public domain)
Martin van Meytens, Empress Maria Theresa, c. 1752 (public domain)
Jean-Baptiste Gautier-Dagoty, Marie Antoinette, 1775 (public domain)
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Marie Antoinette, 1778 (public domain)
Claude-Louis Châtelet, the Queen's Hamlet at Versailles, 1786 (public domain)
Jeanne de la Motte, engraving, 1790 (public domain)
The diamond necklace, engraving, c. 1786 (CC0)
Jean-Siméon Chardin, The Brioche, 1763 (public domain)
After Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (public domain)
Auguste Couder, The Siege of Yorktown, 1836 (public domain)
John Trumbull, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 1820 (public domain)
Charles Willson Peale, The Marquis de Lafayette, 1779-80 (public domain)
Hendrick Avercamp, Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters, c. 1608 (public domain)
Jacob van Ruisdael, Wheat Fields, c. 1670 (CC0)
Philip James de Loutherbourg, A Hail-Storm Coming On, 1799 (public domain)
Hendrick Avercamp, Skaters near a Castle, c. 1608 (public domain)
Jean-Siméon Chardin, The Return from Market, 1739 (public domain)
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Calonne, 1784 (public domain)
Helman after Monnet, Opening of the Estates-General, 1790 (public domain)
The Réveillon riot, Paris, 1789 (CC0)
Jean-Pierre Houël, The Storming of the Bastille, 1789 (public domain)

Music and sound effects (29)

Music

Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G minor (1788), I. Molto allegro (Musopen recording, public domain)
Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G minor (1788), II. Andante (Musopen recording, public domain)
Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G minor (1788), IV. Allegro assai (Musopen recording, public domain)
Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro, Overture (1786) (Musopen recording, public domain)
Mozart, String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421 (1783), I. Allegro moderato (Musopen recording, public domain)
Mozart, String Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465 (1785), II. Andante cantabile (Musopen recording, public domain)
Haydn, String Quartet in D, Op. 64 No. 5 "Lark" (1790), II. Adagio cantabile (Musopen recording, public domain)
Haydn, String Quartet in D, Op. 64 No. 5 "Lark" (1790), III. Menuetto (Musopen recording, public domain)
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (1725), "Winter", I. Allegro non molto (U.S. Air Force Band, public domain)
"Yankee Doodle" (traditional, 1770s), fife and drum (U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, public domain)

Sound effects, from Freesound.org

Large Crowd at an Outdoor Reception by timothyd4y (large outdoor crowd murmur; CC0)
Generic Exterior Walla by brunoboselli (crowd murmur; CC0)
S11-28 Outdoor crowd reactions; cheering; very happy.wav by craigsmith (crowd cheering; CC0)
To_Be_Booed2_ses1.wav by freesound (crowd jeering; CC0)
Crowd/Mob/Riot Noise (Voices Only) - 14 people, 2 minutes HENRY VI by FillMat (angry mob; CC0)
angry mob loop.aiff by bevibeldesign (angry mob; CC0)
Crowd Shouting.wav by DickBlox (crowd shouting; CC0)
Military Snaredrum by aUREa (military snare drums; CC0)
snare - Premier Artist Maple - loose - buzz roll x3.wav by bigjoedrummer (snare drum rolls; CC0)
buzz roll.wav by bigjoedrummer (snare drum roll; CC0)
Giljotiini / Guillotine, metal blade sliding, hit, chink, some echo, interior, mix by YleArkisto (guillotine blade; CC BY 4.0)
CW_Cannon_Single1.wav by richardemoore (cannon shot; CC BY 4.0)
CannonFireFromAlamance.wav by CLaforet (cannon shot; CC BY 4.0)
S21-05 Muskets firing in battle.wav by craigsmith (musket fire; CC0)
aaronsiler_Musket-Battle.wav by aaronsiler (musket volley; CC BY 4.0)
musket.wav by fennelliott (musket shot; CC0)
2016-10-06 Thunder Crack.wav by kingsrow (thunder; CC0)
Thunderclap on the mountain of the High Atlas in Morocco by felix.blume (thunder; CC0)
Tape audio rewinding 2 by LukaCafuka (tape rewinding; CC0)

The recordings were trimmed, leveled, and mixed under the narration.