In the 18th century King Louis XVI's spending on the American Revolution virtually bankrupted the country which had brought two decades of poor grain harvests, livestock diseases and high taller bread. Angry farmers showed their desperation by joining groups/clans who were against high taxes, those groups couldn't afford to get rid of taxes because they always had riots and looted people's houses. King Louis XVI's Comptroller General (Charles Alexandre de Calonne) invented a solution to financial problems that would make the eligible class of people no longer taxed and would tax the rich more. To support or aid in this act the king convened the States General, sponsors of the clergy, the meeting was scheduled for May 5, 1789. The population of France had changed radically since 1614, the percentage of non-autocratic people was now 98% but it was still overvoted by the other bodies. As the May 5th meeting approached, the Third Estate began to make it clear that they wanted equal support, they wanted a vote for chief and not for status. After all the people wanted the same thing, they gave in and got the right to vote. The State General had immediately gathered everyone in Versailles. But fighting began and things got complicated between the three orders. On June 12, the National Assembly continued to meet in Versailles. At this point fear and violence consumed the capital. Although people were thrilled with the breaking of the royal collapse, Parisians panicked when rumors of an impending military coup began to circulate. A famous insurrection culminated on July 14, when rioters stormed the Bastille fortress in an attempt to obtain gunpowder and weapons, this is now a holiday in France called the Bastille from......middle of paper.. ....t . Royalists and Jacobins fought the new regime but were defeated by the army led by Napoleon Bonaparte. Within four years of taking power the Directory began to face financial crises, popular discontent, inefficiency and above all political corruption. By the late 1790s the directory was falling apart and needed the army to keep them in power because without the army making them powerful the people would overthrow them. the directors entrusted most of their power to the generals in the field. On November 9, 1799, as frustrations with their leadership reached a fever pitch, Napoleon staged a revolution by removing the directory and naming France "first consul". Which ended the French Revolution and began the Napoleonic era. Works Citehistory.com Staff. "French Revolution". history.com. A&E Television Network, 2009. Web. March 15. 2014.