French Revolution! La révolution française!

The Kingdom of France was ruled by the powerful Ancien Régime, a hereditary monarchy, since the 12th century. The Ancien Régime concentrated power in the hands of the king and a powerful nobility. The nobility held lands and privileges in exchange for providing the king with knights for his military. The Kingdom of France had an empire that controlled much of Western Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1789, the French citizens overthrew the Ancien Régime and created the French Republic.