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Tennis Court Oath
On June 20, 1789, 576 out of the 577 members from the Third Estate signed signed a pledge during a meeting of the Estates-General in a tennis court. This group, led by Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, called themselves the National Assembly. They took a solemn collective oath: "never to cry to the King, and to meet quietly when the circumstances demand, until the constitution of France is happily singing." The Oath signified the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI. -
Storming of the Bastille
On the famous date of July 14, 1789, a huge, bloodthirsty mob marched to the Bastille, searching for gun powder and prisoners that had been taken by the unpopular and detested King, Louis XVI. The governer of the Bastille, Marquis de Launay, surrendered the fortress to the revolutionaries. The mob paraded through the streets with the heads of their captives mounted on pikes. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
On August 26, 1789, the Representatives of the French people, organized in National Assembly, set forth in a solemn declaration of the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man. It laid out a new vision of government, in which protection of natural rights replaced the will of the King as the justification for authority. A new era of liberty and popular sovereignty was proclaimed. -
March to Versailes
On October 4, 1789, a crowd of women, together with other discontented Parisians, including some men, marched toward the Palace of Versailles, demanding bread. The King agreed to meet with some of the women and promised to distribute all the bread in Versailles to the crowd. The National Guard decided to take the King back to Paris. -
Louis XVI's Flight to Varennes
On June 21, 1791, King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family were attempted to escape, disguised as the servants of a Russian baroness, from the radical agitation of the Jacobins in Paris. Their destination was the fortress town of Montmédy in northeastern France, a Royalist stronghold from which the King hoped to initiate a counter-revolution. This represented a turning point after which popular hostility towards the monarchy as an institution, as well as towards Louis XVI. -
Establishment of National Convention
The National Convention assembly, which governed France until October 26, 1795, had its first sitting on September 20, 1792. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy. The Convention numbered 749 deputies, including businessmen, tradesmen, and many professional men. Among its early acts were the formal abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the republic. -
Louis XVI condemned to death
On January 20, 1793, the National Convention condemned Louis XVI to death, his execution scheduled for the next day. After spending the evening saying goodbye to his wife and children, Louis was escorted on a two-hour carriage ride to his place of execution by a guard of 1,200 horsemen. His execution marked the end of the monarchy. -
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat
On 13 July 1793, Charlotte Corday, a Girondin sympathizer, assassinated Jean-Paul Marat in his medicinal bath tub. Marat was a radical journalist renowned for his fiery character and uncompromising stance towards the new government--"enemies of the revolution"--and basic reforms for the poorest members of society. She murdered him in an attempt to end the extreme violence. Instead, Marat was seen as a martyr and the executions under the guillotine continued. -
Execution of Robespierre
On July 28th, 1794, Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre was executed in the Place de la Revolution, Paris along with Louis Saint-Just, Georges Couston and nineteen others. The crowd cried "Down with the tyrant!" as he was about to be executed. It is believed Robespierre is the only person to have been executed by the guillotine face up so he could see the blade approaching. This marks the end of the reign of terror. -
Napoleon Seize Power
On 9 November 1799, Napoleon seized control of the French government in the coup of 18 Brumaire, replacing the Directory with the Consulate. Napoleon, Sieyes and Ducos became the respectively the First, Second and Third Consuls under the Consulate, although Napoleon exercised true authority. This marks the end of the First French Republic and the French Revolution.
