-
Opening of the Estates-General at Versailles
Louis XVI forced to open the Estates-General at Versailles. From across France, 1,200 delegates gathered.
Renamed the National Assembly in June 1789. -
Tennis Court Oath
National Assembly locked out of political discussions by Louis XVI and 1st and 2nd Estates. They meet in a tennis court at Versailles and refuse to leave until they have a Constitution in France. -
Storming of the Bastille
A royal prison in Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry mob. This event symbolically marked the beginning of the French Revolution. -
The Great Fear - la Grande Peur
A general panic that took place between 17 of July and 3 of August 1789. Rural unrest was fueled by rumours of an aristocrats' "famine plot" to starve or burn out the population, both peasants and townspeople mobilized in many regions. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Approved by the National Assembly. The preamble to the new Constitution - “Life, Liberty and the Protection of Private
Property. -
Women of Paris March to Versailles
Frustrated that changes are not coming fast enough, the “market women and fishwives”’ of Paris march on Versailles and bring back Louis and his family to help “speed up” the process of creating a Constitutional Monarchy. -
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy requires priests to swear an oath to the state. The anti-clerical writings of people like Voltaire influence the actions of the new government. Ultimately, this decision alienates church members who once supported the Revolution. -
Flight to Varrenes
King Louis XVI of France, his queen Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family unsuccessfully attempted to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution at the head of loyal troops under royalist officers concentrated at Montmédy near the frontier. They escaped only as far as the small town of Varennes. -
Austria and Prussia issue Declaration of Pilnitz.
A joint declaration issued on August 27, 1791, by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and King Frederick William II of Prussia, urging European powers to unite to restore the monarchy in France. It is a “shot across the bow” - a warning to the French people to cease and desist the Revolution at once. -
September Massacres
Estimates range as high as 1400 people taken out of jails and massacred in the streets of Paris and other cities. Fear and hysteria ran rampant - resulting in the summary executions of suspected Royalists and traitors. -
National Convention declares end to Monarchy
The National Convention was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. -
Louis XVI executed
The last Bourbon king was executed for high treason. Robespierre speaks eleven times during the trial. His most famous quote from the proceedings: “The King must die for the Revolution to live!" -
War in the Vendée begins
Civil war breaks out in the Vendée area of France between revolutionaries and royalists (counter-revolutionaries). -
Committee of Public Safety Created
Rise of Robespierre and the Jacobins in the National Convention. The demise of the moderate Girondists as extremists take power. -
Mass conscription instituted
Called the Levée en mass - a policy of mass national conscription in the face of invasion. Able-bodied men aged 18 to 25 were conscripted for a short, specific period of time. Emphasized the idea that citizens have rights and duties. -
Period: to
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror begins in Paris and spreads to rural districts. The Jacobin’s Committee of Public Safety was out to “cleanse France” of its internal enemies. -
Marie Antoinette executed
Marie Antoinette was declared guilty of depletion of the national treasury, conspiracy against the internal and external security of the State, and high treason. She hoped to be exiled to her native Austria or at worst, life imprisonment. Instead, she was sentenced to death -
Robespierre guillotined
Exhausted by Robespierre’s radicalism, the National Convention turns on him and condemns him to death. -
Formation of the Directory
The Directory is formed and takes control of the government of France. Under the guise of constitutionalism, the new government was actually under the control of a corrupt oligarchy. It lasted until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Napoleon Bonaparte's coup d'état overthrows the Directory
Napoleon overthrows the Directory and establishes the French Consulate with Napoleon as the leader of France. This brings an end to the French Revolution.
