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Nobility forces King Louis XVI to call Estates General
The king was in trouble. The nobility was not happy with his attempt to tax their estate. Nobility wanted to pass the cost once again onto the Third Estate -
Estate-General meets in Paris
King Louis XVI calls body into session to approve a new tax on the 3rd estate. Had not met in 175 years. -
3rd Estate refused abide by the kings voting order
The third estate refused to obey the King's order that they only get one vote. After refusing to abide by his order, the third estate formed the National Assembly as a result and declared themselves as a legislature. -
Tennis Court Oath
The King had shut down the National Assembly's meeting place because he saw it as a threat. The National Assembly as well as rest of the third estate decided to stay at tennis courts. This forced King Louis XVI to give each representative of the third estate a vote. -
The Storming of the Bastille
King Louis threatened to use force in order to maintain his power as monarchy. The third estate turned to the ancient prison of Bastille. They saw it as a powerful symbol of their oppression so they decided to go over to stock up on weapons in case the king decided to attack. At first they tried to talk calmly to the guards, but when it failed, the mob stormed into the prison, killing the guards and stuck the head of the commander onto a stick. This attack is a powerful symbol of freedom. -
Great Fear Begins
This caused the people of the Third Estate to panic as paranoia spread throughout the country. While some peasants were paranoid, others revolted against the wealthy, breaking into their house and destroying their things. -
National Assembly abolishes Feudalism with August Decrees
Any and all services and dues that the poor had to give to the First Estate were abolished. Along with all the services and fees, the first estate also lost any and all legal privileges they had before. -
Declarations of the Rights of Man
It laid out the basic principles of the French Revolution that gave secured "liberty", "eqquality", and "fraternity" to even the poorest of the third estate. This however, only applied to mwn. -
Women of Paris March to Versailles for Bread
Their demand for food caused 7,000 women to march to the palace of King Louis XVI. He got nervous and promised to go back to living in Paris. -
Royal Family's Flight from Versailles
This inspired the National Assembly to take bolder steps. Churchlands were siezed and sold to pay off the national debt. The clergy was also turned into public employees and religious orders were disbanded. This shocked many people. -
New Constitution Adopted
As the New Consititution was adopted, the monarchy power was severely restricted and citizens that were men and the age of 25 or older, gained the right to vote. -
Beginning of Legislative Assembly
This caused the Royal Family to flee from the palace but they were soon caught and brought back to Paris. -
Manifesto warns that the Royal Family must not be harmed or else...
This led to the Legislative Assembly declaring war on Austra. However, they lost the war to Austria. There was a financial strain and food shortages caused massive inflation which led to the unrest of the city. -
Storming of the Tuileris Palace
A mob stormed into the palace of the Royal Family, killing all the guards. The Royal Family was seized and thrown into prison. -
French Monarchy is officially abolished
Revolutionary Government votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the first Republic. Royal family imprisoned. -
French defeat foreign invaders who attempt to preserve monarchy
French turns the tide of the war and takes the offensive against the invaders. -
The execution of King Louis XVI in Paris
The powerful Montagnards wanted to execute the king to prevent a return of the monarchy. King Louis XVI started a speech in order to claim his innocence but the guillotine had already dropped, severing his head from his body. After he had died, a young guard showed his head to all of the people. -
Committee of Public Safety Established
A committee that was established that was in charge of the French military in case foreign armies decided to attack. -
Law of Syspects passes, beginning of the Reign of Terror in France
The Reign of Terror was the wave of fear that had spread throughout France. Anyone who spoke out about the new government of France were accused of treason and they were to be sentenced to death by guillotine. The reign of terror did not spare anyone, women included. -
End of Reign of Terro and the execution of Robespierre
Eventually, those who had started the Reign of Terror, fell victims to it. Robespierre and his supporters were taken into custody by the National Convention soliders. His head along with a 100 of his supporters, were soon laying in a basket. -
National Convention is dissolved, creation of Directorate
Directorate was the new government of France after the National Convention was dissolved. It was made up of five directors that passed some financial reforms to help with the debt but it was not the best form of government because the directors were weak and correupt. -
Napoleon named First Cosnul
Napoleon's supporters surrounded the Directorate and forced them to hand their power over to Napoleon. This was known as a Coup d'etat. The French people accepted him as a dictator because they wanted the change he had promised them. -
Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France
As the Pope Pius VII was crowning Napoleon as emperor of France, he snatched the crown by himself to state to the world that he doesn't need to be given authority, he'll takes it himself.
