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Louis XIV dies leaving France in debt
Louis spent all of his money on creating Versailles. Also, constant warfare used up a lot of France's money. -
Meeting of Estates General
The meeting of Estates General was an assembly that represented the three estates of France. Economic troubles were high taxes which made it impossible to conduct business profitably, crop failure (shortage of grain) and rulers of France were spending too much money. Louis XVI called for this assembly because he needed to raise higher taxes to pay off France's debt, he needed the 3 estates to compromise on how much the taxes should be raised. -
Formation of National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly was formed because the 3rd Estate of France wanted to be equal to the first and second estate. They wanted the same amount of tax. The Tennis Court Oath was when the 3rd estate found out their usual meeting hall (in Versailles) was closed and went to the nearest tennis court and created an oath saying they would never leave the court until a constitution was written for France -
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille is when an angry mob attacked and intruded into the prison. French citizens saw Bastille as an oppressive monarchy and wanted the weapons and supply in the prison. This event happened because Parisians wanted to free French prisoners which symbolized justice. -
Declaration of Rights of Man
This declaration was the rights of human civil rights. It was for the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and justice. This Declaration reflected the rights of the Declaration of Independence. -
National Assembly take away Church
The National Assembly took land away from the church and declared that church officials and priests were to be paid as state officials. The sales of the church helped pay off France's debt. -
Reaction of regarding church
The event of the taking away of church lands offended the peasants. They believed the pope should rule over the church independent of state. The church was all they had faith in to make their lives better and it was taken away from them. -
Royal family attempts to escape
Louis XVI and his family tried to escape France but were caught and brought back to Paris under guard. He tried to escape because he did not want to deal with revolutionary demands. -
New government formed
A limited constitutional monarchy was formed by the National Assembly. Also a legislative body was created with three groups within it. -
Louis executed
He was convicted of using foreign powers and killed by the French National Convention. King Louis XVI was executed by a guillotine in Paris. -
Robespierre becomes leader of Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre was an architect of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public Safety was created by the National Convention. It formed the the executive government in France during the Reign of Terror which was a period in the French Revolution. It included the conflict between Girondins and Jacobins. -
executions of Reign of Terror
40,000 people were killed during the Reign of Terror because they were "enemies" of the revolution. Peasants, urban workers, middle class people and even famous people like Marie Antoinette were all executed. -
Robespierre executed
Robespierre was arrested by the National Convention. Robespierre encouraged the execution of enemies of the Revolution. He was executed with the guillotine. -
