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Louis XVI summons the Estates General
Summoning of the Estates General, 1789 4-5 May 1789. The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. ... The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution. -
Estates General convenes
Estates-General of 1789. Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in 1788, setting the date of its opening for May 1, 1789. ... Members of the nobility were not required to stand for election to the Second Estate and many were elected to the Third Estate. -
The “Tennis Court Oath”
Finding themselves locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles on June 20 and thinking that the king was forcing them to disband, they moved to a nearby indoor tennis court (salle du jeu de paume). There they took an oath never to separate until a written constitution had been established for France. -
Louis dismisses Necker, a popular minister
As unrest grew in France, Louis XVI took the decision to sack his popular finance minister. Three days later, crowds stormed the Bastille, and the French Revolution had begun. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]) was an event that occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789, when revolutionaries stormed and seized control of the medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. -
Abolition of feudal (noble, clerical) rights
The National Constituent Assembly, acting on the night of 4 August 1789, announced, "The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system entirely." It abolished both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate (the nobility) and the tithes gathered by the First Estate (the Catholic clergy). -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.- The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.
- The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.
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The Wives’ March; Louis “kidnapped” back to Paris
Hunger had stricken in the Versailles. A rumor had spread that there was stock of flour with the king and the queen during those days of famine. Knowing this, many Parisian women marched towards Versailles and ransacked the apartment of the queen. They even killed the guards. Seeing unrest, the king was asked to move to Paris. -
The Wives’ March; Louis “kidnapped” back to Paris
Hunger had stricken in the Versailles. A rumor had spread that there was stock of flour with the king and the queen during those days of famine. Knowing this, many Parisian women marched towards Versailles and ransacked the apartment of the queen. They even killed the guards. Seeing unrest, the king was asked to move to Paris. -
National Assembly abolishes the nobility
The National Assembly decrees that hereditary nobility is forever abolished. Consequently, the titles of Prince, Duke, Count, Marquis, Viscount, Vidame, Baron, Knight, Lord, Squire, Noble, and all other similar titles shall neither be accepted by, nor bestowed upon, anyone whomsoever. -
Civil Constitution of the French Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (French: "Constitution civile du clergé") was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that caused the immediate subordination of the Catholic Church in France to the French government. ... Lastly, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made bishops and priests elected. -
Clergy instructed to swear allegiance to France
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was an attempt to reform and regulate the Catholic church in France. It was passed by the National Constituent Assembly on July 12th 1790. ... It also required bishops and then all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the state, to be taken in January 1791. -
Pope Pius VI condemns the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
In April 1791 Pope Pius VI issued an encyclical condemning the Civil Constitution and threatening to suspend all clergy who took the oath. The Civil Constitution became a significant cause of division and disruption in the new society. -
Louis & Marie Antoinette flee; captured at Varennes
The royal Flight to Varennes (French: Fuite à Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant episode in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, 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. -
Louis & Marie Antoinette flee; captured at Varennes
The royal Flight to Varennes (French: Fuite à Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant episode in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, 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. -
Declaration of Pillnitz: Austria & Prussia express support for Louis
Declaration of Pillnitz, 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; French King Louis XVI had been reduced to a constitutional monarch during the French Revolution. -
New Constitution ratified (with support of Louis)
September 3 – New constitution ratified (with the support of Louis) ... In zest, the constitution was drafted to revise the role of the king. Monarchy was retained but the legislative assembly held the right of sovereignty. This constitution did not last for long and was put to revision in less than three years. -
France declares war on Austria
On April 20, 1792, the Legislative Assembly (France's governing body, formed in 1791) declared war on Austria. Although the French fared poorly at first, the armies became more successful as the war progressed. This painting commemorates The Battle of Valmy, which was a turning point for French forces. -
First use of guillotine
The first execution by guillotine was performed on highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier on 25 April 1792 in front of what is now the city hall of Paris (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville). All citizens condemned to die were from then on executed there, until the scaffold was moved on 21 August to the Place du Carrousel. -
Prussia declares war on France
The French emperor, Napoleon III, declared war on Prussia on July 19, 1870, because his military advisers told him that the French army could defeat Prussia and that such a victory would restore his declining popularity in France. The French were convinced that the reorganization of their army in 1866 had made it superior to the German armies. -
Paris Commune established
A barricade thrown up by Communard National Guards on 18 March 1871. The Paris Commune (French: Commune de Paris, pronounced [kɔ.myn də pa.ʁi]) was the main insurrectionary commune of France in 1870-1871, based on direct democracy and established in Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871. -
Parisians storm Tuileries palace; end of Louis XVI’s power
August 10- Parisians Storm Tuileries Palace; End Of Louis XVI's Power. With the capture of Louis XVI, the monarchy did not exist in France. King Louis was declared guilty and was executed on January 21st, 1793. On September 22, the first republic for France, known as the French republic was proclaimed. -
French cannons drive back Prussians at Valmy
Popularly known as the Battle of Valmy, it was a major victory of the French during the revolution. It is known to be the war of the first coalition. This war was executed as the troop of Prussia were marching towards Paris under the leadership of Duke of Brunswick. -
French Republic proclaimed
In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire on 18 May 1804 under Napoleon, although the form of the government changed several times. -
Louis XVI executed
Ultimately unwilling to cede his royal power to the Revolutionary government, Louis XVI was found guilty of treason and condemned to death. He was guillotined on January 21, 1793. -
France declares war on Britain and Netherlands
The French Revolutionary Wars (French: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Russia, and several other monarchies. -
Committee of Public Safety founded
The Committee of Public Safety was set up on April 6, 1793, during one of the crises of the Revolution, when France was beset by foreign and civil war. -
New Constitution proclaimed
The French Constitution of 1791 (French: Constitution française du 3 september 1791) was the first written constitution in France, created after the collapse of the absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. One of the basic precepts of the French Revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty. -
Mass conscription instituted
levée en masse. levée en masse, a French policy for military conscription. It was first decreed during the French Revolutionary wars (1792–99) in 1793, when all able-bodied unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 were required to enlist. -
Republican calendar adopted
The French Revolutionary Calendar (or Republican Calendar) was officially adopted in France on October 24, 1793 and abolished on 1 January 1806 by Emperor Napoleon I. It was used again briefly during under the Paris Commune in 1871. -
Marie Antoinette executed
Marie Antoinette's trial began on 14 October 1793, and two days later she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason and executed, also by guillotine, on the Place de la Révolution. -
Robespierre guillotined
On June 4, 1794, Robespierre was almost unanimously elected president of the National Convention. ... The next evening–July 28–Robespierre and 21 others were guillotined without a trial in the Place de la Revolution. During the next few days, another 82 Robespierre followers were executed.
