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Call of the Estate General
Louis XVI called together the Estates-General, a French congress that originated in the medieval period and consisted of three estates. The French Monarch convened to the Estate General to order a new land tax levy which the King hoped will ease his difficulty. The Estate General consisted of the clergy, the middle class, and the lower class citizens. -
Tennis Court Oath
The people were locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles, and they thought the king was forcing them to disband. The people moved to a nearby indoor tennis court (salle du jeu paume) and took an oath to never separate until a written constitution had been made in France. -
The Storming of Bastille
On July 14, 1789, a state prison in Paris, known as Bastille, was attacked by an angry mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the revolution. This fortress was used by French kings to imprison people that didn't agree with the politically This made Bastille a representation of the oppressive nature of the monarchy. This event was the start of the French revolution and the fall of the French monarchy. -
March on Versailles
The woman set out on a march from Paris to Versailles in the hopes to get bread for it was too expensive for them to buy. They were armed with pitchforks and pikes and muskets. Despite the fertile French soil, the populace of Paris were starving while The King and Marie Antoinette continued to feast at their salubrious country’s gaffe. -
The Constitution of 1791
A short-lived constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution in France, created after the collapse of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Regime. One of the basic goals of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty. -
Legislative Assembly
The legislative assembly was the governing body of France in October 1791. It replaced the National Constituent Assembly. The Legislative Assembly was formed under the Constitution of 1791, which created a constitutional monarchy with Louis XVI as the head of state. -
Royal Family Attempts to Flee
The royal family attempted to flee Paris to Varennes. King Louis XVI realized that things were becoming too dangerous for them because of the Revolution. When they were caught in Varennes the trust of the revolutionary government to them faded completely and the revolutionary government became hostile towards to royal family. -
The First Invasion of the Tuileries
The storming of the Tuileries Palace by the National Guard of the insurrectional Paris Commune and revolutionary federes from Marseille and Brittany resulted in the fall of the French monarchy. -
Overthrow of the Monarchy
This was the day in which the French revolutionaries over threw the monarchy because they found Louis XVI guilty of treason. -
Execution of the King
This was the day that King Louis XVI was executed by the guillotine. The revolutionaries made Marie Antoinette watch as the King lost his head. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was when most of the executions were done. It started after King Louis died and the first execution was Marie Antoinette. She was separated from King Louis and was just with her children. Her son Louis XVII suspiciously disappeared and they never saw him again. -
Execution of the Queen
This was the day that Marie Antoinette was executed by the guillotine. She was the first execution after the Reign of Terror started. -
Execution of Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a lawyer, politician, and one of the best known and one of the most influential people in the French Revolution. He was against the death penalty but he played the biggest role in the execution of King Louis XVI. Robespierre was a big figure in the French Revolution but he was a dictator and a tyrant. He was arrested alongside his brother, St-Just, Francois Hanriot, and Le Bas. They were sent to the guillotine the very next day.
