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The National Constituent Assembly
When the States-General of France finally met at Versailles on May 5, 1789, and disputes arose regarding the issue of voting, the members of the Third Estate had to verify their own credentials, beginning to do so on May 28 and ending on May 28. June 17, when the members of the Third Estate declared themselves the only members of the National Assembly -
Storming of the Bastille
On July 11, 1789, King Louis XVI, acting under the influence of conservative nobles as well as his brother, Count D'Artois, fired Minister Necker and ordered the rebuilding of the Ministry of Finance. Much of the people of Paris interpreted this measure as a self-coup by royalty and took to the streets in open rebellion. Some of the militaries remained neutral, but others joined the people. -
The Great Fear and the abolition of feudalism
On the night of August 4, 1789, the National Constituent Assembly, acting behind the new events, abolished by law personal easements (abolition of feudalism), tithes and manorial justice, establishing equality before the tax, before penalties, and in access to public office. In a matter of hours, the nobles and clergy lost their privileges. The course of events was already marked, although the implementation of the new model did not become effective until 1793. -
Road to constitution
The National Constituent Assembly was not only a legislative body, but the one in charge of drafting a new constitution. Some, like Necker, favored the creation of a bicameral assembly where the Senate would be chosen by the Crown from among the members proposed by the people. The nobles, for their part, favored a Senate made up of members of the nobility chosen by the nobles themselves. -
Loss of Church power
The revolution clashed hard with the Catholic Church, which became dependent on the State. In 1790 the Church's authority to tax crops was removed, the privileges of the clergy were removed, and their property was confiscated. Under the Old Regime, the Church was the largest landowner in the country. The legislation was later enacted that made clergy employees of the state. -
From the Feast of the Federation to the Fugue of Varennes
The period between October 1789 and the spring of 1791 is often considered relatively quiet, when some of the most important legislative reforms were enacted. While it is certainly true, many provincial areas experienced conflicts over the source of legitimate authority, where Old Regime officials had been swept away, but new structures had not yet been established. -
The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the monarchy
The Legislative Assembly met for the first time on October 1, 1791. It was made up of 264 deputies situated on the right: Feuillants (led by Barnave, Duport, and Lameth), and Girondins, republican spokesmen for the great bourgeoisie. In the center there were 345 independent deputies, lacking a defined political program. -
The "Second Revolution": First French Republic
On August 10, 1792, the masses stormed the Tuileries Palace, and the Legislative Assembly suspended the constitutional functions of the king. The Assembly ended up calling elections with the aim of configuring (by universal suffrage) a new parliament that would receive the name of Convention. The political and social tension in France was increasing, as well as the military threat from the European powers. -
The reign of Terror
On the same day that the Convention met (September 20, 1792), all French troops (consisting of shopkeepers, artisans and peasants from all over France) defeated a Prussian army for the first time at Valmy, marking the beginning of the so-called French Revolutionary Wars. -
Convention
On January 17, 1793, the Convention sentenced the king to death by a small majority, accusing him of "conspiracy against the public liberty and the general security of the state." On January 21, the king was publicly executed by guillotine, which once again lit the fuse for the war with other European countries. Queen Marie Antoinette, born in Austria and sister of the emperor, was executed on October 16 of the same year, thus initiating a revolution in Austria to replace the queen.