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The Estates General Was Summoned by King Louis XIV
The Estates General was summoned by King Louis XIV To hopefully try and solve France's financial crisis. The members of the third Estate formed the National Assembly. -
A Crowd Marches to Bastille and Steals Weapons
A crowd of angry citizens marched to Bastille in order to obtain gun powder for their weapons. They first went to Hotel des Invalides and received a large amount of muskets for their fighting. -
The March on Versailles
A large crowd of mostly women marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles because they knew that the king and queen lived in luxury while the third Estate lived in poverty. The group broke into the Queen's room, demanded bread and wanted the king to bring the royal family to Paris so that they could see what the people were having to live with. Louis decided to go believing that it was only temporary. -
Flight to Varennes
After lots of debate, the National Assembly decided to limit the King's power.The king could veto, but the National Assembly could overrule the veto. This limiting of power upset the king and queen and they decided to leave Paris and go to Austria. They managed to get a little bit past the border before they were recognized and forced to go back to Paris -
The Constitution is Brought Into Play
The constitution is brought into play and France is proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. The previous National Assembly is replaced by the new Legislative Assembly. This new assembly is not allowed to have any members of the National Assembly that came before it. -
This Means War!!
In France, the support for war was growing. Louis XVI and other people who believed that a monarch was needed,pushed for war because they felt that other armies could easily over throw the new government. The revolutionaries pushed for war because they thought it would unify the nation and spread their ideas to the rest of Europe. On April 20, 1792 France declared war on Austria. -
Attack on the Tuileries Palace
The Austrian army and it's allies were advancing into France's territory. On August 10, 1792 a group made up of about 20,000 people attacked the Tuileries palace.The king and queen had already fled the place under the protection of the Legislative Assembly. Over the next month, many suspected "royalists" were killed. This is now known as the "September Massacre". Some people consider this to be the start of what is now known as the Reign of Terror. -
Declaration of the Republic
The Legislative Assembly replaced itself with a new political group called the National Convention.The first act of this new group was to declare France a Republic. -
The Trial of Louis
Louis was charged with Treason. The vote at the end of his trial was that Louis was guilty! Louis was beheaded with the Guillotine. -
The Reign of Terror
The new National Convention was dominated by the Comittee of Public Safety. The leader of this group Maximilien Robespierre, is now known as the leader of the Reign of Terror. From September 1793 to July 1794, about 16,000 people were executed with the guillotine. All kinds of people were killed. The rich, the poor, and the moderate. -
Maximilien is Executed!!
People were beginning to not agree with Maximilien and thought that he was taking it to far. On July 27, 1794, he was arrested and execute with the guillotine the next day. This is the last execution of the Reign of Terror. -
Directory and Rise of Napolean
After Maximilien was killed, the National Convention created a new constitution For France that was brought into play in 1795. The lead of the new government was the Directory which consisted of 5 members. Almost immediately, it had political conflict, and financial conflict. In 1799 a man named Napoleon Bonaparte established the Consulate, and called himself the First Consul
