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Establishment of the National Assembly
● The Third Estate delegates insisted that all three estates meet together and that each delegate have a vote. With talks stalled, the Third Estate met alone and formally adopted the title of National Assembly.
● This event actually announced the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative government. This vote was the first deliberate revolutionary action and the dawn of the French Revolution. -
Storming the Bastille
● As rumors of an impending military coup began to circulate, Parisians became panicked, and on July 14, rioters stormed the Bastille, a prison in Paris, and seized control of the building.
● This event is widely considered to be the beginning of the French Revolution and is now commemorated in France as a national holiday. -
the Great Fear
● Soon, revolutionary fervor and insurrection quickly swept through the countryside. On August 4, 1789, the land revolt known as the "Great Fear" accelerated the growing exodus of the nobility and even forced the king to leave Versailles.
● This event inspired the National Constituent Assembly to abolish the feudal system, and the king's departure signaled the change of power and radical reforms about to overtake France. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
● The National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The document states that "all men are born free and have equal rights." The document also guarantees citizens equal access to justice, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
● The adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen represented the complete demise of the Old Regime. -
the National Assembly Completed the New Constitution
● The constitution created a limited constitutional monarchy. It stripped the king of much of his authority. It also created a new legislative body––the Legislative Assembly.
● This was the first written constitution of France, establishing a constitutional monarchy in which the power of the king was limited. -
September Massacres
● French troops defending Paris were sent to reinforce the French army on the battlefield, and the king's supporters held in Parisian prisons planned to break out and seize control of the city. In the days of early September, angry and fearful citizens raided the prisons and killed more than 1,000 prisoners.
● After the September Massacre, the Legislative Assembly set aside the Constitution of 1791, and the king was deposed. -
Establishment of the National Assembly
● Under pressure from radicals, the Legislative Assembly set aside the Constitution of 1791. It declared the king deposed, dissolved the assembly, and called for the election of a new legislature. This new governing body, the National Convention, took office on September 21.
● The National Assembly abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. A new republican era began in France. -
Reign of Terror
● In July 1793, one Jacobin leader, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety. For the next year, Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator, and the period of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror.
● It was the darkest moment of the French Revolution. Over 17,000 people were officially tried and executed during the Reign of Terror, and an unknown number of others died in prison or without trial. -
the Directory
● On August 22, 1795, the National Convention, composed largely of Girondins, approved a new constitution that created France’s first bicameral legislature. It placed power firmly in the hands of the upper middle class and called for a two house legislature and an executive body of five men, known as the Directory.
● The Reign of the Directory gave their troubled country a period of order. They also found the right general to command France’s armies—Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Napoleon Seizes Power
● On November 9, 1799, as frustration with their leadership reached a fever pitch, Bonaparte staged a coup d'état , abolishing the Directory and appointing himself France's “ first consul .”
● The event marked the end of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, in which France would come to dominate much of continental Europe.
