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Cahiers (list of grievances)
January
In an attempt to reform the kingdom of France, King Louis XVI called for the Estates-General in 1788. The Cahiers de doléance - books that contained complaints and suggestions from the public - were put together in the first bit of 1789 before being sent to the Estates-General. Each estate was given a chance to express their opinions on how to improve France. -
Calling of the Estates-General
May 1789
Louis XIV is forced to summon the Estates-General, a meeting of the three estates, for the first time in 175 years due to unpopularity of the king among people of the Third estate. -
Abolition of feudalism and the Great fear
July to August 1789
A time of panic and riots held by the Third Estate against the ruling First and Second estate to express their unhappiness with the Feudal system of life and poor representation. -
Tennis Court Oath and formation of national assembly
Desire for reforms and the inadequate government of the time led the Third Estate to start their own government called the National Assembly and the signing of the Tennis Court oath after locking being uninvited to the Estates-General -
Storming of the Bastille
With more pressure from the French authority the Third Estate invades the Bastille for the weapons stored there and as a symbol of their desire for freedom because the Bastille at the time is seen as a physical marker of the oppressiveness of the french government. -
The Declaration of Rights of Man and citizen
August 20th to 26th 1789
An accompanying piece to the Constitution of 1785, the Declaration is broken into 17 articles the most important of these being that “men are born and remain free and in equal rights,” specifically rights of library, property, inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression. -
The March of Versaille
On October 5th of 1789, the women of Paris marched to the Palace of Versailles to demand bread. Following a few years of bad harvest alongside King Louis XVI’s poor judgment of France's economy, there was little to no bread for the market women of Paris to buy for their families, leading to starvation. Fed up with the ignorance of the nobles and the royal family who spent their days in their homes or the palace, uncaring. Women ransacked the palace, taking food with them. -
Creation of the legislative assembly
The Legislative Assembly, which replaced the National Assembly, governed France from October 1st, 1771 to September 20, 1792. They created a constitution that they believed expressed the goals of the revolution. Abolishing the ancient regime and its inequalities. -
French revolutionary wars (with Prussia and Austria)
In April of 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Prussia and Austria. They believed that French émigrés - Frenchman who fled France during the French Revolution - who fled to these countries were trying to build alliances with other countries in hopes of bringing back the ancient regime. -
Forming the national convention and France declared a republic
September
The National Convention, formerly the Legislative Assembly, was formed by the representatives of the third estate in September of 1792. The group officially abolished the French monarchy and declared France a republic. This was the third time during the french revolution that a national legislature had been attempted. -
Reign of Terror
September 1793 to July 1794
Civil war and invasions of France from outside forces force the revolutionary government of the time to harshly clamp down on people suspected, often without adequate evidence to be supporters of the monarchy. This would lead to punishments like executions. -
Execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
January 21st 1793 (Louis XVI) and January 22 1793 (Marie Antoinette)
After his and his family’s power and privileges are taken away King Louis XVI is found guilty by the court of the National Convention of crimes against his country and is sentenced to death. On a January morning in Place de la Concorde he was executed by guillotine. Later that year Marie Antoinette, after being in prison and her son taken from her, was found guilty of high treason and beheaded. -
Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety was formed by the National Convention on April 6th of 1793. The group of 9 men, later becoming 12, was intended to be a war council. The individuals were to rotate seats every month in an attempt to prevent one party from gaining too much power. But regardless, within 6 months the committee was controlled by Radicals. Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Saint-Just and Georges Couthon had a form of leadership over the revolution. -
Levee en Masse
As the French armies were being defeated, Paris was sent into a panic. In 1791, the state called for volunteers to protect France because this principle was insufficient in meeting the requirements of forming an army by 1972, the levée en masse was decreed on August 23, 1793. This decree required the enlistment of any able-bodied man who was unmarried between the ages of 18 to 25. -
Execution of Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre was guillotined on the 28th of July in 1794. Robespierre led the Committee of Public Safety, which during a 10-month period had executed thousands of people from his orders. Robespierre was eventually declared an outlaw by the National Convention, with a wound in his jaw from a pistol - which some believe is from Robespierre attempting to end his own life or a simple accident - he was beheaded in front of a cheering crowd.