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Calling of the Estates-General (May 5, 1789)
For the first time in over a century, Louis XVI called the Estates-General, not because he wanted their opinion on how to fix France's financial crisis but inadvertently, in an attempt to buy time to avoid an imminent collapse of public finances, This assembly marked the opposite pole to the other two estates and was as a result to mark a no-return point in deep societal divisions. -
tennis court oath
They went to a tennis court not far from there after they had been locked out of their meeting room, and it was in this tennis court that members of the Third Estate swore solemn oaths that never would they disband until a new constitution had been drawn up. This was actually an act defying royal power, and the first of its kind, since at that time representatives of the people actually made a declaration of their right to self-governance. -
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of Bastille prison by the Parisians was a symbolic revolutionary act against the despotic Bourbon monarchy. It demonstrated their preparedness to challenge the monarchy's armed forces and lit the fire of revolution throughout France. This event became the iconic moment of the Revolution, symbolizing popular mobilization and the end of royal absolutism. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789)
This document formulated the individual and collective rights drawn from the Enlightenment and the American Declaration of Independence. It has proclaimed equality, freedom of speech, and people's sovereignty. This set the foundation for modern democratic governance, setting some universal rights that were supposed to challenge the traditional social hierarchy. -
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The Women's March on Versailles (October 5-6, 1789)
Shortages of bread and high prices set off the march of thousands of Parisian women to Versailles, where they confronted the king, eventually forcing the royal family to move back to Paris. It was a moving example of both the strength of popular movements and the tenuous state the monarchy was in by then.Such a critical march in the physical sense brought the monarchy under their control for the revolutionaries showing how important woman were in the revolution. -
The Flight to Varennes (June 20-21, 1791)
His continued attempt to leave Paris in order to raise a counter-revolutionary army where he showed his betrayal of the revolution reduced support for him, which had his betrayal of the revolution on full display and reduced his support and credibility. This is a clear indication that the event catalyzed the radicalization of the Revolution, as it proved the bad faith of the monarchy towards reform so that reform was replaced by abolition. -
The Execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793):
He was, therefore, guillotined at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, convicted of conspiracy and treason. In other words, this effectively marked the end of royal rule in France. The killing of the king was an act that could not be mended. This became the permanent point of no return between the revolutionaries and the monarchy and threw France into the phase of radical republican rule. -
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The Reign of Terror (September 5, 1793 - July 28, 1794)
But it was also a time characterized by mass executions of "enemies of the Revolution" and their creation under the lead of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. the Reign of Terror had proved to what heights the ideals of the revolution could be taken to extremes, thus changing the face of politics that eventually led to the Thermidorian reaction. -
The Thermidorian Reaction (July 27, 1794)
The remaining of the followers and Robespierre were overthrown, and at that instance, this marked the end of the Reign of Terror and the third phase of the revolution. This event demonstrated how the moods of a revolution could turn in a circle to its opposites and how internal divisions could produce big political changes. -
The Coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799)
Napoleon Bonaparte's coup succeeded in toppling the Directory and instituting the Consulate, which put an end to the era of the French Revolution and launched the process of Bonaparte taking power. This ensured that the revolutionary governments were intrinsically weak and reinforced a tendency to substitute that of the revolutionary republicanism with an authoritative empire.