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Meeting at Versailles
The Estates began their meeting at Versailles on May 5, 1789 and quickly entered into a power struggle. -
Third Estate
The Third Estate began the French Revolution by declaring itself a National Assembly. This was a very revolutionary act. Days later, the Third Estate moved to a tennis court and took the “Oath of the tennis court”, which stated that they would not disband until a constitution had been drafted. -
Fall of Bastille
In France, the French Revolution begins with the fall of the Bastille in Paris, an event witnessed by the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson. -
The National Constituent Assembly
The session of the National Constituent Assembly was a historic event that produced radical changes, most notably the abolition of French feudalism. -
The flight to Varennes
The flight to Varennes was the royal family’s failed attempt to escape Paris in June 1791. The king was recognised by a local postmaster. Louis and his family were promptly detained and taken back to Paris under guard. Since the king had attempted to flee the revolution, he could no longer be trusted. His working alliance with the National Constituent Assembly and his acceptance of the Constitution of 1791 were exposed as fraudulent. -
Constitution was Compromised
The Constitution of 1791 was passed in September but it had been fatally compromised by the king’s betrayal. The fate of the 1791 Constitution, however, hinged on the attitude and actions of the king. -
War with Austria
The first three years of the French Revolution were free of war. That changed in April 1792, when Girondist deputies instigated a revolutionary war with France’s neighbour Austria. -
After the Attack on the Bastille
After their attack on the Bastille, the people of Paris laid siege (a military operation) to another royalist symbol. This time the target was the Tuileries palace, the official residence of Louis XVI and the home of the Legislative Assembly. -
The September Massacres
“The September Massacres” refer to murderous riots that happened in Paris in the first week of September 1792. On September 2nd gangs of armed sans culottes stormed most of the city’s prisons and killed between 1,100 and 1,400 prisoners. To critics of the revolution, the massacres were evidence that Paris was in a state of bloodthirsty anarchy. -
King Louis XVI is executed
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris.
