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Estates-Genreal
A legislative assembly of the different classes or estates of French subjects. There were three estates, each had a different assembly, which were called and dismissed by the king.It had no true power of its own. It was basically like the king’s advisory. -
The Tennis Court Oath
A pledge made by the members of France’s National Assembly in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution. -
Bastille Day
The people of Paris tore down the Bastille castle. That castle had served as a prison where the king had locked up his enemies and held them for secret trial and executed them. The mob rushed the castle and overthrew the old order. -
The Day the Old Regime Ends.
The lower classes demand greater rights, and the old order is overturned in France. The attempts by Louis XVI to rescue the monarchy from debt fail, as the freshly called Third Estate begins to demand greater and greater freedoms, eventually demanding Louisís head. The Catholic Church was also deemed an enemy of the people, and its property was seized. After years of turmoil and uncertainty, Napoleon Bonaparte emerges as the new leader of France, and his dictatorship will last nearly 15 years. -
Declaration of Rights of Man
A fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. -
The Women March on Versailles
Just three months after residents stormed the Bastille, the French Revolution gained steam when a group of women frustrated with high food prices and rampant starvation broke marched through the streets of Paris, then turned toward the royal palace at Versailles. Joined by others filled with the spirit of rebellion, thousands ended up at the gates of the extravagant home of King Louis XVI. The absolute power of the monarchy would soon come to an end. -
Flight to Varennes
A significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their family attempted unsuccessfully to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution. -
The French Constitution was Adopted
In the summer of 1791, the French National Assembly began the process of drafting a constitution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, adopted on 26 August 1789 eventually became the preamble of the constitution adopted on 3 September 1791. -
France Declares War on Austria.
France declared war on Austria because they were too scared of Austria uniting witht he king and also because they thought that this would help unify the country. -
The French National Convention votes to Abolish Monarchy.
Revolutionary France, the Legislative Assembly votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the First Republic. The measure came one year after King Louis XVI reluctantly approved a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power.
