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Estates-General Convenes
The Estates-General convened in an elaborate but temporary Salle des États set up in one of the courtyards of the official Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs in the town of Versailles near the royal château. Many in the Third Estate viewed the double representation as a revolution already peacefully accomplished. -
Third Estate Declares Itself the National Assembly
The body declared itself the National Assembly: an assembly not of the Estates but made up of "the People." -
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes. The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Issued
First step of writing a constitution for France. -
Louis XVI Executed
Only king of France ever to be executed. -
Maximilien Robespierre Assumes Leadership of the Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre had not sought out the position. The Committee began to manage the country's internal police. -
Robespierre Is Guillotined
Robespierre was guillotined without trial in the Place de la Révolution. -
Napoleon Bonaparte Seizes Power
After the French Revolutionary Wars ended the Napoleonic Wars began. -
Napoleon Is Defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's reign.
