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Starting of the French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789. It occurred due to old debt and the dissatisfaction of the royal court, such as the clergy. This caused unrest and inevitably was a reason why the French Revolution had started. -
Tennis Court Oath
An Oath Taken on June 20th of 1789. This oath was created when the 3rd Estates were locked out of their original meeting place by the King, Louis XVI. They then relocated to a tennis court and declared they would not move from this court until a new French Constitution was written. -
Storming of the Bastille Prison
The Bastille prison was located in Paris, France. The prison was stormed on July 14th of 1789 by an angry mob of French citizens, and they had done this because the Bastille was a symbol of power in the monarchy. When they raided, they demanded the stored ammunition that was stored there. The governor who was there was inevitably brutally killed after he didn't cooperate, and his head was placed on a spike for everyone to see. -
March of Versailles
The women of France set out to march from Paris to Versailles, hoping to gain some bread as it was too expensive for them to afford. They were armed with muskets and pitchforks if the King didn't comply. As they marched, they chanted for bread to the beat of a drum, but the royals ultimately feasted on large, fulfilling meals. -
The Royals Flee Paris
In June of 1791, the tensions had grown too strong for the royals to withstand. With the growing numbers of angry mobs and the women outside growing anxious, King Louis and the other royals attempted to flee to Vareness from France. When they made it to their destination, the royals were swiftly captured by the revolutionaries. The trust that had built up over the years between the royals and revolutionaries had shattered into a million pieces as the royals were declared to be under arrest. -
The Champ de mars massacre
This was an event that occurred after King Louis had been caught by the revolutionaries. The citizens of France gathered together and rallied against the decision if King Louis XVI was still to be the king. The people decided he was, but he and the queen would be under a constitutional monarchy. This would give the citizens some power as now the royals couldn't make all the decisions and some of the shots would be called by the citizens of France. -
The Capture of the King
The new declared Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia on April of 1792. While the revolutionaries were fighting against the 2 foreign countries, some political extremists were growing angry. On August 10th, 1792, the king was arrested by force at the royal residence by Jacobin's, a political extremist. -
The death of the King
On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI was condemned to death for his convictions of high treason, and crimes against the state by the guillotine. Mary Antoinette, the French queen, faced the same brutal fate 9 months later. This act could have coined the term 'off with their heads' in the late 1700's. -
The reigning terror of war
After the king had been executed for his crimes, France faced many wars with various European powers. This was the most violent and turbulent period during the French Revolution. In 1793, the Jacobins gained control of the National Convention from the Girondins, and as they made extreme changes they ended up instituting the establishment of the new calendar and the complete eradication of Christianity. -
The French Revolution's End
Those of the Girondins that had survived the Reign of Terror had approved a new constitution, which was France's first bicameral legislature. The Jacobins and the Royalists protested against this, but they were quickly silenced by an army led by a young and successful general named Napoleon Bonaparte. A series of financial crisis, popular discontent, inefficiency and political corruption plagued Europe. Napoleon swiftly abolished the directory and appointed himself France's "first consul".
