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NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
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Formal opening of the Estates General
The opening ceremony began on May 5. The convocation was sent out on July 5 of the previous year, bringing together the Estates-General for the first time since 1614, it took place in Versailles, . It was an general assembly convened by the king to find a solution to the serious financial crisis that the country was suffering. It was composed of representatives of the three estates. The disagreement of the Third Estate with the other 2 and the Crown marked the beginning of the French Revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was a commitment of union made on June 20, 1789 among the 577 deputies of the Third Estate not to secede until France obtains a Constitution, facing pressure from the King of France Louis XVI. The deputies assembled on the Royal Tennis Court of Versailles The oath was voted unanimously, except for Joseph Martin-Dauch. The National Assembly declared itself a Constituent Assembly. This was considered to be the birth of the French Revolution. -
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille took place in Paris on July 14, 1789. Although the medieval fortress only guarded seven prisoners, its fall into the hands of the Parisian revolutionaries symbolically marked the end of the Ancien Régime and the starting point of the French Revolution. The surrender of the prison, which was a symbol of the despotism of the French monarchy, caused a social earthquake both in France and in the rest of Europe, reaching its echoes as far as Russia -
The August Decrees
They were a set of 19 articles passed by the National Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution, which abolished feudalism in France and ended the tax-exempt privileges of the upper classes. The approval of the decrees was a significant achievement of the Revolution.
Although many of the articles did not go into effect immediately, the decrees as a whole had a major impact on the destruction of the Ancien Régime and changed things for future advances in equality and human rights. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
It was born from an idea of the Constituent Assembly, formed by the assembly of the Estates-General to draft a new Constitution, and precede it with a declaration of principles. There were many proposals and the Constituent Assembly commissioned five deputies, they combined them into one and submitted them to the Assembly. Article by article, the French declaration was voted on between August 20 and 26, 1789. It recognizes equality and affirms the separation of powers. -
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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
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The Flight to Varennes
The Flight to Varennes was a pivotal moment of the French Revolution, in which King Louis XVI of France, his wife Queen Marie Antoinette, and their children attempted to escape from Paris on the night of 20-21 June 1791. They made it to the small town of Varennes-en-Argonne, where they were arrested and returned to Paris. Varennes was a traumatic moment for France; feelings of betrayal and anxiety were prevalent. The involvement of foreign powers in the plot would lead to fears of invasion -
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1ST FRENCH REPUBLIC
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NATIONAL CONVENTION
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The Assembly declares war on Austria
The Austrian and Prussian monarchs, fearing the revolution would spread to their countries, invited other European monarchs to use force to reestablish the French monarchy. Insulted by this threat, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria on April 20, 1792. -
Storming of the Tuileries Palace
It was a defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris stormed the Tuileries Palace due to advances in the revolution. The conflict led France to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. France declared war on the king of Bohemia and Hungary (Austria). The initial battles were a disaster for the French, and Prussia joined Austria. The formal end of the monarchy occurred six weeks later on 21 September as one of the first acts of the new National Convention. -
Execution of Louis XVI
It was one of the most important events of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was publicly executed during the French Revolution in the Place de la Révolution in Paris. At his trial four days earlier, the National Convention had convicted the king of high treason in a near-unanimous vote, several MPs abstaining. Finally, he was sentenced to death. The execution by guillotine was carried out by Charles-Henri Sanson, then the Executioner of the First French Republic -
Execution of Robespierre
Robespierre spoke of the existence of internal enemies and conspirators within the Convention and the Governing Committees. He refused to appoint them and this alarmed the deputies, who feared that Robespierre was preparing another purge similar to the previous ones during the Reign of Terror. Robespierre and a number of his followers were arrested at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. The next day they were taken to the Place de la Révolution. They were executed by guillotine in front of the people. -
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DIRECTORY