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The Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille set off a series of events that led to the overthrow of King Louis XVI and the French Revolution. The success of the revolutionaries gave commoners throughout France the courage to rise up and fight against the nobles who had ruled them for so long. -
Great Fear
In the French Revolution, a period of panic and riot by peasants and others amid rumors of an “aristocratic conspiracy” by the king and the privileged to overthrow the Third Estate. The gathering of troops around Paris provoked insurrection, and on July 14 the Parisian rabble seized the Bastille. In the provinces the peasants rose against their lords, attacking châteaux and destroying feudal documents. -
Feudalism Abolished
The panic of the Great Fear showed the peasants anger with the old outmoded system of feudal obligations. Landed aristocracy in the National Assembly seized on the idea that the only way to stop the tide of violence on the country side was to renounce feudal privileges . The artistocracy stripped themselves of the feudal rights and privileges . -
Declaration of The Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man echoed the sentiments of the Enlightenment philosophes, the English Bill of Rights, and the American Declaration of Independence. It asserted the political and social equality of all men, the sovereignty of the people, and the natural right to liberty, property, security, and resistance to opposition. -
Women march of Versailles
women demanding bread for their families gathered other discontented Parisians, including some men, and marched toward Versailles, arriving soaking wet from the rain. They demanded to see "the Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". -
Royal family tries to escape
King Louis XVI and his family attempt to flee to Austria to escape the upheaval in France, but are recognized and intercepted at the border and placed under house arrest for attempting to abandon their country. -
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a severe legislative action initiated by the French revolutionary government that aimed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the new social and political order.The Civil Constitution became one of new regime’s most controversial and disruptive policies. It created more dissent and fuelled than any other reform. -
France goes to war with Austria
On April 21, 1792, the French government declared war on Austria. As Prussia was allied with Austria, France found itself fighting a war against both countries. -
Creation of the National Convention
A mob marched on the Tuileries Palace and slaughtered the guards. With mob violence and foreign invasion, the Legislative Assembly felt powerless. It voted itself out of existence and called for election of a new legislature the National Convention. -
The Execution of Louis XVI
After six weeks of debate in the National Convention, with the Girondins wanting clemency for the king, whereas the Jacobins wanting to execute him. On January 21, 1793, the French government sent its former king to the guillotine. -
Reign of Terror
Revolutionary leaders feared that they would lose control therefore they decied to take drastic actions to avoid a possible counterrevolution.A series of accusations, trials and executions, creating a wave of fear through out the country. Annyone who opposed the revolution were the targets of the revolutionary Tribunal. Peasants and laborers were most effected by the Terror. Around 17000 people were executed during the reign of Terror. -
The Execution of Robespierre
Robespierre was arrested on July 27 and executed the next day. In month of Thermidor in the new French calendar, Robespierre was deserted by his supporters, accused of being a tyrant. Robespierre wanted to extend emergency powers, but others felt that the emergencies were over and wanted to return to regular administration. -
Constitution of 1795
French constitution established during the Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution. Known as the Constitution of Year III in the French republican calendar, it was prepared by the Thermidorian Convention. It was more conservative than the abortive democratic Constitution of 1793.
