-
Meeting of the Estates General
King Louis XVI wished to solve the financial problems, so he called the Estates General, the nobles, clergymen, and the third party. The third party formed their own assembly, and when they were locked out of a n Estates General meeting, they went to a tennis court and swore to stay there untl a new constitution was written (The tennis court oath) -
Attack at the Bastille
On July 14, a mob gathered around the Bastille, an old fortress, and atttacked the fort until the commander of the Bastille surrendered. The mob did this, because the BBsstille represented Louis' regime, which was highly unpopular to the French peasants. -
March on Versailles
In October, a an angry, hungry mostly-women mob marched toward Versailles and broke into Marie Antoinette's room and demanded that the royal family come with them to Paris. The crowd was made of peasants, who believed that the royals were eating too much, and that they did not care about starving poor people. -
Flight to Varennes
The National Assembly wanted a new constitution that would limit the king's power, but the royal family hated the idea and felt trapped, s they escaped and almost made it to the Austrian border, but they were recognized in Vanneres. The National Assembly now had to create the new constitution, with an unsupportive king, and they were very upset about the fact. -
National Assembly dissolves
The new constitution became effective on September 30, 1791 and stated that France was a constitutional monarchy, and the National Assembly was not allowed to be a part of parliment. The Assembly broke apart, and only the inexperienced Legislative Assembly was allowed to take part in Parliment. -
The War begins
More support for the revolution was growing, and France became hated by the rest of Europe, especially Austria. The revolutionaries took control and declared the war against Austria on April 20th, 1792. -
Tuileries Palace is attacked
The French government was in shambles, the Austrians were advancing, and the king was widely hated for trying to escape France. On August 10, 1792, a gigantic mob of over 15,000 people raided and attacked the Tuileries Palace, while the royal family was placed under arrest for their safety. -
Trial of King Louis
After the royal family was arrested, King Louis was tried before the National Convention on January 21st, found guilty, and was marched to the guillotine where he was decapitated. Afterwards, Marie Antionette was also found guilty of many rumored crimes. 0n October 16th of the same year, she, too, was guillotined -
Reign of Terror ends
From September 1793, until July 1794, Maximilien Robespierre wished to rid France of it's enemies, by killing everyone that threatened the peace of France. By now, almost every revolutionary was dead and over 16,000 people were guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was arrested and guillotined on July 27th, for hs crimes against France. -
Napoleon rises to power
In 1799, shortly after the new constitution, Napoleon came to power. He declared himself emperor of France and changed the way that France was viewed, by building beautiful parks and museums. He was loved by the people and celebrated as a hero.
