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The French Revolution was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799.
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In May 1789, when the Estates-General met, the ideas of the Third Estate clashed with those of the First and Second Estates. On June 17th, they broke away from the rest of the Estates-General. On June 20th, they found themselves locked out of their regular meeting place, so they met at the Jeu de Paume, an indoor tennis court. -
This was a revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate of the Estates-General. Thereafter, it was known as the National Constituent Assembly, although the shorter form was favored. They ask King Louis XVI to withdraw his troops and he refuses.
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Finding themselves locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles on June 20 and thinking that the king was forcing them to disband, they moved to a nearby indoor tennis court (salle du jeu de paume). There they took an oath never to separate until a written constitution had been established for France. -
Jacques Necker, popular Chief Minister of France, is fired from King Louis XVI's cabinet for a second time and ordered into exile. -
The dismissal of Jacques Necker causes over 6,000 Parisians to take to the streets. They fight with soldiers, burn toll booths, and raid armories and gunsmiths for weapons. -
This happened when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At the time, the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris.