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Representatives from the three Estates meet at Versailles
An assembly (held in Versailles) of representatives from all three estates to approve his new taxes that would impose on the nobility.
Importance: The 1st and 2nd estates always had an advantage since each estate had one vote and they could always outvote the 3rd estate when the tax affected them -
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Louis XVI calls for the Estates General to meet.
Louis XVI called the Estates General into session in May 1789 because France was on the verge of bankruptcy and nobody would give France a loan. Bread riots were spreading and nobles denounced royal tyranny due to their fear of taxes. The only source of money was to either cut expenses on things such as court entertainment or use of the military or to raise taxes and continue to not tax the first and second estate. -
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Louis XVI has the Third Estate locked out of the Estates General meeting
the Third Estate delegates found themselves locked out of their meeting room so they broke down a door to an indoor tennis court, pledging to stay until Louis XVI approved the creation of a new constitution. -
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Third Estate takes the Tennis Court Oath
The Third estate found out that the hall where they had the meeting was closed and that they were no longer allowed to meet inside so they all went to a nearby Tennis Court. -
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Louis XVI calls for the National Assembly to meet to create a constitution
Louis XVI ordered the three estates to meet together as the National Assembly and vote, by population, on a constitution for France. -
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The people of Paris storm the Bastille
The mob saw the Bastille as a symbol of everything that was wrong with France. It was a symbol of the King and his government and the Paris mob wanted it destroyed. -
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The women of Paris arrest Louis XVI and take him back to Paris
Concerned over the high price and scarcity of bread, women from the marketplaces of Paris led the March on Versailles on October 5, 1789. The woman demanded that the royal family moved to Paris to force the king to do whatever they want.