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Estates-General is Called
The Estates-General who represents the thre orders of Nobles, Clergy, and Commoners is called to help the financial crisis of France. He has not been called since 1614. -
Riots in Paris
There are riots in Paris from April 27 to the 28th. They are directed against two entrepreneurs Reveillon and Henriot. -
The Tennis Court Oath
The king has the meeting hall closed. The Third Estate, called the National Assembly, leaves to the Tennis Court of Versailles. They swear an oath not to disband until a constitution is approved. -
Storming of the Bastille
Parisians march to the Bastille and demand it open and its gunpowder delivered to them. The Swiss Guards who are inside fire at the crowd. About 100 people were killd. An attack begins and the Bastille falls. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This declaration is inspired by the American Declartion of Independance of 1776. -
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted. It provides for the appointment of all church officers, from archbishop down, by the National Assembly -
Louis XVI complains of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Louis XVI secretly explores a possible coalition with foreign powers to end the Revolution. He writes a letter to his cousin Charles IV of Spain, complaining of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. -
Louis XVI Flees France
Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children are arrested at Varennes trying to flee France. The Constituent National Assembly suspends the king's authority until further notice. This plays a role in destroying the constitutional monarchy, Louis XVI begins to be thought of as a traitor and a danger to the nation. -
Massacre of the Champ-de-Mars
For the second anniversary of the Fall of the Bastille, a grand Altar of the Nation had been erected on the Champ-de-Mars. The Cordeliers went to the altar on the 17th to declare their demands that a republic be established. Marquis de Lafayette orders his troops to fire upon a large crowd. About 50 people were killed. -
Death of Louis XVI
After a trial by the entire Convention, Louis XVI is found guilty of conspiring against the nation. He was guillotined on the Place de la Republique. -
Napoleon's coup d'etat
On the 18th Brumair, Napoleon stages his military coup d'etat. He becomes First Consul of The Consulate.
