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King Louis XIV calls for the Estates-General to meet for the first time in around a hundred years to try and come up with a solution to France's financial situations. It was made up of three estates: the clergy, nobility, and commoners.
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The third estate, consisting of commoners, begin to call themselves the national assembly. One morning they arrive at locked doors, and immediately move to a nearby tennis court. Here they swear, "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established". This meaning that they will not part until a serious change is made.
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The angry mob of revolutioners in Paris attack the Bastille, which was a symbol of the monarchy's power, and represented cruel and unfair ways of the government. They tear it down stone by stone in a statement against the government, but also to get the ammunition and weapons stored there. After the attack, the governor was killed and his head was carried around on a spike.
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The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and Citizen, stating that all men are equal under law. This got rid of most nobility titles and made all men be treated the same. -
The women from Paris marched to Versailles to protest the high price of bread and little grain. They heard that the monarchs were keeping grain in huge bulk just for them. They chased the queen throughout the castle and broke into her quarters. They then pressured the king to move back to Paris to live among the people. The king agreed to but was more forced to than anything. Hence the people making him a "prisoner of Paris".
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The royal family dress up as servants and try to escape to Varennes from Paris. The king and queen knew that the violence was increasing and it was becoming dangerous for them in Paris. They were caught escaping and brought back to Paris, where the people's trust in the royal family vanished and the royals became hated.
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France was proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. The National Assembly was replaced with the Legislative Assembly, a new parliament. No one from the National Assembly was allowed in the new parliament.
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France declared war on Austria. The king wanted war because he thought neighboring countries would easily overpower the revolutionist and the new government restoring the monarchy and giving the power back to him. The revolutionaries wanted war to unite the country and thought it would spread the ideas of the revolution to other parts of Europe.
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The king is put on trial for treason, and without a second thought is put to death. He is given a carriage ride through the streets of Paris to the guillotine and is beheaded. Officially a government without a king.
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The Committee of Public Safety lead by Robespierre pushed for more blood. The terror started after the death of King Louis XVI, and you could be killed if you had any type of conflict or someone thought you opposed the revolution. Thousands of people died.
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Maximillien Robespierre claimes himself as a leader of a new religion of the Supreme Being after banning faith. This caused many conflicts with the people who were starting to resent him, and they called for a trial. The very next day he was sent to the guillotine.
