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The Estates General was the general assembly of France. It was divided into three estates: the clergy (first estate), the nobility (second estate), and the rest of the population (third estate). Leading up to the meeting of the Estates General, the third estate asked for equal representation but never got it. In response, the third estate formed their own National Assembly, where they moved into an indoor tennis court, which became known as the Tennis Court Oath. -
The Parisians stormed toward the Bastille fortress in hopes of shutting down the National Constituent Assembly with gunpowder and weapons. The fall of Bastille was the start of the French Revolution. This resulted in King Louis XVI withdrawing royal troops from the French capital. Due to the significance of the Storming of the Bastille, July 14 is celebrated as the national day of France. It is known as Bastille Day in English. -
On the 4th and 11th of August in 1789, the Constituent Assembly abolished the entire feudal system. This included the abolition of Manorialism of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate. Thus making the peasants get their land free and also no longer having to pay the tithe to the church. -
On 26th August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a charter of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. The basic principle of the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”. Its 17 articles served as the preamble to the Constitution. It came into effect on September 30, 1791. -
On 5th October 1789, a large crowd of protesters, mostly women, began to assemble at Parisian markets due to the price of bread being increased. After getting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, the women marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles. They stormed the palace, killing several guards and demanded the king to “live among the people”. -
King Louis XVI became wary of the direction in which the French Revolution was heading and he feared the safety of his family, which led to the decision of leaving France and seeking refuge in Austria. On the night of 20th June 1791, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants with their servants dressed as nobles. However, the next day, the King was recognized, arrested along with his family at Varennes and returned to Paris. -
Revolutionary France was considered dangerous by the other European monarchies who viewed it with both fear and anger. This led to the French Revolutionary Wars, a series of military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802. French success in the French Revolutionary Wars allowed the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe, all ending on March 25, 1802. -
In 1792, France was under pressure due to the attack by Austrian army and its Prussian allies. The people viewed King Louis XVI as a traitor as he had attempted to secretly flee the country. King Louis XVI was charged with treason and found guilty on 15th January 1793. On January 21, he was driven through the streets of Paris to a guillotine and decapitated. -
Before the execution of Louis XVI, the Legislative Assembly had replaced itself with a new political body named the National Convention. The National Convention created the Committee of Public Safety whose role was to protect the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. Consisting of 12 members with the most prominent being Maximilien Robespierre, the committee became the de facto executive government in France and known as the Reign of Terror. -
The new Constitution of Year III created Directory which consisted of five members. The Directory became involved in corruption, political conflict and financial problems. From the 9th to the 10th of November 1799, the five directors were ousted and replaced by three “consuls”: the famous military leader Napoleon Bonaparte; director Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès; and politician Roger Ducos. This coup, known as the Coup of 18th Brumaire.