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The “Tennis Court Oath”
dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the non-privileged classes of the French nation (the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates-General (traditional assembly) at the beginning of the French Revolution. -
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storming of the bastile
On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy’s dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. This article reporting the events of 14 July was published in an English newspaper called The World, a few days after the event took place. -
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Abolition of feudal rights
Louis XVI accepted the proposal of the constitution and the National Assembly. A law was implemented which eliminated the feudal system of taxes and debts.With this abolition, the clergy was asked to surrender its privileges. The lands owned by the churches were also seized. -
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declaration of the rights of man
one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France’s National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791. Similar documents served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1793 (retitled simply Declaration of the Rights of Man) and to the Constitution of 1795 (retitled Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Citizen). -
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Civil Constitution of the French Clergy
There was a need to create a new administrative and financial framework for the French Church after the Revolutionary governing body, the National Assembly, in its reforming efforts, had abolished the collection of tithes and had confiscated church lands. -
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New Constitution ratified
The Constitution of 1791 was the revolutionary government’s first attempt at a written constitutional document. Motivated by Enlightenment ideas and the American Revolution, it was intended to define the limits of power in the new government. By the time of its adoption, however, the situation in France had changed significantly and the Constitution of 1791 was no longer fit for purpose. -
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louis and marie antoinette flee
The flight to Varennes describes the royal family’s failed attempt to escape their house arrest in Paris in June 1791. They were located and detained the following day and returned to the capital. The flight to Varennes was a turning point in the French Revolution because it exposed the untrustworthiness of the king and the unworkability of the newly implemented constitution. -
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France declares war on Austria
On this day in 1792, France declared war on Austria in an act that saw the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, a series of wars that pitted France against other European powers. The wars were originally undertaken with the intention of defending and subsequently spreading the effects of the French Revolution. -
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first use of the guillotine
guillotine, instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation, introduced into France in 1792. The device consists of two upright posts surmounted by a crossbeam and grooved so as to guide an oblique-edged knife, the back of which is heavily weighted to make it fall forcefully upon (and slice through) the neck of a prone victim. -
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Prussia declares war on France
The third estate French were not happy with the declaration of Pillnitz, issued in 1979. So, the moment Girondists obtained power, France declared war on Austria. Seeing their advancement, Prussia declared war on France. -
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Parisians storm Tuileries palace
With the capture of Louis XVI, the monarchy did not exist in France. King Louis was declared guilty and was executed on January 21st, 1793. On September 22, the first republic for France, known as the French republic was proclaimed. -
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louis XVI executed
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris. -
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France declares war on Britain and Netherlands
After the execution of the royal couple, Portugal and Spain entered into an anti-French coalition. This led to the declaration of war on February 1st -
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New Constitution proclaimed
In June 1793, the Jacobins seized control of the National Convention from the more moderate Girondins and instituted a series of radical measures, including the establishment of a new calendar and the eradication of Christianity. -
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Marie Antoinette executed
Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette follows him to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. The daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, she married Louis in 1770 to strengthen the French-Austrian alliance. At a time of economic turmoil in France, she lived extravagantly and encouraged her husband to resist reform of the monarchy.