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May 5, 1789 meeting with the Estates-General
The most controversial and significant decision remained the nature of voting. On May 5, 1789, the Estates-General convened. The following day, the Third Estate discovered that the royal decree granting double representation also upheld traditional voting by orders. -
Storming of the Bastille
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. -
Tennis court oath
dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the nonprivileged classes of the French nation