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Call of The Estates Generals
King Louis XVI calls a meeting of the Estates General. France was losing a ton of money due to the spending of King Louis XV and as well as his own spending. He wanted to put in place a new land tax to help ease the financial problems. This event was very important because it was the start of the French Revolution. Also, it was the first meeting of the Estates General since 1614. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estates felt as if they did not have enough power and they split from the group and called themselves the National Assembly. When they showed up the chamber door was locked and was even guarded. The decided to congregate in a nearby tennis court since they were fearful that the King would attack them. That day on the tennis court took an oath to stay together. They then continued to protest against the other estates for more representation. -
Storming of The Bastille
Revolutionaries stormed the Bastille prison which represented King Louis XVI and monarchy ruling. They demanded for the prison to give up the ammunition, they did not comply and they stormed the prison. They also killed the governor and put his head on a stick. This event lead to more events that soon would overthrow King Louis XVI. This also gave many of the commoners more of an urge to fight against the nobles and other Estates that had power over them for so long. -
Womens March on Versailles
Women marched through a Paris Market. They were armed with pitchforks and demanded for fair prices of bread. The group grew larger and larger. This event provoked more outrage against the king and more wanted to fight back. It gave women more confidence to stand up and fight for their equality as well. -
The First invasion of the Tuileries
About three years after the attack on Bastille Prison, the people of France decided to march on Tuileries. Tuileries was the home of King Louis XVI. They wanted him overthrown and were not going to stop until that happened. This was a turning point in history and really showed the revolutionaries power and want for his power to end. -
Overthrow of Monarchy
On this day the monarchy was overthrown. This was because King Louis was convicted of treason and doing wrong. He was then executed and the revolutionaries took control. This is an important day because it ended monarchy in France. It also ended dicatatorship, although the next few months would not be the best progress forward. -
Reign of Terror (September 5 1793- July 28 1794)
This event lasted 6 months and consisted of many executions starting with Marie Antoinette. Radicals took control with Robespierre leading, they would execute any people who did not comply with the revolution. About 17,000 were killed during this time. This event took out many of the nobles and any others who did not follow along. Luckily this ended with the overthrow of Robespierre when people realized this could not continue and they executed him the following day. -
Execution of The King
On this day the King is executed by guillotine. This comes after being accused of conspiracy with foreign powers. Marie Antoinette was forced to watch the execution by revolutionaries. This day was important because the King that had ruled France under Monarchy was finally gone. Although not in the nicest of ways possible. -
Slavery Abolished
In 1794 France passed a law to free all slaves in France and overseas possessions. This although did not last long. This law lasted about 10 years. Although it seemed great while slavery was abloshed, Napoleon took back that law 10 yrs later. He restored slavery in France and overseas for France. -
Execution of Robespierre
This day ended the reign of terror in France. People realized that the killing could not continue and a Republic could not be built like this. The people overthrew him and executed him the next day. This ended the reign of terror which is very important, because power cannot be used in that way. Innocent people were let our of prison and the ruling in France became less radical.
