French Revolution

By Erica Cannon

  • Louis XVI summons the esates general

    The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General

  • Estate General Convenes

    The estate general of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the french general

  • Storming of the Bastille

    The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man

    The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789

  • National Assembly abolishes the nobility

    The National Constituent Assembly, acting on the night of 4 August 1789, announced, "The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system entirely." It abolished both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate (the nobility) and the tithes gathered by the First Estate (the Catholic clergy).

  • Civil Constitution of the French Clergy

    The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was an attempt to reform and regulate the Catholic church in France. It was passed by the National Constituent Assembly on July 12th 1790. ... It also required bishops and then all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the state, to be taken in January 1791.

  • Clergy instructed to swear allegiance to France

  • Pope Pius VI condemns the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

  • Louis & Marie Antoinette flee; captured at Varenne

  • France declares war on Austria

  • First use of guillotine

  • Prussia declares war on France