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Meeting of the Estates General
A meeting that nobility wanted which called for all three estates to meet and decide on taxes. Third estate wanted King Louis to change voting rights but refused. -
Creation of the National Assembly
The Third Estate made themselves a legislature, The National Assembly, with the rights to make laws for France. The king handled this by locking the Third Estate out of their meeting place. The Third Estate solved this by having their meetings in an indoor tennis court where they swore the "Tennis Court Oath" that they would not leave the tennis court until they made a constitution for France. -
The Storming of the Bastille
The King ordered troops into Versailles and Paris to preserve the monarchy by force. Members of the National Assembly thought the king would use violence to end their meetings and wanted to arm themselves in case the King were to attack them. A mob of Parisians went to the Bastille and tried to negotiate with the commander for weapons but he refused so the angry mob stormed the Bastille beheaded the commander and proceeded to parade through the steets with his head on a long stick. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The declaration laid out the basic principals of the revolution "Liberty, Equality and, fraternity" The French people of the Third estate gained ideas from the English Bill of Rights, the American Declaration of Independence and from the writings of enlightened philosophers. The declaration stated that all men are born equal and will stay equal before the law. And also guaranteed freedom of speech, the press, and religion. -
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Creation of the National Convention
The most important part of the French Revolution where the National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution after the over throw of the monarchy -
Execution of the King
Tried and sentenced to death by guilotine the very next day January 21, 1793. He was killed in fear that the monarchy would resurface. -
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Reign of Terror
Two years of repressing the enemies of the revolution which resulted in 18,500 to 40,000 deaths by the end of july and Maximilien Robespierre was charged with being responsible for the Reign of Terror and was soon executed on July 28 1794. -
Coup d'etat
When members of the directory elected Napoleon to take over the french goverment by the means of Coup d'etat he had full power and declared himself emperor
