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Tennis Court Oath
When delegates of the third estates a.k.a. the National Assembly found they were locked out of their meeting room, they broke into a nearby tennis court and swore not to leave until there was a new constitution drawn up. It's significance was that clergy members and nobles joined them, in favor of reform. -
Storming the Bastille
A mob searching for gunpowder and arms stormed the Bastille, a Paris prison.The guard was overwhelmed and the buildings were seized. The prison caommander and several guards were hacked to death by enraged attackers and their heads were paraded around on pikes. The Bastille's fall was it's significance, symbolizing the act of revolution. -
March to Versailles
Thousands of Parisian women rioted over rising price of bread. baring axes, knives, and other weapons, they marched to Versailles. They demanded the National Assembly take action, then released their fury upon the king and queen. They broke into the palace, killed some guards and demanded Louis and Marie return to Paris. This signified the change in power and beginnings of radical reform -
Attacks on Prisons
France was at war with Prussia. THe Prussian commander threatened the destruction of Paris if th royal family was harmed. Rumors began to spread that imprisoned supporters to the royal family were planning to break out and sieze control of the city. For several days early September, angry, fearful citizens raided prisons and slaughtered over 1000 prisoners. This signified the emergence of a new legislature, the National Convention, which went on to try and sentence King Louis himself -
Louis' Trial
The National Convention had turned Louis from a king into a common citizen and prisoner. He was tried for treason, found guilty, and by a very close vote, sentenced to death by guillotine. This signified the end of the monarchy and a huge step for the Revolution. -
The Reign of Terror
Robespierre bacame the leader of the Committee of Public Safety. He governed like a dictator. The Committee was originally intended to protect the Revolution from it's enemies. The enemies were usually tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon. The Terror was significant for it's brutality and it's victims. -
Robespierre Comes to Power
This is when Robespierre came into power. But how happens before, when he and his supporters set out to build a "republic of virtue." They believed in reason and changed the calender, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days with no Sundays, thinking religion old fashioned. This was extremely significant for this was the beginning of the Terror. -
Death of Robespierre
The day before, Robespierre had supposedly tried to kill himself, and a bullet had passed through his jaw, rendering him mute, after he had already been arrested. He was guillotined without trial in the Place de la Revolution. This signified the end of the Terror, and how radical Robespierre had become by the end of it.
