French Revolution Timeline

  • May 5, 1789 meeting with the Estates-General

    The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution.
  • Tennis Court Oath

    In the Tennis Court Oath, the National Assembly swore not to stop meeting until France had a constitution.
  • Storming of the Bastille

    During the unrest of 1789, on July 14 a mob approached the Bastille to demand the arms and ammunition stored there, and, when the forces guarding the structure resisted, the attackers captured the prison and released the seven prisoners held there.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man

    it sets out the “natural and inalienable” rights, which are freedom, ownership, security, resistance to oppression
  • Women's March on Versailles

    They besieged the palace and forced King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) to return with them to Paris