-
Louis XVI calls for the National Assembly to meet to create a constitution
The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. -
Louis XVI calls for the Estates General to meet
The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General -
Representatives from the three Estates meet at Versailles
This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. -
Louis XVI has the Third Estate locked out of the Estates General meeting
because they were demanding more power in the government because they made up 97% of the population in France. -
Third Estate takes the Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate, which had the most representatives, declared itself the National Assembly and took an oath to force a new constitution on the king -
The people of Paris storm the Bastille
The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. -
The women of Paris arrest Louis XVI and take him back to Paris
Later that year, ceding to popular pressure, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette left Versailles for Paris