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Louis XVI takes the throne at the age of 19. He is a weak leader who was dominated by his wife, Marie Antoinette.
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The people of Paris storm the Bastille, a much hated prison that symbolized autocratic rule. The Revolution had begun.
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National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This document guaranteed the rights of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression to all people.
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Peasants were fearful that the nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize them. Peasants started to riot then they stormed Versailles and demanded that Louis and his wife come to Paris.
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National Assembly is disbanded so the new Legislative Assembly can take over. They create a constitutional monarchy that takes away power from the king and that gave the Assembly the power to create French law.
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The Revolution leaders start to turn on each other and three factions in the Legislative Assembly form. Radicals, Moderates, and Conservatives.
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20,000 Parisians invade the Royal Palace. Then Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children are imprisoned.
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Louis XVI was found guilty in a court case of treason and was sentenced to death. He was beheaded by a guillotine.
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Robespierre governed France as a dictator. This period became known as the Reign of Terror. Almost 3,000 were executed in Paris. And as many as 40,000 people were killed in total. He is then later labeled a tryrant and the National Commitee has him put to death.
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Leaders in the National Convention create a new Constitution. This creates a two house legislature and an executive body of five men, known as the Directory. Napoleon Bonaparte is then chosen to lead France’s armies.
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