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Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was a pledge by Third Estate representavtives vowing to stay together until France recieved a constitution. This meeting happened after the third estate seceeded from th Estates-General and met on a nearby tennis court, naming themselves the French National Assembly. The third estate seceeded because their requests of a new voting standard and thier list of grievencess were not met by the General-Estate or King Louis XVI -
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille was a rebellion of the peopl who were against the injustices of the ancien régime. The Bastille was a prison in Paris, France which crowds stormed, freeing prisoners, killing guards, and destroying the fotress. This peasant uprising created a great fincrease in violence and is the symbolic beggining of the French Revolution. -
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Great Fear
The Great Fear was a spontaneous peasant uprising in France that followed the storming of the Bastille. The peasants attacked the noble land lords. The National Assembly abolished all the remenants of feudalism by the end of the Great Fear. The Great Fear was brought on by big food shortages and a fear that the nobles were making an army of the homeless to fight against them (the peasants). -
August 4th Decrees
The August 4th Decrees were published for the first time at the end of the Great Fear, however they were revised and republished August 11th. The National Assembly wanted to reform not just the fiscal system or the constitution but the very basis of French society. These decrees eliminated all nobal and clerical priviledges. There were 19 decrees in all and they all aimed to form a equal society. The decrees improved France a lot but many peasants did not think it went far enough to help them. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
Written mainly by the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought with the Patriots during the American Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted by the National Assembly to grant rights to every French citizen. The declaration suggests that man's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should be protected by law. -
Women's Bread March
Angry women (and men) from Paris marched alongside 20,000 National Guards to the King's palace at Versaille to express their anger that he refused to abolish fuedalism and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The march began with angry women in the marketplace over the scarcity of bread (and food in general). The marchers successfully forced the royal family into Paris where they were confined to the old Tuileries Palace. Finally, on October 21, the National Assembly declared martial law. -
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a court document declaring that the state was in charge of the church. It was a massive change in power. While the pope was still in charge of religious affairs in the church, the government took control of the secular affairs, including appointing of bishops and priests and financial management. -
Declaration of Pillnitz (and war)
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a joint delcaration between Leopold II (HRE) and Frederick William II, king of Prussia to intervene on the French Revolution. Leopold, Marie Antoinette (French queen at the time)'s brother, wanted take military action to aid the French in restoring their monarchy. This was viewed as a threat and the French delcared war on Prussia. -
Louis' Escape
The Royal Family tried to leave France, but was caught in Varennes and forced to return to Paris. Louis encouraged the people to go to war with Austria, but was accused of counterrevolution and found guilty by the French National Assembly. The Revolutionary Government abolished the monarchy. Louis XVI was beheaded. -
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Constitution of 1791
The Constitution of 1791 was created by the third estate after their leaving the Estates-General meeting. By taking matters into their own hands, the third estate created the constitution which consisted of making the king the executive who could veto any laws unless successive legislative sessions passed it, and created the French Legislative Assembly that was basically the country's first non-monarch law creating group. It marked the final try for the French to create a constitutional monarchy
