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Oath of the Jeu de Paume
Having constituted themselves into a National Assembly, having seen that the door to the room where they would deliberate had been locked, the representatives of the third state gathered in a fronton, vowing not to secede until they had given France a constitution. -
The storming of the Bastille
The dismissal of Jacques Necker as finance minister and rumours of military preparations triggered an armed uprising by Parisians, who seized rifles and cannons and surrounded the Bastille prison, a symbol of despotism. Its governor, De Launay, opened fire on the assailants, causing a hundred deaths, but was forced to surrender and was killed on the spot. The rebels took control of the capital. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
After a night session on 4 August in which the nobility and the clergy vied with each other to demand the abolition of their privileges, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration, the first article of which states that "all men are born and live equal in rights". -
March on Versailles
Faced with the king's reluctance to sanction the Declaration of Rights, and mobilised by the high cost of living, the women of Les Halles market lead a march on Versailles that leads to the storming of the royal palace. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette agreed to accompany the mob back to Paris to take up residence in the Tuileries. -
The king's flight aborted at Varennes.
Feeling prisoners in the Tuileries, the king, queen and their children flee in disguise, according to a plan drawn up by the Swede Fersen. After a day's journey north, where troops must escort them to the other side of the border, they are discovered and detained in the town of Varennes, and from there returned to Paris, where they receive an icy reception. -
The King swears in the Constitution
This text maintains the monarchy and grants the right of veto to a king with limited powers. The Constituent Assembly is dissolved and, after a census election in which the outgoing deputies cannot stand, the Legislative Assembly convenes on 1 October. -
France declares war to Austria
At the behest of Louis XVI, who was secretly seeking the defeat of his armies, the Assembly declared war "on the King of Hungary and Bohemia", to give the impression that it was not against the Austrian people. Only Robespierre and a minority of deputies on the left opposed it. -
Overthrow of the Monarchy
The uprising coordinated by the Parisian sections with the help of federates arriving from Marseille leads to the seizure of the Tuileries Palace by force and heavy bloodshed. The King and his family took refuge in the Legislative Assembly, and an insurrectionary Commune took control of the Paris City Hall. The Assembly temporarily suspends the king and convenes a National Convention. -
Prison massacre
The alarming news of the advance of the Allies towards Paris served as a pretext for the organisation of pickets of cut-throats who, with the support of Marat from the Commune and with the tolerance of Danton from the Ministry of Justice, stormed the prisons and cruelly murdered between 1,000 and 1,400 prisoners, including such important people at court as the Princesse de Lamballe, whose head was displayed on a pike outside the window of the Temple Tower. -
Establishment of the Republic
The Convention meets, declares the Monarchy abolished and proclaims the Republic. Although only ten percent of the French exercise their right to vote, it is the first parliament in history to be elected by universal male suffrage in a major country. -
Ejecution of Louis XVI
After being tried and condemned by the Convention, and all attempts by the moderates to save his life having failed, the king was guillotined on the Place de la Révolution. The executioner raises his head before a shocked crowd. The English and Spanish monarchies soon joined the countries at war against the French Republic. -
Creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal
News of the military in Belgium creates a climate of unrest in Paris. The deputies spread out to the sections to encourage recruitment and echo the proposal to set up a court to try political offences without appeal. The list of crimes punishable by death is also extended. In the days that followed, the Catholic and royalist Vendée region took up arms against the Republic. -
Jacobin coup d'état
The alliance between Jacobins and Enragés with the support of the Commune mobilises the Paris sections against the moderate leaders of the Convention. After three days of arm wrestling, during which it was harassed by the National Guard, the Convention gave in and placed 29 of its members and two ministers under house arrest. A few days later, the new Republican Constitution was adopted, but it never came into force. -
Thermidor coup d'état
An alliance between the Jacobin sector and the deputies of the Plains was concluded. Robespierre's voice was silenced when he tried to make a speech, and he and his main collaborators were arrested. After a failed attempt at resistance at the Hôtel de Ville (stormed by troops loyal to the Commune), the Incorruptible is guillotined, along with his brother, Saint-Just, Couthon and other members of his entourage. -
Napoleon takes the power
After a year in which the Thermidorians controlled the Convention, and four years of authoritarian government through the Directory, the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire took place, in which General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power.