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France's Debts Skyrocket as a Result of Foreign Involvement
As a result of its costly involvement in both the American Revolutionary War and the Seven Years' War, France's debts skyrocketed. Coupled with an exceptionally poor harvest, the period following these long wars was an unnaturally tough one. -
Louis XVI Calls the Estates-General
For the first time since 1614, the French king called the Estates-General to meet to solve the country's financial and social problems. This consisted of a meeting held between the three estates, or social orders, consisting of the clergy, nobility, and everybody else. -
The National Assembly is Formed
The National Assembly, a combination of all three estates meeting together, was established to be able to better solve France's problems and ensure equality among representatives. -
The Tennis Court Oath is Taken
Members of the Third Estate, now calling themselves the National Assembly, were shocked to discover that, on the morning of 20 June 1789, the doors to their meeting-place were locked and guarded by soldiers. Fearing a royal attack, these representatives held their meeting on an indoor tennis court, where they swore not to disband until France had a new constitution. -
The Storming of the Bastille
Amid a flurry of rumors of a royal attack on the city of Paris, the citizens rose up to collect arms and gunpowder from the largest armory available: the dreaded prison called the Bastille. Such an attack on Paris never occurred, but the French people now found themselves sufficiently armed to stage a bloody overthrow of the system that oppressed them. -
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The Great Fear Grips the French Countryside
Tired of the outdated feudal system that ruled the French economy, the provincial folk of the French countryside rose up against their lords and captors in a bloody coup of the manorial system. Seigneurialism was abolished and crime and lawlessness reigned as the people took back the means of production for themselves that were lost during the enclosure movment. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is Published
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the brainchild of the National Assembly's tireless collaboration, was a document that functioned a lot like a French Declaration of Independence: it declared fundamental human rights for all, demanded a change in government, and gave rule back to the people. -
Women's March on Versailles
Protesting the terrible shortage of bread that crippled Paris, the women of the city marched the twelve miles to Versailles in protest. They tore down the gates of the palace, slaughtered its guards, and chased Marie Antoinette, to them a figure of unparalleled indulgence, privilege, and disgust, through the many rooms of the royal apartments. She barely escaped with her life and, satisfied, the women returned to their jobs and families. -
The French Constitution of 1791 is Adopted
Attempting to abolish France's absolute monarchy, the French Constitution of 1791 denigrated royal authority and made it answerable to the people through representatives. Unfortunately, it was an ineffective document and was abhorred by radical revolutionaries like the Jacobins. -
The National Assembly Declares War on Austria
In a bid to spread the principles of the Revolution throughout Europe, the National Assembly declared war on several countries in 1792, including Austria. Some revisionist historians say that this was done in an attempt to distract the common people from the inadequacies of the Assembly's leadership. -
The Execution of Louis XVI
On 21 January 1793, King Louis XVI of France met his end during an appointment with the National Razor- considered a symbol of the detested ancien regime, he was beheaded in a radical flourish of revolutionary fervor. -
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Maximilien Robespierre's Reign of Terror
The Terror was a period of radical French leadership under Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin who rose to power as head of the Committee of Public Safety. During the Terror, thousands of "enemies of the Revolution" were executed by guillotine and freedom of speech and of the press was strictly supressed. Revolutionary bloodlust quickly faded, however, and Robespierre and several of his cohorts were quickly executed. -
The Directory is Installed
In an event known as the Thermidorian Reaction, the oppressive government of the Reign of Terror was replaced with the seemingly-democratic Directory. Led by five Directors, it oversaw the entire French nation and attempted to govern fairly where the Committee of Public Safety had failed.
