French Revolution Timeline

Meeting of the Estates Generals

The meeting of the Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estate General meeting. This event was important as it symbolized the beginning of the French Revolution. This meeting was held to discus the financial matters, as France's economy was poor because of all the war they fought. The King wanted every estate to have one vote, which would mean that the third estate would always be a minority as the first two states always team up. This lead to the Third estate arguing about their right to vote and how the voting should be done by the proportion of the representatives instead of 1 vote per estate.

May 5,

1789

National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath

June 20,

1789

On this day the members of the third estate,(peasants and the commoners) took a vow. The vow was as follows "not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the Constitution of the kingdom is established". This is a very crucial part of the French Revolution as it symbolizes that they will all be united and will not be separated. This worked out for them as their population is what represented 96% of all France. The third estate created a sort of separate identity of their own, which was different from the monarchy of King Louis XVI. The Third Estate declared itself the "National Assembly." They would begin making their own laws and running the country. This was one of the most important moments in the French revolution history because, this symbolized that they were moving in a different direction than the monarchy by making their own laws.

Attack of the Bastille

The Bastille was one of the state prisons of Paris that was attacked on this day. It was attacked by around 1000 men. These men were a part of the third estate. They wanted to Storm The Bastille as it symbolized the oppression by King Louis XVI. Attacking the Bastille symbolized that the struggle to gain freedom against the Monarchy has began. The Storming of the Bastille triggered a series of events that led to the overthrow of King Louis XVI. There were around 100 casualties in this event.

July 14, 1789

Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the citizen

August 26, 1989

These rights were made by the National Assembly in order to retaliate against the inhumane rights that the Monarchy of King Louis the XVI granted them. These were very basic rights that every person should have. However, these rights were only made for the men; the women did not get their rights in this declaration, they received their rights later on. This is significant as it symbolizes that the third estate was moving into a nation of their own and they are going to retaliate against the monarchy of King Louis.

March of Versailles

The march of Versailles was a protest in order for the third estate to have bread, one of the main food in France at the time. The poor economy and bad harvest caused the prices of bread to sky rocket. The general population of the third estate decided that they will march to the King's palace. They convinced the King and the queen to come with them to Paris. Around 60000 people were in the crowd. The protesting crowd wanted to see Queen Marie Antoinette. The people blamed a lot of the food shortage problems on the queen and her extravagant spending habits. The queen stood there by herself with many protesters in the crowd pointing guns at her. She may have been killed, the crowd calmed down when Lafayette kissed her on the hand. The King and Queen went back to Paris with the crowd and lived in the Tuileries Palace in Paris thereon after. This is an important part of the history of France because it symbolized that the third estate had enough man power to compromise the first estate and persuade them to listen to the commoners.

October 5, 1789

Constitution of 1791

September, 1791

This was the French constitution created by the National Assembly. This constitution was a monarchy, but the sovereignty remained in the Legislative assembly, i.e. the third estate. This was a significant event because it symbolized the third estate's rise to power and the end of the rule of King Louis XVI.

Declaration of war on Austria

April 20, 1792

The revolutionary government declared war on Austria which ignited a series of revolutionary wars in Europe. The intention behind this war was to defend and spread the effects of the French Revolution. The European rulers were afraid that a revolution might take place in their country, which might overthrow their rule, like King Louis XVI. Austria and Prussia had issued a call for European rulers to assist in the re-establishment of King Louis XVI as King of France, which led France to declare war on Austria.

National Convention & France becomes a republic

The national convention was an assembly in France that was in place for a period of around 3 years. The Convention was made by the National assembly. The first act of the National Convention was to get rid of the monarchy. The Legislative Assembly had decided that after Louis XVI was no longer king, a new government would need to create a French constitution. It was decided that every men in France over the age of twenty-five would be able to vote, despite class. This is significant because making a government and a constitution of their own meant that they have successfully taken over France. It was also significant because it meant that the country is moving in the right direction, i.e. making a republic instead of the rule of one family.

September 20, 1792

Execution of Marie Antoinette

After the fall of the Monarchy in 1792, the dethroned Queen was imprisoned along with her husband King Louis XVI. The execution of Marie Antoinette followed that of her husband, King Louis XVI. There deaths were 8 months apart. In 1972, the monarchy of France was abolished. Soon after King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were condemned for treason. This is a significant moment in French history because it displayed that the old Monarch has lost all of their power to commoners who they neglected at first.

October 16, 1793

Levee en Masse

Levee en Masse means translates to mass uprising; it's a tactic that is used as a last resort in a war. It is a short-term requisition of all able-bodied men to defend the nation when it is in risk of getting invaded by another nation. This was used to inflate the army numbers in order to fight the revolutionary war. This is significant because it represented the country's patriotism, and how they came together to battle foreign forces.

August 23, 1793

The Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror was a very dark period of time during the French Revolution. Radicals took control of the revolutionary government and the country. They arrested and executed anyone who they thought might not be loyal to the revolution. Radicals were led by Maximilien Robespierre, who took over the government and started the Reign of Terror. Around 17,000 people were officially executed in France and over 200,000 were offlicially arrested. As the terror continued, the people realized that Maximilien was the root cause of this and he needed to be overthrown. The enemies of Robespierre organized to overthrow him. He was removed from power and the Reign of Terror came to an end. He was executed the very next day. This signified a very low point of the French Revolution as the revolution turned into a mass slaughter instead of the equality it was supposed to provide.

September 1793 to 1794

Napoleon rises to power

November 9, 1799

A number of members of the Directory approached Napoleon to overthrow the weak government and establish some form of stronger regime capable of governing France. The new government that was established called for power to be shared by three chief magistrates, one of which was. Napoleon was able to gain a lot more power later on in 1802. This segment in the French Revolution is important because it brought an end to one of the worst stages of the history of France, that was the Reign of Terror.