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Meeting of the Estates General
The Estates General were reluctantly summoned by King Louis XVI in May of 1789 with an aim to solve the monarchy’s financial crisis. There were three classes represented by the Estates General: the nobles, clergy and the rest of the population or the so-called Third Estate. Each estate had only one vote. -
Fall of the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, an angry crowd marched on the Bastille, a medieval fortress in east Paris that was mostly housing political prisoners. To many people in France, it was considered as a symbol of the much hated Louis’ regime. Angry, unemployed and hungry Parisians saw it as a place to vent their frustrations. -
March on Versailles
Many people in Paris and the rest of France were hungry, unemployed and restless. In October, a large crowd of protesters marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, convinced that the royal family and nobility there lived in luxury, oblivious to the hardships of the French people. They broke into the quarters of Queen Marie Antoinette who as an Austrian was particularly despised. The crowd demanded bread and wanted to bring the King and his family back to Paris to live among the people. -
Flight to Varennes
On June 20, 1791, the royal family quietly left Paris. They managed to get within a few miles of the border before being recognized in the town of Varennes and forced to go back. The incident was devastating for the National Assembly. The King’s attempt to flee and his denouncement of the Revolution came just as the new constitution was about to be implemented. -
Dissolution of the National Assembly
The long awaited constitution finally came into effect on September 30, 1791. France was proclaimed a constitutional monarchy, while the National Assembly was dissolved and replaced by a new political body named the Legislative Assembly. No member of the National Assembly was elected to the new legislative body as it was agreed earlier that the members of the National Assembly would not be allowed to hold a seat in the new parliament; everyone with valuable political experience was lost. -
War On Austria
The issue of war dominated the debate in the new Legislative Assembly. Tensions with the rest of Europe continued to rise. Revolutionary France was viewed with both fear and anger by the European monarchies, especially by the neighboring Austrian monarchy. In France, the support for war was growing as well. Louis XVI and hard line monarchists wanted war because they believed that foreign armies would easily overthrow the new government. On April 20, 1792, France declared war on Austria. -
Attack on the Tuileries Palace
In spring and summer of 1792, the French government found itself in a very difficult situation. The Austrian army and its Prussian allies started advancing into French territory. Economic stagnation continued throughout the country. The King was widely viewed as a traitor for trying to flee the country. On August 10 a crowd of about 20,000 people attacked the Tuileries Palace. Over the next month hundreds of suspected royalists were executed in what became known as the September Massacre. -
Declaration of the Republic and the Trial of Louis
Following the arrests of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the Legislative Assembly disbanded and replaced itself with a new political body named the National Convention. Louis was charged with treason; Louis was guilty. The vote on the death penalty was much closer but it passed. On January 21, 1793, Louis was driven through the streets of Paris to a guillotine and decapitated. Marie Antoinette was accused of numerous crimes. On October 16 she too was found guilty and guillotined the same day. -
Reign of Terror
The new National Convention was dominated by the Committee of Public Safety. One man in particular, Maximilien Robespierre came to dominate the Committee and established himself as the leader of the so-called Reign of Terror. From September 1793 to July 1794, an estimated 16,000 people were guillotined. Most leaders of the French Revolution were now either dead or had fled the republic. On July 27, 1794, Robespierre was arrested and was guillotined the following day. -
Directory and the Rise of Napoleon
After the fall of Robespierre, the National Convention created a new constitution for France that was implemented in 1795. Leading the new government was the Directory consisting of an executive council of five members. In 1799, a successful military commander named Napoleon Bonaparte returned from a military expedition. Napoleon established what he called the Consulate and himself as the First Consul.
