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Louis XVI Marries Marie
Louis marries Marie Antoinette at the age of 15. It was an arranged marriage, trying to bring peace between France and Austria, which had been rivals in the past. -
Louis XVI becomes the King
After the death of Louis XV, Louis XVI was next in line for the throne. He was young, unprepared, and not a strong leader. -
Tennis Court Oath
The third estate decides to create the National Assembly, which is a new government that wanted to write a constitution for France. The King kicked them out of the meeting rooms, but the National Assembly decided to make the Tennis Court Oath, which was an oath to never back down until they got what they wanted. It was a big step towards change and revolution. -
Fall of the Bastille
The people of France became fed up with the way the King dealt with the people, which was killing and inprisoning those that he did not like. They stormed the Bastille, which was a huge prison that held a few political prisoners, and destroyed it brick by brick. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen
In this document inspired by the American Revolution as well as the works of Locke, Voltaire, and other philosophs, this document written by the National Assembly sets basic right sfor the government to follow. It promised equality, freedom, ended privelages of upper classes, and limited power of the government. -
March on Versailles
In the morning of October 5, many women were complaining about the high price of bread, a staple in the French diet. These women marched to Versailles and demanded that the Royal Family would go to Paris. They succeeded in bringing the Royal Family, and the power of the monarch was greatly diminished. -
Louis XVI Tries to Flee
Seeing that he would keep losing more and more power, Louis and his family disguised themselves as peasants in order to flee France, and reclaim it from the outside. However, the plan failed, and Louis was now branded with treason. -
War on Austria
France declares war on Austria. Louis hopes that winning the war would get him back onto the top of government, and revolutionaries want to use the war to spread their ideas throughout Europe. -
End of Monarchy
Monarchy was officially ended, and the king was now called "Citizen Louis Capet". This was a huge step in the revolution, and it showed change. -
Death of Louis XVI
Louix XVI was charged with treason, and was found guilty. He was executed publicly by the guillotine. -
Death of Marie Antoinette
Following the death of her husband, Marie Antoinette was also killed by the guillotine. -
Death of Robespierre
Robespierre, who was a leading voice of the Revolution, as well as a later dictator after the monarchy was demolished, was executed by the guillotine in 1794. This ended the Reign of Terror, where he killed 30,000 people which he thought as unsupportive of the Revolution, or suspicious. -
The Directory
The Directory was established. They could give power to those that owned property, therefore those who could vote, had to own property.
