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Estates Generals meet at Versailles
Several deputies from the First, Second and Third Estates come together to decide on a constitution or elected Assembly. The First and Second estates ended up at a stalemate with the Third Estate intended to end it. Yet the First and Second had a stronger political force than the Third, so the Third estate had group of 600 deputies make their decision. -
Stalemate Broken
The Third Estate later ended the stalemate by wanting to create an assembly. They invited the First and Second estates to join, but only few of their nobles actually joined the Third estate. As the First and Second refused to join, the two estates stalemate kept going, while the Third estate began to become its own assembly. -
The Third Estate Becomes an Assembly
The Third Estate later decided to become its own national assembly instead of having an overall vote. Doing this, they broke their ties to the First and Second Estates and started the Revolution. They were later refused to enter the meeting hall and instead moved to a tennis court. There, they created the Oath of the Tennis Court, refusing to disband until a constitution was drafted. -
Louis XVI Orders the Assembly to Disband
Louis XVI sends a declaration to the Third estates assembly, ordering them to disband. His declaration states that he wants the ancient distinction of the estates to be preserved and that their assembly is illegal and must be disbanded. The Assembly refused to follow his order and stayed together until their demands were made. -
Louis XVI Has the Clergy and Nobles Join the Third
In an attempt to make a compromise with the Third Estate, Louis orders clergy members and the nobility to join the Third Estate. By doing this, he attempted to get the Third Estate back under his control. This backfired as the First and Second Estates refused to step down to the Third's level. Along with this, the Third still refused Louis' orders to stand down. -
Fall of the Bastille
As the price of bread grew, tension was building in France. Due to this, members of the Assembly invaded the Bastille with the intent of stealing weapons. Due to the fear of the First and Second Estates building an army to take down the Assembly, they invaded the Bastille and ended up killing 98 people and wounding 73. Due to this event, aristocrats fled Paris and Louis withdrew his men, fearing that they would be killed. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
With the Great Fear implanted in the Assembly's minds, they were freely able to criticize aristocratic privilege. Because of this, aristocrats started surrendering their special priviliges by decree, in fear of the Assembly becoming violent to them. On the night of August 4th, the Assembly created their Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, with the intent to give the assembly national support. -
The Declaration is Accepted by the Assembly
The Assembly soon adopted the Declaration as an outline of man's natural rights. The Declaration was only 300 words though, yet it still worked as a symbol for the assembly. The Declaration was soon spread out across France to rally the country and give it support. -
The March to Versailles
With the lack of bread becoming a larger issue in France, hundreds of Parisian people marched to Versailles to protest Louis. Along with this, several members of the Assembly joined to protest as well. As he was outnumbered, Louis became a prisoner to the people and promised bread to the people. He also agreed to the Declaration that the Assembly created, giving them their rights. -
Louis and His Capture
In a last attempt to stifle the revolution, Louis planned to build an army to defeat the Assembly. He planned to travel to Montmedy to build his army, yet he treated his travel as an excursion, stopping his coach to eat. He didn't end up reaching Montmedy as he ended up captured and became a prisoner to the Revolution. -
Louis and Marie's House Arrest
On August 10, several enraged Parisian men and women started to attack the king's palace, killing hundreds of his guards. Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette soon fled the Tuileries to the Legislative Assembly. His family was placed under house arrest, making him unable to use his political powers, leaving the Assembly with no monarch. -
Louis XVI's Execution
As the Reign continued, the monarchy was soon abolished and a republic was established to take its place. As the monarchy was taken down, there was no need for a king anymore. So in December, Louis and Marie were put on trial for violating his subjects liberty and was executed by a guillotine on January 21st. -
The Reign of Terror Begins
The Jacobin party was not prepared to handle the issues of the people, who were violent and causing riots. To handle this, the Committee of Public Safety took the role of leadership and had Maximilien Robespierre lead it. He had a vision of peace for his people, yet had it fall through by implementing the Reign of Terror, causing thousands of deaths. Fearing that the Committee's leadership would fall into other's hands, he closed several political clubs to stay in control. -
The Jacobins Take Over
As the country was now led by a republic, a new government was needed to try to control everyone. Two parties, the Jacobins and the Girondins, were put into an election to see which party would control the republic. In the end, the Jacobins won due to them being well organized and well disciplined. With them being sworn in, they basically had control over the French nation. -
Napoleon Ends the Reign
As the Committee was later overthrown, the government fell into the power of a five man Directory. As the Directory worked through the Revolution, France was still at war with the rest of Europe. Due to this, the power of leadership was handed down through several generals. The leadership was soon given to Napoleon Bonaparte, who declared himself the emperor of the French and ended the Reign of Terror.