French Revolution

Meeting of Estates-General

Notes: Estates-General

• To solve the financial crisis and to stabilize his rule, King Louis XVI assembled the Estates General, which had not met since 1614, comprised of representatives from three Estates: clergy (1st), nobility (2nd), and commoners (3rd)

The Tennis Court Oath

Notes: Tennis Court Oath

• In June 1789 the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and moved from the Palace of Versailles to a large indoor tennis court in town. There members swore the famous Tennis Court Oath, pledging never to disband until they had written a new constitution for France.

Storming of the Bastille

Notes: Storming of Bastille

• Hundreds of hungry people in Paris stormed the Bastille, a medieval fort and prison, to search for gunpowder on July 14, 1789, signaling the start of the French Revolution. As the news spread across France, peasants began to rise in spontaneous revolt against their lords.

March on Versailles

Notes: March on Versailles

• After months of bread shortages, on October 5, 1789, seven thousand women marched 12 miles from Paris to Versailles to demand bread. The king promised to give them bread immediately and to accompany them back to Paris with his family. The king and his family never returned to Versailles.

Reign of Terror

Notes: Reign of Terror

• Fearing enemies inside and outside of France, Maximilien Robespierre established special revolutionary courts, responsible only to him, which tried citizens for treason against the revolution. During two years of the Reign of Terror, roughly 40,000 French men and women were executed, often by guillotine. Finally, in July 1794, Robespierre himself was taken to the guillotine by members of the National Convention.

Rise of Napoleon

Notes: Rise of Napoleon

• Following the chaos of the Reign of Terror, Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France as dictator and emperor for 15 years (1799-1814). He stopped revolutionary reforms such as free speech and press, but also maintained moderate revolutionary reforms, such as the abolishment of feudal privilieges.