French Revolution Key Events

Flour War

1775 event when angry crowds rioted and looted grain stores.

National Assembly

a French legislature created by representatives of the 3rd Estate on June 17, 1789, to enact laws and reforms in the name of the French people

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in June 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution

Storming of the Bastille

July 14, 1789 attack on French prison to steal weapons. Seen as the true start of the French Revolution.

The Great Fear

Period of senseless panic moving through France from

July 1789 - August 1789

Women's March

Thousands of Parisian women rioted over the price of bread increasing & marched to Versailles in October 8, 1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man

French Revolution document that outlined what the National Assembly considered to be the natural rights of all people and the rights that they possessed as citizens, created on August 25, 1789

limited constitutional monarchy

In September 1791 the National assembly changed France's government so that any monarch's powers were limited by the Constitution

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

April 1792

National Assembly declares war on Austria & Prussia who were trying to get King Louis restored to power

September massacres

King Louis's imprisonment was followed by the murder of thousands of pro-monarchy people in 1792

National Convention

Legislative group that replaced the Legislative Assembly and then abolished the monarchy, declared France a republic, and gave all adult male citizens the right to vote and hold office. They took office on September 21, 1792

January 21, 1793

King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine

October 16, 1793

Marie Antoinette executed by guillotine

National Convention Draft

On February 21, 1793 the National Convention ordered a draft of 300,000 French citizens age 18-40 in order to reinforce the French Army at war

Reign of Terror

From September 1793 - July 1794 when Robespierre ruled as a dictator and executed thousands of people for "disloyalty" to the revolution. This period only ended with Robespierre's execution

The Directory

Established in 1795 after the Reign of Terror / National Convention; a five man group as the executive branch of the country; incompetent and corrupt, only lasted for 4 years.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French general who overthrew the French revolutionary government (The Directory) with a coup d'etat in 1799 and became emperor of France in 1804.

July 28, 1794

Maximilien Robespierre is arrested by members of the National Convention and executed, ending the Reign of Terror.