Key Events Leading to the French Revolution (1789)

January 9, 1789

Paris records its 57th straight frost, as France suffers from one of its coldest winters. Reports of orchards dying and food stores spoiling are common.

January 24, 1789

Rules and instructions for electing delegates to the Estates General are finalised and sent out to districts.

January 1789

Emmanuel Sieyes publishes What is the Third Estate?, a pamphlet emphasising the importance of France's common classes and calling for greater political representation.

January 1789

Louis XVI orders the drafting and compilation of cahiers de doléances or 'books of grievances'. These cahiers are to be presented at the Estates General.

February 1789

Elections for delegates to the Estates General commence across France.

April 27, 1789

Rumours about wage freezes trigger the Réveillon riots and Henriot riots in Paris.

May 2, 1789

Delegates to the Estates General are now present at Versailles and are presented to the king at a formal gathering.

May 5, 1789

The Estates General opens at Versailles. The king, Barentin, and Necker address the opening session, advocating voting by order rather than by head.

May 6, 1789

The First and Second Estates both endorse voting by order. The Third Estate refuses to meet separately or vote on the issue.

May 27, 1789

Sieyès moves that delegates for the Third Estate affirm their right to political representation.

June 4, 1789

Louis XVI's seven-year-old son, Louis Joseph Xavier, dies of tuberculosis. His younger brother Louis-Charles becomes Dauphin of France.

June 10, 1789

Sieyès proposes that representatives of the First and Second Estates be invited to join the Third Estate in forming a national assembly.

June 13, 1789

Several delegates from the First Estate cross the floor to join the Third Estate at the Estates General.

June 17, 1789

The Third Estate, joined by some nobles and clergymen, vote 490 to 90 to declare themselves the National Assembly of France.

June 20, 1789

Locked out of their meeting hall, the National Assembly gathers in a nearby tennis court and swears the Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to disband until a constitution is passed.

June 23, 1789

At the séance royale, the king proposes reforms and calls for the Estates to return to their separate chambers. The National Assembly ignores his demands.

June 24, 1789

More clergymen and nobles, including the Duc d'Orléans, join the National Assembly.

June 27, 1789

Louis XVI orders the remaining delegates of the First and Second Estates to join the National Assembly and begins mobilising the army near Paris and Versailles.

June 27, 1789

A commission is appointed to reform and standardise France's system of weights and measures.

June 30, 1789

A crowd of 4,000 storms a prison on the Seine's left bank, freeing dozens of mutinous soldiers.

July 1, 1789

Louis XVI orders the mobilisation of royal troops, particularly around Paris.

July 2, 1789

Public meetings at the Palais Royal express concerns about the troop build-up and the king's intentions.

July 6, 1789

The National Assembly appoints a committee to begin drafting a national constitution.

July 8, 1789

The National Assembly petitions the king to withdraw troops from around Paris.

July 9, 1789

The National Assembly formally reorganises itself as the National Constituent Assembly.

July 11, 1789

Jacques Necker is dismissed by the king and replaced by the conservative Baron de Breteuil.

July 11, 1789

Lafayette proposes that France adopt a Declaration of Rights based on the American model.

July 12-14, 1789

News of Necker's dismissal triggers the Paris insurrection: riots, attacks on officials, and looting spread.

July 13, 1789

Parisians form the National Guard to defend the city and prevent property damage and theft.

July 14, 1789

The Bastille is stormed by revolutionaries. Governor de Launay and mayor de Flesselles are killed.

July 15, 1789

Lafayette is appointed commander of the National Guard.

July 15, 1789

Louis XVI orders troops around Paris to withdraw due to fears of defection.

July 16, 1789

Necker is recalled as finance minister.

July 16, 1789

Royal troops outside Paris and Versailles are withdrawn.

July 17, 1789

Signs of the Great Fear appear in rural France. The Assembly begins drafting the constitution.

July 22, 1789

Finance minister Foulon and commissioner de Sauvigny are murdered by Paris mobs.

August 1, 1789

The Assembly commits to drafting and adopting a declaration of rights.

August 4, 1789

The Assembly begins dismantling seigneurial feudalism; nobles surrender privileges in reforms known as the August Decrees.

August 11, 1789

The Assembly ratifies the reforms of August 4 with amendments.

August 26, 1789

The Assembly passes the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

September 10, 1789

The Assembly votes 849 to 89 to create a unicameral legislative assembly.

September 11, 1789

The king is granted a suspensive veto by a vote of 673 to 325.

September 12, 1789

Jean-Paul Marat publishes The Friend of the People, a radical newspaper.

September 15, 1789

The king refuses to endorse the August Decrees using his suspensive veto.

October 1, 1789

The Assembly agrees in principle to a constitutional monarchy.

October 4, 1789

News reaches Paris that royal soldiers at Versailles trampled the tricolour cockade at a party.

October 5, 1789

Parisian citizens, led by women and accompanied by the National Guard, march on Versailles. A mob invades the royal apartment overnight.

October 6, 1789

The king agrees to relocate to Paris with the mob and National Guard. He also ratifies the August Decrees.

October 9, 1789

The Assembly agrees to move from Versailles to Paris and redefines the monarch as 'king of the French.'

October 22, 1789

The Assembly begins debate on voting rights and the distinction between 'active' and 'passive' citizens.

November 2, 1789

The Assembly nationalises church lands, declaring all ecclesiastical property 'at the disposal of the nation.'

November 3, 1789

The Assembly votes to suspend the parlements.

November 9, 1789

The Assembly relocates to the Tuileries Palace.

December 14-16, 1789

The Assembly reforms provincial government, creating 83 new departments.

December 19, 1789

The Assembly approves the sale of church lands and the issuance of 400 million assignats, backed by land income.

December 22, 1789

The Assembly begins organising elections for the new legislative assembly.