Key Events of the French Revolution (1792-1793)

January 1st, 1792

The Legislative Assembly declares the beginning of an 'Era of Liberty.'

January 23rd, 1792

Food riots break out in Paris and recur sporadically for the next two months.

February 9th, 1792

The Legislative Assembly decrees that the property of émigrés now belongs to the nation.

March 3rd, 1792

The mayor of Etampes, a town just outside Paris, is lynched for refusing to fix food prices.

March 10th, 1792

The king appoints a ministry dominated by Girondins and led by Brissot.

April 20th, 1792

The king addresses the Legislative Assembly and, under advice from Girondin ministers, asks the assembly to declare war on Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia. The assembly votes to declare war, with only seven dissenters. This marks the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars.

June 13th, 1792

The king dismisses the interior minister, Jean-Marie Roland. This leads to tension between the king and the Legislative Assembly.

June 18th, 1792

Lafayette asks the Legislative Assembly to outlaw the Jacobin clubs. This request is refused.

June 20th, 1792

A crowd invades the Tuileries, demanding that the king withdraw his vetoes. The king is pressured to wear a red liberty cap and publicly humiliated.

July 11th, 1792

Early military defeats and the threat of a Prussian invasion lead the Legislative Assembly to declare 'La Patrie en danger.' The government is now given emergency powers.

July 25th, 1792

The Duke of Brunswick, commander of a joint Austrian-Prussian military force, issues the Brunswick Manifesto, threatening Paris with destruction if the king is harmed.

August 10th, 1792

The Tuileries Palace is invaded by Parisians and republican soldiers. The king takes refuge in the Legislative Assembly, then is arrested and imprisoned. Soldiers of the Swiss Guard at the Tuileries are massacred. In the coming days, the Legislative Assembly suspends the king, quashes his vetoes, and establishes a National Convention based on universal voting rights.

August 14th, 1792

The new minister of justice, Georges Danton, issues a warrant for the arrest of Lafayette and dismisses him as commander of the National Guard. Lafayette attempted to defect but was captured and detained by Austrian forces.

August 17th, 1792

The formation of an 'extraordinary tribunal,' a forerunner to the revolutionary tribunals.

August 22nd, 1792

Royalist riots break out in the Vendee, Brittany, and Dauphiné.

August 26th, 1792

All priests are ordered to take an oath of loyalty to the government or face deportation.

September 2-6th, 1792

The September Massacres in Paris result in around 1,200 deaths. The vast majority killed are imprisoned royalists and clergymen.

September 20th, 1792

The Legislative Assembly is dissolved and replaced by the National Convention.

September 21st, 1792

The first session of the National Convention votes unanimously to abolish the monarchy.

September 22nd, 1792

The National Convention votes unanimously to abolish the monarchy and declares Year I of the Republic.

September 23rd, 1792

Girondin deputies in the National Convention criticize Marat for instigating the September Massacres.

October 10th, 1792

The Convention forbids the use of old forms of address, replacing them with the more egalitarian citoyen and citoyenne.

December 11th, 1792

The trial of Louis XVI begins before the National Convention.

January 14th, 1793

The National Convention votes on the fate of the king, all 693 deputies finding him guilty.

January 20th, 1793

The National Convention votes against a reprieve for the king and confirms a sentence of death.

January 21st, 1793

King Louis XVI is executed, guillotined in the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

February 1st, 1793

The National Convention declares war on Britain and Holland.

February 13th, 1793

The formation of the First Coalition, a European military alliance of Britain, Austria, Prussia, Holland, Spain, and Sardinia.

February 24th, 1793

The National Convention orders the conscription of 300,000 men for the army.

March 10th, 1793

The first Revolutionary Tribunal is created.

March 10-16th, 1793

The beginning of uprisings in the Vendee in western France. The Vendee rebels are angered by conscription, attacks on the clergy, and the execution of the king.

March 26th, 1793

The Committee of Public Safety, a 12-man emergency committee with wide-ranging powers, is established by the National Convention.

April 1st, 1793

Frustrated by the progress of the war and the events of the revolution, the French general Dumouriez defects to the Austrians.

April 6th, 1793

The Duke of Orleans, now styled as Philippe Égalité, is arrested.

April 14th, 1793

The National Convention votes to impeach Jean-Paul Marat, over allegations he published material calling for violent insurrection.

April 24th, 1793

Marat is acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal.

May 4th, 1793

The National Convention, under pressure from the sans-culottes and Paris sections, passes the first Maximum Price Law, fixing the price of grain.

May 18th, 1793

Girondins in the National Convention establish a committee, the Commission of Twelve, to investigate anti-government activity in the Paris Commune and sections.

May 24th, 1793

The Commission of Twelve orders the arrest of the radical journalist Jacques Hébert and some of his followers. They are released three days later, after pressure from the sans-culottes.

May 26th, 1793

Jacobins in the National Convention vote to abolish the Commission of Twelve.

May 31st, 1793

The sans-culottes and sections begin demonstrations across Paris. They demand the removal of the Girondins from the National Convention, a purge of government bodies, voting rights, and fixed bread prices.

June 2nd, 1793

The sans-culottes, now joined by units of the National Guard, march on the National Convention.

Expulsion and arrest of Girondin deputies

The Convention orders the expulsion and arrest of 29 Girondin deputies.

Constitution of Year I

The National Convention passes the Constitution of Year I, also known as the Constitution of 1793 or the 'Jacobin Constitution'.

Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat

Jean-Paul Marat is stabbed to death by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin supporter, while he was bathing.

Abolition of feudal rights

The National Convention orders the abolition and renunciation of all feudal rights and dues, without compensation or delay.

Execution of Jacobin mayor

Moderate counter-revolutionaries in Lyon execute the Jacobin mayor.

Election to Committee of Public Safety

Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Saint-Just are elected to the Committee of Public Safety.

Adoption of the metric system

The National Convention adopts the metric system as the national system of measurement.

Siege of Lyon

Revolutionary forces lay siege to Lyon.

Festival of Unity and Indivisibility

The Festival of Unity and Indivisibility, celebrating the first anniversary of the storming of the Tuileries.

Oath to the 1793 constitution

All public officials are required to take an oath to the new 1793 constitution.

Levee en masse

The National Convention decrees the levee en masse.

Declaration of terror

Again the sans-culottes and Paris sections march on the National Convention, which responds by declaring terror the 'order of the day' and expanding the Revolutionary Tribunals.

Law of Suspects

The National Convention passes the Law of Suspects, broadening the definition of suspects.

Maximum Price Law

The Maximum Price Law is extended to all foods.

Revolutionary calendar adoption

The National Convention formally adopts the revolutionary calendar.

Fall of Lyon

Lyon falls to revolutionary forces after a siege lasting two months.

Creation of Revolutionary Tribunal

The National Convention creates the new Revolutionary Tribunal to accelerate executions of 'enemies of the revolution.'

Trial of Marie Antoinette

Queen Marie Antoinette is tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Execution of Marie Antoinette

Queen Marie Antoinette is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

Law of the Maximum

The Jacobin Convention introduces the Law of the Maximum and expands its scope to cover more goods and commodities.