16 Key Stages in the French Revolution

1. Assembly of Notables (1787)

Ernest Wolfe

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countdown.education

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7 min read

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Nov 8, 2016

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• Why’d it happen?
• France is broke because of all its wars, so Louis XVI’s finance minister calls nobles to try to get them support a new tax plan
• What was it?
• A bunch of important nobles and clergy get together to try to reform France’s taxes, but they don’t work anything out
• Why’d it matter?
• This is the last ever assembly of notables, and it solves nothing, which forces Louis XVI to fire his finance minister and to call the Estates General

2. Meeting of the Estates-General (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• France still needs to find a way to get money, and many people influenced by the Enlightenment from the middle-class bourgeoisie want change, so Louis XVI calls for the Estates-General for the first time since 1614 because he’s desperate to solve France’s issues
• What was it?
• It’s a general assembly meeting for France’s 3 Estates:
• First Estate = Clergy
• Second Estate = Nobles
• Third Estate = Everyone else (95% of France’s population)
• Why’d it matter?
• They can’t agree on anything, except that they need a lot of change, and the Third Estate wants a vote-by-head so that they have an advantage in negotiations, but the other estates don’t want the Third Estate to have so much power

3. Tennis Court Oath (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• The Third Estate got locked out of the normal meeting hall in Versailles, so they went to an indoor tennis court and refused to disband until they got what they wanted
• What was it?
• The Third Estate declare themselves the National Assembly and make an oath to remain opposed to the king until France becomes a Constitutional Monarchy
• Why’d it matter?
• The Third Estate asserts its power and proves that power no longer rests with the king, nobility, or clergy in France

4. Storming of the Bastille (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• Parisians hear that troops are leaving Versailles and go into a panic, assuming the French monarchy is turning against them, so they storm an old military fortress/prison
• What was it?
• Paris citizens storm the Bastille, take it over, kill the royal governor there, and march through the streets with his head on a pike
• Why’d it matter?
• This is mostly a symbolic event to mark the fall of the Ancien Regime and feudalism in France in favor of a more progressive government
• Today, it’s even celebrated as Bastille Day (July 14) to mark the beginning of the French Revolution

5. The Great Fear (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• Peasants around France are afraid of the nobility conspiring against them and hear about the Bastille, so they feel empowered to stage their own rebellions, attacking the homes of nobles around France
• What was it?
• These peasant attacks make nobles fear for their lives, and several flee France to become émigrés
• Why’d it matter?
• Everyone in power in France is afraid, as it proves that the French people are capable of anything now

6. Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• the National Assembly has a lot of cool ideas about human rights and is inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, so the Marquis de Lafayette has France make their own version
• What was it?
• A document that declares what rights are “natural, unalienable, and sacred” for all men, but it doesn’t do anything to help women or slaves
• Why’d it matter?
• It is used as a preamble to French constitutions in the future and is one of the most important pieces of Enlightenment literature

7. Women’s March on Versailles (1789)

• Why’d it happen?
• Sans-Culottes (radical working class below Bourgeoisie) women in Paris are mad about bread prices and Louis XVI’s detachment, so they march on Versailles so that they can take part in the Revolution too
• What was it?
• A mob of women from Paris with weapons force Louis XVI to leave the comfort of Versailles to go to Paris
• Why’d it matter?
• Women still don’t get rights from the National Assembly, but it marks the end of the French monarchy in Versailles

8. Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790)

• Why’d it happen?
• The National Assembly doesn’t like the church having power, so they use this opportunity to assert their authority over the clergy
• What was it?
• Makes it so that clergy has to swear loyalty to the state, give up land, and be paid by the state so that they have a duty not only to God but also the nation of France
• Why’d it matter?
• This is the most controversial of the National Assembly’s reforms since it upsets not only clergymen but also many other Catholics and peasants who were just mad at the king, not the church

9. Flight of Royal Family to Varennes (1791)

• Why’d it happen?
• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette want to gather forces from the countryside to regain power through a counterrevolution
• What was it?
• Louis XVI tries to run from Paris, but he is recognized and stopped in Varennes, so he fails and also disgraces himself as trying to run away from the French people
• Why’d it matter?
• Even though Louis XVI tried to make it sound like he was kidnapped, he completely loses the French people’s trust and is set to face trial

10. National Assembly Becomes Legislative Assembly (1791)

• Why’d it happen?
• France makes a new constitution that makes the National Assembly become an official legislature
• What was it?
• The creation of the Legislative Assembly officially makes France go from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy
• Why’d it matter?
• This legislature establishes the idea of the left, where the progressive Jacobins and the Mountain sit, and the right, where the more conservative Girondins sit

11. National Convention Makes France a Radical Republic (1792–1795)

• Why’d it happen?
• People aren’t happy with the Constitutional Monarchy Louis XVI is forced out of the palace and taken into custody, so France no longer is a monarchy and instead becomes a Republic without a king
• What was it?
• The Legislative Assembly becomes the National Convention, and France is now a Republic ruled by a single legislature with universal male suffrage, where all men older than 25 can vote
• Why’d it matter?
• France becomes the most progressive government in the world (at least for a few years) while they work on drafting a constitution

12. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Executed (1793)

• Why’d it happen?
• There was no place for a king in the new republic, and the radical Jacobins and the Mountain narrowly vote to execute Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette for treason when trying to stage a counter-revolution
• What was it?
• The National Convention votes to kill Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by guillotine
• Why’d it matter?
• Europe is horrified and freaks out and start planning to defend themselves and mobilize against France, while French people triumphantly shout “Vive le Républic”

13. Committee of Public Safety is formed with Robespierre as Leader (1793)

• Why’d it happen?
• the Sans-Culottes and radical members of the Mountain want more change, and France needs order to defend attacks from internal revolts and invasions by Austria and Prussia
• What was it?
• It is essentially a 12-member military dictatorship meant to protect France from internal and external enemies that is led by the leader of the Jacobins, Maximillien Robespierre
• Religion is replaced by the Republic of Virtue and Deism and people glorify the idea of Civic Goodness, where every citizen contributes to France’s success
• Why’d it matter?
• France has now gone from Absolute Monarchy > Constitutional Monarchy > Republic > Radical Republic > Military Dictatorship… wow

14. Leveé en Masse and Reign of Terror (1793–1794)

• Why’d it happen?
• France needs power and a strong military, so Robespierre makes France into a hyper-nationalistic military superpower
• What was it?
• The Leveé en Masse forces everyone to help France’s war efforts, whether by fighting or helping at home, and the Reign of Terror (or Red Terror or Great Terror) imprisons hundreds of thousands and executes tens of thousands of French deemed to be threats to the country
• Why’d it matter?
• France is now on the other extreme, but on the bright side, it has a 850,000 man army that is the strongest in Europe now and can defend itself

15. Thermidorian Reaction puts the Directory in Power (1795)

• Why’d it happen?
• France is becoming too safe to be willing to submit itself to the Reign of Terror and Robespierre’s insane spree of executions, so it has a counterrevolution against the radical Jacobins
• What was it?
• Ironically, Robespierre is executed at the guillotine just like so many of his rivals before him, and the more conservative Bourgeoisie form the Directory, a new government with an executive branch of five directors and a bicameral legislature, and unleash a White Terror where suspicious Jacobins are imprisoned and killed
• Why’d it matter?
• France can’t seem to make up its mind on what kind of government it wants, and while this one is moderately successful, it’s not strong enough to stand up to all the threats in France right now

16. Napoleon Bonaparte Stages a Coup D’Etat

• Why’d it happen?
• The Directory is losing power and many French citizens wants a single leader again to restore a sense of order and national pride, so they decide this diminutive 30-year-old war hero Napoleon is the perfect candidate
• What was it?
• Conservative members of the government led by Abbe Sieyes, a member of the Directory, help stage a coup d’etat so that Napoleon becomes the first consul of France’s new consulate government where they hope he’ll be an easily maneuverable puppet and figurehead
• Why’d it matter?
• This Napoleon guy ends up being a lot more than the Directory signed up for, and in no time becomes Emperor of France and almost takes over Europe