The Downfall of a Kingdom: The Timeline

The Estates General, made up of the Three Estates that make up the population of France (The Clergy, Nobility, and the Third Estate/ peasants, working poor, and bourgeoisie), was called in to propose a solution to end the financial crisis that plagued France after their partaking in the 7 Years’ War and their financial help to America during the American Revolutionary War

The Tennis Court Oath, signed on 20 June, 1789 by the Third Estate (peasants, working poor, and the bourgeois). Here, they made a promise not to separate/ disband until France’s government was reformed

The popular Finance Minister, Jacques Necker, was dismissed on 11 July, 1789 after trying to make financial reforms himself. This enraged many citizens

On July 14, 1789, armed French citizens storm the Bastille, a prison fortress. There, they released prisoners and acquired ammunition and weapons.

The Marquis de Lafayette declared the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on August 26, 1789, with help from Thomas Jefferson. It consists of the right to liberty, resistance to oppression and private property.

On the 5th of October, 1789, women protested against the rise in bread prices and marched all the way to the Versailles Palace, with supporters gathered on the way. King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were forced to go back to Paris with them.

The New Constitution of 1791 is proclaimed. This meant that the Monarchy still hold power. However, the Monarchy's sovereignty resided on the Legislative Assembly. This indicates that the Monarchy has become the people's puppet

On the 20th-21st of June, 1791, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tried escaping to Prussia. Apprehended at Varennes, France and taken back to Paris, where the mob of Third Estate Citizen taunting them

France declared war on Prussia and Austria in 1792 after Prussia and Austria expressed their support for King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1791. France was also afraid that counterrevolutionary alliances were being made with Austria and Prussia by French emigres, most of them from the clergy estate, who fled France. They did the same to England and the Netherlands

The First French Republic was proclaimed on the 21st of September, 1792, abolishing the monarchy system in France. The popular lawyer, Maximilien Robespierre of the Jacobin Club, put in charge of the Republic

King Louis XVI, or Citizen Louis Capet, is executed by guillotine on January 21st, 1793. His wife, Marie Antoinette followed 9 months later, on October 16, 1793

The reign of terror lasted nearly a year. From September 5, 1793 to July 27, 1794, 17,000 people were wrongly accused and beheaded by the guillotine, under Maximilien Robespierre’s orders.

Robespierre was arrested after not showing a ‘list of enemies’ that consisted members of the French Government. He, his brothers and followers were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death by the guillotine. They were beheaded on the 28th of July, 1794.

From 9-10 November, 1799, a military coup overthrew the French Revolutionary Government. Napoleon Bonaparte was the mastermind behind the coup. He crowned himself Emperor and declared the French Republic. The name was switched to the French Empire in 1809.

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Works Cited

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