When news that Louis XVI had a plan to use the military against the national assembly people stormed the Bastille
ddddFrance before the revolution was ruled by absolutism. Absolutism is when the monarch has complete control over the government.
Each estate had different types of people in them. The first estate had high ranking members of the church. The second estate had government officals and land owners. The third estate had everyone else in it.
All of France were divided into 3 estates. Each Estates were treated differently from each other.
The Womens March on Versailles
The Old Regime
I'm from the second estate
For example, the first and second estate didn't have to pay taxes, but the third estate did have to pay.
I'm from the third estate
I'm from the first estate
After a number of meetings, members of the different estates elected representatives who wrote down Cahiers.
Preparing for Estate General
Cahiers were a list of complaints that they wanted the government to amend.
The 3 estates came together for a meeting.
The meeting of the estate general happened on May 5 1789
The third estate demanded that everyone should pay taxes and that voting should be done with population.
Meeting of The Estate General
The third and second estates didn't agree with the first estate, so the third estate barged out of the meeting, then Louis XVI locked them out of the room. The third estate then went to a tennis court to form the national assembly.
After Louis XVI locked the national assembly out of the meeting, they went onto a tennis court where they made an oath
We swear never to separate ourselves from anyone else and to stay together until the constitution is written.
The Tennis Court Oath: May 5, 1789
The Bastille
The Storming of The Bastille: 14 July, 1789
Why don't you just eat cake??
The Princess replied
The Womens March on Versailles was when women came to the palace of Versailles complaining about the price of bread
The Womens March on Versailles: 5 October 1789
Don't kill me!!
From September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794, there was a period called the reign of terror. One of the main things of the reign of terror was the establishment of the committee of public safety. This committee was headed by Danton and later Robespierre and their job were to defend the nation from foreign and domestic enemies. Anyone who was accused of treason was tried by the committee's revolutionary tribunal. If they were found guilty, they would be killed by guillotine. Over 15,000 people died by the guillotine.
The Reign of Terror
The End of The Reign of Terror
The reign of terror ended when Robespierre was guillotined.