Ten Key Points of the French Revolution
Key Points in the French Revolution
The Tennis Court Oath
(Jun 20th 1789)
The third estate, angry with the current situation of things in France, decided upon themselves to meet with each other, and members of other estates, in order to design and create a new, fairer constitution for France. The oath was taken by 576 of 577 members from the third estate, who were locked out of the meeting of the Estates-General on June 20th, 1789. Finding themselves locked out, they went and made a makeshift conference room inside a tennis court (indoors), and swore an oath to create a new and fairer constitution, as stated above.
This is an important event in the French revolution because it marks the first time in which the people stand up to the king. This was influenced in some ways by the United States Declaration of Independence.
The Storming of the Bastille
(Jul 14th 1789)
The Paris Mob, determined to arm themselves due to the new presence of foreign troops in Paris' streets, attacked the old prison/fort in search for weapons. Bastille was known as a symbol of the king’s authority, which was another large factor in the decisions made. Having previously obtaining ~30'000 muskets from the Invalides fortress, they were well armed, and the poorly trained guards were no problem.
The storming of the Bastille is an important event in the French revolution because it showed that the people of France were capable of defeating the guards, as well as the fact that they had successfully attacked what was once a symbol of the king’s authority.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
(Aug 26th 1789)
The signing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man was a major event - asserting the equality of men, politically and socially. It gave other estates new rights, and balanced out the amount of power each estate had.
"The Declaration of the rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights.[1] The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson, working with General Lafayette, who introduced it.[2]Influenced also by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by law. It is included in the preamble of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958) and is still current. Inspired in part by the American Revolution, and also by the Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French revolution and had a major impact on the development of liberty and democracyin Europe and worldwide" (Unknwon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen)
This event was so significant because it took power away from the king, which at the time, and from the viewpoint of the king, was seen as insane, and wrong. The king was not very happy with it.
The March on Versailles
(Oct 5th 1789)
Rumours of the king (Louis XVI) stepping on the flag, as well as the overall building up of anger in the general population, woman finally decided that something had to be done about the conditions in France. The marched through the streets and to Versailles, demanding bread. The mob, in on the whole thing, demands that the royal family will return to Paris with them. King Louis XVI signs the Declaration of Rights of Man. (Unknown, https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/key-events-of-the-french-revolution--3)
The March on Versailles was an important event because it showed that woman, as well as men, were angry at the royal family, and having the king moved into Paris and out of Versailles helped to show the conditions people lived in at the time to the king.
The Royal Family attempts to Flee. (Jun 20th, 1791)
The situation in Paris in June convinced the queen, Marie Antoinette that the royal family should flee (which was smart on their side.) With the help of a friend (Count Axel von Fersen), they organized an escape. The travelled up until Varennes, where a guard spotted, and recognized them. From here on, they were taken back to Paris, followed and through crowds of angry people.
This event shows that the royal family had noticed the bad situation in France, and those trying to flee only made things worse in the general public. Had they stayed, and tried to work things out, the whole revolution could have gone differently than it did.
The September Massacres (Sep 11th 1792)
By far one of the bloodiest events in all of the French Revolution. The Paris Mob, hearing rumors about 3000 prisoners being held in Paris prisons that were planning an uprising, and that Verdun was threatened by the Prussian army, decided that they would go on a murderous rampage through the area, killing many, many people. An angry mob, led by Jean Paul Marat stormed the prisons, killing around 1600 of them.
What makes this an important event is the sheer gore of the situation, and how ludicrous the whole situation was. Priests, and bishops were brutally slaughtered.
Video to the left (or above, or below, or whatever the case may be on your phone), summarizes the events during the September Massacres.
The Paris Mob Attacks the Tuileries
(Aug 10th 1792)
People in Paris, extremely angry and discontent with everything that has happened prior, hungry, and distrustful towards their government, and discouraged by the failures France was having in war, they decided to attack, once again, because we all knows that brute force is always the answer…
“The mob stormed the Tuileries where the royal family was being held. They demand a new constitution and a convention to replace the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly dissolves and is replaced by the National Convention.”
Like previous attacks by the Paris Mob, this just goes to show how much the people of France were against the current governing structure, and demanding of change. Turning against their own king became the only option, other than to continue their lives in starvation.
KING LOUIS XVI IS EXECUTED (Jan 21st 1793)
On January 21 1793, King Louis XVI was hanged. The Jacobins, during the period of time they were in control, they made an attempt to erase all traces of the Old Regime (kevin.gilchrist.8, https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/key-events-of-the-french-revolution--3). The death of the king was debated for six, long, grueling months. Finally, on the 21st, he was hanged, being sent to the guillotine by what used to be his former subjects (how cruel can one’s own country be?) While the Girondins wanted clemency (mercy, or lenience (unknown, The Oxford Dictionary), the Jacobins wanted him executed (two very different ideas!)
Even though this has been said many times already, this is probably the most important part of the whole revolution. The king, who the people fought against for so many years, was now dead. Great – now what? With France under new leadership, thigs began to slowly (very, very slowly) improve. Although the people may have thought this would solve all of their problems, they still had a long ways to go before everything was to return to normal.
The Execution of Robespierre (Jul 28th, 1794)
"Born in Arras in 1758, Robespierre suffered loss early in his life. His mother died when he was six, and soon after, his father abandoned the family. The children were brought up by elderly relatives who continually reminded them of their dependent situation and their father’s irresponsibility. Maximilien was the eldest, a conscientious, hardworking scholarship boy. As soon as he was able he shouldered the burden of caring for his younger siblings." (Unknown, http://www.historytoday.com/marisa-linton/robespierre-and-terror#sthash.J4hgJtvk.dpuf)
Whether the above, or some other things caused his tyrant like behaviour is unknown, but it is said that he was like a tyrant in his final years of life. In the beginning of the French Revolution, he changed his life path. Elected as deputy for the Third Estate, and witnessing the downfall of that used to be an absolute monarchy, he worked towards making a reputation for himself as a speaker in the Assembly. He had most of his power from the Jacobin Club (which, as stated in the previous event, was the one which wanted the king executed for his crimes against the people of France.
Wanting to extend emergency powers for some odd reason, he was told no from the rest of the people, who now felt that the emergencies requiring such powers were over, and wanted to return to the regular administration. Because Robespierre felt otherwise, and was known for is irrational and strict behaviour, he was arrested on July 27th, and executed the following day, on the 28th.
This is an important event because it marks the downfall of Robespierre, one of the people that caused the kings death. From greed, he wanted more power, and had become corrupt with it after the kings death. As time progressed, his piers saw this, and decided that he needed to be stopped.