The Tennis Court Oath- June 20, 1789 The Tennis Court Oath was a result of the growing discontent of the Third Estate in France in the face of King Louis XVI's desire to hold on to the country's history of absolute government. The deputies of the Third Estate were coming together for a meeting to discuss the reforms proposed by Jacques Necker, the Prime Minister. These reforms called for the meeting of all the Estates together and to have vote by head instead of by estate. This would have given the Third Estate at least nominally a stronger voice in the Estates General. The men of the Third Estate were ardent supporters of the reforms, and they were anxious to discuss these measures. When the members of the Third Estate arrived at their assigned meeting hall, they found it locked against them. This was a blatant attempt by Louis XVI to end their demands for reform. Refusing to be held down by their King any longer, the deputies did not break up. Instead they moved their meeting to a nearby indoor tennis court. A debate quickly ensued about how the Third Estate was going to protect themselves from those in positions of authority who wanted to destroy them. A proposed oath was to read that they would remain assembled until a constitution had been written, meeting wherever it was required and resisting pressures form the outside to disband. The proposal was a success and later named Tennis Court Oath. It was promptly written and immediately signed by 577 (only one man, Martin Dauch, refused, saying that he could not do anything which his King had not agreed to). The group also decided to break away from the Estates General and rename themselves the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath was an assertion that control of the people did not reside in the King, but in the people themselves and their representatives. It was the first assertion of revolutionary authority by the Third Estate and it united virtually all its members to common action. It's success can be seen in the fact that a week later Louis XVI called for a meeting together of the Estates General for the purpose of writing a constitution, after which France officially became a Constitutional monarchy.1 1 http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/tenniscourt.html
Storming of the Bastille- 14 July 1789 On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy s dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. This article reporting the events of 14 July was published in an English newspaper called The World, a few days after the event took place. A medieval fortress, the Bastille s eight 30-metre-high towers, dominated the Parisian skyline. When the prison was attacked it actually held only seven prisoners, but the mob had not gathered for them: it had come to demand the huge ammunition stores held within the prison walls. When the prison governor refused to comply, the mob charged and, after a violent battle, eventually took hold of the building. The governor was seized and killed, his head carried round the streets on a spike. The storming of the Bastille symbolically marked the beginning of the French Revolution, in which the monarchy was overthrown and a republic set up based on the ideas of Liberté, égalité, fraternité (the French for liberty, equality and brotherhood). In France, the storming of the Bastille is still celebrated each year by a national holiday.2 2 Shelfmark: British Library Newspaper Archive
The March on Versailles- October 5, 1789 Early in the morning of October 5, 1789, a large group of French women came together in the central marketplace of Paris. The March to Versailles was staged in an effort to obtain bread and force the high prices of bread down. Versailles was known as a royal paradise, reserved for the royal families and their entourages. Versailles was a symbol of the excessive luxuries available only to the king and his family. This naturally became the destination for the angry French women who merely wanted to feed themselves and their families. Bread was the main diet of the French people during the 1800s. Working people often spent nearly half of their income on bread. In August 1789, however, the price of bread increased dramatically because of a poor harvest and diminished wages. The people had so much trouble getting bread that they began resorting to desperate measures. The original crowd of women, numbering around 6,000, reached the Hotel de Ville in Paris and were encouraged by onlookers to march all the way to Versailles. As they marched through the streets, more women left their homes and joined in the march. The women were armed with pitch forks, muskets, pikes, swords, crowbars, and scythes. Once the women reached Versailles they stormed through the gates and demanded bread. The king was awestruck by the crowd of women and quickly gave in to their demands. The king ordered that all of the bread in Versailles be delivered for the people to Paris. Much to the surprise of the citizens of Paris however, the king then left Versailles, moving his royal court to Paris. This decision would have dire consequences as the revolution continued to unfold.
Execution of Louis XVI- January 30, 17933 In March of 1791, King Louis XVI, his wife, Marie Antoinette, and their children attempted an escape from France. They were quickly found out by townspeople and brought back to Paris. At this point, radicals had taken over and abolished the monarchy, so essentially the King his family were prisoners in Paris under the watch of the National Convention (France s newest and most radical, or change-driven and intense, government). They instituted suffrage, or the right to vote, for all male citizens. Additionally, they tried Louis and his wife for treason, and they were found guilty. Below is an account of the execution of King Louis XVI. The path leading to the scaffold was extremely rough and difficult to pass; the King was obliged to lean on my arm, and from the slowness with which he proceeded, I feared for a moment that his courage might fail; but what was my astonishment, when arrived at the last step, I felt that he suddenly let go my arm, and I saw him cross with a firm foot the breadth of the whole scaffold; silence, by his look alone, fifteen or twenty drums that were placed opposite to me; and in a voice so loud, I heard him pronounce distinctly these memorable words: 'I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.' He was proceeding, when a man on horseback, in the national uniform, and with a ferocious cry, ordered the drums to beat. Many voices were at the same time heard encouraging the executioners. They seemed reanimated themselves, in seizing with violence the most virtuous of Kings, they dragged him under the axe of the guillotine, which with one stroke severed his head from his body. All this passed in a moment. The youngest of the guards, who seemed about eighteen, immediately seized the head, and showed it to the people as he walked round the scaffold; he accompanied this monstrous ceremony with the most atrocious and indecent gestures. At first an awful silence prevailed; at length some cries of 'Vive la Republique!' were heard. By degrees the voices multiplied and in less than ten minutes this cry, a thousand times repeated became the universal shout of the multitude, and every hat was in the air." 3 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/louis.htm
The Reign of Terror and Mr. Maximillen Robespierre- September 1793 After the king s death, France plunged into wars with some of its neighboring countries, such as Austria, and the new leaders needed to find men to fight the enemy. The National Convention, led by Mr. Danton, asked 300,000 men to join the French army, however the peasants revolted and asked to reinstate the monarchy. In response, the National Convention created that Committee of Public Safety. This new government, led by Maximillen Robespierre, took urgent measures to stop the insurrection in the countryside and help prepare the country for war. For example, the Committee issued a tax that required all citizens to contribute to the war effort. Robespiette had embraced Rousseau s idea of the general will as the source of all legitimate law. He believed that France could achieve a republic of virtue only through the use of inflexible justice. He said, Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads. In September 1793, the "Reign of Terror" spread all over the country. The new leaders of France were killing its people by hundreds in a frightening movement of rage and excess. People were arrested and executed without trial if they were accused of being enemies of the revolution. It is estimated that about 40,000 people died during this 15 month period. Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI was executed by a Guillotine in October 1793 because she represented the King's heritage. The all new constitution was suspended. Some say Robespierre became a dictator, who thought anything was justified when it came to the revolution's rights. He changed his views on the death penalty, saying it was justified against enemies of the Republic. In February 15th, 1794 the French Flag was created, with 3 colors, the Blue, the White and the Red, disposed vertically. The blue was the color of for the Parisian bourgeoisie, the White was the color of the chiefs of army and the Red was the symbol of the blood poured. Quickly, Danton himself became the victim of the Terror. He was considered too moderate and then, arrested and executed on April 5th, 1794. One of the darkest periods in French history soon ensued. The Great Terror began in June 1794. Robespierre tyrannised the Committee of Public Safety and the Convention. Robespierre was in a mission against the counter revolutionaries and against the Church. Thousands of people who were suspected to be anti-revolutionists were executed savagely. In July 1794, Robespierre was finally accused of dictatorship and tyranny and evicted from the Convention. The members voted for his simultaneous eviction and execution, without allowing him to defend himself. The following day, Robespierre was beheaded to an ovation by the people of Paris. His death was the symbol of the Reign of Terror's end and the end of the democratic movement at the same time.