The French Revolution: Lesson Two

 

Timeline of events

Note. The following is a timeline of some of the key events leading up to the French Revolution

  • 1690. English Philosopher John Locke publishes Of Political or Civil Society.
  • 1748. French Philosopher Montesquieu publishes The Spirit of the Laws.
  • 1756. Seven Years War ending 1763.
  • 1762. French Philosopher Rousseau’s Social Contract.
  • August 15, 1769. Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • May 7, 1770. Marriage of dauphin (future Louis XVI) to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette.
  • May 10, 1774. Death of Louis XV.
  • May 10, 1774. Louis XVI becomes king.
  • August 25, 1774. Turgot’s ministry as Controller–General of France begins. Continues to May 1776.
  • June 11, 1775. Coronation of Louis XVI.
  • July 4, 1776. U.S. Declaration of Independence.
  • 1778. Franco–American alliance. France declares war on Great Britain. Death of Voltaire and Rousseau.
  • August 20, 1786. Calonne presents reform proposals to Louis XVI.
  • February 22, 1787. The First Assembly of Notables. Raising taxes is discussed and rejected.
  • April, 1787. Etienne Charles de Brienne replaces Calonne as Controller–General of Finances.
  • May 25, 1787. Assembly of Notables dissolved.
  • November 19, 1787. Edict grants toleration to Protestants.
  • August 24, 1788. Jacques Necker, a Swiss citizen and a Protestant, replaces de Brienne with the title of Director General of Finances; he attempts once again to solve the financial crisis and to devise a plan for a successful meeting of the Estates–General.
  • December 27, 1788. With the consent of the king, Necker agrees to the doubling of the Third Estate’s representation at the forthcoming meeting of the Estates–General: the Third Estate will now have as many deputies as the other two orders put together.
  • January, 1789. Clergyman Abbé Sieyès publishes What is the Third Estate? He claims that the Third Estate is the Nation.
  • February, 1789. Election of representatives to the Estates–General. One of the traditions of the Estates–General was to request cahiers or lists of grievances from the realm. In accordance with this tradition, the drawing up of the cahiers had been officially decreed on 24 January. (The cahiers number in the thousands and constitute one of our richest sources of historical information about late eighteenth–century France.)
  • May 5, 1789. Deliberations of the Estates–General begin at Versailles.
  • June 13, 1789. Three Poitevin curés decide to join the Third Estate, leaving the Chambers of the Clergy.
  • June 17, 1789. Accepting the proposition of the delegate Abbé Sieyès, the Third Estate proclaims itself "The National Assembly." It invites the other two Orders to join in this new body of the nation.
  • June 19, 1789. A few liberal nobles and many clergy join the movement of the Third Estate.
  • June 20, 1789. Tennis Court Oath: After being locked out of their meeting room, deputies of the Third Estate assembled on a tennis court and swore not to separate until a constitutional regime was established.
  • June 23, 1789. Louis XVI makes various proposals for reform but continues to demand that each Estate be able to cast one vote. The Third Estate rejects this proposal.
  • June 27, 1789. The King concedes and orders the Nobles and the Clergy to join the National Assembly.
  • July 9, 1789. The National Assembly proclaims itself the Constituent National Assembly, with full authority and power to decree laws; their primary task is to draw up and adopt a constitution.
  • July 11, 1789. Necker is dismissed.
  • July 12, 1789. Demonstrations and speeches take place at the Palais–Royal.
  • July 13, 1789. The electors of Paris form a standing committee and a citizens’ militia.
  • July 14, 1789. The fall of the Bastille.

 

 

 

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