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Meeting of estate general The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June of 1789, but came to an impasse as the three Estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution.
Tennis Court Oath There was another Estates General meeting, between all 3 estates, as the one in previous years had been cancelled. Louis XVI canceled the Estates General meeting. A new assembly was created (the third estate) who decided to meet in another part of the castle, the tennis courts. During the Tennis Court Oath (June 20th, 1789), they decided to write France a constitution. This was the second stage of the revolution. The King initially opposed this development, but had no choice but to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on July 9th, 1789. (National assembly) They pledged not to disband until they adopted a constitution. They achieved this constitution in 1971. The constitution set up a limited monarchy and a new Legislative Assembly had the power to make laws, collect taxes, and decided on issues of war and peace
Great Fear The "Great Fear" occurred from July 20 to August 5, 1789 in France at the start of the French Revolution. Rural unrest had been present in France since the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and the grain supplies were now guarded by local militias as bands of vagrants roamed the countryside. Rumors spread among the peasantry that nobles had hired these vagrants to prey on villages and protect the new harvest from the peasants.
In response, fearful peasants armed themselves in self-defense against the imaginary marauders and attacked manor houses. Aristocratic property was ransacked, and documentation recording feudal obligations were destroyed. There were isolated incidents of violence against the aristocrats, but the peasants mostly wanted to destroy the records in which the feudal dues were recorded. Grain supplies were attacked and merchants suffered serious losses as peasants helped themselves to much needed supplies. The hysteria spread across the country but gradually burned itself out as militias imposed law and order.
Women March on Versailles The Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and in a dramatic and violent confrontation they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris.
These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king. The march symbolized a new balance of power that displaced the ancient privileged orders of the French nobility and favored the nation's common people, collectively termed the Third Estate. Bringing together people representing disparate sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on