The Revolution Begins

The Estates-General's opening at Versailles (May 5, 1789) immediately revealed irreconcilable conflicts. The magnificent procession, with orders in traditional costumes, displayed hierarchy revolutionaries would soon destroy. The king's opening speech, vague about reforms while emphasizing fiscal needs, disappointed expectations. Necker's three-hour financial report buried crucial issues in statistics. Most fundamentally, the orders' separation for credential verification raised the voting question that would determine everything.

The Third Estate's refusal to verify credentials separately initiated revolutionary dynamics. For six weeks, deputies waited, negotiated, and gradually radicalized. The decision to call themselves the "National Assembly" (June 17) marked the revolutionary break: they claimed to represent the nation, not merely an order. The Tennis Court Oath (June 20), swearing not to disperse until France had a constitution, transformed a fiscal expedient into a revolutionary body.

Louis XVI's belated intervention at the Royal Session (June 23) demonstrated royal irresolution. His program of reforms, substantial but maintaining order distinctions, might have succeeded if offered earlier. Now, his command to deliberate separately met Third Estate defiance. Mirabeau's legendary response—"We are here by the will of the people and will leave only at bayonet point"—captured the power shift. When nobles and clergy gradually joined the National Assembly, the king capitulated, ordering all to unite while simultaneously concentrating troops around Versailles.

The popular revolution emerged to defend the political revolution. The concentration of 30,000 troops around Paris, including foreign regiments considered reliable, aroused fears of military coup. Necker's dismissal (July 11) triggered uprising. Parisians, seeking arms to defend the Assembly, attacked the Invalides and then the Bastille. The fortress's fall (July 14), militarily insignificant but symbolically momentous, demonstrated royal impotence. The king's visit to Paris, wearing the revolutionary cockade, acknowledged new realities. Municipal revolutions throughout France replaced royal officials with revolutionary committees.