Estates General of 1789 - wikipedia Estates General of 1789 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2010 ) Engraving by Isidore - Stanislaus Helman ( 1743 -- 1806 ) following a sketch by Charles Monnet ( 1732 -- 1808 ). The title is L'Ouverture des États Généraux à Versailles le 5 Mai 1789, `` Opening of the Estates - General in Versailles 5 May 1789. '' It was one of a series by Helman : Principales Journées de la Révolution. Painting by Auguste Couder showing the General The estates general was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm : the clergy ( First Estate ), the nobility ( Second Estate ), and the commoners ( Third Estate ). Summoned by King Louis XVI, it was brought to an end when the Third Estate formed into a National Assembly, inviting the other two to join, against the wishes of the King. This signals the outbreak of the French Revolution. Contents 1 The decision to summon the Estates 1.1 First Assembly of Notables and peasants 1.2 Rebellion of the parliament 1.3 The Return of Necker 2 Convening the Estates - General 2.1 Edict of 24 January 1789 2.2 Elections of early Spring 1789 2.3 Opening of the Convention 3 Proceedings and dissolution 4 See also 5 References 6 External links The decision to summon the Estates ( Edit ) First Assembly of Notables and peasants ( Edit ) The suggestion to summon the Estates General came from the Assembly of Notables installed by the King on 22 February 1787. It had not met since 1626. The usual business of registering the King 's edicts as law was performed by the Parlement of Paris. In this year it was refusing to cooperate with Charles Alexandre de Calonne 's program of badly needed financial reform, due to the special interests of its noble members. Calonne was the Controller - General of Finances, appointed by the King to address the state deficit. As a last measure, Calonne was hoping to bypass them by reviving an archaic institution. The initial roster of Notables included 137 nobles, among them many future revolutionaries, such as the Comte de Mirabeau and the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution. Lafayette had served in George Washington 's army. Much of the debt had been incurred on behalf of the Americans. The final defeat of Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown was due in large part to the participation of the French army and navy. If Calonne thought he would find more cooperation by changing the assembly, he was mistaken. He proposed a `` land tax, '' Subvention Territoriale, to be imposed on all land - holders, rich or poor. A storm of protest arose. Charges of mismanagement were made. Calonne was dismissed on 8 April 1787 and then was exiled. He commented on the French political scene from London. Calonne 's replacement was Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, President of the Assembly of Notables. He was offered the post of Prime Minister, which was to include being Controller. The Notables nevertheless remained recalcitrant. They made a number of proposals but they would not grant the King money. Lafayette suggested that the problem required a national assembly. Brienne asked him if he meant the Estates General. On receiving an affirmative answer, Brienne recorded it as a proposal. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, the King staged a day - long harangue, and then on 25 May dissolved the Notables. Their proposals reverted to the Parlement. Rebellion of the parliament ( Edit ) Turning again to the parliament, the King found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had been raised in the Assembly of Notables. Their proper legal function, besides giving advice to the King, was only to register, or record, his edicts as law, a matter of simple obedience, which the King 's father and grandfather had been able to command, sometimes by sternness, threats, and losses of temper. Unless registered, the edicts were not lawful. On 6 July 1787, Loménie forwarded the Subvention Territoriale and another tax, the Edit du Timbre, or `` Stamp Act, '' based on the American model, for registration. Parlement refused an illegal act, demanding accounting statements, or `` States, '' as a prior condition. It was the King 's turn to refuse. The members of the Parlement began to jest that they required either the accounting States or the Estates General. The King could not let this slight to his authority pass. Parlement was commanded to assemble at the King 's palace at Versailles where, on 6 August, he ordered them in person to register the taxes. On 7 August back in Paris, the Parlement declared, in earnest this time, that the order was null and void, repudiating all previous registrations of taxes. Only the Estates General, they said, could register taxes. For the second time, the King summoned Parlement away from Paris, where crowds of people cheered their every act from the street, this time to meet at Troyes, Champagne on 15 August. He did not personally appear. By messenger he and Parlement negotiated an agreement : the King withdrew the Stamp Tax and modified the Land Tax to exclude the lands of people of title in return for the assured registration of further loans. Parlement was allowed to return on 20 September. Encouraged, Loménie, with the support of the King, went beyond the intent of the Parlement which was to grant specific loans. He proposed an Emprunt Successif ( Successive Loan ) until 1792 giving the King a blank cheque. When Parlement delayed the King resorted to a ruse ; he scheduled a Royal Hunt for 19 November. On that day at 11 : 00 AM the King and his peers noisily entered the session of Parlement dressed in hunting clothes. They would confer with each other and have the decisions registered immediately, they said. Nearly the entire government was now face - to - face. They argued the problems and issues concerned until dusk, some six hours later. Parlement believed that the problem had gone beyond the government and needed the decisions of the Estates General which did not correspond to the King 's concept of monarchy. At the end of the day, the King demanded the registration of the Successive Loan. The Duc d'Orléans ( a previous Notable, a relative of the King, and an ardent revolutionary ), known as Philippe Égalité, asked if this were a Royal Session of the Peers or a Session of Parlement. On being told it was a Royal Session he replied that edicts were not registered at Royal Sessions. The King retorted, Vous êtes bien le maître ( do as YOU will ) with some sarcasm as the King 's will was legally required, and strode angrily from the session with a retinue. Lettres de Cachet, or arbitrary arrest warrants, followed on the 20th for D'Orleans and two others. They were taken into custody and held under comfortable conditions away from Paris ; D'Orleans on his country estate. Parlement began a debate on the legality of Lettres de Cachet. The men being held became a cause célèbre. As the King and Parlement could accomplish no more together De Brienne, over the winter, pressed for an alternative plan ; to resurrect even more archaic institutions. The Grand Bailliages, or larger legal jurisdictions that once had existed, would assume Parlement legal functions, while the Plenary Court, last known under Louis IX, when it had the power to register edicts, would assume the registration duties of the Parlement, leaving it with no duties to perform. The King planned a sudden revelation and dismissal of Parlement. However, Jean - Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil heard the government presses running and bribed the printer to give him the proofs of the edict. Hearing it read the next day, 3 May 1788, Parlement swore an oath not to be disbanded and defined a manifesto of their rights. Warrants were issued for Eprémesnil and another but they escaped from their homes over the rooftops in the early morning to seek refuge in Parlement. The King sent his guards into Parlement to arrest them. They surrendered. Parlement filed silently out between a line of guards. The commander gave the key to the building to the King. The return of Necker ( Edit ) The transfer of power to the new government was to begin on 8 May 1788 with the registration of the edicts establishing it in the regional Parlement. The latter refused unanimously following the Parlement of Paris. If the King 's commissioners forced the issue Parlement abandoned the meeting place only to return the next day to declare the registration null and void. Armed protest swept the kingdom. Street fighting broke out at Rennes, Brittany. A deputation sent to Paris from there was imprisoned in the Bastille. The Bretons in Paris founded the Breton Club, later the Jacobin Society. The Grand Bailliages could not be created and the Plenary Court met only once. Convening the Estates - General ( Edit ) Edict of 24 January 1789 ( Edit ) The Estates - General were summoned by a royal edict dated to 24 January 1789. It comprised two parts : a Lettre du Roi, and a Règlement. The Lettre announces : `` We have need of a concourse of our faithful subjects, to assist us surmount all the difficulties we find relative to the state of our finances... These great motives have resolved us to convoke the assemblée des États of all the provinces under our authority... '' The King promises to address the grievances of his people. The `` most notable persons '' of each community and judicial district are summoned `` to confer and to record remonstrances, complaints, and grievances. '' Elections for Deputies are to be held. He says that he intends `` reform of abuse, '' `` establishment of a fixed and durable order, '' and `` general prosperity. '' The Lettre is signed `` Louis. '' Lettres de Convocation were sent to all the provinces with the Règlement prescribing the methods of election. During the preceding autumn the Parlement of Paris, an aristocratic advisory body to the King, had decided that the organization of the convention would be the same as in 1614, the last time the Estates had met. As 175 years had gone by since then it is clear the Estates were not a functional institution in French society. By reviving them as much as possible like they had been the King and the Parlement intended to control the authority of the people. The previous Estates had voted by order ; that is, the Nobles and the Clergy could together outvote the Commons by 2 to 1. If on the other hand, each delegate were to have one vote, the majority would prevail. The issue was widely discussed in the press during the autumn of 1788. The people would nevertheless accept any national convention confident that enough members of the Nobility and the Clergy would be with them to sway the votes. A National Party was formed. It argued that France had never had a constitution and the proper function of the Convention was to establish one. The royalist defenders, however, accepted the absolute monarchy as the constitution. Just to be certain the press began to demand that the Commons be allocated twice as many delegates as each of the other two Estates. In an attempt to bolster his failing popularity the King acceded to this measure of `` doubling the Third. '' He was confident of his influence over the Nobility and Clergy. Elections of early spring 1789 ( Edit ) The First Estate represented 100,000 Catholic clergy ; the Church owned about 10 percent of the land and collected its own taxes ( the tithe ) on peasants. The lands were controlled by bishops and abbots of monasteries, but two - thirds of the 303 delegates from the First Estate were ordinary parish priests ; only 51 were bishops. The Second Estate represented the nobility, about 400,000 men and women who owned about 25 percent of the land and collected seigneurial dues and rents from their peasant tenants. About a third of the 282 deputies representing the Second Estate were nobles, mostly with minor holdings. The Third Estate representation was doubled to 578 men, representing 95 percent of the population of roughly 25 million. Half were well - educated lawyers or local officials. Nearly a third were in trades or industry ; 51 were wealthy land owners. The Réglement that went out by post in January thus specified separate voting for delegates of each Estate. Each tax district ( cities, boroughs, and parishes ) would elect their own delegates to the Third Estate. The Bailliages, or judicial districts, would elect delegates to the First and Second Estates in separate ballots. Each voting assembly would also collect a Cahier, or `` Notebook '', of grievances to be considered by the Convocation. The election rules differed somewhat depending on the type of voting unit, whether city, parish or some other. Generally, the distribution of delegates was by population : the most populous locations had the greatest number of delegates. The City of Paris was thus dominant. The electorate consisted of males 25 years and older, property owners, and registered taxpayers. They could be native or naturalized citizens. The number of delegates elected was about 1,200, half of whom formed the Third Estate. The First and Second Estates had 300 each. But French society had changed since 1614, and these Estates - General were not identical to those of 1614. Members of the nobility were not required to stand for election to the Second Estate, and many of them were elected to the Third Estate. The total number of nobles in the three Estates was about 400. Noble representatives of the Third Estate were among the most passionate revolutionaries in attendance, including Jean Joseph Mounier and the comte de Mirabeau. Despite their status as elected representatives of the Third Estate, many of these nobles were executed by guillotine during the Terror. The Nobles in the Second Estate were the richest and most powerful in the kingdom. The King could count on them, but that was of little use to him in the succeeding course of history. He had also expected that the First Estate would be predominantly the noble Bishops. The electorate, however, returned mainly parish priests, most of whom were sympathetic to the Commons. The Third Estate elections returned predominantly magistrates and lawyers. The lower levels of society, the landless, working men, though present in large numbers in street gangs, were totally absent from the Estates - General, as the King had called for `` the most notable persons ''. The grievances returned were mainly about taxes, which the people considered a crushing burden. Consequently, the people and the King were totally at odds from the very beginning. Aristocratic privilege was also attacked. The people resented the fact that nobles could excuse themselves from most of the burden of taxation and service that fell on the ordinary people. A third type complained that the ubiquitous tolls and duties levied by the nobility hindered internal commerce. Opening of the convention ( Edit ) On 5 May 1789, amidst general festivities, the Estates - General convened in an elaborate but temporary Île des États set up in one of the courtyards of the official Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs in the town of Versailles near the royal château. With the étiquette of 1614 strictly enforced, the clergy and nobility ranged in tiered seating in their full regalia, while the physical locations of the deputies from the Third Estate were at the far end, as dictated by the protocol. When Louis XVI and Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals of France, addressed the deputies on 6 May, the Third Estate discovered that the royal decree granting double representation also upheld the traditional voting `` by orders '', i.e. that the collective vote of each estate would be weighed equally. The apparent intent of the King and of Barentin was for everyone to get directly to the matter of taxes. The larger representation of the Third Estate would remain merely a symbol while giving them no extra power. Director - General of Finance Jacques Necker had more sympathy for the Third Estate, but on this occasion he spoke only about the fiscal situation, leaving it to Barentin to speak on how the Estates - General was to operate. Trying to avoid the issue of representation and to focus solely on taxes, the King and his ministers had gravely misjudged the situation. The Third Estate wanted the estates to meet as one body and for each delegate to have one vote. The other two estates, while having their own grievances against royal absolutism, believed -- correctly, as history was to prove -- that they stood to lose more power to the Third Estate than they stood to gain from the King. Necker sympathized with the Third Estate in this matter, but the astute financier lacked equal astuteness as a politician. He decided to let the impasse play out to the point of stalemate before he would enter the fray. As a result, by the time the King yielded to the demand of the Third Estate, it seemed to all to be a concession wrung from the monarchy, rather than a magnanimous gift that would have convinced the populace of the King 's goodwill. Proceedings and dissolution ( Edit ) The Estates - General reached an impasse. The Second Estate pushed for meetings that were to transpire in three separate locations, as they had traditionally. The Comte de Mirabeau, a noble himself but elected to represent the Third Estate, tried but failed to keep all three orders in a single room for this discussion. Instead of discussing the King 's taxes, the three estates began to discuss separately the organization of the legislature. These efforts continued without success until 27 May, when the nobles voted to stand firm for separate verification. The following day, the Abbé Sieyès ( a senior member of the clergy, but, like Mirabeau, elected to represent the Third Estate ) moved that the representatives of the Third Estate, who now called themselves the Communes ( `` Commons '' ), proceed with verification and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. On 13 June 1789, the Third Estate had arrived at a resolution to examine and settle the powers of the three orders. They invited the clergy and nobles to work with them on this endeavor. On 17 June, with the failure of efforts to reconcile the three estates, the Communes completed their own process of verification and almost immediately voted a measure far more radical : they declared themselves redefined as the National Assembly, an assembly not of the estates, but of the people. They invited the other orders to join them but made it clear that they intended to conduct the nation 's affairs with or without them. As their numbers exceeded the combined numbers of the other estates, they could dominate any combined assembly. The King tried to resist. Under the influence of the courtiers of his privy council, he resolved to go in state to the Assembly, annul its decrees, command the separation of the orders, and dictate the reforms to be effected by the restored Estates - General. On 20 June, he ordered the hall where the National Assembly met, closed. The Assembly moved their deliberations to the nearby tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the ' Tennis Court Oath ', by which they agreed not to separate until they had settled the constitution of France. Two days later, deprived of the use of the tennis court as well, the Assembly met in the Church of Saint Louis, where the majority of the representatives of the clergy joined them : efforts to restore the old order had served only to accelerate events. In the séance royale of 23 June, the King granted a Charte octroyée, a constitution granted by royal favor, which affirmed, subject to the traditional limitations, the right of separate deliberation for the three orders, which constitutionally formed three chambers. This move failed ; soon, that part of the deputies of the nobles who still stood apart joined the National Assembly at the request of the King. The Estates - General had ceased to exist, having become the National Assembly ( and after 9 July 1789, the National Constituent Assembly ). See also The French Revolution : A History References ( Edit ) Jump up ^ Portalis, Roger ; Béraldi, Henri ( 1881 ). Les Graveurs du Dix - Huitième Siècle. Tome Second. Paris : Damascène Morgand et Charles Fatout. p. 397. Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, p. 63 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, pp. 63 -- 66 Jump up ^ Carlyle : 1902, pp. 70 -- 73 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, pp. 75 -- 77 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, pp. 81 -- 84 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, p. 85 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, pp. 86 -- 95 Jump up ^ Carlyle 1902, pp. 95 -- 97 Jump up ^ Louis XVI ( 1789 ). Lettre du Roi pour la Convocation des États - Généraux a Versailles, le 27 Avril, 1789, et Règlement y Annexé. Paris : L'Imprimerie Royale. p. 3. Nous avons besoin du concours de nos fidèles Sujets, pour nous aider à surmonter toutes les difficultés où nous nous trouvons relativement à l'état de nos finances... Ces grands motifs nous ont déterminés à convoquer l'assemblée des États de toutes les Provinces de notre obéissance... Jump up ^ The analysis of the preceding two paragraphs is that of Neely 2008, pp. 55 -- 58 Jump up ^ William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution ( 1989 ) p 59 Jump up ^ Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution ( 1989 ) pp. 99 -- 101 Jump up ^ Albert Soboul, The French Revolution 1787 -- 1799 ( 1975 ) pp. 127 -- 29. Jump up ^ Boyer, John W. ; Kirshner, Julius ( 1986 ). Baker, Keith Michael, ed. From Reform to Revolution. The Old Regime and the French Revolution. University of Chicago readings in Western civilization. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. pp. 180 -- 84. Jump up ^ von Guttner, Darius ( 2015 ). The French Revolution. Nelson Cengage. p. 225. Jump up ^ Schwab, Gail M. ; Jeanneney, John R. ( 1995 - 01 - 01 ). The French Revolution of 1789 and Its Impact. Greenwood Publishing Group. Jump up ^ Elections results come from Neely 2008, pp. 61 -- 63 Jump up ^ Dyer, Thomas Henry ; Hassall, Arthur ( 1901 - 01 - 01 ). 1679 - 1789. G. Bell and sons. Jump up ^ SparkNotes : the French Revolution ( 1789 -- 1799 ) : The Estates - General : 1789 Jump up ^ Palmer, Robert R. ( 2016 - 06 - 10 ). The World of the French Revolution. Routledge. ISBN 9781317189565. Bibliography Carlyle, Thomas ( 1902 ). The French Revolution : a History. New York : Thomas Nelson and Sons. Doyle, William. The Oxford History of the French Revolution ( 2003 ) Furet, Francois, and Mona Ozouf, eds. A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution ( 1989 ) pp. 45 -- 53 von Guttner, Darius ( 2015 ). The French Revolution. Melbourne : Nelson Cengage. Neely, Sylvia ( 2008 ). A concise history of the French Revolution. Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. ( 1911 ). `` article name needed ''. Encyclopædia Britannica ( 11th ed. ). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from the public domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet ( 1824 ), as made available by Project Gutenberg. External links ( Edit ) Wikimedia Commons has media related to French States - General. Wilde, Robert ( 2014 ). `` The Estates General and the Revolution of 1789 ''. about.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014. French Revolution Causes Timeline Ancien Régime Revolution Constitutional monarchy Republic Directory Consulate Glossary Significant civil and political events by year 1788 Day of the Tiles ( 7 Jun 1788 ) Assembly of Vizille ( 21 Jul 1788 ) 1789 What Is the Third Estate ? ( Jan 1789 ) Réveillon riots ( 28 Apr 1789 ) Convocation of the Estates - General ( 5 May 1789 ) National Assembly ( 17 Jun -- 9 Jul 1790 ) Tennis Court Oath ( 20 Jun 1789 ) National Constituent Assembly ( 9 Jul -- 30 Sep 1791 ) Storming of the Bastille ( 14 Jul 1789 ) Great Fear ( 20 Jul -- 5 Aug 1789 ) Abolition of Feudalism ( 4 - 11 Aug 1789 ) Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( 27 Aug 1789 ) Women 's March on Versailles ( 5 Oct 1789 ) 1790 Abolition of the Parlements ( Feb -- Jul 1790 ) Abolition of the Nobility ( 19 Jun 1790 ) Civil Constitution of the Clergy ( 12 Jul 1790 ) 1791 Flight to Varennes ( 20 -- 21 Jun 1791 ) Champ de Mars Massacre ( 17 Jul 1791 ) Declaration of Pillnitz ( 27 Aug 1791 ) The Constitution of 1791 ( 3 Sep 1791 ) Legislative Assembly ( 1 Oct 1791 -- Sep 1792 ) 1792 France declares war ( 20 Apr 1792 ) Brunswick Manifesto ( 25 Jul 1792 ) Paris Commune becomes insurrectionary ( Jun 1792 ) 10th of August ( 10 Aug 1792 ) September Massacres ( Sep 1792 ) National Convention ( 20 Sep 1792 -- 26 Oct 1795 ) First republic declared ( 22 Sep 1792 ) 1793 Execution of Louis XVI ( 21 Jan 1793 ) Revolutionary Tribunal ( 9 Mar 1793 -- 31 May 1795 ) Reign of Terror ( 27 Jun 1793 -- 27 Jul 1794 ) Committee of Public Safety Committee of General Security Fall of the Girondists ( 2 Jun 1793 ) Assassination of Marat ( 13 Jul 1793 ) Levée en masse ( 23 Aug 1793 ) The Death of Marat ( painting ) Law of Suspects ( 17 Sep 1793 ) Marie Antoinette is guillotined ( 16 Oct 1793 ) Anti-clerical laws ( throughout the year ) 1794 Danton and Desmoulins guillotined ( 5 Apr 1794 ) Law of 22 Prairial ( 10 Jun 1794 ) Thermidorian Reaction ( 27 Jul 1794 ) Robespierre guillotined ( 28 Jul 1794 ) White Terror ( Fall 1794 ) Closing of the Jacobin Club ( 11 Nov 1794 ) 1795 Constitution of the Year III ( 22 Aug 1795 ) Conspiracy of the Equals ( Nov 1795 ) Directoire ( 1795 -- 99 ) Council of Five Hundred Council of Ancients 13 Vendémiaire 5 Oct 1795 1797 Coup of 18 Fructidor ( 4 Sep 1797 ) Second Congress of Rastatt ( Dec 1797 ) 1799 Coup of 30 Prairial VII ( 18 Jun 1799 ) Coup of 18 Brumaire ( 9 Nov 1799 ) Constitution of the Year VIII ( 24 Dec 1799 ) Consulate Revolutionary campaigns 1792 Verdun Thionville Valmy Royalist Revolts Chouannerie Vendée Dauphiné Lille Siege of Mainz Jemappes Namur ( fr ) 1793 First Coalition Siege of Toulon ( 18 Sep -- 18 Dec 1793 ) War in the Vendée Battle of Neerwinden ) Battle of Famars ( 23 May 1793 ) Expédition de Sardaigne ( 21 Dec 1792 - 25 May 1793 ) Battle of Kaiserslautern Siege of Mainz Battle of Wattignies Battle of Hondschoote Siege of Bellegarde Battle of Peyrestortes ( Pyrenees ) First Battle of Wissembourg ( 13 Oct 1793 ) Battle of Truillas ( Pyrenees ) Second Battle of Wissembourg ( 26 -- 27 Dec 1793 ) 1794 Battle of Villers - en - Cauchies ( 24 Apr 1794 ) Battle of Boulou ( Pyrenees ) ( 30 Apr -- 1 May 1794 ) Battle of Tournay ( 22 May 1794 ) Battle of Fleurus ( 26 Jun 1794 ) Chouannerie Battle of Tourcoing ( 18 May 1794 ) Battle of Aldenhoven ( 2 Oct 1794 ) 1795 Peace of Basel 1796 Battle of Lonato ( 3 -- 4 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Castiglione ( 5 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Theiningen Battle of Neresheim ( 11 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Amberg ( 24 Aug 1796 ) Battle of Würzburg ( 3 Sep 1796 ) Battle of Rovereto ( 4 Sep 1796 ) First Battle of Bassano ( 8 Sep 1796 ) Battle of Emmendingen ( 19 Oct 1796 ) Battle of Schliengen ( 26 Oct 1796 ) Second Battle of Bassano ( 6 Nov 1796 ) Battle of Calliano ( 6 -- 7 Nov 1796 ) Battle of the Bridge of Arcole ( 15 -- 17 Nov 1796 ) The Ireland Expedition ( Dec 1796 ) 1797 Naval Engagement off Brittany ( 13 Jan 1797 ) Battle of Rivoli ( 14 -- 15 Jan 1797 ) Battle of the Bay of Cádiz ( 25 Jan 1797 ) Treaty of Leoben ( 17 Apr 1797 ) Battle of Neuwied ( 18 Apr 1797 ) Treaty of Campo Formio ( 17 Oct 1797 ) 1798 French invasion of Switzerland ( 28 January -- 17 May 1798 ) French Invasion of Egypt ( 1798 -- 1801 ) Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( 23 May -- 23 Sep 1798 ) Quasi-War ( 1798 -- 1800 ) Peasants ' War ( 12 Oct -- 5 Dec 1798 ) 1799 Second Coalition ( 1798 -- 1802 ) Siege of Acre ( 20 Mar -- 21 May 1799 ) Battle of Ostrach ( 20 -- 21 Mar 1799 ) Battle of Stockach ( 25 Mar 1799 ) Battle of Magnano ( 5 Apr 1799 ) Battle of Cassano ( 27 Apr 1799 ) First Battle of Zurich ( 4 -- 7 Jun 1799 ) Battle of Trebbia ( 19 Jun 1799 ) Battle of Novi ( 15 Aug 1799 ) Second Battle of Zurich ( 25 -- 26 Sep 1799 ) 1800 Battle of Marengo ( 14 Jun 1800 ) Battle of Hohenlinden ( 3 Dec 1800 ) League of Armed Neutrality ( 1800 -- 02 ) 1801 Treaty of Lunéville ( 9 Feb 1801 ) Treaty of Florence ( 18 Mar 1801 ) Algeciras Campaign ( 8 Jul 1801 ) 1802 Treaty of Amiens ( 25 Mar 1802 ) Military leaders French Army Eustache Charles d'Aoust Pierre Augereau Alexandre de Beauharnais Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte Louis - Alexandre Berthier Jean - Baptiste Bessières Guillaume - Marie - Anne Brune Jean François Carteaux Jean Étienne Championnet Chapuis de Tourville Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine Louis - Nicolas Davout Louis Desaix Jacques François Dugommier Thomas - Alexandre Dumas Charles François Dumouriez Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino Louis - Charles de Flers Paul Grenier Emmanuel de Grouchy Jacques Maurice Hatry Lazare Hoche Jean - Baptiste Jourdan François Christophe de Kellermann Jean - Baptiste Kléber Pierre Choderlos de Laclos Jean Lannes Charles Leclerc Claude Lecourbe François Joseph Lefebvre Jacques MacDonald Jean - Antoine Marbot Jean Baptiste de Marbot François Séverin Marceau - Desgraviers Auguste de Marmont André Masséna Bon - Adrien Jeannot de Moncey Jean Victor Marie Moreau Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise Joachim Murat Michel Ney Pierre - Jacques Osten ( fr ) Nicolas Oudinot Catherine - Dominique de Pérignon Jean - Charles Pichegru Józef Poniatowski Laurent de Gouvion Saint - Cyr Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer Jean - Mathieu - Philibert Sérurier Joseph Souham Jean - de-Dieu Soult Louis - Gabriel Suchet Belgrand de Vaubois Claude Victor - Perrin, Duc de Belluno French Navy Charles - Alexandre Linois Opposition Austria József Alvinczi Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen Count of Clerfayt ( Walloon ) Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze ( Swiss ) Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth Pál Kray ( Hungarian ) Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc ( French ) Maximilian Baillet de Latour ( Walloon ) Karl Mack von Leiberich Rudolf Ritter von Otto ( Saxon ) Prince Josias of Saxe - Coburg - Saalfeld Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss - Plauen Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló ( Hungarian ) Karl Philipp Sebottendorf Dagobert von Wurmser Britain Sir Ralph Abercromby Admiral Sir James Saumarez Admiral Sir Edward Pellew Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Dutch Republic William V, Prince of Orange Prussia Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen Russia Alexander Korsakov Alexander Suvorov Spain Luis Firmin de Carvajal Antonio Ricardos Other significant figures and factions Society of 1789 Jean Sylvain Bailly Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld - Liancourt Isaac René Guy le Chapelier Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès Charles - Maurice de Talleyrand - Périgord Nicolas de Condorcet Feuillants and monarchiens Madame de Lamballe Madame du Barry Louis de Breteuil Loménie de Brienne Charles Alexandre de Calonne de Chateaubriand Jean Chouan Grace Elliott Arnaud de La Porte Jean - Sifrein Maury Jacques Necker François - Marie, marquis de Barthélemy Guillaume - Mathieu Dumas Antoine Barnave Lafayette Alexandre - Théodore - Victor, comte de Lameth Charles Malo François Lameth André Chénier Jean - François Rewbell Camille Jordan Madame de Staël Boissy d'Anglas Jean - Charles Pichegru Pierre Paul Royer - Collard Girondists Jacques Pierre Brissot Roland de La Platière Madame Roland Father Henri Grégoire Étienne Clavière Marquis de Condorcet Charlotte Corday Marie Jean Hérault Jean Baptiste Treilhard Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve Jean Debry Jean - Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil Olympe de Gouges Jean - Baptiste Robert Lindet Louis Marie de La Révellière - Lépeaux The Plain Abbé Sieyès de Cambacérès Charles François Lebrun Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot Philippe Égalité Louis Philippe I Mirabeau Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville Jean Joseph Mounier Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours François de Neufchâteau Montagnards Maximilien Robespierre Georges Danton Jean - Paul Marat Camille Desmoulins Louis Antoine de Saint - Just Paul Nicolas, vicomte de Barras Louis Philippe I Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint - Fargeau Jacques - Louis David Marquis de Sade Georges Couthon Roger Ducos Jean - Marie Collot d'Herbois Jean - Henri Voulland Philippe - Antoine Merlin de Douai Antoine Quentin Fouquier - Tinville Philippe - François - Joseph Le Bas Marc - Guillaume Alexis Vadier Jean - Pierre - André Amar Prieur de la Côte - d'Or Prieur de la Marne Gilbert Romme Jean Bon Saint - André Jean - Lambert Tallien Pierre Louis Prieur Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac Antoine Christophe Saliceti Hébertists and Enragés Jacques Hébert Jacques Nicolas Billaud - Varenne Pierre Gaspard Chaumette Charles - Philippe Ronsin Antoine - François Momoro François - Nicolas Vincent François Chabot Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte Jean - Baptiste - Joseph Gobel François Hanriot Jacques Roux Stanislas - Marie Maillard Charles - Philippe Ronsin Jean - François Varlet Theophile Leclerc Claire Lacombe Pauline Léon Gracchus Babeuf Sylvain Maréchal Others Charles X Louis XVI Louis XVII Louis XVIII Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien Louis Henri, Prince of Condé Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé Marie Antoinette Napoléon Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Fesch Joséphine de Beauharnais Joachim Murat Jean Sylvain Bailly Jacques - Donatien Le Ray Guillaume - Chrétien de Malesherbes Talleyrand Thérésa Tallien Gui - Jean - Baptiste Target Catherine Théot List of people associated with the French Revolution Influential thinkers Les Lumières Beaumarchais Edmund Burke Anacharsis Cloots Charles - Augustin de Coulomb Pierre Claude François Daunou Diderot Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Antoine Lavoisier Montesquieu Thomas Paine Jean - Jacques Rousseau Abbé Sieyès Voltaire Mary Wollstonecraft Cultural impact La Marseillaise French Tricolour Liberté, égalité, fraternité Marianne Bastille Day Panthéon French Republican Calendar Cult of the Supreme Being Cult of Reason Temple of Reason Sans - culottes Metric system Phrygian cap Women in the French Revolution Symbolism in the French Revolution Historiography of the French Revolution Influence of the French Revolution BNF : cb11686284v ( data ) SUDOC : 116831200 VIAF : 136739051 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Estates_General_of_1789&oldid=843103161 '' Categories : 1789 events of the French Revolution Historical legislatures 1789 in France Political history of the Ancien Régime Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from May 2010 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with no article parameter Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Use dmy dates from May 2011 Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Interlanguage link template link number Articles containing French - 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Question: who called a meeting of the estates general in 1789
Answer: King Louis XVI