List the events leading to the formation of National Assembly.

List the events leading to the formation of National Assembly.

Ans.

(i) The National Assembly was formed on June 20, 1789 by representatives of the third estate.

(ii) To raise new taxes, Louis XVI had convened the Estate General on May 5, 1789 at Versailles.

(iii) All the three estates were represented. Voting was to be conducted on the old principle - each estate having one vote. The Third Estate represented by its 600 educated and prosperous members demanded voting be conducted by the Assembly as a whole where each member would have one vote.

(iv) Louis XVI’s rejection of the proposal led to a walk out by the third estate. The representatives regarded themselves as spokesmen for the whole of France.

(v) On the tennis grounds of Versailles, they declared themselves a National Assembly.