Page "History of Europe" Paragraph 31

French intervention in the American Revolutionary War had bankrupted the state.

After repeated failed attempts at financial reform, Louis XVI was persuaded to convene the Estates-General, a representative body of the country made up of three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.

The members of the Estates-General assembled in the Palace of Versailles in May 1789, but the debate as to which voting system should be used soon became an impasse.

Come June, the third estate, joined by members of the other two, declared itself to be a National Assembly and swore an oath not to dissolve until France had a constitution and created, in July, the National Constituent Assembly.

At the same time the people of Paris revolted, famously storming the Bastille prison on 14 July 1789.