In the late 18th century, France operated under a social and political system known as the Ancien Régime. Society was rigidly divided into three orders, or Estates. This structure was a holdover from the Middle Ages and didn't reflect the realities of the time.

The First and Second Estates, despite holding most of the wealth and power, were largely exempt from taxation. The entire financial burden of the state fell upon the Third Estate. This wasn't just unfair; it was unsustainable.

By the 1780s, the French monarchy was bankrupt. The lavish spending of the court, combined with the immense cost of wars, including France's support for the American Revolution, had plunged the country into massive debt. King Louis XVI was a well-meaning but indecisive ruler, unable to enact the financial reforms needed to save the kingdom.

To make matters worse, a series of poor harvests led to a severe shortage of grain. This caused the price of bread, the staple food for most French people, to skyrocket. Many families were spending over half their income just to feed themselves. Hunger and anger simmered across the country.

The Estates-General was a medieval assembly representing the three estates. The King hoped it would approve new taxes to solve the debt crisis. But the representatives of the Third Estate had other ideas. They came to Versailles in May 1789 not just to discuss taxes, but to demand fundamental political and social reform.

A major dispute broke out immediately. Traditionally, each Estate voted as a block, meaning the First and Second Estates could always outvote the Third. The Third Estate, representing the vast majority of the population, demanded voting by head, where each deputy's vote would count equally.

When the King and the other two estates refused, the Third Estate took a revolutionary step. On 17 June 1789, they declared themselves the National Assembly, claiming to be the sole legitimate representatives of the French people.

Three days later, finding their usual meeting hall locked, the deputies of the new National Assembly gathered in a nearby indoor tennis court. There, they took the famous Tennis Court Oath, swearing not to disband until they had written a new constitution for France.

This act was a turning point. It transformed a financial crisis into a political revolution. The members of the Third Estate, by declaring themselves the National Assembly and taking the oath, had seized sovereign power from the monarch. The old order was crumbling, and a new France was about to be born.