1. The last meeting of the Estates General was at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, when the deputies of the Third Estate led in founding the National Assembly.

2. Instead, the Estates General declared itself a National Assembly, suspended tax and seized French sovereignty.

3. So, they call the Estates General then, but the king never calls it again until 1789.

4. A financial crisis prompted King Louis XVI to call an Estates General to pass new tax laws.

5. In the case of France again, since we're talking so much about Louis XIV, they call the Estates General, which is to represent all the provinces after the assassination of Henry IV in 1610 or 1612.