In Assassin's Creed Unity, which major French historical event begins the main story?

In Assassin's Creed Unity, the French Revolution begins the main story's historical setting.

The game is set in Paris during the late eighteenth century, a period of political upheaval that began in 1789. Its protagonist, Arno Dorian, becomes involved with the Assassin Brotherhood while the revolution transforms the city around him. Crowds, political factions, executions, and changing institutions are central to the game's atmosphere.

The French Revolution should not be confused with the July Revolution of 1830, which occurred decades later, or the Napoleonic Wars, which followed the revolution and involved conflicts across Europe. Unity uses the revolution as its defining historical backdrop.

The game includes fictional characters alongside historical figures and events. Its Paris is a detailed recreation rather than a complete documentary account, and the Assassin-Templar storyline is an invented layer placed within the real period.