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The Estates General is officially summoned
The Estates General is called, but instead of bowing to the king it takes radical action, declaring itself a Legislative Assembly and seizing sovereignty. It starts tearing down the old regime and creating a new France. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the 14th of July, 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven prisoners at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution, and it subsequently became an icon of the French Republic. -
The Battle of Marengo
The Battle of Marengo was the victory that sealed the success of Napoleon's Italian campaign of 1800 and is best understood in the context of that campaign. By a daring crossing of the Alps, almost before the passes were open, Napoleon (who crossed on a mule) had threatened Melas's lines of communications in northern Italy. The French army then seized Milan, Pavia and Piacenza, cutting the main Austrian supply route along the south bank of the Po River. Napoleon hoped that Melas' preoccupation -
The Legion of Honor
The Legion of Honor, or Légion d'honneur, is France’s highest order, or decoration, that recognizes military and civilians alike for their bravery or honorable service to the country. On 19 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte established the Legion of Honor as a way to distinguish civilians and soldiers in a way that had nothing to do with chivalry. -
The Concordat signed between France and the Papacy.
This name is given to the convention of the 26th Messidor, year IX (July 16, 1802), whereby Pope Pius VII and Bonaparte, First Consul, reestablished the Catholic Church in France. Bonaparte understood that the restoration of religious peace was above all things necessary for the peace of the country. The hostility of the Vendeans to the new state of affairs which resulted from the Revolution was due chiefly to the fact that their Catholic consciences were outraged by the Revolutionary laws. -
