-
Period: to
National Assembly in power
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale), which existed from June 13, 1789 to July 9, 1789, was a revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate (the common people) of the Estates-General. -
Estates General called to session
The meeting was brought together to discuss taxation. For one of the first times, all three of the estates were represented in a public decision. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 out of the 577 members from the Third Estate and a few members of the First Estate during a meeting of the Estates-General of June 20 1789 in a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles. It was the initial step in establishing a constitution for France. -
Storming the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille was the incident that marked the start of the French Revolution when Parisian peasants, after years of abuse by the monarchy, overwhelmed soldiers guarding the arsenal on July 14, 1789. It started the French Civil War. -
Period: to
Women's March on Versailles
The women's march on Versailles happened after October 5, 1789 because that was when Louis XVI refused to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man which was one of the key goals of the march. -
Period: to
Legislative Assembly in power
The Legislative Assembly replaced the National Constituent Assembly, which by September 1791 had completed most of the work for which it was convened. Its deputies had drafted a constitution they believed reflected the aims of the revolution. -
Escape Attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
The king and queen realized that they were going to be overthrown so they tried to take refuge in Austria with some of the queen's relatives. This failed. -
Period: to
National Convention in power
The National Convention was the second government of the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly. Created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792, it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. -
Overthrow of the Monarchy
The storming of the Tuileries Palace by the National Guard of the insurrectional Paris Commune and revolutionary fédérés from Marseille and Brittany resulted in the fall of the French monarchy. The Revolution was brought to completion. -
Execution of Louis XVI
As part of the Revolution, the French slaughtered the king under the guillotine to signify their freedom and to get revenge. -
Execution of Marie Antoinette
The French killed the queen for pretty much the same reason they killed the king. -
Period: to
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror or simply The Terror was a period of about 11 months during the French Revolution. During this time, French people who did not support the revolution were executed at the guillotine. -
Execution of Robespierre
As the leading member of the Committee of Public Safety from 1793, Robespierre encouraged the execution, mostly by guillotine, of more than 17,000 enemies of the Revolution. The French murdered Robespierre in fear of their lives because of his Reign of Terror. -
Period: to
The Directory is in power
The Directory was a five-member committee which governed France from 1795, when it replaced the Committee of Public Safety, until it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (8–9 November 1799) and replaced by the French Consulate. -
Napoleon comes to power
Napoleon came into power in France due to military success in Italy, as well as his attack on the French Revolutionary government while it was under assault by a Parisian mob. On November 9th and 10th, 1799, he was put into power with two other consuls, Sieyes and Ducos. After the overthrow of the monarchy and the reign of terror, Napoleon was able to slip in as leader. -
Napoleon confirmed as "first consul for life"
Napoleon essentially becomes the dictator of France. -
Napoleonic Code enacted
It was the main influence on the 19th-century civil codes of most countries of continental Europe and Latin America. It introduced quite a few political ideas that the French did not have before. -
Holy Roman Empire abolished; "Confederation of the Rhine" created in its place with Napoleon as leader
Napoleon brought the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as parts of Italy and Germany into France. And he abolished the tottering Holy Roman Empire and made a 38 member Confederation of the Rhine under the French Protection. -
Continental System begins
Continental System, in the Napoleonic wars, the blockade designed by Napoleon to paralyze Great Britain through the destruction of British commerce. The decrees of Berlin (November 21, 1806) and Milan (December 17, 1807) proclaimed a blockade: neutrals and French allies were not to trade with the British. -
Napoleon has his brother, Joseph, crowned king of Spain
Napoleon shows his power and nepotism -
Napoleon abdicates and agrees to exile on Elba
Due to the power-hungry and insecure man that Napoleon became, as all dictators do, he was overthrown and is exiled relatively peacefully. -
Period: to
Napoleon's "Hundred Days"
Hundred Days, French Cent Jours, in French history, period between March 20, 1815, the date on which Napoleon arrived in Paris after escaping from exile on Elba, and July 8, 1815, the date of the return of Louis XVIII to Paris. -
(Second) restoration of King Louis XVIII
The period was characterized by a sharp conservative reaction, and consequent minor but consistent occurrences of civil unrest and disturbances. It also saw the reestablishment of the Catholic Church as a major power in French politics.Throughout the Bourbon Restoration, France experienced a period of stable economic prosperity and the preliminaries of industrialization.