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Louis XVI is crowned king of France
Louis steps up to the thrown and is crowned king of France. -
American Revolution Begins
By now, America is going to war to gain independence from England. France is funding this war, which puts a dent in their finances and will cause troubles later on. -
Calling of the Estates General
Louis XVI called in the estates general to decide on the taxation of the 1st and 2nd estates. Although the 3rd estate makes up 97% of France, they only got one vote in this event -
Formation of the National Assembly
After being angered in losing to the 1st and 2nd estates in the taxation vote, the 97% of France make up their own government. This is where the French Revolution starts to peak out of the ground. -
Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly had met in the tennis court of Versailles and pledged an oath. The oath had said they would never separate nor would they allow France to be held in the king's hands any longer. -
Attack on Bastille
The revolution had finally begone once the people of France had stormed Bastille, a prision that represents royal authority. Reminder, this war is fought over the freedom of France, so of course they'd want to take down anything that represented royal authority. -
Women's March on Versailles
The women of France march to Versailles demanding bread and rights. They force the king and queen to flee to Paris. -
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National Convention is Formed
After the previous monarchy has been destroyed, France sets up a system in which is not based off of a monarchy. Although after a while, it gets out of hand and we enter the time of the Reign of Terror. -
Execution of Louis XVI
The people of France no longer support their king and neither do the soldiers. They decide to execute Louis XVI to show off their newly obtained power, and to end the monarchy they fought so hard to defeat. -
Thermidorian Reaction
This was the time that France was realizing all of the things it's been doing wrong. They decided to execute Robespierre, the leader of the Reign of Terror, with the same guillotine used on the thounsands they had killed. -
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Reign of Terror
The National Convention ends up becoming corrupted to the point where they become protective of France. They do not allow any tolerance of the previous monarchy and anyone who disagreed with them would be executed shortly after. -
Directory is Formed
The Directory was a group of men that attempted to bring stability to France after the Reign of Terror. Although they did accomplish some things, they were never able to fix France's finance problems. That is, until Napoleon takes power. -
Napoleon Takes Power
The directory had failed to solve France's problems, so Napoleon stepped up to the job and managed the stability of France. He restored their finances and fixed troubles in the taxation system. He rose to power in 1799, but officially became emperor in 1804. -
Napoleon Declares War on Austria
Napoleon had a great big idea of unifying all of Europe during his reign. He declared war on numerous countries to gain land and attempt to unify Europe. -
Napoleon Invades Russia
Napoleon had invaded Russia in hopes of taking their land and adding it on to France. He had lost the battle due to cold weather and many of his soldiers freezing to death. Although, he did capture a small section of Russia in the end. -
Battle at Waterloo
Napoleon's last battle in which he fought was at Waterloo. Napoleon was exiled to an island by the other nations who had formed an alliance after this battle. This event marks the end of Napoleon's reign.