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King Louis XVI Rules France
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Beginning of the Seven Years War
The Seven Years War begun in 1754. The war was fought between Britain and France. At the time, France and Britain were both formidable forces, vying for possession of North America lands. Both countries already had territories; they were fighting for control of their adversaries lands. France started strongly, but as the war raged on its money and forces were gradually depleted. -
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Seven Years War
The time which the Seven Years War was fought. (Note that the exact starting date is not know so the 1st of January was used) -
End of the Seven Years War
By the end of the war in 1763, France had lost its power in both North America and India. On the 10th of February, 1763 the war was finally ended when the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusburg were signed. The French had suffered many losses and their national debt was increased by 990M livres. -
Representative Council meets
In 1789, France experienced major grain crop failure, leading to shortages in bread. In order to help solve this problem, France’s representative council was sent for. The council consisted of three estates; the clergy (1st Estate), the nobility (2nd Estate) and the people (3rd Estate). When the council met on May the 5th, 1789, the Third Estate tried to get more voting power, but were prevented by the First and Second Estates. -
Tennis Court Oath
In reaction to this, the Third Estate called its own private meeting. Here they promised to stay unified until they were given more voting power.
They petitioned against King Louis XVI and he was forced to give them the votes they wanted. However, soon after, rumours were spread that the king was sending an army to disband the Assembly. -
The Military Fortress, Bastille stormed by peasants
On July 14th, 1789, the angry peasants revolted, launching an attack on the fortress of Bastille. 98 peasants and a number of soldiers were killed. The attackers managed to steal ammunition, also freeing the seven captives imprisoned at the time. This was the true beginning of the French Revolution, a mighty rebellion that would change France forever. -
French National Anthem composed
The French National Anthem 'La Marseillaise' was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle. -
King Louis XVI executed
On the 18th of January 1793, King Louis XVI was tried and executed. He was guillotined at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, in front of a large crowd. Before his execution he said, “My people, I die innocent”. He was the first casualty of the Reign of Terror. -
Reign of Terror begins
The Reign of Terror was headed by Maximilien Robespierre. At the time, Robespierre had control of the French government. People who were supposed as enemies of France were judged, and if found guilty executed by guillotine. Up to 17, 000 people were executed during the Reign of Terror, and many arrested. -
The Reign of Terror ends
On the 28th of July, 1794, Robespierre and 100 of his followers were executed. Like all of his enemies before him, Robespierre was executed by guillotine. The death of Maximilien Robespierre signified the end of the Terror. -
Extra Napoleon (I ran out of room)
He also bought general order back to France. -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of France
Before his coronation, Napoleon Bonaparte already had significant power in France. Unlike the many kings before him, he was not crowned by the Pope. Instead he crowned himself, Napoleon I, Emperor of France. Once in power, Napoleon made major changes to the French Law. His new laws were collectively called “The Napoleonic Code”. During his reign Napoleon achieved many things. Some of these included: abolishing the “special privileges” of the rich and improving the education system. -
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Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France as Emperor
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WW1
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World War 1
In World War 1 France was allied with Britain, Russia, and the US. They were fighting against the “Central Powers” Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey. It cost them billions of dollars to fund the war effort. They lost 1.4 million fighters, a high casualty rate, beaten only by Germany and Russia. In the end the Anglo-French won the war, but they suffered a great many losses.
