France Timeline

  • Period: to

    French Revolution +

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

    Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
    The National Assembly adopted the Declaration, the first article of which states that "all men are born and live equal in rights".
  • March on Versailles

    March on Versailles
    The women of Les Halles market led a march on Versailles because the king was reluctant to sanction the Declaration of Rights.
  • Flight of the king aborted in Varennes

    Flight of the king aborted in Varennes
    Feeling imprisoned in the Tuileries, the king, the queen and their children flee in disguise. After a day’s journey north, they were discovered, arrested and returned to Paris, receiving a cold welcome.
  • The King swears in the Constitution

    The King swears in the Constitution
    The text maintains the monarchy and grants the right of veto to a king with limited powers. The Constituent Assembly is dissolved and the Legislative Assembly convenes on 1 October.
  • France declares war on Austria

    France declares war on Austria
    At the behest of Louis XVI, the Assembly declared war "on the King of Hungary and Bohemia", to give the impression that it was not against the Austrian people. Only Robespierre and a minority of deputies on the left opposed it.
  • Overthrow of the Monarchy

    Overthrow of the Monarchy
    The king and his family took refuge in the Legislative Assembly, and an insurrectionary Commune took control of the Paris City Hall. The Assembly temporarily suspends the king and convenes a National Convention.
  • Establishment of the Republic

    Establishment of the Republic
    The Convention meets, declares the Monarchy abolished and proclaims the Republic. Although only ten percent of the French exercise their right to vote, it is the first parliament in history to be elected by universal male suffrage in a major country.
  • Execution of Louis XVI

    Execution of Louis XVI
    The king was guillotined on the Place de la Révolution. The executioner raised his head in front of a shocked crowd. The English and Spanish monarchies soon joined the countries at war against the French Republic.
  • Establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal

    Establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal
    The National Convention instituted this court for the trial of political offenders. It eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror.
  • Jacobin coup d'état

    Jacobin coup d'état
    The alliance between Jacobins and Enragés with the support of the Commune mobilises the Paris sections against the moderate leaders of the Convention. A few days later, the new republican Constitution was adopted, but it never came into force.
  • Execution of Marie Antoinette

    Execution of Marie Antoinette
    The deposed queen was guillotined after a mock trial at the Revolutionary Tribunal, during which she was accused of having incestuous relations with her son.
  • Thermidor coup d'état

    Thermidor coup d'état
    At the Convention, an alliance was forged between the Jacobin sector, which felt threatened by Robespierre, and the deputies from the Plains, who were usually mute. After an unsuccessful attempt at resistance in the Town Hall, Robespierre's voice was silenced when he tried to make a speech.
  • Napoleon seizes power

    Napoleon seizes power
    The coup d'état of 18 Brumaire took place, in which General Napoleon Bonaparte, recently returned from Egypt, took power as First Consul. France now had the dictator repeatedly demanded by Marat.