-
Period: to
Absolutism and the French Revolution
A political system associated with kings such as Louis XIII and, more particularly, Louis XIV. Absolute rule meant that the power of the monarch was, in theory, unlimited except by divine law or by what was called 'natural law'. -
John Locke & the Social Contract
The idea that life, liberty, and property are given to us by nature and shouldn't be taken away. -
Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan
Hobbes's concept of a social contract was taken up by others who developed it in different directions, men such as Algernon Sidney, and most notably John Locke, author of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). Leviathan is now recognized as a cornerstone of Western political philosophy, particularly in its ideas of a 'social contract' between ruler and ruled. -
King Louis moved the capital of France to Versailles in Paris
Versailles before the reign of Louis was mostly used as a royal hunting lodge; but Louis had other plans for it. In 1661, he began expanding it into his personal palace. Upon its completion in 1682, Louis moved in, and changed the capital from Paris to Versailles to escape the turmoil Paris was subject to. -
Napoleon Bonaparte is Born
He was born in Ajaccio, France. -
King Louis XVI married Marie Antoinette
A marriage between the two royal houses had been planned since the early 1760s, but only came about in 1770. On 19 April the wedding took place by proxy in Vienna, marrying the Dauphin and future Louis XVI, the grandson of Louis XV, to Marie-Antoinette, the youngest daughter of Maria-Theresa of Habsburg. -
Napoleon School/Academy life
As a boy, Napoleon attended school in mainland France, where he learned the French language, and went on to graduate from a French military academy in 1785. -
Tennis Court Oath
The members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, vowing not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established. -
Bastille is Stormed
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Women's March on Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March, the October Days or simply the March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. -
King Louis XVI is executed
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris -
Reign of Terror
A period of remorseless repression or bloodshed, in particular Reign of Terror the period of the Terror during the French Revolution. -
Napoleon elected as emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. ... After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d'état, he crowned himself emperor. -
Period: to
Napoleon as Emperor
Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d'état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. -
Russian Campaign
The French invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and in France as the Russian campaign, began on 24 June 1812 when Napoleon's Grande Armée crossed the Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian Army. -
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. -
Napoleon was exiled
Exiled to the island of Elba, he escaped to France in early 1815 and raised a new Grand Army that enjoyed temporary success before its crushing defeat at Waterloo against an allied force under Wellington on June 18, 1815.
