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The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was also known as the Seven Years War. It began in 1756. It became known as the French and Indian War, because the France enlisted the Indians to help them fight Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, awarding Great Britain the victory. This gave Britain control of most of North America. People were also fighting over who would pay for the war. This led to the American Revolution. -
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Causes of The French Revolution
The people of France were divided into three classes known as estates. The economy in France began to fail. France's government went into debt. People were influenced by the success of the American Revolution. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were incompetent leaders. -
The End of the French Revolution
The French Revolution ended, when Napoleon Bonaparte took power. -
The National Assembly
Louis XVI made the decision to force the second estate to pay taxes. In retaliation, the Second Estate made him call a meeting of the Estates-General to help approve the tax. The Estates - General is a group of representatives from all three estates. At the meeting, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes proposed that the representatives of the Third Estate be known as the the National Assembly. On June 17, the Third Estate voted to approve the idea. This was the first act of the French Revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
After being locked out of their meeting room, the newly-made National Assembly broke into an indoor tennis court. Then, the promised to stay there, until they had written a new constitution. The promise was known as the Tennis Court Oath. -
Storming of The Bastille
Rumors were going around France. People believed that Russia was planning to attack them. In order to prepare for this, a mob stormed a Parsi prison known as the Bastille in search of weapons. They murdered several guards and marched through the streets carrying the heads of dead men on pikes. Today, the Storming of the Bastille is celebrated as a major holiday in France. -
Great Fear
Rumors began to spread that the nobles were hiring outlaws to kill peasants. As a result, the peasants became outlaws. They broke into nobles' houses and destroyed tax papers. They even burned some of them down. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens
The National Assembly adopted a statement known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens. This document closely resembled the Declaration of Independence. -
Women's March on Versailles
Thousands of Parisian women began to riot over the rising price of bread. They order the National Assembly to take action. Then, they marched on Versailles. They broke into the palace, and killed some of the guards. Then, they forced the king and queen to return to Paris. They agreed. Thus begins the French Revolution. -
Reign of Terror
Maximillian Robespierre takes over France as dictator. He changed the calendar and made sure all churches were closed. He also became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety. Under his rule, more than 50,000 people were murdered, including Marie Antoinette. -
End of The Terror
Members of the National Convention turned on Robespierre. They ordered his arrest and execution. He was murdered by guillotine, like so many of his victims. -
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The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte was named leader of the French army. He made a set of laws known as the Napoleonic Code. He crowned himself as emperor of France. He wanted to take over other countries, but Britain enlisted Russia, Austria, and Sweden to join in the fight against Napoleon. Napoleon won, and forced the countries to sign peace treaties. This allowed him to build an empire. It was big, but it was also unstable. It was maintained for five years, until its ultimate downfall. -
Battle of Trafalger
Napoleon lost to Horatio Nelson. Nelson made a risky decision, and split up the French fleet, despite their difference in numbers. This allowed him to capture two-thirds of Napoleon's fleet. -
Battle of Austerlitz
Napoleon won this battle, by drawing an Allied attack to his right flank. This allowed him to split the Allied line right down the middle. -
Invasion of Russia
Alexander I continued to sell grain to Britain against Napoleon's wishes. This, along with other factors, caused France and Britain to break their alliance. Napoleon and his army marched into Russia. Because of the winter and Russia's conditions, Napoleon's men were reduced from over 420,000 soldiers to only 10,000. -
Napoleon Bonaparte's exile to Elba
After his humiliating loss to Russia, Napoleon's enemies closed in on him. He wanted to fight, but his men refused to help. As a result of this, Napoleon surrendered and gave up his crown. He was exiled to a tiny island named Elba. -
Napoleon Bonaparte's exile to St. Helena
After escaping from Elba, he became emperor again. After losing at Waterloo, the British carted him off to an island named St. Helena, where he spent the remainder of his days. -
Waterloo
During this battle, The French fought against the British. Soon, however, the Prussia arrived, and with the French, they drove Napoleon and his army away. This was marked as Napoleon's last bid for power.