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The tenis court oath
Tennis Court Oath, French Serment du Jeu de Paume, (June 20, 1789), dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the nonprivileged classes of the French nation (the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates-General (traditional assembly) at the beginning of the French Revolution. -
Women 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. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. -
The costitution of 1791
Constitution of 1791, French constitution created by the National Assembly during the French Revolution. It retained the monarchy, but sovereignty effectively resided in the Legislative Assembly, which was elected by a system of indirect voting. -
Execution of Louis XVI
The execution of Louis XVI by guillotine, a major event of the French Revolution, took place publicly on 21 January 1793 at the Place de la Révolution ("Revolution Square", formerly Place Louis XV, and renamed Place de la Concorde in 1795) in Paris. -
The reign of terror
The Reign of Terror, also called the Terror, was a period of state-sanctioned violence and mass executions during the French Revolution. Between Sept. 5, 1793, and July 27, 1794, France's revolutionary government ordered the arrest and execution of thousands of people. French lawyer and statesman Maximilien Robespierre led the Terror, which was caused in part by a rivalry between France's two leading political parties: the Jacobins and the Girondins. -
The costitution of 1795
The Constitution of 1795 established a liberal republic with a franchise based on the payment of taxes, similar to that of the Constitution of 1791; a bicameral legislature to slow down the legislative process; and a five-man Directory. -
Napoleon becomes Consulate
Consulate, (1799–1804) French government established after the Coup of 18–19 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), during the French Revolution. The Constitution of the Year VIII created an executive consisting of three consuls, but the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, wielded all real power, while the other two, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès and Pierre-Roger Ducos (1747–1816), were figureheads. -
Concordat of 1801
Concordat of 1801, agreement reached on July 15, 1801, between Napoleon Bonaparte and papal and clerical representatives in both Rome and Paris, defining the status of the Roman Catholic Church in France and ending the breach caused by the church reforms and confiscations enacted during the French Revolution. The Concordat was formally promulgated on Easter day, 1802. -
The coronation of napoleon
The Coronation of Napoleon[a] (French: Le Sacre de Napoléon) is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon, depicting the coronation of Napoleon at Notre-Dame de Paris. The painting has imposing dimensions, as it is almost 10 metres (33 ft) wide by a little over 6 metres (20 ft) tall and was completed in the medium of oil painting. The work is on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. -
Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar, (October 21, 1805), naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, which established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years; it was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve fought a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson. -
Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz, also called Battle of the Three Emperors, (December 2, 1805), the first engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon’s greatest victories. His 68,000 troops defeated almost 90,000 Russians and Austrians nominally under General M.I. Kutuzov, forcing Austria to make peace with France (Treaty of Pressburg) and keeping Prussia temporarily out of the anti-French alliance. -
Peninsular war
Peninsular War, Spanish Guerra de la Independencia (“War of Independence”), (1808–14), that part of the Napoleonic Wars fought in the Iberian Peninsula, where the French were opposed by British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces. Napoleon’s peninsula struggle contributed considerably to his eventual downfall; but until 1813 the conflict in Spain and Portugal, though costly, exercised only an indirect effect upon the progress of French affairs in central and eastern Europe. -
Invasion of Russia
The Russians refused to come to terms, and both military and political dangers could be foreseen if the French were to winter in Moscow. Napoleon began his retreat, his army now 110,000 strong, on October 19, 1812. His first intention was to retire via Kaluga and thus to make a long detour through more fertile and unexhausted territory before regaining Smolensk, but after the successful combat of Maloyaroslavets, where he found Kutuzov in his path, he decided to return by the direct route. -
Congress of viena
Congress of Vienna, assembly in 1814–15 that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It began in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I’s first abdication and completed its “Final Act” in June 1815, shortly before the Waterloo campaign and the final defeat of Napoleon. The settlement was the most-comprehensive treaty that Europe had ever seen. -
Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo, also called La Belle Alliance, (June 18, 1815), Napoleon’s final defeat, ending 23 years of recurrent warfare between France and the other powers of Europe. It was fought during the Hundred Days of Napoleon’s restoration, 3 miles (5 km) south of Waterloo village, between Napoleon’s 72,000 troops and the combined forces of the duke of Wellington’s allied army of 68,000 and about 45,000 Prussians, the main force of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher’s command.