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Louis XVI crowned King of France
He became the king of France after Louis XV. In the beginning, he wanted to bring reform to France by use of Enlightenment. However, during his reign, there existed a financial crisis which he had to call for Estates General. But as time went on his indecisiveness made his popularity go down and made people begin to opposed him. -
Calling of the Estates General
The Estates General was called upon by King Louis XVI in order to make solutions to better financial problems by the French government. They had an issue however, because they had to decide whether to vote by estate or to vote all together. The third estate had just decided to end it by forming the National Assembly which brought on the outbreak of the French Revolution. -
Formation of the National Assembly
This was made up of the third estate from the Estates-General. The third estates was granted a double representation but at they opening session they had been surprised to find out that all voting are by estates instead of the head. It made their double representation pretty much worthless so they denied to do the opening session and instead met separately. -
The Tennis Court Oath
The third estate was locked out of the meeting that was being held by the Estates-General. This did not stop them however as they went to the tennis court within Versailles. They made an oath inside the tennis court that they would not leave until a constitution was made. -
Attack on the Bastille
The prison was attacked by an angry mob and was also a symbol of dictatorial rule. The mob came to the Bastille because they wanted the ammunition that was being held within the prison. However, after the governor did not allow them to get the ammunition, they just attacked it and took control over the building. Since the governor of the prison did not want to comply, he had been killed. -
Great Fear
This was a great panic that began over grain shortages and rumors of trying to starve or get rid of the population. This led to people arming themselves in order to provide for self-defense. However, as a result of this fear, the National Assembly tried to please the people by getting rid of feudalism. -
French Women forced Louis XVI to leave Versailles
The march started one morning with the women in the marketplaces in Paris because of high prices and having low amount of bread. They surrounded Versailles and expressed to King Louis XVI their demands after a violent confrontation and requested that he went with them to Paris. -
Declaration of war against Austria
The Legislative Assembly in France had voted to declared war on Austria after an ultimatum had been issued. However, the French army had no organization and did not have enough forces. -
National Convention is formed
The National Convention which was a single-chamber assembly had succeeded the Legislative Assembly. It was the first assembly elected by universal male suffrage without any involvement of what class they were in. -
Louis XVI is executed
The execution of Louis XVI was a major event for the French Revolution. He was executed by the guillotine which made him the first victim of the Reign of Terror. The execution was brought on by vote of the National Convention in which they voted that he was guilty and was sentenced to death. -
Reign of Terror
This was period that involved violence brought by the conflict between the two political factions, Girondins and Jacobins. Reign of Terror brought on a huge death toll with deaths ranging within the tens of thousands. Many were executed by the guillotine however and it became the symbol of the cause because of the many executions. -
Thermidorian Reaction
It was a revolt against the leaders of the Jacobin Club. This event happened because of a vote by the National Assembly to execute leading members of the revolutionary government. -
The Directory is formed
The Directory was basically the government during a stage of the French Revolution. Napoleon had conquered land and they were forced to pay France which helped them get out of a bankruptcy state. The Directory was later overthrown when Napoleon returned and came to power. -
Napoleon takes power
Napoleon had overthrown the Directory and became the leader of the Consulate. He consolidated his power by suppressing the rebelllions in France. He was so powerful that he defeated the armies that were in Europe that attacked him and built a big empire. -
Napoleon invades Russia
Napoleon's army had crossed the Neman River to attempt to defeat the Russian army.The main goal of doing this was to get rid of the threat to Poland from Russia. -
Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo
Napoleon had returned to power in March of 1815 but had many states that opposed him. The French Army was defeated while under the command of Napoleon by the Seventh Coalition. This defeated had ended the rule of Napoleon and marked the end of his return from exile.