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The publication of the leviathan by Hobbes
Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government. -
The publication of the Social Contract by Rousseau
In The Social Contract (1762) Rousseau argues that laws are binding only when they are supported by the general will of the people. His famous idea, 'man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains' challenged the traditional order of society. -
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are married
On 16 May 1770, at the age of fifteen, Louis-Auguste married the fourteen-year-old Habsburg Archduchess Maria Antonia (better known by the French form of her name, Marie Antoinette), his second cousin once removed and the youngest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife, the Empress Maria Theresa. -
Louis XVI is crowned
On May 10, 1774, Louis Auguste became Louis XVI upon the death of his grandfather, Louis XV. Only 20 years old at the time, Louis XVI was immature and lacked self-confidence. -
Napoleon Early Career
Graduated from military school in 1785. Then he became a second lieutenant in the French army. -
Napoleon Early Career
Napoleon rose through ranks in military in the French Revolution . He also attended military school. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille, the great prison/fortress in the heart of Paris which was stormed by a Parisian mob on the 14th of July 1789, was attacked because revolutionary's7 wanted its gunpowder and weapons. The French Revolution itself began for a multitude of reasons. -
Tennis Court Oath
On 20 June 1789, the members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du Jeu de Paume), vowing "not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established". -
Women’s March on Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March. This gave revolutionary's confidence during the French revolution. -
The first Constitution of France
The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution in France, created after the collapse of the absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty. -
The massacre in Lyon
The revolt of Lyon against the National Convention was a counter-revolutionary movement in the city of Lyon during the time of the French Revolution. It was a revolt of moderates against the more radical National Convention, the third government during the French Revolution. -
The formation of the Committee of Public Safety
On July 27, 1793, Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safety, which was formed in April to protect France against its enemies, foreign and domestic, and to oversee the government. Under his leadership, the committee came to exercise virtual dictatorial control over the French government. -
Napoleons time as emperor
Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. -
Napoleons time as emperor
After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. -
Napoleons late life/death
However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba. -
Napoleons late life/death
In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51.
