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Palace of Versailles, Baroque palace southwest of Paris built chiefly under Louis XIV. It was the principal residence of the French kings and the seat of government from 1682 to 1789, with some 1,000 courtiers and 4,000 attendants residing there. -
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. -
At Versailles, Louis, the French dauphin, marries Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. France hoped their marriage would strengthen its alliance with Austria, its longtime enemy. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen came into existence in the summer of 1789, born of an idea of the Constituent Assembly, which was formed by the assembly of the Estates General to draft a new Constitution, and precede it with a declaration of principles. -
The French Revolution was a period of major social upheaval that began in 1787 and ended in 1799. It sought to completely change the relationship between the rulers and those they governed and to redefine the nature of political power.
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The Tennis Court Oath was a commitment to a national constitution and representative government, taken by delegates at the Estates-General at Versailles. It has become one of the most iconic scenes of the French Revolution. -
The Storming of the Bastille was an event that occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789, when revolutionaries stormed and seized control of the medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. -
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. -
In November 1792, a secret cupboard containing proof of Louis' counter-revolutionary beliefs and correspondence with foreign powers was discovered in Tuileries Palace. He was brought to trail for treason and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. -
The Reign of Terror, commonly called The Terror, was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place. -
Coup of 18–19 Brumaire, coup d'état that overthrew the system of government under the Directory in France and substituted the Consulate, making way for the despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte. The event is often viewed as the effective end of the French Revolution. -
Enacted on March 21, 1804, the resulting Civil Code of France marked the first major revision and reorganization of laws since the Roman era. The Civil Code addressed mainly matters relating to property and families. -
On May 18, 1804, Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, and made Josephine Empress. His coronation ceremony took place on December 2, 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, with incredible splendor and at considerable expense. -
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars.
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In 1811, Tsar Alexander I, supposedly allied with Napoleon, refused to be part of the continental blockade of British goods any longer. On June 24, 1812, ignoring the advice of his closest advisors, Napoleon invaded Russia. -
On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. -
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium