-
Louis XVI calls the Estates General
The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was a key moment that set off the French Revolution. There, the men of the National Assembly swore an oath never to stop meeting until a constitution had been established. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress and political prison known as the Bastille -
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette captures at Varennes
The king and his family were eventually arrested in the town of Varennes, 31 miles from their ultimate destination, the heavily fortified royalist citadel of Montmédy. -
Execution of Louis XVI
They condemned him to death by a simple majority. The execution by guillotine was performed by Charles-Henri Sanson. -
Coup d’etat of 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. -
Napoleon crowned as emperor
Napoleon crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I at Notre Dame de Paris. According to legend, during the coronation he snatched the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and crowned himself, thus displaying his rejection of the authority of the Pontiff. -
The Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire. -
Beginning of the Spanish War of Independence
The Spanish War of Independence was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. -
Battle of Bailen
The Battle of Bailen was faught was between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by General Francisco Javier Castaños and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde. This battle was the first open-field defeat of a Napoleonic army. -
Battle of the Nations (Leipzig)
The Battle of the Nations or The Battle of Leipzig was faught at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I and Karl von Schwarzenberg, decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. -
Exile of Napoleon in Elba
French Emperor Napoleon was exiled to Elba after his forced abdication following the Treaty of Fontainebleau. -
The Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought near Waterloo. A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. -
Napoleon’s death at St. Helena
Napoleon died on St. Helena at the age of 51. He was buried on the island until 1840 when his body was transferred for reburial in Paris where his body rests today Les Invalides in Paris.