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Palace of Versailles built
Le Vau was the first architect to carry out major on the Versailles under King Louise XIV. It was first a hunting lodge, then a seat of power, and finally, from the 19th century onward, a museums. XIV's enormous and stylish palace was completed 21 years after it was begun in 1661 allowing Louis (and his closest friends. -
When King Louis moved the capital of France from Paris to Versailles
In 1682 he moved the royal Court to the Palace of Versailles, the defining symbol of his power and influence in Europe.
By moving his court and government to Versailles, Louis XIV hoped to extract more control of the government from the nobility and to distance himself from the population of Paris. -
When King Louis XVI married Marie Antoinette
Marriage of the Dauphin Louis and Marie-Antoinette 16-17 May 1770. Although Marie Antoinette initially condescended to her husband, she eventually developed a genuine fondness for him. For his part, Louis was completely devoted to her and never took a mistress, exhibiting a restraint virtually unheard of in an 18th-century French king. -
When The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was written
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.Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen is an expression of universal rights - those rights that are true at all times and in all places - that served as one of the foundational documents of the French Revolution. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution took place between 1789 and 1799, leading to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Revolution was not a single event but a series of developments that unfolded between 1789 and 1799. -
Tennis Court Oath
In the Tennis Court Oath, representatives of the non-clergy and non-nobles of France swore they would not disperse until a constitution was established for France. While the oath-makers were successful, the French Revolution soon tumbled out of control. -
Bastille is Stormed
On the morning of July 14, 1789, hundreds of Parisians stormed the Bastille, a state prison, seizing 250 barrels of gunpowder and freeing its prisoners. The storming of the Bastille was a pivotal moment in the French Revolution, the violent result of a multitude of social, economic, and political crises. -
Women’s March on Versailles
22.3. 5: The March on Versailles. Concerned over the high price and scarcity of bread, women from the marketplaces of Paris led the March on Versailles on October 5, 1789. This became one of the most significant events of the French Revolution, eventually forcing the royals to return to Paris. -
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , or simply the Terror (la Terreur), was a climactic period of state-sanctioned violence during the French Revolution (1789-99), which saw the public executions and mass killings of thousands of counter-revolutionary 'suspects' between September 1793 and July 1794. -
King Louis XVI is executed
Louis ascended to the French throne in 1774 and from the start was unsuited to deal with the severe financial problems that he had inherited from his grandfather, King Louis XV. In 1789, in a last-ditch attempt to resolve his country’s financial crisis, Louis assembled the States-General, a national assembly that represented the three “estates” of the French people—the nobles, the clergy and the commons. -
Napoleon launches a Coup d’Etat on the weak & corrupt Directory.
Coup of 18–19 Brumaire, (November 9–10, 1799), 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. -
Napoleon as Emperor
In May 1804, he became Emperor of the French under the name of Napoleon I. And was the architect of France's recovery following the Revolution before setting out to conquer Europe, which led to his downfall. -
Creation of the Napoleonic Code
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 (renamed the Code Napoleon in 1807) addressed mainly matters relating to property and families. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor.
On the 2nd of December 1804 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. -
Defeat in Russian Campaign
The only major battle of the campaign, at Borodino on 7 September 1812, ended with a territorial gain for Napoleon but at a very high cost. Napoleon's army eventually reached a Moscow abandoned and destroyed by the Russian army based on the scorched-earth policy. -
When he was exiled
an act or instance of being forced to leave one's country or home. also : voluntary absence from one's country or home. b. : the state of one so absent. -
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 between Napoleon's French Army and a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher. The decisive battle of its age, it concluded a war that had raged for 23 years, ended French attempts to dominate Europe, and destroyed Napoleon's imperial power forever.