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Louis XVI is crowned king of France
Immediately after the death of his grandfather Louis XV, Louis took the French throne as Louis XVI. He ruled alongside his queen, Marie-Antoinette of Austria. Louis XVI was crowned king when he just 20 years old, meaning he was still quite immature and lacked the self confidence of a good ruler. -
Calling of the Estates-General
In 1789, Louis the XVI requested that the Estates-General meet for the first time since 1614. The meeting involved the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd estates. The outcome of the meeting was clear from the start. Louis XVI wanted to start taxing the 1st and 2nd estates due to France's current financial situation. They were becoming bankrupt quickly due to their overspending and participation in the American Revolution. The 1st and 2nd estates quickly overrode the 3rd estate. -
Formation of National Assembly
After the meeting of the Estates-General, the third estate came together and formed the National Assembly. It consisted of the third estate and whoever wanted to join from the 1st two estates. This was essentially the beginning of the revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
After declaring themselves the national assembly, the 3rd estate assembled on the tennis court within Versailles and took an oath, vowing not to separate until there's a constitution in their kingdom. -
Attack on The Bastille
On July 14, 1789, the Bastille (a prison and armory representing the king's power) was attacked by an angry mob of people mostly from the 3rd estate. They killed the prisoners and took hold of the ammunition storage. This symbolically marked the beginning of the French Revolution. -
French Women force Louis XVI out of Versailles
On October 5th, 1789 the French women began rioting over high price and scarcity of bread. Their rioting quickly became intertwined with the ideas of the revolution, the mob grew into groups of literal thousands. They took the city's armory and marched up to the Palace of Versailles. There, they forced Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette to return to Paris with them. -
France declares war on Austria
On April 20, 1792 France declared war on Austria. The french Army lacked any form of discipline, soldiers left the army and emigrated to new countries. -
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National Convention
The National Convention was an assembly that that governed France for for about 3 years before being replaced by The Directory. It was elected to provide France with a new constitution after monarchy was overthrown. It was the form of government throughout the revolution. -
Louis XVI is executed
After being put on trial for treason against France, the king was sentenced to death by guillotine. On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI is finally executed alongside Marie-Antoinette, who was executed first. -
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Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was the period after Louis XVI was executed. It lasted about 6 months. People were executed for no reason, thrown in jail for no reason, and the "Committee of Safety" was formed to protect the ideas of the revolution. The entire point of it was to peruse the ideas of the revolution, however they went about it in a completely unreasonable way. -
The Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was the period in which Maximilien Robespierre and other radical revolutionaries came under attack by the National Convention. He was declared a tyrant, arrested, and guillotined along with his associates. -
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The Directory
The Directory was the chosen form of government for France following the National Convention. It was a five-man executive body and two large legislative bodies. It was overthrown by Napoleon when he took power. -
Napoleon takes power
On November 9/10 1799, the well known war general Napoleon Bonparte takes power in France. He was well known throughout the France due to his many victories in the field of battle. He was most known for his Napoleonic Code, a set of laws that actually made sense. In addition, he expanded the newly formed French Empire greatly, every monarchy in Europe feared him. -
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Napoleon's invasion of Russia
After France's defeat to the British navy, Napoleon literally went the other direction and tried to conquer Russia. While initially on the verge of victory, the battles went on longer than Napoleon had anticipated. By winter, many of Napoleon's troops fell to the harsh winter weathers of Russia. They retreated, only 120,000 of about 600,000 soldiers returned to Paris. -
Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo
Hearing about Napoleon's escape from Elba island, British and Prussian forces under the commands of Duke Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. After being defeated a second time, Napoleon was condemned to St. Helena, where he died about six years later.
