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Opening of the Estates General
The Estates-General was a meeting of the three estates within French society which included the clergy, nobility and the peasant classes. -
Tennis Court Oath
Once the Estates-General had failed, the representatives of the third estate and their newly created National Assembly moved to the nearby tennis court in order to carry out their own discussions. Here, they all took an oath to carry on the revolution. -
The Storming of the Bastille
On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror or simply The Terror was a period of about 11 months during the French Revolution, led by Maximilien de Robespierre. -
Napoleon Takes Power
After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d'état, Napoleon 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. -
Congress of Vienna Ends
Congress of Vienna, Assembly that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. The Congress reduced France to its 1789 borders. To check possible future aggression by France, its neighbours were strengthened: the Kingdom of the Netherlands acquired Belgium, Prussia gained territory along the Rhine River, and the Italian kingdom acquired Genoa. -
Fall of Napoleonic Empire
On April 12, 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne after allied Austrian, Prussian and Russian forces vanquished his army and occupied Paris. Banished into exile on Elba, he returned less than a year later to challenge the weak Bourbon king who had replaced him.