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Estates General Meeting
The Estates General Meeting was made of the 3 classes, class 1 was Clergy, 2 was Nobles, and 3 was Commoners. The meeting was held to decide on various issues, one issue was voting rights. The third class eventually decided to break off from the Estates General and drew up a constitution. This meeting was one of the first steps to the revolution. -
National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly was established after the Estates General met in Versailles. The National Assembly wanted to limit the monarchy, and the King was not too pleased about what their plans were. King Louis XVI denied access to the National Assembly’s meeting place hoping it would stop them from their plans, but instead, the Assembly met at an indoor tennis court. The Assembly signed the Tennis Court Oath, and vowed they would not separate until they wrote a Constitution for France. -
Storming of the Bastille
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Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man written by the National Assembly, which consisted of representatives of the French people on August 26, 1789, was meant to solve public problems and government corruption. It was inspired by Enlightenment ideas. The Declaration opens with the natural rights of all men and then discusses laws on taxes, property, the justice system, and the roles of the authority. -
Women's March to Versailles
During King XVI rule, there was a food shortage due to the climbing debt of France. The women, specifically of the 3rd estate, marched to the palace of Versailles. There, the marchers called upon their king, whom they considered their father, to lower the price of food and then return to Paris. The command from the people left the King unsafe and vulnerable. -
The King of France Flees
The King’s entourage urged him to flee France to avoid approving a new Constitution. The king wanted to organize a military invasion that would put an end to the changes sought by the assembly & restore the old regime. Ultimately, his position was definitively ruined and he was forced to accept the constitution of 1791,which limited his power. When the king returned, he and his family were imprisoned. Ultimately he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by the guillotine. -
The Legislative Assembly
The Legislative assembly was a group of active citizens who had limited power over laws and declarations of war. It was formed on Oct. 1, 1791 after the downfall of the National Assembly. Unlike the National Assembly, the Legislative Assembly was not created as a monarchy, but a republic. The Legislative Assembly dived into three separate groups. The Royalists, radicals, and then there were those who fell in the middle category. -
Storming of the Tuilleries
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The National Convention
The National Convention was the modified version of the National Assembly. It was created in 1792 and lasted until 1795. The members of the National Convention were elected by males over 21, where as the National Assembly’s members belonged to the 3rd estate (nobles). Their role was to establish a new republican constitution that did not include a monarch. -
King Louis 16th's execution
King Louis the 16th was the reigning king of France from 1774-93. His investment in the American Revolution sunk France in even greater debt than it was before. Eventually, he had to find a way to pay back the debt, so he called a meeting for all the nobles, where he agreed to sign off some of his power. Then, he fled to Austria. France was mad at their king's betrayal and thus, the revolution began. Louis was sent to Paris to the Temple to be monitored. He was executed on Jan. 21 1793. -
The Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety was formed on April 6 of 1793 by the National convention. In July 1793, following the defeat at the convention of the moderate Republicans, the top leaders of the radical Jacobins, such as, Robespierre joined the committee. The committee was formed during a civil and foreign war. -
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The Committee of Public Safety (Reign of Terror)
The committee gained dictatorial control during the Reign of Terror in September 1793-July 1794. During the reign of terror, harsh measures were taken against the alleged enemies of the Revolution, the economy was placed on wartime basis, and mass conscription was undertaken. -
The Committee of Public Safety (Overthrow)
On July 27, 1794, after the overthrow of Robespierre and his colleagues by their enemies, power in the government was restored to the convention. The Committee of Public Safety continued to exist until 1795. -
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The Directory
A group of five men, during the french revolution, rise to power due to election by the Council of Ancients and were accepted by the people. They eventually were succeeded by the Coup of Brumare and collapsed due to the consulant. -
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The Consulant
When The Directory was dispersed, the inflluence of The Consulant moved the power from one group to another. Napoleon Bonaparte, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, and Pierre-Roger Ducos were in charge of The Consultant. Napoleon stays and within months the others leave to be replaced and give Napoleon the position of the First Consul. Then Napoleon in 1802 was elected a Consul for life eventually leading to becoming emperor. -
The Rise of Napolean
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 1769. He joined the military academy at age 10, meaning his military experience begun early. At 23, he was involved with political and military business in Corsica. During this time, him and his family ran off to France. He quickly gained success there and became a general of the military. He then became part of the high military office, and later was in charge of the Army of Italy. Due to great political skill, he became the First Consul in 1800 and from here, to -
Napoleon Becomes Emperor
In 1804, Napoleon was chosen as Emperor of France. As emperor he defeated many European countries in war and developed France’s culture and country. Although, some of his decisions affected France in a negative way: interfering Spain, the Continental System, and his outbreaks of war. In 1812, France went into war with Russia. He came into the war with 40,000 soldiers and left with barely any. The French surrendered because he lost control of everything. Because of this, many wanted to remove him -
Assembly of Jewish Notables
In 1806 Napoleon decided he wanted to make an assembly of Jewish notables. Napoleon then brought together the Jewish Notables to answer 12 questions and then had the answers checked to see if they held any principal of law, and then turned them into a religious code later on -
Assembly of the French Sanhedrin
The Grand Sanhedrin took the answers from the Assembly of Jewish Notables and turned them into a religious code of law. This code of law was binding, and all Jews had to abide to it. -
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Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a meeting of European leaders held from Sept.1814-June 1815 following Napoleon’s defeat. Their goal was to restore the peace in place prior to the French Revolution and create a new balance of powers across the continent. The largest participants, (“Big Four”) Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, worked to put new reforms in place including taking back the land France claimed under Napoleon and restoring monarchies in France (Louis XVIII) and Spain (Ferdinand VII). -
Death of Napoleon
During 1813 and 1814 Napoleon became less successful. He gained more enemies and lost the French public’s support. In 1814 he renounced his throne and was exiled to the Island of Elba. After one year, he returned and regained his position as Emperor. Napoleon was defeated in the first war he was back for, Waterloo. Two armies conquered him and there was nothing he could have done to win. After 100 days of failing as emperor, he was forced into exile again and went to St. Helena. He died there i
