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Execution of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI, former king of France since the abolition of the monarchy, was publicly executed by beheading by guillotine on 21 January 1793 during the French Revolution and the French First Republic at the Place de la Révolution in Paris. -
May 5, 1789 meeting with the Estates-General
This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal event in the French Revolution that took place on June 20, 1789. The oath was made by members of the Third Estate in the Royal Tennis Court in Versailles, France after being locked out of their meeting room at the Menus-Plaisirs hote -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress and political prison known as the Bastille. After four hours of fighting and 94 deaths the insurgents were able to enter the Bastille. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Women's March on Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March, the October Days or simply the March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution -
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The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety -
Maximillian Robespierre's execution
Robespierre was executed in the Place de la Révolution, where King Louis XVI had been executed a year earlier. He was executed by guillotine, like the others. Robespierre's fall led to more moderate policies being implemented during the subsequent Thermidorian Reaction. -
Napoleonic Code
A History of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon)
The Napoleonic Code, also known as the French Civil Code, is a set of laws that was enacted in France by Napoleon Bonaparte on March 21, 1804. It was the first major reorganization of laws since the Roman era and is still in effect in France today, though it has been amended frequently. -
Napoleon Crowns himself emperor
On December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I at Notre Dame de Paris in a ceremony that broke with tradition in several ways -
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Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. -
Napoleon and his men march on Russia
In June 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée invaded Russia, crossing the Niemen River from present-day Poland. The invasion, which lasted six months, was a disaster for the French. -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba
The coalition invaded France and captured Paris, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814. They exiled him to the Mediterranean island of Elba and restored the Bourbons to power. In February 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and again took control of France in what became known as the "Hundred Days". -
Napoleon dies
The physicians who conducted Napoleon's autopsy, on May 6, 1821, concluded that his death was from stomach cancer, exacerbated by bleeding gastric ulcers, after a huge dose of calomel – a compound containing mercury that was used as a medicine – was administered to him on the day before he died.