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Excessive spending and poor harvests lead to a financial crisis in France
After the costly Seven Years' War, France was in a great amount of debt. King Louis XVI, a big spender to show off his wealth, spent more money than the country had, creating severe financial problems; while some of these problems were created by past monarchs -- King Louis XV-- the effect these problems impacted many throughout France. To address these problems, King Louis XVI assembled the Estates Generals. -
King Louis XVI calls the Estates General
King Louis XVI assembled the Estates-General in May of 1789 to solve the financial crisis in France; The Estates-General made up of the Three Estates: The First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate was the nobility, and the Third Estate was the common class. While the first two Estates united with one another, the Third Estate, outraged by the unfair representation in government, declared themselves the National Assembly and rebelled against the King and France's unjust government. -
First and Second Estates join the Third Estate in the newly formed National Assembly
After the Estates-Generales was brought together, the First and Second Estates joined the Third Estate in the National Assembly in order to address the inequality within the government and implement reforms to solve the problems. This event challenged the government structure that was previously set up in France; people in the First and Second Estate who held a large amount of power saw the inequality the country had. This would be the first time they challenged the King. -
The Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly was created once all the Estates became a united group; the assembly realized that there was a necessary change that needed to occur in the government. On a meeting day, the Assembly found themselves locked out of the Versailles where they usually met, believing that the King wanted to them to disband, they moved to an indoor tennis court to continue meeting; here, the Estates took an oath that vowed to not disband until a written Constitution was established. -
The storming of the Bastille
Some of the Third Estate stormed the Bastille as they feared the King was going to attack them. Recently, the Third Estate had made more demands to the King: commoners should have more say in government; the Third Estate took action to be a step ahead of Louis and gain weaponry to support the Revolution. The Storming of Bastille was an emotional symbol for the power of an individual to rise up against a despotic monarchy; this event set of a chain reaction that led to the French Revolution. -
The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, inspired by Enlightenment ideas regarding "natural rights" outlined the rights that the French believed was universal. Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, likesuchJohn Locke, and other documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, was a statement of the core values of the French Revolution. The approval by the National Assembly meant that the government was actively trying to restore and create rights for the people. -
The Women’s March on Versailles Napoleon's coup d'etat, overthrowing the Directory
The people of France believed their needs weren't being fulfilled and advocated for King Louis XVI to sign a Declaration of Rights of Man; yet, King Louis refused to. Meanwhile, the economy suffered as there were great food shortages causing an increase in the price of goods. At this time, King Louis XVI stored food for his benefit resulting in the people, more specifically the women, becoming outraged. The women marched to France and demanded that King Louis XVI fix the economic crisis. -
The Constitution of 1791 sets up a constitutional monarchy in France
The Constitution of 1791 stated that all three of the Estate would have an equal say and power in government. No longer would there be an absolute monarch, as it was abolished, and the National Assembly -- made up of the three Estates-- would become the Legislative Assembly. While the document retained the monarchy and allowed it to exist, sovereignty would only exist in the Legislative Assembly; alone, the assembly would be able to raise taxes and declare war. -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba
After Napoleon's first defeat as Emporer in France, he was exiled to Elba. The Treaty of Fontainebleau finalized the exile of Napoleon where he would be emperor of Elba. His time on this island was short, lasting 9 months and 21 days, and eventually, in February of 1815, he escaped the island and returned to France where he took control once again. -
Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine
Louis XVI, during his reign, was not a popular leader; he failed to deal with financial problems created by his grandfather and continuously proved himself to be a selfish ruler which lead to the people revolting against him. Those in government eventually saw the issues of the monarchy and rebelled against Louis XVI. In 1791, Louis fled to Austria where he committed treason, following this, he was condemned to death by guillotine, The French Revolution's weapon of choice. -
Robespierre's Reign of Terror (Sept 5, 1793- july 27, 1794)
The Reign of Terror is the period of the French Revolution after the First French Republic was established; Maximilien de Robespierre, a key figure in the French Revolution, lead efforts to punish those suspected to be enemies of the Revolution; while this Terror reinvigorated the Revolution, it caused great violence as neighbors accused neighbors and violence became prevalent: one may be beheaded for saying a kind thing for a monarch or for using incorrect vocabulary. -
The Directory is installed
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power; they were created to control executive responsibilities and appointments. Although it had no legislative abilities, the Directory abused their power and began to rival any of the other tyrannical rules France had faced. The group, that was incredibly unpopular, was materialistic, corrupt and, ineffective; they believed in laissez-faire policies and failed to solve many social issues that occurred through this period. -
Continental System is implemented
During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon sought to block British commerce and cripple their economy; while the Continental System may have been bad for Britain, it completely backfired on Napoleon. He didn't have control of the seas which allowed Britain's navy to keep trade routes open to smuggle goods and because legal trade was cut off so much, Europe's economy began to fail as goods became scarce; because of this, there was a large resentment of Napoleon throughout Europe. -
Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
The Battle of Nations, fought between France versus Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden lead to the defeat of the French Army. There was a great resentment for Napoleon throughout France as other global powers -- England, Prussia, Austria, etc. -- believed that Napoleon and France had too much power; Napoleon continuously made an enemy for himself as he sought to dominate Europe. This battle lead to the destruction of any leftover power France had in Germany and Poland. -
Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena;Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo
After being exiled to the island of Elba, Napoleon escaped to France in early 1815 and created an army that had temporary success until it's crushing defeat at Waterloo. At Waterloo, he was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition on June 18, 1815. Subsequently, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena island.
