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King Louis XVI calls the Estates General
The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm. Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General convened for several weeks in May and June 1789. -
The Tennis Court Oath
The deputies of the Third Estate, realizing that in any attempt at reform, they would be outvoted by the two privileged orders, the clergy, and the nobility, had formed, on June 17, a National Assembly. Finding themselves locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles on June 20 and thinking that the king was forcing them to disband, they moved to a nearby indoor tennis court. There they took an oath never to separate until a written constitution had been established for France. -
The Storming of the Bastille
The National Assembly and revolutionists attacked the Bastille in response to King Louis XVI sending troops to Paris. The storming of the Bastille armed the revolutionists. After the revolutionists seized Paris and the countryside, King Louis XVI was forced to accept the constitutional monarchy. -
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, one of the basic charters of human liberties, contains the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France's National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted by the National Assembly during its Sessions on August 20, 21, 25, and 26, 1789, and Approved by the King. -
The Formation of the New National Assembly
Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, it stated that the rights of man were held to be universal, becoming the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by law. Simultaneously, the Assembly continued to draft a new constitution. From June 17 to July 9, 1789, it was the name of the revolutionary assembly formed by representatives of the Third Estate. -
The Constitution of 1791 set up a constitutional monarchy in France
The Constitution of 1791, the first written constitution of France, turned the country into a constitutional monarchy following the collapse of the absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. It retained the monarchy, but sovereignty effectively resided in the Legislative Assembly, which was elected by a system of indirect voting. -
The Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria
The French Revolutionary Wars began on 20 April 1792 when the French Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. This launched the War of the First Coalition. The Kingdom of Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Holland joined the coalition due to King Louis XVI being executed. -
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror took place between September 5, 1793, and July 27, 1794. During the Terror, the committee exercised virtual dictatorial control over the French government. It targeted and systematically executed perceived enemies of the Revolution. In all, the committee oversaw some 17,000 official executions. -
Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine
The monarchy was formally abolished, and “Year I” of the French Republic was declared. Louis XVI died at the guillotine on 21 January 1793. He was the last king to live at the Palace of Versailles, and the revolutionaries duly gave him the nickname “Louis the Last”. -
The Directory is Installed
The Directory, a five-member committee that governed France from November 1795 to November 1799, failed to reform the disastrous economy, relied heavily on the army and violence, and represented another turn towards dictatorship during the French Revolution. -
Spanish Nationalists Overthrow Napoleon
Most Spaniards rejected French rule and fought a bloody war to oust them. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation. It is also significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. -
Napoleon is declared emperor of France
On the 2nd of December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I at Notre Dame de Paris. According to legend, during the coronation he snatched the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and crowned himself, thus displaying his rejection of the authority of the Pontiff. -
Napoleon is defeated in Russia at the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar is one of the most famous naval battles in British history. Adrimal Nelson led Britain to victory over a combined French and Spanish fleet but was shot and died during the battle. The Battle of Trafalgar was important because it established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years. The battle also shattered Napoleon's plans to invade England. -
The Continental System is Implemented
The Continental System was the blockade designed by Napoleon to paralyze Great Britain through the destruction of British commerce. The decrees of Berlin (November 21, 1806) and Milan (December 17, 1807) proclaimed a blockade: neutrals and French allies were not to trade with the British. -
Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I and Karl von Schwarzenberg, decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon I. -
Napoleon is Exiled to St. Helena After He was Defeated at Waterloo
He escaped from Elba the next year, only to be defeated at Waterloo. This time, his enemies wanted to incarcerate him in a place from which he could not escape. They chose St Helena. This island of 47 square miles lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,200 miles from the nearest land.