Phases of the French Revolution

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    The National Assembly (Moderate)

  • The National Assembly (Constituent Assembly)

    The Third Estate created the National Assembly to push their demands for voting by head. The National Assembly decided to draw up a new consitution. These actions constituted the first step in the French Revolution.

  • The Tennis Court Oath

    The Third Estate swore, in what is known as the Tennis Court Oath, that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French Constitution.

  • The Fall of the Bastille

    Parisian mobs in search of weapons attacked and capured the royal armory known as the Bastille. Its fall marked the triumph of "liberty" over despotism. This intervention of the Parisian polulace saved the Third Estate from Louis XIV's attempted counterrevolution.

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizan

    The National Assembly now provided the ideological foundation for its actions by adopting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizan. The declaration affirmed that, "men are born and remain free and equal in rights," that the government must protect these rights, and that political power is derived from the people.

  • The Women's march to Versailles

    Women, numbering in the thousands, marched first to the city hall to demand bread, then to Versailles to confront the king and the National Assembly. The National Guard, following the women's lead, also marched to Versailles, led by Lafayette. The crowds insisted that the royal family return to Paris and on October 6th, the king complied.
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    The Radical Revolution

  • Execution of the king

    The National Convention found the king guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. His execution marked the destruction of the old regime.

  • The Society for Revolutionary Republican Women

    A group of women appealed formally to the National Convention for lower bread prices, and the convention reacted by adjourning. So, two women formed the Society for Revolutionary Republican Women, composed mostly of working-class women, this Parisian group vowed to "defend the Fatherland."

  • Universal Mobilization of the Nation

    In less than a year, the French Revolutionary government had raised an army that was the largest ever seen in European history. The French revolutionary army contributed to the creation of modern nationalism.

  • The Law of 14 Frimaire

    The Committee of Public Safety sought to centralize the administration of France more effectively and to exercise greater control in order to check the excesses of the Reign of Terror. Finally, in 1794, the Committee of Public Safety turned against its radical Parisian supporters and executed the leaders of the revolutionary Paris Commune.

  • The execution of Robespierre

    An anti-Robespierre coalition in the National Convention wanted to destroy Robespierre before he destroyed them. They gathered enough votes to condemn him and he was then guillotined. This brought France to the end of the radical stage of the French Revolution.

  • Freedom of Worship

    The National Convention granted freedom of worship to all cults and reopened the churches.
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    The Directory (the Thermidorean Reaction)

    After the execution of Robespierre, revolutionary fervor began to give way to the Termidorean Reaction. The terror began to abate. The National Convention curtailed the power of the Committee of Public Safety and shut down the Jacobin club.

  • The Constitution of 1795

    The Constitution of 1795 established a national legislative assembly consisting of two chambers: a lower and an upper house. The executive authority or Directory consisted of five members elected by the Council of Elders.

  • Napoleon Bonaparte, Proclamation to the French Troops in Italy

    In 1796, Napoleon was given command on the French army in Italy, where he won a series of stunning victories. His use of speed, deception, and surprise to overwhelm his opponents was well known. Napoleon was a master of psychological warefare.

  • The Conspiracy of Equals

    Gracchus Babeuf, a radical, was appalled at the misery of the common people and wanted to abolish private property and eliminate private enterprise. Conspiracy of Equals was crushed in 1796 and he was executed in 1797.

  • Rise of Napoleon

    Napoleon left Egypt and returned to France a conquering hero. He was given command of the army training to invade England.

  • The Coup D'etat

    This coup is what Napolean participated in to overthrow the Directory and which ultimately led to his virtual dictatorship of France.
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    The Age of Napoleon

  • Napoleon as First Consul

    Executive council in France was vested in three consuls, however, the first consul directly controled the entire government. In 1802, Napoleon was made consul for life and in 1804 he returned France to monarchy when he crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I.

  • Napoleon Crowned Emperor

    In 1804, Napoleon restored monarchy to France when he crowned himself emperor.

  • The Grand Army Invades Moscow

    The Grand Army enters Moscow to find the city abandoned and set aflame by the inhabitants. Retreating in the midst of a figid winter, the army suffered devastating loses.

  • The Restoration of Louis XVIII

    Napoleon is forced to abdicate his rule and Louis XVIII, a Bourbon, is restored to the French throne.

  • Napoleon Exiled to St. Helena

    After Napoleon's defeat in the battle of Waterloo by the British and the Prussians, Napoleon is exiled for the second time to the small, forsaken island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic.