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Louis (soon to be XVI) and Marie Antoinette get married.
When he was 15, Louis married 14-year-old Marie Antoinette in an arranged marraige to unite the Hapsburgs of Austria with the Bourbons of France. On their wedding night, Louis refused to touch Marie Antoinette. This led to the people of France beginning to dislike her more and more. (source) -
Louis XV dies and Louis XVI rises to the throne.
Louis XV was a very unpopular king, but his grandson was even more unpopular. When Louis XVI took to the throne, he was young and unprepared. Louis XV claimed, "After me, the deluge." As predicted, when he dies and Louis XVI takes the throne, things go from bad to worse. (source) -
Charles Alexandre de Calonne, France's Controller General of Finances, is fired.
Charles Alexandre de Calonne, Controller General of Finances, knew that France was on the verge of bankruptcy but could not come up with a solution that Louis XVI would agree with. He proposed a plan to increase taxation on the nobles via a land tax to the Assembly of Notables, but to no avail. He was removed from his position in April 1787.
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The Third Estate is locked out of the Estates General and creates the National Assembly.
Louis XVI decided to lock out the Third Estate because they kept complaining about how they wanted a voice and were tired of constantly being outvoted. The Third Estate get angry and break into a tennis court where they swear not to disband until they create and approve a constitution. This is called the Tennis Court Oath. (source) -
The Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille, a prison in Paris, is seen as a symbol of the monarchy. The people of Paris formed a mob around the Bastille and demanded the large amounts of ammunition stored in the prison. The governor refused and was captured and decapitated, his head paraded around on a pike. The people then took all the ammunition and weapons in the Bastille and began to tear the building apart brick by brick. (source) -
Marat writes and publishes "L'Ami du Peuple".
Jean-Paul Marat, a leader of the Jacobins, writes and publishes "L'ami du Peuple" (The Friend of the Peuple), a newspaper based on rumors that bashed the monarchy and aristocrats and had a list of "enemies of the revolution". This led to many people being executed. (source) -
Angry fish-women lead a march to Versailles.
Women were angry and fed up with not having enough bread, so they decided to march to Versailles armed with pikes, pitchforks, and muskets. When they get to Versailles, they stood outside of the castle and demanded bread. When that didn't work, they broke into the castle and searched for Marie Antoinette. When they couldn't find her, they tore her bed to shreds. (source) -
Louis XVI is put on trial.
Louis XVI is accused of committing "a multitude of crimes in order to establish [his] tyranny by destroying its liberty" (source). He is also accused of treason. He is convicted in January. -
Louis XVI is executed.
Louis XVI is executed for treason via guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris. (source) -
The Committee of Public Safety is founded.
The Committee of Public Safety is created to defend the nation against foreign and domestic enemies as well as make sure that the executive government doesn't overstep boundaries. At first, it was overseen by Georges Danton and his men, but they were soon replaced by Maximillian Robespierre and his more determined men. (source) -
Charlotte Corday assassinates Marat.
Charlotte Corday was a young Girondin supporter who was fed up with Marat's L'ami du Peuple. To her, he and his newspaper were the embodiment of the cause of violence in the revolution, and in order for the violence to stop, he had to die. She claimed that she was going to give him a list of enemies to the Revolution, but instead stabbed the heck out of him. He was made out to be a martyr after this. (source) -
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Reign of Terror
The Committee of Public Safety, created by Robespierre, began killing just about everyone they decided was against the revolution. 300,000 suspects were arrested, 17,000 were officially executed, and around 10,000 died in prison or without trial. This went against everything the revolution stood for, like freedom for all men, the right to a fair trial, etc. (source) -
Marie Antoinette is put on trial.
Marie Antoinette was put on trial for treason, incest, adultery, and sexually abusing her son. She had two days to prepare for her trial while Louis XVI had months to prepare. Many of the claims against her were fabricated, of course, but in the end, she was executed. (source) -
Marie Antoinette is executed.
Marie Antoinette is found guilty of all the charges against her and is executed via guillotine. She was deathly pale and had cut her hair herself. She wore all white except for a black ribbon tied around her cap. Her daughter had no idea that her mother had been executed. (source) -
Robespierre is executed.
Robespierre was captured and arrested late one night by fellow Jacobins because they thought he was going mental. The day before he was executed, Robespierre tried to kill himself, but missed and ended up shooting his jaw instead. He and his followers were executed via guillotine the next morning. (source) -
The Napoleonic Code is passed.
France's Civil Code, or the Napoleonic Code, was Napoleon's most lasting effect on France. The code had many key concepts, such as equality of all in the eyes of the law, separation of church and state, and the freedom to work in the occupation of one's choice. The Napoleonic Code did many things, like preserving the social aims of the Revolution and guarantee civil liberties. However, it limited the rights of women and minors. (source) -
Emperor Napoleon is coronated.
Napoleon is crowned emperor at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. His goal of being crowned was to show the legitimacy of his rule and show that even if he died or was killed, his dynasty would continue to live on. (source) -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba.
Napoleon retreated to Paris after his defeat at the Balle of Leipzig and was forced to step back from the throne due to lack of support from his military buddies. European powers exiled him to the Mediterranean on the island of Elba. (source) -
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The Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna began in September 1814 and was created by four European powers that defeated Napoleon. They had two goals: (1) establish a new European balance of power that would prevent imperialism and keep peace and (2) prevent political revolutions and maintain the status quo. Basically, their goals were to keep what happened in France from happening again. (source) (source) -
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100 Days
The 100 days spans from when Napoleon escaped exile and returned to Paris to when Louis XVIII returned to Paris. This includes the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's last defeat that ended 23 years of warfare between France and other European powers. Napoleon was then exiled again, this time to St. Helena Island. (source)
