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bad harvests lead to food storages
bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 and a slowdown in manufacturing led to food shortages, rising prices for food, and unemployment. -
National Assembly adopts Declaration of the Rights of Man
The meeting of the Estates-General opened at Versailles on May 5, 1789. It was troubled from the start with a problem about voting. -
National Assembly completes new constitution
the constitution of 1791, which set up a limited monarchy. According to the constitution, there would still be a king, but a Legislative Assembly would make the laws. -
Assembly declared war on Austria in the spring of 1792.
The rulers of Austria and Prussia even threatened to use force to restore Louis XVI to full power. -
National Convention splits into factions
In September 1792, the newly elected National Convention began its sessions. Although it had been called to draft a new constitution, it also acted as the sovereign ruling body of France. -
King LouisXVI is executed
The execution of Louis XVI had outraged the rolalty of most of Europe. -
Reign of Terror ends
To meet the crisis at home, the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety set in motion an effort that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. -
New constitution is created
The period of revolution under the government of the Directory was an era of corruption and graft. People reacted against the sufferings and sacrafices that had been demanded in thr Reign of Terror. -
Sudden overthrow of the Government
In 1799, there was a sudden overthrow of the Government, led by the successful and popular general Napoleon Bonaparte, toppled the Directory. -
Napoleon reaches agreement with the pope
The relationship between Napoleon and the Catholic Church was an important aspect of his rule, which contributed to his rise in power, and also led to his downfall. -
Napoleon made consul for life
Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of fluctuating alliances and the elevation of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French vassal states. Napoleon was himself President (1802–1805), then King of Italy (1805–1814), Mediator of the Swiss Confederation (1803–1813) and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–1813) -
Napoleon is crowned Emperor
In 1804 he was crowned emperor of the French people. He made peace with the pope and the Catholic Church, much to the relief of the religious element. He launched a new aristocracy for France while allowing the return of most of the aristocrats who had been forced into exile by the Revolution. -
British defeat French and Spanish at Trafalgar
The battle was the most decisive naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar, in Caños de Meca. -
Napoleon invades Russia
The French Invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and France as the Russian Campaign began on 24 June 1812 when Napoleon's Grande Armée crossed the Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian army. -
Duke of Wellington and his army defeat Napoleon at Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by the armies of the Seventh Coalition, comprising an Anglo-allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher
