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National Constituent Assembly
It was formed by the National Assembly, which was formed by representatives of the third state. They were substituted by the Legislative Assembly. -
Formal opening of the Estates General
The king Louis XIV summoned the 1,200 deputies from all France to put a solution to the democratic crisis that was taking place in France. His minister of finances, Jacques-Necker, said that there was a need for new taxes, since there was an economic gap of 56 million. The third state was the only one who paid taxes, so they got angry, since they didn’t have any money at all.
This was the start of the French Revolution. -
Tennis Court Oath
The deputies of the Assembly went to meet the king at the meeting space, but they found the doors locked and protected by guards, who wouldn't let them in. The deputies got to the nearest place (a tennis court in the Versailles palace), and 577 deputies made an oath. In which they swore to never separate until they wrote a constitution for France. -
Storming of the Bastille
Fear that the king was about to jail the members of the Assembly began to spread quickly. Because of that, the French people settled in the Bastille. They surrounded it, and successfully sieged it. They took the weapons with them. -
The August Decrees
The August Decrees were nineteen decrees made by the National Constituent Assembly. In this, they essentially abolished the feudalism system in all France, thus eliminating most privileges nobility and clergy had: most importantly tax evasion. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Men and of the Citizen
A document which stated the rights of all people, making them equal towards law. It has 17 articles, in which It settles the separation of powers.
It was inspired by the American Declaración of Independence, and the Enlightenment ideas of the time.
It was approved by Louis XIV, under pressure of the Constituent Assembly and other revolutionaires. -
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Legislative Assembly
In the 1st of october, the Legislative Assembly reunited in Paris, starting the constitutional regime that they wanted. Although, it all fell apart a year later, since the monarchy got overthrown and the constitution collapsed. -
The Flight to Verennes
Louis XIV and his wife Maria Antoinette, and their children, left Paris the 20 of June, in hopes to arrive at the border of the Austrian Netherlands. They would be escorted by Count Axel von Fersen’s men. They were caught in Varennes, 22 of June. Although, the National Contituent Assembly’s efforts were to say that the king’s family had been kidnapped, no one believed them: the people thought that they had been betrayed by their monarchs, and hatred against the king rose. -
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1st French Republic
After the king's execution, there was the 1st Republic. They were a group of institution who had to deal with wars, and the people themselves. One of the first thigns they had to deal with was the September's Massacers. There, a lot of prisioners were killed in fear that hey would revolt against the republic. -
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National Convention
They succeded the Legislative Assembly, and was a single-chamber assembly. They were the ones who founded France's first republic after the Storming of the Tuileres Palace (Insurrection of the 10th August) -
The Assembly declares war on Austria
After deposing the king, a fear grew inside the Legislative Assembly that the other European countries may attack them to put the king back. So, they declared war on them first. On Austria. All of the European countries formed the First Coalition against France, and started war. This was the begining of the War of the First Coallition. -
Storming of the Tuileres Palace
Also known as The Insurrection of the 10th August; was an important moment in the French Revolution, since they put away their monarchy. What happened that day was a continuation of the Demonstration of 20 June, in which people entered the Tuileries palace to attack the king. But, this time, they didn’t left: they slayed the Swiss Guard and arrested the king and queen. It also led to a struggle between the sans-culottes and the bourgeois, which would carry on until the Revolution’s darkest days. -
Execution of Louis XVI
The king was tried and executed, because of his “crimes” against France: saying no to the city’s defense, giving Austria important secrets of the country, being against the revolution…etc. His execution would mark Europe’s history, because it proved to the other monarchies that no king nor queen was totally invincible, and it ended the Ancient Regime. -
Execution of Robespierre
He was the people’s leader, and was really loved. He was in the Revolution from its very first days. Though, with time, he grew in power. With time, he thought of himself as the greatest entity in the universe. This caused him to kill a lot of people whom he thought to be against him. He ended up as the king, jailed and in prison, to be later executed. -
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Directory
The Directory was lead by five people. They tried but failed to fix France's fatal aconomic state, and heavily relied on armed force. They were a turn closer to a dictatorship. -
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The Napoleonic Era
Napoleon ruled, and his ambition was to make France and important Empire, whose power would be felt all over Europe. He was mostly at war with UK, Prussia and Russia. Though he was at the beginning winning, during his last years, he started loosing. -
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The Consulate
The Consulate was the inmediate leader of France after the fall of the Directory. Napoleon was the first consul of France for some time: during that time, he made some reforms to the education system and made a civil code. Also negociated the Concordat 1801 -
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The Empire
Napoleon instaurated an Empire, in which he was the emperor. This was stablished after the dissolution of the 1st French Republic. -
Battle of Austerlitz
Napoleon fought against Prussia and Russia in Austria. This was during the Napoleonic Wars, the Third Coalition. This was a fight that France won. Napoleon made his troops look weak and unprotected, in order for the enemies to attack them. They did, but it was a trap. Napoleon had part of his army to surround the enemy and attack them. This destroyed the enemy's power, and made them flee. This ended the Third Coalition War, with the Treaty of Presburgo. In the treaty, Austria lost terrritories. -
Battle of Trafalgar
Napoleon ordered one of his generals back at Spain to give aid in the battles at the south of Italy. UK naval ships caught them off guard in the Cape of Trafalgar, in Cádiz. In the battle, the English were capable of sinking many ships and killing many men. In the end, the british's ships were the one to win the battle, and took many as prisoners, including the ships. Napoleon’s plans of invading England by land shattered, because he discovered that he wouldn’t be able to defeat them at sea. -
Battle of Leipzig
A battle in which the French Empire lost all of its power in Germany. Napoleon tried to conquer Berlin, but he couldn’t, and was forced to stand back. The allied troops (Austria, Russia, Prussia and Sweden), pushed back to Leipzig, were Napoleon was forced to retreat because he was outnumbered. Also, they had to do a final retreat through a bridge that was blown up while they were crossing it. Many french men died and got wounded, and Napoleon lost the battle. -
Battle of Waterloo
It was a decisive battle won by the Seventh Coalition, giving end to the French Empire, and the last exile for Napoleon. When Napoleon returned to power after his first exile, and regained power over France, the rest of Europe formed the Seventh Coalition to capture him. They all fought, and Napoleon ended up loosing, and as the result, he was exiled yet again. This was part of a period known as the Hundred Days, and Napoleon’s most significant defeat.