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Estates-General meets
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. -
Great Fear sweeps France
Great Fear, French Grande Peur, (1789) in the French Revolution, a period of panic and riot by peasants and others amid rumors of an “aristocratic conspiracy” by the king and the privileged to overthrow the Third Estate. -
Period: to
French Revolution
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Period: to
Moderate
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National Assembly is formed
The National Assembly existed from June 13, 1789 to July 9, 1789. It was a revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate of the Estates-General. -
Citizens attack Paris prison
Citizens attack a prison in search of weapons. -
Citizens storm the Bastille
The Bastille was attacked by citizens. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted
A law demanding subordination from the church. -
Constitution creates a limited monarchy
In September 1791, the National Assembly released its much-anticipated Constitution of 1791, which created a constitutional monarchy, or limited monarchy, for France. -
Royal Family attempts to flee France
Royal family unsuccessfully tries to flee france. -
Royal Family confined to Tuileries
The royal family was confined to the Tuileries Palace. -
Period: to
Radical
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Paris mob invades Tuileries palace
The Insurrection of 10 August 1792 was a defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris, increasingly in conflict with the French monarchy, stormed the Tuileries Palace. The conflict led France to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. -
France becomes a Republic
The First Republic (1792-1804) Following the aftermaths of the Revolution of 1789 and the abolishment of the monarchy, the First Republic of France is established on September 22 of 1792. -
Louis XVI beheaded
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris. -
Committee of Public Safety is created
Set up to abide to a crises. -
Committee of Public Safety is created
The Committee of Public Safety was set up on April 6, 1793, during one of the crises of the Revolution, when France was beset by foreign and civil war. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (September 5, 1793 – July 28, 1794), also known as The Terror, was a period of violence during the French Revolution incited by conflict between two rival political factions, the Girondins (moderate republicans) and the Jacobins (radical republicans), and marked by mass executions -
Marie Antoinette is beheaded
Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette's trial began on 14 October 1793, and two days later she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason and executed, also by guillotine, on the Place de la Révolution. -
Robespierre is beheaded
On July 27, 1794, Robespierre and a number of his followers were arrested at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. The next day Robespierre and 21 of his followers were taken to the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde), where they were executed by guillotine before a cheering crowd -
Period: to
Reaction: 1795-1799
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Third Constitution is adopted
The Constitution of the Year III is the constitution that founded the Directory. Adopted by the convention on 5 Fructidor Year III (22 August 1795) and approved by plebiscite on 6 September. -
Directory takes power
Between 12 and 21 October 1795, immediately after the suppression of royalist uprising in Paris, the elections for the new Councils decreed by the new Constitution took place. -
Period: to
Age of Napoleon: 1799-1815
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Napoleon invades Egypt
In 1798, Napoleon led the French army into Egypt, swiftly conquering Alexandria and Cairo. However, in October of that year, discontent against the French led to an uprising by the people of Cairo -
Concordat with the Catholic Church
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. -
Napoleon named Consul for life
In August 1802, Napoleon proclaimed himself First Consul for Life. A new constitution of his own devising legislated a succession to rule for his son (even though he had not yet fathered any children) and he had taken the major steps in creating a new regime in his own image -
Napoleon becomes 1st Consul
In August 1802, Napoleon proclaimed himself First Consul for Life. A new constitution of his own devising legislated a succession to rule for his son (even though he had not yet fathered any children) and he had taken the major steps in creating a new regime in his own image -
Napoleonic Code
It codified several branches of law, including commercial and criminal law, and divided civil law into categories of property and family. The Napoleonic Code made the authority of men over their families stronger, deprived women of any individual rights, and reduced the rights of illegitimate children. -
Napoleonic Code adopted
Napoleonic Code, French Code Napoléon, French civil code enacted on March 21, 1804, and still extant, with revisions. -
Napoleon becomes Emperor
On May 18, 1804, Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, and made Josephine Empress. His coronation ceremony took place on December 2, 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, with incredible splendor and at considerable expense. -
Battle of Trafalgar
A naval battle between the British and the French. -
Battle of Austerlitz
One of the most important engagements in the war. -
Napoleon invades Spain
On February 16, 1808, under the pretext of sending reinforcements to the French army occupying Portugal, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain. Thus began the Peninsular War, an important phase of the Napoleonic Wars that were fought between France and much of Europe between 1792 and 1815. -
Napoleon invades Russia
On June 24, 1812, the Grande Armée, led by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, crossed the Neman River, invading Russia from present-day Poland. The result was a disaster for the French. -
Napoleon retreats from Russia
Napoleon pulls his forces out of Russia. -
Battle of Leipzig
A three-day battle. -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba
In 1814, Napoleon's broken forces gave up and Napoleon offered to step down in favor of his son. When this offer was rejected, he abdicated and was sent to Elba. ... He abdicated for a second time and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his days. -
Napoleon returns from Elba
The Hundred Days War also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of elba. -
Louis XVIII takes the thrown
Louis XVIII fled, and a Seventh Coalition declared war on the French Empire, defeated Napoleon again, and again restored Louis XVIII to the French throne. -
Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon's final loss in war -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
Napolean is sent to St. Helena as a punishment. -
Napoleon dies
