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National Constituent Assembly
National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) was a french parliament created by the Third Estate (peasants). Its purpose was to claim Third Estate's right to be part of politics, laws, economy, etc. and also to be considered more important as they were.
It was something innovative and it was revolutionary. Also it was the key to start the French Revolution. -
Formal opening of the Estates General
French economy was terrible, this led Louis XVI to summon the Estates General, formed by nobles, clergy and commoners (Third Estate). These people had the power to impose taxes and carry out country's reforms. In a speech, the Minister of Finances said that the new taxes would be enough to reach the budget deficit; this made the commoners feel mad and dissatisfied. Commoners decided to do things by themselves... The French Revolution had started. -
Tennis Court Oath
Hall's doors were closed by the king, so the National Assembly was moved to a tennis court. 576 men signed the oath (it said not to separete and it didn't matter the circumstances, that they would reassemble it). This oath affirmed that the Third State had more power than other authorities, and they would be an opposition to Louis XVI. Furthermore, nobles and clergy joined, so it was even more powerful. -
Storming of Bastille
As the Third Estate was scared of the king to stop the National Constituent Assembly, they made a protest in which they would besiege the Bastille, which was a prison. They dismantled and burnt the building; this led to the success of parisians.
This event also marked a national holiday in France, held the 14th of July, same day this happened. -
The August Decrees
There were 19 articles imposed by the National Constituent Assembly. The goal of this decree was to destroy the Ancient Regime, and that citizens must be equal before the law, without any privileges. For example, they abolished feudalism, and also stopped tax exemption from higher classes (nobles, clergy...). Many of these articles were not carried out immediatly, but other articles would. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was first an statement, but it was adopted by the National Assembly. This statement was also the introduction of the Constitution. Some of the articles came from the Enlightenment: it included individualism (Jean-Jaques Rousseau) and the separation of powers (Montesquieu). Some of the articles said: the rights of the man include liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. No one mustn't be discriminated by their beliefs, etc. -
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Legislative Assembly
After 2 years from the beggining of the French Revolution, this new assembly arrived. This political system was based on a constitution. In that constitution, feudalism, ancient regime and noble titles were abolished. In addition, the king has lost his executive power. King's advisor told him to support the Constitution so people loved him. The king had transformed into Constitutional Monarch.
The Legislative Assembly didn't last to much, due to the radicalism and some other factors... -
The Flight to Varennes
In the night of the 20th of June, Louis XVI and his family tried to escape from Paris. They arrived in this town called Varennes, where they were found and arrested. The National Assembly (the Legislative Assembly hadn't been created yet) tried to defend the king, but Louis XVI couldn't be trusted, and he and his family became traitors for citizens. People felt anxious, desperate, betrayed... So the idea of a Republic was being considered... -
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National Convention
The National Convention was an unicameral assembly. In this assembly, there were two bands: montagnards and the girondins. In 1793, girondins were defeated by an anti-revolutionary alliance. The Committee of Public Safety appeared. A democratic constitution was approved and the role of the assembly reduced to approve Committee’s radical ideas. In 1794, montagnards and girondins were recalled and defeated, and finally, the Convention approved the constitution for the regime, and bourgeoise ruled. -
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1st French Republic
This started because the king wouldn't act in moments of necesity and crisis; this led to a chaos. Weeks later, there was a debate imposed by the National Convention, in which people had to vote for/against the king. The result was a death sentence for Louis XVI. Finally, Louis XVI was killed the 21st of January of 1793
Now France was without king, which means they became a republic. -
The Assembly declares war on Austria
Austria didn't wanted to protect french people; the assembly insisted a lot, but they would refuse, instead, they protected other territories such as Germany... France declared war to Austria, but respecting their constitutional principles: they would just fight for fair reasons, without taking away liberty from other people and also without hurting inocent people. -
Storming of the Tuileries Palace
This event was decisive in the French Revolution: protestants invaded Louis XVI's palace and they killed their swiss guards. The goal was to abolish monarchy and they achieved it. It was a bloody insurrection, and this led France to become a Republic. There was a first manifestation the 20th of June, but it didn't had enough relevance. -
Execution of Louis XVI
So the king was exent from his obligations, he didn't rule properly, furthermore, he turned out to be counterrevolutionary, he had conflicts with Austria and other nations; this made people angry. In the National Convention, he was sentenced with death, and in January of the next year, he was killed by a guillotine. His wife was also killed but nine months later. -
Execution of Robespierre
Robespierre, or Maximilien-François-Marie-Isidore de Robespierre, was one of the main figures in the French Revolution. He controlled the Committee of Public Safety, which was very important during this revolution. In 1794, he was assassinated by a guillotine because he didn't care about his people, and he was very severe at the time he punished people such as nobles, protestants... -
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Directory
The Directory was set up by the Constitution. The Directory didn't last to much because it was a terrible experiment that ended due to the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte. The measures it imposed was to favour protestants and prevent the Bourbon dynasty to rule again over France. It shared some ideas with the National Convention, such as elite centralized schools (les grandes écoles) and France recovered from its economic crisis. -
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The Consulate
The Consulate consisted in three consuls: the first one (wielded by Napoleon) and the other two which were less important. The executive branch could create new laws, but the legislative branch was irrelevant; furthermore, elections were not real.
It ended in 1804, as Napoleon became emperor and abolished it. -
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The Napoleonic Era
Napoleon was an important dictator that ruled over 15 years; he proclaimed himself as the emperor of France. He was a strategic person and he was in war constantly (Britain, Spain, etc). Although he commited some mistakes, until 1812, he was successful in his battles. He conquered some territories in Europe and in Low Countries and he made some alliances with Russia, Prussia, Savoy... After he lost a war with Britain, he was exiled two times, but finally, he was killed in the Battle of Waterloo. -
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The Empire
In the Constitution of the year XII, France transformed into an empire and Napoleon Bonaparte became the dictator; his dictatorship as Napoleon I was constitutional and a bit autocratic: he was advanced compared with other european monarchs though. He was crowned the 2nd of December of 1804 by Pope Pius VII with a laurel wreath (inspired by the Roman Empire), and an exact copy of Charlemagne's crown.
His empire ended in 1815, with the battle of Waterloo, where he was defeated and exiled. -
Battle of Austerlitz
This battle was one of the greatest victories of Napoleon. This war took place in Austerlitz, after Napoleon attacked Vienna and pursued russian and austrian army. As they were threatening Napoleon's army, he tried to sign peace with both countries, but they didn't wanted, so Napoleon sent Nicolas Soult with his army, and he took control of Pratzen Plateau. Russian and austrian army was divided, and they lost a lot of people and Francis I told Alexander I to go back Russia. -
Battle of Trafalgar
This naval conflict between France and Spain (leaded by Pierre de Villeneuve) against Brittain (leaded by Horatio Nelson), took place in the Cape of Trafalgar (Spain). Villeneuve, at the end of September, he went to support a French Campaign in Italy, but when he came back through the Mediterranean, Nelson caught him the 21st of October. French-Spanish troops lost and Villeneuve was captured. Nelson died right after he won, and this battle stopped Napoleon's intentions to attack England. -
Battle of Leipzig
This war was between the French army against armies of Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Austria. After Napoleon tried to take a part of Russia (ended in flop), he went for Berlin, but also failed. Allied armies went for the line of communication of Napoleon, so he focused in that city (Leipzig). He prevented damage but he couldn't defeat them. France lost 38,000 men killed, and the allied armies 55,000 men. This war was terrible for Napoleon; his empire woudln't last to much... -
Battle of Waterloo
After he came back from his first exile, he tried to achieve a small victory by defeating Prussians. After that, he went for Wellington's army which was in Waterloo. Surprisingly, prussian army joined with Wellington's army and thanks to this, finally Napoleon was defeated. He was exiled for the second time, but this time he didn't escape, and he and his great empire ended.