French Revolution/age of Napoleon

  • May 5th, 1789 Meeting With Estates-General

    The heads of every estate in France met to try to reform the government and economy. It pushed the French Revolution forward because when the 3rd Estate realized they were being ignored, they broke away from the government.
  • Tennis Court Oath

    Tennis Court Oath, French Serment du Jeu de Paume, (June 20, 1789), dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the non privileged classes of the French nation (the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates-General (traditional assembly) at the beginning of the French Revolution.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man

    The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution that granted civil rights to some commoners, although it excluded a significant segment of the French population.
  • Women's March on Versailles

    The March on Versailles. Concerned over the high price and scarcity of bread, women from the marketplaces of Paris led the March on Versailles on October 5, 1789. This became one of the most significant events of the French Revolution, eventually forcing the royals to return to Paris.
  • Execution of King Louis XVI

    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. On January 21, he walked steadfastly to the guillotine and was executed.
  • Reign of Terror

    Reign of Terror, also called the Terror, French La Terreur, period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794 ,9 Thermidor, year II.During the Reign of Terror, at least 300,000 suspects were arrested; 17,000 were officially executed, and perhaps 10,000 died in prison or without trial.
  • Maximilien Robespierre's execution

    After a year of harsh rule by Robespierre, many of the revolutionary leaders had had enough of the Terror. They turned on Robespierre and had him arrested. He was executed, along with many of his supporters, by guillotine on July 28, 1794.
  • Storming of the Bastille

    The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris
  • Napoleonic Code is established

    Napoleonic Code, French Code Napoléon, French civil code enacted on March 21, 1804, and still extant, with revisions. It was the main influence on the 19th-century civil codes of most countries of continental Europe and Latin America.
  • Napoleon Crowns himself 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.The royal court of the French Emperor became a public spectacle of pomp and elegance.
  • Peninsular War

    The Peninsular War was the military conflict fought by Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal against the invading and occupying forces of France for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence.
  • Napoleon and his men march on 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. ... The invasion lasted six months, and the Grande Armée lost more than 300,000 men. Russia lost more than 200,000.
  • Napoleon is exiled to Elba

    On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba.
  • Napoleon dies

    French military leader