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King Louis XVI calls the Estates General
This is the first time that the Estates General Had been called since 1614. It occurred because of the financial complications that the French government was having. An increase in taxes was the end of this meeting because France had provided America with funding to again independence during the American Revolution. This was unsuccessful because France's economy was too far gone. This was what began the French Revolution. -
First and Second Estates join the Third Estate in the newly formed National Assembly
This occurred shortly after the storming of Bastille. It was created in the Constitution of 1791. The National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism and published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but the financial crisis continued largely unaddressed and the deficit only increased. They made France function as a constitutional monarchy because when they gathered under the National Assembly. -
The Tennis Court Oath
After the recalling of the Estates General by King Louis XVI, the commoners of the Third Estate performed an act of defiance. This was the oath made by the Third Estate in the Estates General was to "not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established". This was a pivotal time in the French Revolution and a dramatic act of defiance of the underprivileged, Third Estate against the remaining two Estates. -
The storming of the Bastille
Craftsmen and merchants stormed the castle because they thought they needed weapons to defend themselves from the kingdom. This was because they believed that the demands they made of commoners having more power in the government was going to have repercussions. This set off a chain of events that led to the removal of King Louis XVI from the throne. -
The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
The French National Constituent Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen which defined individual and collective rights at the time of the French Revolution. This gave rights to the French people such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and separation of powers. This is the document that gave French Revolution power. -
The Women’s March on Versailles
The Women's March on Versailles was an important beginning to the French Revolution because it was a revolt by the peasant women about food for their families. This was because of the high amount of tax that had been added to items and the amount that commodities like bread and other food items. Revolutionary agitators influenced people to ransack an the Parisian armory and march to the Palace of Versailles to get their message heard by King Louis XVI. -
The Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria
The Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria because revolutionaries wanted war. They thought that war could be the only thing to unify the country and wanted the ideas of the revolution to be spread to the remainder of France. This included things like The Declaration of the Right of Man. The Gordins wanted to use war as a means to spread the revolution throughout Europe because it would profit them. King Louis wanted the war to change the French Revolution so it could favor him. -
Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine
He was convicted the day before for conspiring with foreign powers and then executed in the Palace de la Revolution in Paris. he was seen as unsuited from the beginning to deal with the financial issues that France was having. Louis XVI had gathered the Estates General to attempt this problem, however, it was unsuccessful. He was executed for his love of Marie-Antoinette with both fleeing France and later being caught and executed. -
Robespierre's Reign of Terror
The government of France had been ruled by the National Convention. There were hostilities between the Girondins and the Montagnards with the two groups in the National Convention. Robespierre took dictatorship during this time with the support of the Montagnards and executed 17,000 individuals who were mostly Girondins. This led to the removal of Robespierre as dictator. This purged Revolution opposers from the nation until Napoleon turned everything back to how it was. -
The Directory is installed
This was a five member committee that replaced the Committee of Public Safety until it was overthrown by Napoleon to create the French Consulate. This organization had widespread corruption with no finances to complete the projects they had. This was a failed group with weak executive power. This was created in reaction to the puritanical dictatorship that had existed under the Reign of Terror of Robespierre. -
Napoleon's coup d'etat, overthrowing the Directory
This was the overthrow of the government system used under the Directory and substituted for the French Consulate that allowed for the deposition of Napoleon to occur. This is often seen as the end of the French Revolution. This was a bloodless coup d'etat instead of being very violent. This is also known as the Coup of 18-19 Brumaire. This was performed by the Jacobins with the assistance of General Napoleon. -
Napoleon is defeated by Horatio Nelson
Lord Nelson and his ship crew overthrew the plans of Napoleon many times with the British Royal Navy. The last victory against Bonaparte was the Battle of Trafalgar which started because Nelson saw thirty-three Franco-Spanish ships. This crushed Napoleon's belief that he could beat Britain in sea battles and best fleet. The French and Spanish lost twenty-two ships compared to the British's zero. -
The Continental System is implemented
The Continental System was the blockade by the French of the English to prevent from Britain's trading with the French, neutrals, and French allies through the Berlin decrees and Milan decrees. This was during the Napoleonic Wars as a method to paralyze Britain. This backfired on Napoleon because it caused for the French to be resented for depriving these people of the English addictive commodities. This caused revolts which began wars on two fronts for Napoleon. -
Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
This is where Napoleon lost control of what control it had over Germany and Poland. After Napoleon left Russia, he tried to offend himself in Germany, but failed to take Berlin and withdrew to the Elbe River. He concentrated his forces to Leipzig after allies threatened his communications. He stopped the attacks of Schwarzenberg’s men from the south and Blücher’s men from the north, but he did not defeat either. This marked the end of the French impact on the Rhineland. -
Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo
This was a battle in Waterloo against the French and two Seventh Coalition armies who ended up defeating Napoleon and this forced him to abdicate the throne again. This ended the Napoleonic Era with his son being the one he gave his favor to for next in the line for the throne. This occurs after the Battle with Nelson on the sea where he had another lose which combined was the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
