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Reign of King Louis XVI
Almost immediately, Louis realized he was not ready to rule, and it showed. he lacked the courage needed to run France or even enforce orders. He also made terrible economic decisions, creating evermore reasons for the people to rebel. -
Meeting of the Estates General
King Louis XVI declared the first Estates General in 175 years, meaning all delegates had no direct experience. It was here that the Third Estate pleaded for more representation, and when they were locked out, they formed the Tennis Court Oath. -
Tennis Court Oath
When the Third Estate representatives were locked out of the Estates General, they met in a tennis court, and swore they would not stop meeting until France had a new constitution. Their persistence paid off, and they were let back in, where they applied their new ideas, finally outvoting the other two Estates. -
Creation of the National Assembly
Realizing their votes dominated the Estates General, the Third Estate representatives created their own organization: the National Assembly, which dictated all aspects of law in the country. -
Storming the Bastille
During the Great Fear, the people of France prepared for war with the king's troops, and they had plenty of guns, but no gunpowder, which the infamous Bastille, a prison and torture den, had. The people flooded in, taking the fort and gradually disassembling it, a symbol of the past being stripped away. -
The Great Fear
After the storming of the Bastille, the people of Paris and the surrounding land were caught in a state of terror, fearing the King's retaliation for their crimes. Some peasants took opportunity to vandalize nobles' houses and burn tax records. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Considered to be the National Assembly's constitution, it outlined the rights of the common citizen, limiting the power of the King and giving it to the people. -
King Louis and his family are sent to Tuileries Palace
To prevent the royal family from escaping France and protect them from mobs, they were forced to live in the Palace, essentially imprisoned. -
King and Queen flee from Tuileries Palace
After the royal family was imprisoned at the Tuileries Palace, they were obviously scared for their lives, and tried to flee the country past Verdun and into Verennes -
Creation of the Legislative Assembly
After the National Assembly dissolved, the Legislative Assembly rose in its place as the governing body in France, though many were very young with little experience. While the King was technically the head of state, he was more of a figurehead with no real power, but still tried to embrace his shortened power. -
King and his family are imprisoned
On August 10th, a mob stormed the Tuileries Palace and captured the royal family and imprisoned them in a medieval castle known as the Temple. A few months later, he was tried and executed for treason. -
National Convention
Possibly the most important of France's governments, the Convention, formally overthrew the monarchy and made France a republic. However, this government eventually handed its near dictatorial power to the Committee of Public Safety. -
France was declared a Republic
France becoming a republic didn't really change many opinions about the country from the outside, however, the people of France would have been greatly relieved that the King was now completely out of the picture. -
Execution of Louis XVI
The death of Louis XVI by guillotine was certainly a milestone in the revolution, with the people literally cutting off the government's head. -
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was a period of time in which the government, specifically the Committee of Public Safety, turned to fear as a governing force. The Committee revoked the right of public trial and made some of the only punishments prison or death in an attempt to rid themselves of the Revolution's enemies. One good thing that came of this period was repelling of two of the hostile armies surrounding the country. -
Execution of Robespierre
The ringleader of the Reign of Terror, the "Incorruptible" used executions to rid himself of his enemies, but was eventually caught and executed with many of his followers. -
The Directory
The Directory was the last government of France before Napoleon's empire, he at first supported his fellow consul, Sieyès, but when the council abandoned his ideas and reforms and began consistently losing wars, Napoleon, took over the council by force and began his reign as emperor. -
The (French) Consulate
In the aftermath of the Directory's downfall, France needed a new government, and none other than their usurpers and former consuls took the power: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, and Roger Ducos -
Napoleonic Wars
One of the greatest and most influential figures in history, Napoleon showed his genius on the battlefield by systematically conquering almost all of Europe and Egypt, cementing his status as a legendary general. -
Napoleonic Code
In short, the Napoleonic Code was everything the people wanted. After Napoleon became emperor, this set of laws granted freedom of religion and speech, and ended noble privileges. -
Napoleon Crowned Emperor
On November 10th, Napoleon was made a military consul, and he used this power to bend the government to his whim. He proclaimed himself emperor of France and then began his legendary conquest of Europe. -
The Russian Campaign
While it was originally allied with France, the Russian Empire refused access for the French after it halted Russia's trade with Britain, ruining the Russian economy. Napoleon invaded, with one of the largest army in human history, over 600,000 strong. The Russians know they couldn't confront them, and so guerilla warfare and a scorched earth policy was used, bleeding the army to death with hit and run tactics, starvation, and the infamous russian climate, resulting in disaster for Napoleon. -
Congress of Vienna
After Napoleon's defeat, the great powers of Europe decided to prevent someone like him from rising again. The agreement prohibited imperialism within Europe. However, this treaty would be broken by Austria-Hungary 100 years later, or even earlier by heated nations in the Balkans. -
Hundred Days
Napoleon was exiled to Elba after the humiliating Russian failure, but he simply left and returned to Paris with another army, changing the government's laws to gain support. However an alliance of Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia formed against Napoleon. -
Battle of Waterloo
Known as Napoleon's downfall, the massive alliance of European powers brought the hammer down on Napoleon's forces, finally stopping the "Little Corporal" in what is considered the most influential battle of all time. Napoleon was exiled once again, this time to Saint Helena, where he would meet his end.
