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Louis XIV wanted to show that France could produce mirrors just as fine as those produced in Italy, and consequently, all the mirrors of that hall were made on French soil. -
Upon its completion in 1682, Louis moved in, and changed the capital from Paris to Versailles to escape the turmoil Paris was subject to. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen came into existence in the summer of 1789, born of an idea of the Constituent Assembly, which was formed by the assembly of the Estates General to draft a new Constitution, and precede it with a declaration of principles -
supposed to completely change the relationship between the rulers and those they governed and to redefine the nature of political power. caused due to financial crisis.
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was a commitment to a national constitution and representative government, taken by delegates at the Estates-General at Versailles -
The main reason why the rebel Parisians stormed the Bastille was not to free any prisoners but to get ammunition and arms. At the time, over 30,000 pounds of gunpowder was stored at the Bastille -
They ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. ... The crowd besieged the palace, and in a dramatic and violent confrontation, they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. -
In November 1792, a secret cupboard containing proof of Louis' counter-revolutionary beliefs and correspondence with foreign powers was discovered in Tuileries Palace. He was brought to trail for treason and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. -
At Versailles, Louis, the French dauphin, marries Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. France hoped their marriage would strengthen its alliance with Austria, its longtime enemy. -
The Reign of Terror was a dark and violent period of time during the French Revolution. Radicals took control of the revolutionary government. They arrested and executed anyone who they suspected might not be loyal to the revolution. -
His power was confirmed by the new Constitution of 1799, which preserved the appearance of a republic but in reality established a dictatorship. -
Napoleon fought well for the Republic, helping to defeat the British at Toulon. Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.
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The resulting Civil Code of France marked the first major revision and reorganization of laws since the Roman era. The Civil Code addressed mainly matters relating to property and families. -
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. -
in office
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Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the best studied military campaigns in history. On 24 June 1812 and the following days, the first wave of the multinational Grande Armée crossed the Niemen into Russia. -
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's forces were defeated by the British and Prussians, marked the end of his reign and of France's domination in Europe.