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Louis XVI
Louis XVI was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, after which he was subsequently King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before his deposition and execution during the French Revolution. -
The Dutch Patriot Revolt
The Dutch Patriots wanted to reduce the powers of the prince of Orange. Building on support among the middle-class bankers and merchants, the Patriots soon gained a more popular audience by demanding political reforms and organizing armed citizen militais of men, called Free Corps. The Free Corps wanted a more democratic form of government, and to get it they encouraged the publication of pamphlets and cartoons attacking the prince. -
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Austrian Netherlands' Resistance
At the end of 1788, a secret society formed armed companies to prepare an uprising. By late 1789, each province had separately declared its independence, and the Austrian administration had collapased. When the democrats began to challenge noble authority, aristocratic leaders drew to their side the Catholic clergy and peasants. Faced with the choice between the Austrian emperor and "our current tyrant", the democrats chose to support the return of the Austrains. -
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The Cataclysm & Napoleon and the Revolutionary Legacy
This sets the timeline of events. -
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Abbe Sieyes
Formally known as Emmanuel Joseph Sieyés. He was a clergyman and political writer. His pamphlet "What is the Third Estate?" became the de facto manifesto of the Revolution. Sieyes began to question the importance of the role of the third estate in French society, politics and economy. -
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National Assembly
The National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The overall goal was to safeguard the right of private property, feudal dues were not renounced outright, and peasants would compenstate their landlords throughout a series of direct payments for obligations from whihc they had supposedly been freed. -
Meeting of the Estates General
An assembly made up of the three estates,175 years since they last meet. Summoned by King Louis XVI to approve new taxes on the Third Estate.Each of the three Estate had always had one vote in each estates geral. However the third estate wanted to change the voting process , they refused the king order and got locked out of the meeting. -
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Monarchy to Republic
Until 1789, the French Revolution followed a course much like that of the protest movements in the Low Countires. The French revolutionaries first tried to establish a constitutional monarchy based on the Enlightenment principles of human rights and rational government. -
Storming the Bastille
This storming was a symbol of the abuses of the monarchy: its fall was the flash point of the French Revolution. A rumor that the king was planning military coup against the National Assembly resulted in: 18 dead, 73 wounded, 7 guards killed. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
This declaration abolished traditional privileges enjoyed by the monarch, the clergy, and the aristocracy, sparked a bloody struggle that eventually led to the creation of a French nation based on new principles. It established France as a secular republic. The 17 articles of the declaration set out these principles and became the basis of the new French constitution. It defined the individual and collective rights of all people.The declaration became the catechism of the Revolution in France. -
St. Domingue Slave Revolt
The slaves of northern St. Domingue, inspired by the slogan "Listen to the voice of Liberty which speaks in the hearts of all" , organized a large-scale revolt. In order to restore authority over the slaves, the Legislative Assembly in Paris granted civil and political rights to the free blacks. In Febuary 1794, the National Convention formally abolished slavery and granted full rights to all black men in the colonies. -
Formation of Legislative Assembly
Followed by the Constituent Assembly, it provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention. It consisted of 745 members. The members were generally young, and, since none had sat in the previous Assembly, they largely lacked national political experience. The Left, had the dominant 330 members in Jacobins and Girondins. The right, 250 deputies belonged to no definite party. Other 165 were Feuillants -
Brunswick Manifesto
The Brunswick Manifesto threatened that if the French royal family were harmed, then French civilians would be harmed. It was a measure intended to intimidate Paris, but rather helped further spur the increasingly radical French Revolution and finally led to the war between revolutionary France and counter-revolutionary monarchies. -
The Second Revolt of August 10, 1792
Faced with the threat of military retaliation and frustrated with the inaction of the Legislative Assembly, on August 10, 1792, the sans-culottes organized an insurrection and attacked the Tuileries palace. The National Convention abolished the monarchy and on September 22, 1793, established the first republic in French history. -
Second Partition of 1793
The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the War in Defense of the Constitution and the Targowica Confederation of 1792, and was approved by its territorial beneficiaries, the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. -
Louis XVI Executed
The first showdown between the Girodins and the Mountain occurred during the trial of the king in December 1792. The Girodins agreed that the king was guilty of treason, many of them argued for clemency, exile, or a popular referendum of his fate. The National Convention supported the Mountain and voted to execute the king. -
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Reign of Terror
The execution of Louis XVI did not solve the new regime's problems. In response to growing pressures, the National Convention named the Committee of Public Safety to supervise food distribution, direct the war effort, and root out counterrevolutionaries. The leader of the committee, Maximilien Robespierre, wanted to go beyond these stopgap measures and create a "republic of virtue", in which the government would teach, or force, citizens to become virtuous repbulicans through a massive program. -
Law of General Maximum
This limited prices of grain and other essentials to 1/3 above the 1790 prices and wages to 1/2 of 1790 figures. Prices would be strictly enforced and hoarders would be rooted out and punish. It became so controlling that the food supplies would be secured by the army. -
Law of Suspects
This law was widely drawn that almost anyone not expressing enthusiastic support for the republic could be placed under arrest. -
French Abolish Slavery
On 4 February 1794, the First Republic (Convention) voted for the abolition of slavery in all French colonies. The abolition decree stated that "the Convention declares the slavery of the Blacks abolished in all the colonies; consequently, all men, irrespective of colour, living in the colonies are French citizens and will enjoy all the rights provided by the Constitution." -
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Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a violent backlash against the rule of Robespierre that dismantled the Terror and punished Jacobins and their supporters. It purged Jacobins from local bodies and replaced them with their opponents. -
Important Date Regarding Thermidorean Reaction
- Robespierre gives a speech illustrating new plots and conspiracies -He alienated members of the Comitte of Public Safety and Commity of General Security -Many felt threatened by his implications
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Robespierre Falls
The Terror hardly touched many parts of France, but overall the experience was undeniably traumatic. The final crisis of the Terror came in July 1794. Conflicts within the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention left Robespierre isolated. On July 27, 1794 Robespierre appeared before the Convention with yet another list of depuites to arrest. An armed uprising led by Paris city government failed to save Robespierre. He and followers then went to the guillotine. -
Third Partition of 1795
Russia, Prussia, and Austria wiped Poland completely from the map in the third partition. "The Polish question" would plague international relations for more than a century as Polish rebels flocked to any international upheaval that might undo the partitions. Beyond all this maneuvering lay the unsolved problem of Polish serfdom, which isolated the nation's gentry and towns people from the rural masses. -
Napoleon Named First Consul
The First Consul is the most imporant of the three consuls established by the French Consititution of 1800; the title, given to Napoleon, was taken from ancient Rome. He promised to be a man above party and to restore order to the republic. A new constitution was submitted to the voters. Millions didn't vote, which allowed the government to forge and give the apperance of great support to the new regime. -
Coup against Directory
The conspirators persuaded the legislature to move out of Paris to avoid an imaginary Jacobin plot. Bonaparte stomped into the meeting hall the next and demanded immediate changes in the constitution he was greated of cries of "Down with the dictator!". Bonaparte's coup was saved by summoning troops regarding the hall and claiming that some deputies had tried to assassinate the popular general. The solider departed those who opposed Bonaparte and left the remaining ones to abolish the Directory. -
Leadership of Napoleon established under the Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory until the start of the Napoleonic Empire. During this period, Napoléon, as First Consul had established himself as the head of a more conservative, authoritarian, autocratic, and centralized republican government in France while not declaring himself head of state. It was a new system of government for the Republic. Napoleon was able to transform the aristocratic constitution into an unavowed dictatorship. -
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Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon effectively ended the French Revolution and steered Franch toward an authoritarin state. As emperor after 1804, he dreamed of European integration in the tradition -
Napoleon Signs Concordat with Pope
In 1801, a concoradt with Pope Pius VII ended a decade of church-state conflict in France. The pope validated all sales of church lands, and the government agreed to pay the salaries of bishops and priests who would swear loyalty to the state. Catholicism was offically recognized as the religion of "the great majority of French citizens". The pope brought the huge French Catholic population back into the fold and Napoleon gained the pope's support for his regime. -
Napoleon Issues Civil Code
Napoleon successfully established a new legal code, partly because he personally presided over the commisson that drafted the new Civil Code. Called the Napoleonic Code as a way of further exalting his image, it reasserted the Old Regime's patriarchal system of male domination over women and insisted on a father's control over his childen, which revolutionary legislation had limited. -
Napoleon Crowned Emperor
In 1802 Napoleon name himself First Counsl for life and in 1804, which the popes blessing, he crowned himself emperor. The plebiscites approved his decisions, but no alternatives were offered. The democratic polotical aims of the French Revolution had been trampled, but some aspects of daily life continued to be affected by those egalitarian ideals. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The British navy once more proved its superiority by blocking an attempted French invasion and by defeating the French and their Spanish allies in huge naval battle at Trafalgar in 1805. France lost many ships; the British lost no vessels, but their renowned admiral Lord Horatio Nelson died in the battle. -
The Battle of Austerlitz
This battle is often considered Napoleon's greatest victory, as well as the first anniversary of his coronation. After marching on to Vienna, he again trounced the Austrians, who had been joined by their new ally, Russia. -
Napoleon Invades Russia
Napoleon followed his usual strategy by trying to strike quickly, but the Russians generals avoided confrontation and retreated eastward, destroying anything that might be useful to the invaders. In October, Napoleon began his retreat; in November came the cold. Napoleon made a classic military mistake, fighting a war on two distant fronts simultaneously. -
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The Congress of Vienna
The Vienna settlement established a new equilibrium that relied on cooperation among the major powers while guaranteeing the status of smaller states. -
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Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII, known as "the Desired" (le Désiré), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824 except for a period in 1815 known as the Hundred Days. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, during the French Revolution and the First French Empire, and again in 1815, during the period of the Hundred Days, upon the return of Napoleon I from Elba. -
The Congress of Vienna
Although representatives from all the states which had participated in the wars were invited, the principal negotiations were conducted by the "Big Four," Britain, Russia, France, and Austria. The congress met to reconstruct the map of Europe and develop a balance of power that would prevent another massive take-over by one country. Objective resulted in the redrawing of the continent's political map, and undo changes made by Napoleon in Europe. Napoleon is replaced with Louis XVIII, a Bourbon. -
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
This decisive battle took place at Waterloo, less than ten miles from Brussels. Napoleon's forces attacked Wellington's men first with infantry and then with cavalry, but the French failed to dislodge their opponents. -
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818. During the French Revolution empasis on authentic self-expression at times drew romantics to exotic, mystical, or even recless experiences. Such were demonstrated in this novel. -
Revolt Against Spanish Crown
In 1820, disgruntled soldiers demanded that Ferdinad, Spanish crown, proclaim his adherence to the consitution of 1812, which he had abolished in 1814. Ferdinand bided his time, and in 1823 a French army invaded and restored him to absolute power. The French acted with the consent of the other great powers. The restored Spanish government tortured and executed hundreds of rebels; thousand were imprison or forced into exile. -
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Beethoven's work- ranigning from religious works to symphonies, sonatas, and concertos- showed remarkable diversity. Some of his work was explicitly political; his Ninth Symphony employed a chorus to sing the German poet Friedrich Schiller's verses in praise of universal human solidiary. -
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Charles X
Charles X, was known for most of his life as the Count of Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830.His rule of almost six years ended in the July Revolution of 1830, which resulted in his abdication and the election of Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, as King of the French. Exiled once again, Charles died in Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire. -
The Decembrist Revolt in Russia
Troops assembled to take an oath of loyalty to Alexander's brother Nicholas as the new tsar. Constantine, though next in line of succession after Alexander, had refused the crown. The soldiers nonetheless raised the cry "Long live Constantine, love live the Constitution!" Soilders loyal to Nicholas easily suppressed the Decemberist, who were so outnumbered that they had no realistic chance to succeed. -
Greece Gains Independence
In 1830, Greece was declared an idependent kingdom under the guarantee of three powers; in 1833, the song of King Ludwig of Bavaria became Otto I of Greece. Nationalism, with the support of European public opinion, had made its first breach in Metternich's system. -
Charles X exiled, Louis-Philippe installed
After three days of street battles a group of moderate liberal leaders, fearing the reestablishement of a republic, agreed to give the crown to Charles X's cousin, Louis-Philippe. Charles X went into exile in England, and the new king extended political liberties and voting rights. -
Polish Revolt Fails
In 1830, in response to news of revolution in France, students raise the banner of rebellion. Polish aristocrats formed a provisional government, but it got no support from Britian or France and was defeated by the Russian army. Tsar Nicholas abolished the Polish constitution that his brother Alexander had granted and ordered thousands of Poles executed or banished -
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Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the Revolution of 1789 but was nevertheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror. He was proclaimed king in 1830 after Charles X was forced to abdicate. -
The British Reform Bill of 1832
This was a measure passed by the British Parliament to increase the number of male voters by about 50 percent and give representation to the new cities in the north; it set a precedent for widening suffrage. -
Faust
The aged German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe likewise denounced the extremes of romanticism, caling it "everything that is sick." In Faust, a poem, he seemed to warn of the same dangers Mary Shelley portrayed in her novel(Frankenstein).