-
Dr. Manette saves, speaks out, gets thrown in jail.
The St. Evremonde brothers recruite Dr. Manette to treate a young woman who is wounded, and her her dying brother. Angry at what he has seen, he attempts to publicize what he saw, but is then thrown in prison. -
Journal
Dr. Manette writes his own journal to account for his sufferings, and hides it in his Bastille cell. -
Off to France
Mr. Jarvis Lorry tracks down Lucie Manette and they sail to France. Released to the care of Ernest Defarge, the doctor remains in a confused state. His daughter, Lucie, and the banker Jarvis Lorry carry him to London -
What a day for Darnay
Charles Darnay tried and acquitted of treason at the Old Bailey court in London -
Hear the revolution
Peaceful Sunday at the Manettes' Soho residence. Lucie hears "hundreds of footsteps," signalling the approach of revolution in France -
Bad driver
Driving in his carriage, Charles Darnay's uncle the Marquis St. Evremonde runs over and kills Gaspard's child. In the morning, St. Evremonde is found dead -
Love is in the Air, robbing a death, and spies about
Darnay and Stryver announce hopes of marrying Lucie. Carton swears love to her . Roger Cly's funeral. Jerry Cruncher attempts to rob Cly's grave, but finds it empty. In France the Defarges learn that Gaspard has been hanged. John Barsad appears as spy for the French monarchy -
Ring the bells
Lucie and Darnay marry; Dr. Manette lapses into amnesia -
Oh, Baby.
Birth of little Lucie -
Period: to
Insurrection at Grenoble
-
Louis XVI convokes État-général on suggestion of former finance minister Jacques Necker, to hear grievances.
-
Meeting of the Estates General
The Estates General were reluctantly summoned by King Louis XVI in May of 1789 with an aim to solve the monarchy’s financial crisis. Fearing they would be forced to bear the burden of the financial crisis, the members of the Third Estate decided to form their own National Assembly. After being locked out of the meeting of the Estates General, they moved to an indoor tennis court where they pledged the so-called Tennis Court Oath, vowing to remain there until a new constitution had been written. -
Charge!
Storming of the Bastille; Defarge searches Dr. Manette's old cell. Start of French Revolution. -
Armed citizens storm and capture the Bastille.
-
Fall of the Bastille
Angry crowd marched on the Bastille, a medieval fortress in east Paris that was mostly housing political prisoners. Angry, unemployed and hungry Parisians saw it as a place to vent their frustrations. The commander of the Bastille, Marquis de Launay and his troops resisted for a few hours before they surrendered to the mob. After learning about the fall of the Bastille, King Louis XVI withdrew the royal troops from the French capital but it ended in failure. -
Lafayette appointed Commander of National Guard.
-
‘Great Fear’ begins as peasants revolt across France.
-
National Assembly decrees abolition of feudalism
-
March on Versailles
Many people in Paris and the rest of France were hungry, unemployed and restless. A large crowd of protesters, mostly women, marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles, convinced that the royal family and nobility there lived in luxury. The crowd demanded bread and wanted to bring the King and his family back to Paris to “live among the people”. Louis conceded to their demands and agreed to go to Paris with the mob, believing it would only be a temporary inconvenience. -
Flight to Varennes
The National Assembly continued working on a new constitution for France. After much debate, members of the Assembly decided to impose limits to the King’s authority. The King would have veto power but the National Assembly could overrule his veto.These restrictions appalled Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.They also felt like prisoners in their Tuileries Palace in Paris. They decided to leave France and seek refuge in Austria, hoping to eventually be reinstated on the throne as absolute monarchs. -
Flight to Varennes (cont.)
Before leaving, Louis wrote a manifesto denouncing the Revolution. The royal family quietly left Paris, and managed to get within a few miles of the border before being recognized in the town of Varennes and forced to go back. The incident was devastating for the National Assembly. The King’s attempt to flee and his denouncement of the Revolution came just as the new constitution was about to be implemented. Now they had to deal with a monarch who was against the constitution. -
Dissolution of the National Assembly
The long awaited constitution finally came into effect.. France was proclaimed a constitutional monarchy, while the National Assembly was dissolved and replaced by a new political body. No member of the National Assembly was elected to the new legislative body. The result was the loss of everyone with valuable political experience. The Legislative Assembly was composed of various political factions, ranging from moderate royalists to radical republicans. -
Period: to
Attack on the Tuileries Palace
French government found itself in a very difficult situation. The Austrian army and its Prussian allies started advancing into the French territory. Economics on decline.The Legislative Assembly was divided and Paris was getting increasingly radicalized. On August 10, a crowd of about 20,000 people attacked the Tuileries Palace. The King and Queen had escaped the Palace and the Legislative Assembly was their protection. Hundreds of suspected royalists were executed in "September Massacre". -
War
The issue of war dominated the debate in the new Legislative Assembly. Tensions with the rest of Europe continued to rise. Revolutionary France was viewed with both fear and anger by the European monarchies, especially by the neighboring Austrian monarchy. In France, the support for war was growing as well. Louis XVI and hard line monarchists wanted war because they believed that foreign armies would easily overthrow the new government. -
War (cont.)
The revolutionaries, on the other hand, pushed for war because they thought it would unify the nation and spread the ideas of the Revolution to the rest of Europe. On April 20, 1792, France declared war on Austria. -
Burn, baby burn!
Peasants burn St. Evremonde chateau -
The Return, and imprisonment
Darnay's return to France, and imprisonment in Paris -
That was close.
September Massacres. Lucie and her father arrive in Paris; Dr. Manette's influence protects Darnay from death at the hands of the mob. -
Declaration of the Republic and the Trial of Louis
After kind and queen arrests, Legislative Assembly disbanded and replaced itself as the National Convention. The first act of the latter was to declare France as a republic on September 21, 1792. Meanwhile, the French military had halted the foreign invasion and pushed back the Austrians and Prussians. Louis was charged with treason. The vote at the end of the trial was unanimous: Louis was guilty. The vote on the death penalty was much closer but it passed. -
Off with the King and Queen
Louis was driven through the streets of Paris to a guillotine and decapitated. Marie Antoinette had a short trial next. She was accused of numerous crimes, many of them based on rumors. On October 16, she too was found guilty and guillotined the same day. -
Reign of Terror
The new National Convention was dominated by the Committee of Public Safety. One man in particular, Maximilien Robespierre came to dominate the Committee and established himself as the leader of the so-called Reign of Terror. Robespierre wanted to rid France of all enemies of the Revolution and to protect the “virtue” of the nation. -
Period: to
Rein of Terror (cont. part 2)
An estimated 16,000 people were guillotined. Many radicals were executed along with moderates. Most leaders of the French Revolution were now either dead or had fled the republic. Opposition to Robespierre grew both in the Committee of Public Safety and within the National Convention. The execution of popular Committee member George-Jacques Danton and Robespierre proclaiming himself as the leader of a new religion of the Supreme Being caused much resentment. -
Lots of stuff.
1793 Darnay tried and acquitted at La Conciergerie; Darnay rearrested same night, through Defarge's influence. John Barsad revealed as Solomon Pross, Miss Pross' missing brother; Sydney Carton exposes him as spy of the Revolutionary prisons and blackmails him into helping Carton. Darnay's second trial; evidence from Dr. Manette's journal condemns him to die. Carton takes Darnay's place in La Conciergerie; Darnay party flees France. Madame Defarge killed; Miss Pross deafened. Carton dies. -
Bye Robespierre.
On July 27, 1794, Robespierre was arrested. He was guillotined the following day. -
Directory and the Rise of Napoleon
After the dramatic fall of Robespierre, the National Convention created a new constitution for France that was implemented in 1795. Leading the new government was the Directory consisting of an executive council of five members. Almost from the start, the Directory became mired in corruption, political conflict, financial problems and depended on the army to remain in power. -
Rise of Napoleon
In 1799, a successful military commander named Napoleon Bonaparte returned from a military expedition in Egypt and ousted the Directory. Napoleon established what he called the Consulate and himself as the First Consul.