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The Estates General Meet
The Estates General meet for the first time in 175 years. The third estate's debates are very heated and they are furious when they find out they are locked out from their meeting room. -
Period: to
The French Revolution
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Tennis Court Oath
The Third estate members find that they are locked out from their meetings room, so they have to go to a tennis court. At the tennis court, they oath that they will not leave until a new constitution is written up. -
Storming of the Bastille
The French citizens needed gunpowder so they stormed the Bastille and took it over. They then destroyed it and took the commander's head and paraded around the street with the head on a poll. -
The Great Fear
The Great fear was for only a few weeks (July 20th to August 5th). This was a time of peasant unruliness and revolts. The peasants thought the nobles were going to attack them, so they burned down nobles' houses and destroyed legal documents. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
This was a new declaration approved by the National Assembly. It made all men equal. This did not apply to women. -
The Women's March to Versailles
The women of Paris were frustrated that there was not any bread, so they marched to Versailles to ask the king for bread. Whe nthe king didn't give the women bread, they stormed the palace and took the king's bread and brought King Louis And Marie Antoinette with them back to paris. -
Louis and Marie’s flight to Varennes
Louis and his wife, Marie, try to escape Paris. They dress as normal citizens and ar ejust miles away from the Austrian border, when a guard looks at their passports which the king made the mistake of signing his own name. They were then captured and taken back to Paris. -
Constitution of 1791
This was the new constitution that King Louis was forced to sign. The constitution mainly took away a lot of the king's power. -
Brunswick Manifesto
The Prussian Military commander, who was also the Duke of Brunswick, told the French people to leave the Royal family alone. This aggrevated them and they executed the king and queen with charges of treason. -
The National Convention
This was the group that governed France from September 20th 1792 to October 26, 1795. The group consisted of 749 deputies. Some of the main things they did were abolish the monarchy and the formation of the republic. -
The Reign of Terror
This was the attempt to execute all the enemies of the revolution. Many people were killed by the guillotine. It ended on July 27th, 1794 with the death of Robespierre. -
The Directory
A new constitution was ratified on August 22, 1795 creating the Directory, but the constitution didn't take effect until September 27th, 1795. The Directory was a group of 5 men all like presidents. The Directory was overthrown by Napoleon on November 9th, 1799. -
Napoleon Bonaparte takes over
Napoleon overthrew the Directory which was called the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire in France. He was one of the 3 consuls appointed to lead the new government, but the other 2 consuls had very limited power. -
Concordat of 1801
This was when Napoleon and the clergy in Rome and Paris reached an agreement on the Roman Catholic Church in France. Napoleon could appoint bishops and could redistribute parishes. -
Louisana Purchase
Napoleon sells a large piece of land in North America to Thomas Jefferson for 15 million dollars. He uses this money to fix some of the debts from past rulers and fund his military campaigns. -
The Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic code was established by 4 jurists and was enforced as the French civil code. It was based heavily on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. -
Exile to Elba
Napoleon was exiled to Elba after the Treat of Fontainbleau. This treaty was signed by Napoleon, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. This forced Napoleon to step down and he was exiled to the island of Elba. -
Napoleon becomes Emperor
Napoleon proclaims himself emperor and made his wife Josephine Empress. His coronation ceremony took place on December 2, 1804. -
Battle of Trafalgar
This was a naval battle with the British against the French and Spanish. The British won without losing a single ship, while the French and Spanish lost 22 total. -
Continental System
The Continental System was a blockade set up to deny money to the British. This did not work very well and led into the Peninsular War. -
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War started when both France and Spain invaded Portugal on October 27th, 1807. France then turned on Spain on May 2nd, 1808 starting the Peninsular War. This war lasted until Napoleon was defeated in 1814. -
The Invasion of Russia
The first French soldiers crossed over to the Russian border at 11 p.m. The rest of the army came on the 24th and 25th. Napoleon wanted to invade Russia to force them into economic boycott. -
The Battle of Waterloo
This was a battle with France against the British and Prussia. Napoleon lost and was captured. He was then exiled to St. Helena. -
Exile to St. Helena
Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena on this day. He stays there for six years before he dies.