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Estates-General convenes
Towards the end of the 18th century France suffered from financial problems so King Louis XVI convened a parliament called the Estates General . The Estates General pushed aside the king and abolished the privileges of the nobility and the clergy . The revolutionaries who did this then began to argue among themselves, and many were killed in a time known as the Terror . Other countries tried to take advantage of France's troubles and invaded with their armies. During the internal and external fi -
Third Estates declares itself the National Assembly
On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate began the French Revolution by declaring itself a National Assembly. This was a profoundly revolutionary act indeed. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille, first off, was an armory/ jailhouse in the center of Paris. It was used to store weapons and at the current time hold politcal figures arrested due to violation of royal law. The peasants stormed the Bastille after hearing rumors that the king was sending the army to kill pesants and burn their crops. They stromed the Bastille to arm themselves and tear it down. It was an enormous symbolic act agains the ancien regime and it inspired revolutionaries such as the Jacobins. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen issued
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was a document established by the National Constituent Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution. Its provisions lay the groundwork for the issues of equality, freedom of speech, and taxation. Despite its intentions, the Declaration failed to address the concerns of women or the institution of slavery. -
Louis XVI executed
Suspended and arrested as part of the insurrection of the 10th of August during the French Revolution, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine -
Maximilien Robespierre assumes leadership of the Committee of Public Safety
The first Committee of Public Safety was decreed in April 1793, and Robespierre, elected in July, was now one of the actual rulers of France (along with the rest of the Twelve). Next came the dark intrigues and desperate struggles that sent Hébert and his friends to the guillotine in March 1794, and Danton and Camille Desmoulins in April. The next three months Robespierre reigned supreme. he nominated all the members of the Government Committees, placed his men in all places of influence in the -
Robespierre is guillotined
The next day, 28 July 1794, Robespierre was guillotined without trial in the Place de la Révolution. His brother Augustin, Couthon, Saint-Just, Hanriot and twelve other followers, among them the cobbler Simon, were also executed. Only Robespierre was guillotined face-up -
Napoleon Bonaparte seizes power
Bonaparte seized power in France with the coup of 18 Brumaire. This was when a renewed declaration of war between Britain and France (resulting from the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens), ended the only period of general peace in Europe between 1792 and 1814. The latest proposed date is 2 December 1804, when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. -
Napoleon is defeated by the British at the Battle of Waterloo
It was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. The defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days' return from exile.
