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• The Third Estate of France’s population begins to support the notion of enlightenment based off of the writings of Rousseau and Voltaire; they begin to deman for their rights to equality, liberty, and democracy.
• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are weak leaders and only make the economic downturn of these times in France worse by overspending existing funds on personal treasures and accumilating more debt by borrowing funds from other nations to support the American Revolution. -
• The National Assembly is formed and the storming of Bastille follows suit; the first act of the revolution.
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• The assembly reforms France and takes over the Catholic Church. The peasants who were firm believers and devout followers were enraged and became anti-reform.
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France undergoes a drastic amount of change, some were positive changes, but most were detrimental to France as a whole; causing a lot of damage and loss.
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• Louis XVI tries to escape and once caught, completely weakens his position in the nation. (
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• Many foreign monarchs feared that the revolution would inspire the same rebellion within their countries and they encouraged France to squash the revolution and put their monarchy back in power.
• This led to the first act of war and loss, which led to the Assembly being revoked and the king deposed. They then voted on a new legislature with French as a republic. -
• The National convention ceases power and turns to extreme punishment to suay the French and make a statement with their executions of high ranked officials.
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• Jacobins are in power. They were a group of people that supported the reform and the return of justice to France. They went to harsh extents to serve justice.
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The king is executed under the new French regime. This was a sign of power and absolute reform that left several people feeling adverse to the direction the nation was headed. This was the start of the Reign of Terror that swept over France for the next couple of years.
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• European superpowers joing forces and suppress the French
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• Maximillian Robespierre begins his Reign of Terror
He is responsible for extremely harsh ruling that put tremendous amounts of fear into the people of France. His purpose, he stated, was to rid France of all links to its past. He even put members of his own constitutional body in positions where they were facing execution or harsh sentences. -
• New government structure set in place with a two house legislature and executive body of five men.
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• Napoleon Bonaparte is chosen to defend delegates of the National Convention against rebel soldiers. His victory put him in a position of great praise from his people; hailed as the savior of France.
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With a new governing body in charge, France elects Napoleon Bonaparte as the new commander of the French Army. This leads to the rise and fall of the French Empire over the next decade.
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• The National Convention chose Napoleon to lead the French Army agains Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia; he was victorious.
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• France was in turmoil and the new constitution was beginning to fall apart because of corruption and other social as well as economic difficulties. Napoleon takes this opportunity after encouragement from various officials and siezes control of France and assumes the role of a dictator.
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In the light of a new commander and leader, Europe fears his ambition and merges forces once again to remove Napoleon from his position.
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Napoleon staged a vote to portray a fair election and rise to power. He was voted in with majority vote and little questioning.
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• Napoleon establishes schools and boosts the economy as well as creates the Napoleonic Code
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After extensive fighting and political dispute, treaties are signed and there is some peace in Europe.
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Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France. He is blessed by the pope, however, takes the crown and crowns himself to demonstrate absolute power; placing himself above the church in the hierarchy of powers.
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The French Empire grows, but with its size, becomes less and less stable. This was the beginning of the end.
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A series of bad decisions from Napoleon and an increasingly unstable political structure led to the fall of the French Empire.
Napoleons poor decisions left France defenceless and unable to stand up against the united forces of Europe.
His reign was not overly appreciated by all of his acquisitions; the Spanish retaliation was responsible for the death of up to 300,000 of his men. -
Napoleon is defeated and forced to surrender after Paris is stormed and there is no other way out. He signs a treaty and is exiled from France.
