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On September 1, 1715, Louis XV (also known as Louis the Beloved) became King of France. He was the great-grandson of King Louis XIV, As a result of France's defeat by the British, in the Seven Years' War, France had lost nearly all of its colonial possessions in North America and India by 1763. He was hated by subjects for his continuous overspending which worsened France's financial problems. His stubbornness and bad political judgement also caused problems with his foreign allies.
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On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV (known as the Sun King and as Louis the Great) died of gangrene at the age of seventy-seven. His was king of France for almost seventy-three years. Louis' rule was filled with a succession of wars, some resulting in defeat, that made France go into severe debt. Famine also occurred during his reign, which made his subjects go hungry or starve. Louis was an absolute monarch, who paid little attention to his subjects or their needs.
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The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was the last major conflict before the French Revolution to involve all the great powers of Europe. France was allies with Austria, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia against Prussia, Hanover, and Great Britain. France and Great Britain were also fighting each other over their colonial possessions in North America and India and by 1763, France had lost nearly all of its colonies and had acquired even greater debt.
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Napoleon Bonaparte (originally spelled as Buonaparte) was born on August 15, 1769, on the French island of Corsica. He came from a relatively modest family from minor Italian nobility. He attended the military college of Brienne (France) for five years and then attended the Paris military academy. He graduated early and had the rank of 2nd lieutenant of the artillery. He rose through the military and ultimately became Emperor of France in 1804.
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On May 16, 1770, French King Louis XVI married Austrian Archduchess, Marie Antoinette, at Versailles' Royal Chapel. He was fifteen. She was fourteen. The marriage was arranged by French King Louis XV (grandfather of Louis XVI) and Austrian Empress Maria Theresa for political reasons, to end centuries of hatred between France and Austria and to make the two countries allies. At first, the French people liked Marie Antoinette. Later they would come to hate her and blame her for France's debt.
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On May 5, 1774, Louis XVI (grandson of Louis XV) became King of France and the last king of France, before the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution. He was a very young ruler, who was unable to control France's enormous debt or reverse France's financial crisis. The French nobility opposed Louis' attempts to reform the French government in accordance with Enlightenment ideas, which included abolishing serfdom, removal of the taille (land tax), and the corvee (labor tax).
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In 1777, French King Louis XIV recognized the United States of American as an independent nation. In 1778, Louis met with Benjamin Franklin (America's diplomat to France) and granted the U.S. military assistance. Louis supported and funded the American Revolution because he wanted to cause Great Britain to lose their colonies in America. Louis support of the American Revolution caused France to go deeper into debt and created hatred and suffering among his subjects.
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The Flour War was a wave of riots from April to May 1775, in the northern, eastern, and western parts of France. It was caused by an increase in grain and bread prices. Bread was the main food source for many Parisians. Bad harvests, famine, and the soaring prices of wheat and bread caused starvation and hardships for the French peasants.
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In June 1783, the Laki volcano in Iceland erupted. France was the hardest hit by the volcano's eruption, which caused its planting season to be disrupted and led to famine and drought. Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 also created food shortages. Famines caused the prices of grain, flour, and bread to rise so high that the French peasants and commoners were starving and dying of hunger. Louis XVI deregulation France's grain economy, which caused resentment and thoughts of revolution.
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At the beginning of the French Revolution, there was a general panic among the Third Estate (French commoners & peasantry) because of the worsening grain shortage and fears that the Second Estate (French nobility / aristocracy) was trying to starve the French peasantry. The peasants revolted against the nobles by attacking or killing them, burning their manor houses, and burning legal papers.
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The Enlightenment Period was a movement of intellectuals who were greatly impressed by the Scientific Revolution and who believed in reason, natural law, the civil rights of man, progress, hope, and the separation of powers. These ideas and others from Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Locke, Diderot, and others influenced and inspired the French to make changes in French government and society.
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By the end of the 1780's, France was on the verge of financial collapse. Because of this, Louis XVI was forced to convene the Estates General (the French parliament made of representatives from the Ancien Regime's three estates). Each estate had one vote. On May 5, 1789, the Third Estate was furious that the vote would not be based on population. The king agreed & much debate followed. On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate decided to draw up a constitution and call itself the National Assembly.
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On June 20, 1789, the Third Estate's deputies had been locked out of their meeting place at Versailles. They found a new meeting location at Versailles indoor tennis court and swore an oath (the Tennis Court Oath) that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French constitution. Louis XIV planned to use force against the Third Estate. French commoners saved the Third Estate from the king's forces by storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
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On July 14, 1789, a mob of Parisian citizens attacked the Bastille (the prison fortress in Paris that the French monarchy used to store weapons and imprison enemies of the state), released prisoners, killed guards, and demolished it. In many people's minds, the Bastille symbolized the king's absolute authority. The Storming of the Bastille is considered to be a very important event because the Third Estate citizens were able to successfully challenge the authority of King Louis XVI.
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On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly voted to abolish feudalism in France and declared equality taxation to all classes. This vote ended the Ancien Régime / Old Regime and was a huge victory for the former Third Estate (commoners & peasants). No longer would they be forced to pay the highest tax percentage.
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One of the most important documents of the French Revolution. On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This document was revolutionary because "Citizen" applied to all French people, regardless of class, it gave citizens the freedom of expression and religion, and said that taxes could be raised only with common consent.
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On October 5, 1789, a group of working class Parisian women were protesting the high price of bread. Encouraged by revolutionaries, these women and an angry mob, of approximately 1,000 armed women, marched to the Palace of Versailles to find food for their hungry families and to force King Louis XVI and the royal family to return to Paris. On October 6th, the king and the royal family left Versailles and moved into Tuileries Palace, where they became prisoners.
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The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on July 12, 1790, that created a national church and caused the Catholic Church in France to lose its great power. Church lands were sold to help pay off French debt. The clergy now had to be elected, take a loyalty oath to the new government, and be paid as state officials. This law created division among the French revolutionaries and peasants, who were upset by the government control of their church.
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On the night of June 20m 1791, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their family (disguised as servants) fled the Tuileries Palace (Paris) and attempted to cross over into Austria. They did so, in an attempt to gain support from Austria (Marie's homeland) and to stop Louis XVI from having to approve the Constitution of 1791. On June 21st, the royal family was discovered in the small French town of Varennes and was returned to Paris. The king was stripped of his authority and viewed as a traitor.
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A statement issued on August 27, 1791, at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden (Saxony) Germany, by Prussian King, Frederick William II, and the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, who was Marie Antoinette's brother. It declared joint support of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire for King Louis XVI of France against the French Revolution.
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Created by the National Assembly, the new constitution created a limited constitutional monarchy, which stripped the king of most of his authority. It also created a legislative assembly.
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A parliamentary government of the French Revolution created to replace the Legislative Assembly. It abolished the monarchy and installed republicanism, proclaimed France a republic on September 21, 1792, and was based on the ideas of "Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity". It also put Louis XVI on trial and charged him with treason due to his attempt to flee the country, declared war on several European nations, and created the Committee of Public Safety in April of 1793.
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On December 3, 1792, the National Convention placed Louis XVI on trial. On December 4th, he was indicted of high treason and other crimes against France. Louis' failed attempt at fleeing France with his family, on June 20, 1791, was used as proof of treason. The trial continued for weeks until Louis was found guilty on January 15, 1793. On January 17th, it was decided that Louis was be put to death. On January 21, 1793, he was guillotined in the Place de la Revolution (Place de la Concorde).
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In April of 1793, the National Convention created the Committee of Public Safety, which was responsible for protecting the new French republic against foreign attack and internal revolts. It was led by Maximilien Robespierre, a radical Jacobian leader, who encouraged people to rise up in insurrection over military defeats and food shortages. The Reign of Terror occurred from September 1793 until July 1794 and was time of extreme violence, paranoia, and thousands of arrests and deaths.
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Queen Marie Antoinette was blamed for France's financial woes. Her love of luxuries and fashion earned her the nickname "Madame Deficit". She was put on trial and condemned for treason against France. On October 16, 1793, she was guillotined in the Place de la Revolution (later known as the Place de la Concorde) in Paris, France.
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After almost one year and thousands of arrests and deaths, many revolutionary leaders had had enough of the Reign of Terror and Robespierre. They turned on him. On July 27, 1794, Robespierre and some of his followers arrested at the Hotel de Ville (Paris). The next day, July 28th, they were taken to the Place de la Revolution (now the Place de la Concorde), in Paris, and executed by guillotine before a cheering crowd.
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The Constitution of 1795 was ratified on August 22, 1795. On Nov. 2, 1795, the National Convention was dissolved in favor of a five-man executive committee "The Directory" and a bicameral legislature (two large legislative bodies) called the "Corps Législatif". The constitution gave more stability to the French government by separating it into two branches. Because the legislative branch was made up of two houses, its authority was reduced and balanced by the executive branch, The Directory.
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Established on November 2, 1795, The Directory was the five-man executive committee created by the Constitution of 1795. The Directory governed alongside a bicameral legislature, the Corps Législatif, which was made up of the Council of Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred. The Directory used military force to put down uprisings. They also annulled elections when they did not like the results. It helped France to recover after the Reign of Terror and set the stage for future governments.
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On November 9, 1799, Napoleon led a bloodless military coup d'etat that overthrew the system of government under The Directory and replaced it with a new government called the Consulate, which was made up of three consuls. Napoleon was established as the Consulate's leader, given the title of First Consul, and had greater power than the other two consuls. As First Consul, Napoleon's political power and popularity grew and he became a dictator. On May 18, 1804, the Consulate would be disbanded.
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Signed into effect on July 15, 1801, The Concordat of 1801, was an agreement between Napoleon, Pope Pius VII, and the papal and clerical representatives in both Rome and Paris, which confirmed the status of the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and resolved conflicts caused by the church reforms and church land confiscations which took place during the French Revolution.
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On May 18, 1804, the French Consulate was dissolved and First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, became emperor of France. Wanting to establish his right to rule as France's emperor, Napoleon asked Pope Pius VII to officiate at his coronation ceremony. The Pope agreed. At the coronation, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope's hands, crowned himself, and then crowned his wife, Empress Josephine. He did so, to show that he was becoming emperor because of his own merits and the will of the people.
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On October 21, 1805, the British naval fleet, under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson, defeated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies. The battle, fought off of Cape Trafalgar, Spain (between Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar), was one of the most important naval battles in history and established Britain's naval supremacy. The British victory ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain.
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The Battle of Austerlitz (also know as the Battle of the Three Emperors) was one Napoleon's greatest victories and one of the most important and decisive battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's forces, the Grande Armee, defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army led by Russian Emperor Alexander I and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. This battle proved Napoleon's military genius and the French army's superiority. It also prevented France from being invaded by Austria and Russia.
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In November of 1806, Napoleon signed a decree ordering a blockade - a forcible closing of ports - to prevent all trade and communication between Great Britain and other European nations. In doing this, Napoleon was trying to make continental Europe more self-sufficient and destroy Britain’s industrial and commercial economy. The Continental system was a failure and affected the French Empire by weakening the economy of France and other lands under Napoleon’s control.
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The Peninsular War (1808-1813) a war between France and Spain. Portugal refused to abide by Napoleon's Continental System, he sent an army through Spain to invade it. Napoleon overthrew the Spanish king and put his brother, Joseph, on the throne. Spanish peasant fighters (guerrillas) went to war against the French for five years. The British aided these rebels. The war caused Napoleon to lose about 300,000 men and made other conquered peoples (Germans, Italians, & etc.) turn against the French.
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Enraged by his ally, Russian Czar’s, Alexander I, refusal to stop selling grain to Great Britain and because of their competing interests in Poland, Napoleon sent his Grand Army (of over 600,00 men) to invade Russia in June 1812. This proved to be Napoleon’s greatest mistake as the Russia army defeated his Grand Army, the invasion cost the lives of most of Napoleon’s soldiers, and led other European states to rise up, attack France, and capture Paris in March 1814.
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The Congress of Vienna (French: Congrès de Vienne, German: Wiener Kongress) of 1814–1815 was one of the most important international diplomatic conferences in European history, reconstituting the European political order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon I. It was a meeting of ambassadors of European states chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November 1814 to June 1815.
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After being defeated by the Russians in 1812 and with much of Europe uniting against him, Napoleon was forced to sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau in April 1814. The treaty was an agreement established between Napoleon and representatives of Austria, Russia, and Prussia. The treaty was signed in Paris on April 11, 1814 and was ratified by Napoleon on April 13, 1814. The treaty ended Napoleon's rule as emperor of France and sent him into exile on the island of Elba on May 4, 1814.
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On March 20, 1815, Napoleon returned to Paris from being exiled on the island of Elba. The Congress of Vienna was in session and Napoleon was declared an outlaw. On March 25, 1815, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom (key members of the Seventh Coalition) agreed to send 150,000 men each into battle to defeat Napoleon. This agreement resulted in the Battle of Waterloo, the second restoration of the French kingdom, and Napoleon's permanent exile to the island of Saint Helena.
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On June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo was fought near Waterloo in Belgium (part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time). Napoleon's army was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition, a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blucher. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
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Four months, after his final and crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on June 15, 1815, Napoleon was removed from power and sent into his second and final exile on the British island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa. On May 5, 1821, Napoleon would die of stomach cancer.
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On May 5, 1821, while in exile on the British island of St. Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte died from stomach cancer. In 1840, his body was returned to Paris, where it was interred in the Hotel des Invalides.
