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NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
The National Constituent Assembly was a constituent assembly in the Kingdom of France formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly. The National Assembly drafted a constitution for the new regime while ruled from day to day. The constitution established a limited monarchy, with a clear separation of powers in which the king was to name and dismiss his ministers. -
FORMAL OPENING OF THE ESTATES GENERAL
The Estates-General of 1789 was a meeting of the three estates of pre-revolutionary France: clergy, nobility and commons. Summoned by King Louis XVI of France to deal with the financial and societal crisis, it ended with the Third Estate breaking from royal authority and forming a National Assembly. It is generally considered the start of the French Revolution (1789-1799).The Estates-General had been consulted on fiscal policy and had presented the king with petitions from the estates. -
TENNIS COURT OATH
It was an act of defiance of the Third Estate during the meeting of the Estates-General at the birth of the French Revolution.
The deputies of the Third Estate realized that they would always be outvoted by the two privileged orders. The king tried to prevent the assembly by closing the Menus-Plaisirs hall in Versailles, but, upon finding the door locked on 20 June, the deputies left to a hall where the sport of Real Tennis was played. There they made the famous Oath of the Real Tennis Room. -
STORMING OF THE BASILLE
On July 14, citizens of Paris seized weapons and attacked a state prison on the east side of Paris,known as the Bastille. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. The storming of the Bastille set a precedent: For the first time in modern history, ordinary men and women, through their collective action in the streets, ensured the creation of a constitutional system of democratic government. -
THE AUGUST DECREES
The August Decrees was a significant development, both in the French Revolution and the history of France. On August 4th 1789, a set of 19 articles were passed by the National Constituent Assembly, which abolished feudalism in France and ended the tax exemption privileges of the upper classes. They declare that among feudal and taxable rights and duties, the ones concerned with real succession rights and personal servitude and the ones that represent them are abolished with no compensation. -
THE DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 26 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution that granted civil rights to some commoners, although it excluded a significant segment of the French population. It is an expression of universal human rights, those rights that are true at all times and in all places. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. -
THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES
The flight to Varennes describes the royal family’s failed attempt to escape their house arrest in Paris in June 1791. They were located and detained the next day and returned to the capital. The flight to Varennes was a turning point in the French Revolution because it exposed the untrustworthiness of the king and the unworkability of the newly implemented constitution. The Paris sections and radical journalists demanded the immediate abolition of the monarchy and the creation of a republic. -
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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
The Legislative Assembly was the governing body of France between October 1791 and September 1792. It replaced the National Constituent Assembly. The Legislative Assembly was formed under the Constitution of 1791, that created a constitutional monarchy with Louis XVI as the head of state. It implemented new reforms to help create a society of independent citizens with equal rights. These reforms included new legislation about divorce, government control over registration and rights for children. -
THE ASSEMBLY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA
The Legislative Assembly declared revolutionary war on Austria on April 20th 1792. Marie Antoinette heard rumors that the Girondins, now part of the king’s ministry, were planning a military attack on the Austrian Netherlands. She warned her brother Leopold. The Girondin ministry pushed for war on Austria in spring 1792. At their urging, the Legislative Assembly declared war. The national financial crisis was exploding and the army was weak, so Louis XVI dismissed the Girondin ministry. -
STORMING OF THE TUILERIES PALACE
The Storming of the Tuileries Palace, also known as the Insurrection of 10 August, was a defining moment in the French Revolution that saw the revolutionary lower classes of Paris and provincial militias invade the residence of King Louis XVI of France and massacred his Swiss Guards. They were angry about King Louis XVI's lack of cooperation with the French Revolution and wanted to overthrow him. The event effectively abolished France's monarchy, ushering in a new phase in the Revolution. -
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NATIONAL CONVENTION
The National Convention was a single-chamber assembly in France from September 20, 1792, to October 26, 1795, during the French Revolution. It succeeded the Legislative Assembly and founded the First Republic after the Insurrection of August 10, 1792. It was the first French assembly elected by universal male suffrage without distinctions of class. It was divided into two main factions: the Girondins, that represented the more moderate elements, and the Montagnards, that were much more radical. -
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1ST FRENCH REPUBLIC
The 1st French Republic was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. It lasted until the declaration of the First Empire under Napoleon, although the form of the government changed several times. This period was characterized by the downfall of the French Monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction and the founding of the Directory, and the creation of the Consulate and Napoleon's rise to power. -
EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI
In November 1792, a secret cupboard containing proof of Louis' counter-revolutionary beliefs and correspondence with foreign powers was discovered in Tuileries Palace. The deputies decreed Louis' guilt and his punishment by death; there would be no reprieve of his execution.On 21 January 1793, the sentence against Louis was carried out and he was publicly executed during the French Revolution at the Place de la Révolution in Paris. -
EXECUTION OF ROBESPIERRE
Robespierre, having been branded a failed dictator by the right and a moderate by the left, refused to give up power, insisting that internal enemies still presented a threat. Some members of the National Convention, fearing they had been marked out for execution, preemptively denounced Robespierre, declaring him to be an outlaw on 27 July 1794. The next day, Robespierre was taken to the Place de la Révolution, where he was executed by guillotine before a cheering crowd. -
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DIRECTORY
The French Directory was the government of France from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799. The French Directory oversaw France's victories in the French Revolutionary Wars, establishing multiple sister republics. It guided France through the last four years of the French Revolution until it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte on 9 November 1799 during the Coup of 18 Brumaire. The Directory was unpopular, despite military successes, and faced economic crises and social unrest. -
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THE NAPOLEONIC ERA
The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France classified as the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution. It covers a period of practically 15 years, in which General Napoleon Bonaparte extended his Empire and his power throughout Europe. It ended with his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and his exile to the island of Saint Helena in 1815. In this period, there were the Napoleonic Wars, a series of conflicts fought between France under his leadership and some European nations. -
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THE CONSULATE
The French Consulate was the government of France from November 1799 to 18 May 1804, succeeding the French Directory and preceding the First French Empire. The consulate was created during which general Napoleon Bonaparte seized power from the Directory and became "First Consul" of France. The consulate was an authoritarian and centralized republican government, and it is often called a "military dictatorship". In 1804, a vote led to Napoleon becoming Emperor of the French Empire, a new state. -
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THE EMPIRE
On December 2, 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor and launched additional expansion campaigns for his growing Empire. Nonetheless, by 1810, Napoleon had control of nearly all of continental Europe. In 1814, in the "War of Liberation," Napoleon lost Paris. However, the Waterloo campaign of June 12-18 marked the last of the Napoleonic Wars. The Empire is remembered for its overall economic expansion that particularly benefited the bourgeois, as well as its agricultural advancements. -
BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ
The Battle of Austerlitz, in 1805, was the first engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon's most significant victories. His 68,000 troops defeated 90,000 Russians and Austrians under General M.I. Kutuzov, forcing Austria to make peace with France and keeping Prussia temporarily out of the anti-French alliance. Napoleon's armies helped to sweep away the political structures of the old, aristocratic world and create the context for the rise of democracy and equalization. -
BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR
The Battle of Trafalgar, on October 21, 1805, was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, which established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years and shattered Napoleon’s plans to invade England. It was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve fought a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The victory gave the Royal Navy its most famous triumph. -
BATTLE OF LEIPZIG
The Battle of Leipzig, from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 1813, was the decisive defeat for Napoleon, resulting in the destruction of what was left of French power in Germany and Poland. The battle was fought at Leipzig between about 185,000 French and other troops under Napoleon, and approximately 320,000 allied troops, including Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and Swedish forces. The battle developed when Napoleon seized the Leipzig position, intending to divide his opponents and attack them one by one. -
BATTLE OF WATERLOO
The Battle of Waterloo meant the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the fall of the French Empire, but also changed the course of Europe with the Congress of Vienna, in which the borders of the continental countries were redefined and the absolute monarchies threatened since the French revolution. The confrontation was between the French army against British, Dutch and German troops. After the battle, the French public opinion turned against him and he was sent to the island of St Helena.