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Louis XVI Summons the Estates General --May 5 - June 28, 1789

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Louis XVI Summons the Estates General --May 5 - June 28, 1789

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This event gathered the three estates of France: The clergy, nobility, and commoners summoned by the king, Louis XVI, to address the financial crisis and societal issues within France. After a time, disagreement sparked as the commoners wanted votes within the consul to be counted by individuals and not by the estates, giving them an advantage that was refused by the First and Second, creating an even larger divide between the Estates.

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On 4 May 1789 the last grand ceremony of the Ancien Régime was held in Versailles: the procession of the Estates General. From all over France, 1,200 deputies had arrived for the event. The deputies of the Third Estate (the Commoners) were the greatest in number, dressed in black with a gold and black overcoat. They were all holding a candle in their hand, except for those carrying the banners and the King's Falconers. The king himself was wearing an overcoat of golden fabric and was surrounded by the most important Officers to the Crown. On his hat he wore the Regent Diamond, which was the largest diamond in the kingdom. The queen was wearing a gold and silver dress. The king was cheered, but not the queen. The procession started at Notre-Dame, crossed the Place d'Armes, and finished at the church of Saint-Louis, where Monseigneur de La Fare, bishop of Nancy, stood at the pulpit and gave his famous speech in which he severely rebuked the luxury of the Court. For the first time in history a bishop was applauded in a church.

ANECDOTE

Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General. As a peaceful king, he declared himself "the people's greatest friend".

The solemn opening ceremony began on 5 May. The convocation had been sent out on 5 July the previous year, assembling the Estates General for the first time since 1614. A temporary hall with columns had been built behind the Menus-Plaisirs building on Avenue de Paris. However, contrary to the depiction in the famous engraving, the hall was very small. The king officiated from his position at the end of the hall beneath a majestic baldachin, with the queen and the princes of the blood around him. The deputies were seated in rows around the edge. The members of the Third Estate and a few of the Clergy and the Nobility would later constitute the first National Assembly.

Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General. As a peaceful king, he declared himself "the people's greatest friend". This was followed by speeches by Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals, and Necker, the Minister of Finances, concerning the economic situation in the kingdom. The budget deficit was 56 million. Necker claimed that new taxes would be enough to make up for the deficit, but the Commoners, who were only too aware of the country's expectations, were dissatisfied with such a mediocre discourse, and decided to take things into their own hands. The Revolution had begun...

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The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. This assembly was composed of three estates - the clergy, nobility and commoners - who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country.

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Tennis Court Oath & Creation of the National Assembly --June 20, 1789

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Tennis Court Oath & Creation of the National Assembly --June 20, 1789

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After the events of the Estates General, The third estate separates from the other two (nobility and clergy), to declare itself the National Assembly, coming together to create a new constitution for the people. After being locked out of their meeting area, they gather to a near bt tennis cour and all take an oath to disband until the creation of their constitution.

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Storming of the Bastille --July 14, 1789

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Storming of the Bastille --July 14, 1789

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Storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution - Video Infographic

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The Abolition of Feudalism --August 4, 1789

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The Abolition of Feudalism --August 4, 1789

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Members of the National Assembly proposed the abolition of Feudalism, as it restricted the rights of the common folk. It was put in place a week later and paved the way for modern French society by solving inequalities in their old system of government.

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The Abolition of Feudalism --August 4, 1789

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Declaration of The Rights of Man and Citizen --August 26, 1789 

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Declaration of The Rights of Man and Citizen --August 26, 1789 

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The Women's March on Versailles --October 5-6, 1789

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The Women's March on Versailles --October 5-6, 1789

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After economic hardship, such as shortages of bread and increasing prices of food, primarily affecting the poor folk of France, thousands of Parisian women and some men marched to the Palace of Versailles. They demanded bread and political reforms and forced King Louis XVI to agree to their demands.

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The Women's March on Versailles --October 5-6, 1789

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Royal Flight to Varennes -- June 20-21, 1791

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Royal Flight to Varennes -- June 20-21, 1791

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After the growing tension of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI and his family attempted an escape to Montmédy, where loyalists were stationed, They disguised themselves as commoners and traveled in a carriage. However, they were recognized and arrested, leading to widespread anger and distrust in the French monarchy.

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The Flight to Varennes was a pivotal moment of the French Revolution (1789-1799), in which King Louis XVI of France (r.1774-92), his wife Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-93), and their children attempted…

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Haitian Revolution & War of Independence --August 21, 1791 - January 1, 1804

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Haitian Revolution & War of Independence --August 21, 1791 - January 1, 1804

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It started in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) known for its brutal treatment of their encampments. Inspired by the French Revolution, the Haitian slaves started conflicts between slaves, freed people of color, and French colonial forces, which led to a war against French rule. The conflict ended with the independence of Haiti as a republic of its own.

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What was the Haitian Revolution?

Why did the Haitian Revolution start?

How is the Haitian Revolution related to the French Revolution?

Who did the Haitian Revolution involve?

Why is the Haitian Revolution important?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Haitian Revolution, series of conflicts between 1791 and 1804 between Haitian slaves, colonists, the armies of the British and French colonizers, and a number of other parties. Through the struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France and thereby became the first country to be founded by former slaves.

Colonial rule and slavery

The Spanish began to enslave the native Taino and Ciboney people soon after December 1492, when Italian navigator Christopher Columbus sighted the island that he called La Isla Española ("The Spanish Island"; later Anglicized as Hispaniola.) The island's indigenous population, forced to mine for gold, was devastated by European diseases and brutal working conditions, and by the end of the 16th century the people had virtually vanished. Thousands of slaves imported from other Caribbean islands met the same fate.

After the main gold mines were exhausted, the Spanish were succeeded by the French, who established their own permanent settlements, including Port-de-Paix (1665) in the northwest, and the French West Indies Corporation took control of the area. Landowners in western Hispaniola imported increasing numbers of African slaves, who totaled about 5,000 in the late 17th century. By 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the estimated population of Saint-Domingue, as the French called their colony, was 556,000 and included roughly 500,000 African slaves, 32,000 European colonists, and 24,000 affranchis (free mulattoes [people of mixed African and European descent] or blacks).

Haitian society was deeply fragmented by skin colour, class, and gender. The affranchis, most of them mulattoes, were sometimes slave owners themselves and aspired to the economic and social levels of the Europeans. They feared and spurned the slave majority but were generally discriminated against by the white European colonists, who were merchants, landowners, overseers, craftsmen, and the like. The aspirations of the affranchis became a major factor in the colony's struggle for independence. A large part of the slave population was African-born, from a number of West African peoples. The vast majority worked in the fields; others were household servants, boilermen (at the sugar mills), and even slave drivers. Slaves endured long, backbreaking workdays and often died from injuries, infections, and tropical diseases. Malnutrition and starvation also were common. Some slaves managed to escape into the mountainous interior, where they became known as Maroons and fought guerrilla battles against colonial militia.

Factional conflict and the rise of Toussaint Louverture

Against this background arose a revolution, beginning as a series of conflicts from the early 1790s. Among the causes of the conflicts were the affranchis' frustrations with a racist society, turmoil created in the colony by the French Revolution, nationalistic rhetoric expressed during Vodou ceremonies, the continuing brutality of slave owners, and wars between European powers. Vincent Ogé, a mulatto who had lobbied the Parisian assembly for colonial reforms, led an uprising in late 1790 but was captured, tortured, and executed.

In May 1791 the French revolutionary government granted citizenship to the wealthier affranchis, but Haiti's European population disregarded the law. Within two months isolated fighting broke out between Europeans and affranchis, and in August thousands of slaves rose in rebellion. The Europeans attempted to appease the mulattoes in order to quell the slave revolt, and the French assembly granted citizenship to all affranchis in April 1792. The country was torn by rival factions, some of which were supported by Spanish colonists in Santo Domingo (on the eastern side of the island, which later became the Dominican Republic) or by British troops from Jamaica. In 1793 a commissioner, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, was sent from France to maintain order and offered freedom to slaves who joined his army; he soon abolished slavery altogether, a decision confirmed the following year by the French government.

In the late 1790s Toussaint Louverture, a military leader and former slave, gained control of several areas and earned the initial support of French agents. He gave nominal allegiance to France while pursuing his own political and military designs, which included negotiating with the British. In January 1801 Toussaint conquered Santo Domingo, and in May of that year, he had himself named "governor-general for life." He put the peasants back to work on the plantations under military rule and encouraged many of the French proprietors to return. In December 1801 Napoléon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I), wishing to maintain control of the island, attempted to restore the old regime (and European rule) by sending his brother-in-law, Gen. Charles Leclerc, with an experienced force from Saint-Domingue that included Alexandre Sabès Pétion and several other exiled mulatto officers. Toussaint struggled for several months against Leclerc's forces before agreeing to an armistice in May 1802; however, the French broke the agreement and imprisoned him in France. He died on April 7, 1803.

Independent Haiti

Some of Toussaint's lieutenants-most notably Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe- resumed the war against the French in 1802. They were soon joined by Pétion and other mulatto leaders, who were infuriated by the restoration of the restrictions on their caste. Both the blacks and the mulattoes were enraged by reports that France had reestablished slavery in Guadeloupe and Martinique, and the struggle was carried on with great desperation. The French were weakened by an epidemic of yellow fever-Leclerc succumbed to the disease in November 1802-and the conclusion of the Louisiana Purchase in May 1803 signaled Napoleon's intention to withdraw from North America. Less than three weeks later, the French position in Haiti became truly hopeless with the renewal of hostilities between France and Britain on May 18, 1803.

On November 18 the Armée indigène (French: "Indigenous Army") under Dessalines defeated the French at the Battle of Vertières, and French Gen. Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, surrendered Cap-Français (now Cap-Haïtien), the last significant French stronghold. Under the terms of the surrender, the French were given 10 days to evacuate, but Rochambeau showed no haste in embarking his troops. Dessalines responded by threatening to turn his cannons on the French ships at anchor in Cap-Français harbour. Ironically, it would fall to the Royal Navy, which had been blockading Saint-Domingue since the resumption of the Napoleonic Wars, to carry out the evacuation. British Capt. John Bligh treated with both Rochambeau and Dessalines, and the French garrison finally departed Cap-Français as British prisoners. While this marked the end of French military action on Haiti, France continued to maintain a presence in the eastern part of the island until 1809.

On January 1, 1804, the entire island was declared independent under the Arawak-derived name of Haiti. Many European powers and their Caribbean surrogates ostracized Haiti, fearing the spread of slave revolts, whereas reaction in the United States was mixed; slave-owning states did all they could to suppress news of the rebellion, but merchants in the free states hoped to trade with Haiti rather than with European powers. More important, nearly the entire population was utterly destitute-a legacy of slavery that has continued to have a profound impact on Haitian history.

In October 1804 Dessalines assumed the title of Emperor Jacques I, but in October 1806 he was killed while trying to suppress a mulatto revolt, and Henry Christophe took control of the kingdom from his capital in the north. Civil war then broke out between Christophe and Sabès Pétion, who was based at Port-au-Prince in the south. Christophe, who declared himself King Henry I in 1811, managed to improve the country's economy but at the cost of forcing former slaves to return to work on the plantations. He built a spectacular palace (Sans Souci) as well as an imposing fortress (La Citadelle Laferrière) in the hills to the south of the city of Cap-Haïtien, where, with mutinous soldiers almost at his door, he committed suicide in 1820. It was not until 1825 that France recognized Haiti's independence, and then only in exchange for a large indemnity of 100 million francs, with a repayment period until 1887.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Michael Ray.

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Haitian Revolution | Causes, Summary, & Facts

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Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), series of conflicts between Haitian slaves, colonists, the armies of the British and French colonizers, and a number of other parties. Through the struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France and thereby became the first country to be founded by former slaves.

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Arrest, Trial, and Execution of King Louis XVI --Arrest: August 13, 1792, Trial: December 3-4 1792, Execution: January 21, 1793

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Arrest, Trial, and Execution of King Louis XVI --Arrest: August 13, 1792, Trial: December 3-4 1792, Execution: January 21, 1793

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Reign of Terror and Robespierre --September 1793 to July 27, 1794

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Reign of Terror and Robespierre --September 1793 to July 27, 1794

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It was a period of extreme violence and political purges to eliminate enemies of the revolution. Robespierre led a dictatorial commit that caused the executions of thousands, including former revolutionaries, nobles, and regular citizens accused of counter-revolutionary activities. It ended with the fall of Robespierre and his allies at an event called the Thermidorian Reaction.

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Table of Contents

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Reign of Terror, period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, year II). With civil war spreading from the Vendée and hostile armies surrounding France on all sides, the Revolutionary government decided to make "Terror" the order of the day (September 5 decree) and to take harsh measures against those suspected of being enemies of the Revolution (nobles, priests, and hoarders). In Paris a wave of executions followed. In the provinces, representatives on mission and surveillance committees instituted local terrors. The Terror had an economic side embodied in the Maximum, a price-control measure demanded by the lower classes of Paris, and a religious side that was embodied in the program of de-Christianization pursued by the followers of Jacques Hébert.

During the Terror, the Committee of Public Safety (of which Maximilien de Robespierre was the most prominent member) exercised virtual dictatorial control over the French government. In the spring of 1794, it eliminated its enemies to the left (the Hébertists) and to the right (the Indulgents, or followers of Georges Danton). Still uncertain of its position, the committee obtained the Law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), which suspended a suspect's right to public trial and to legal assistance and left the jury a choice only of acquittal or death. The "Great Terror" that followed, in which about 1,400 persons were executed, contributed to the fall of Robespierre on July 27 (9 Thermidor).

During the Reign of Terror, at least 300,000 suspects were arrested; 17,000 were officially executed, and perhaps 10,000 died in prison or without trial.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Amy Tikkanen.

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Reign of Terror | History, Significance, & Facts

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Reign of Terror, period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794, during which the Revolutionary government decided to take harsh measures against those suspected of being enemies of the Revolution (nobles, priests, and hoarders). In Paris a wave of executions followed.

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Napoleon's Italian Campaigns --April 10, 1796 – October 17, 1797 

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Napoleon's Italian Campaigns --April 10, 1796 – October 17, 1797 

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AI SPEECH (PADLET FEATURE)

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Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt --July 1, 1798 -September 2, 1801

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Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt --July 1, 1798 -September 2, 1801

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Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt aimed to disrupt British trade routes and establish a French presence in the Middle East. Despite at first winning, like the battle of the Pyramids, the Campaign failed due to the destruction of the library of Alexandria by the British and resistance in Syria. This expedition did lead to discoveries like the Rosetta stone, helping further understanding of the world in Europe.

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Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt --July 1, 1798 -September 2, 1801

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The Coup of 18th Brumaire --November 9-10, 1799

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The Coup of 18th Brumaire --November 9-10, 1799

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Napoleon Crowning as Emperor --December 2, 1804

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Napoleon Crowning as Emperor --December 2, 1804

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A battle between the British Navy and the combined Fleet of Spain and France. The British fleet used unconventional tactics and sailed directly at their enemies flank, break it up and leave them in disarray. The British won, capturing / destroying 20 ships and loosing none of their own.

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In this battle, Napoleon's grand armeé faced Russian and Austrian soldiers. Napolean faked retreats to lure his enemies into his attack on the Frozen Heights. The French won by a landslide inflicting heavy losses on the Allies, capturing thousands of prisoners

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Battle of Austerlitz and its significance | Britannica

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Battle of Austerlitz, (Dec. 2, 1805) First engagement of the War of the Third Coalition and one of Napoleon’s greatest victories.

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Napoleon's Invasion of Russia --June 24 - December 14, - 1812

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Napoleon's Invasion of Russia --June 24 - December 14, - 1812

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Napoleon's Most Deadly Battle: The Invasion of Russia

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Congress of Vienna --September 1814 - June 1815

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Congress of Vienna --September 1814 - June 1815

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The Congress was formed after Napoleon's abdication at the end of the conflict in Europe after 23 years. It consisted of major European powers and they made adjustments in territory, such as the creation of the Netherlands as a country, and the agreements on the council led to relative peace in Europe for almost a hundred years.

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Congress of Vienna --September 1814 to June 1815

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Napoleon's Exile and the 100 days -- Exile: April 6, 1814 - February 26, 1815; 100 Days: March 20 - July 8, 1815

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Napoleon's Exile and the 100 days -- Exile: April 6, 1814 - February 26, 1815; 100 Days: March 20 - July 8, 1815

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After many defeats and the invasion of France, Napolean was forced to abdicate and was exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, though he did not lose his ambition for war. The 100 days were the period between Napoleon's escape from exile and his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo.

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The Hundred Days ( French: les Cent-Jours IPA: ) marked the period between Napoleon's return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815 (a period of 111 days).

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After Napoleon returned from exile, he led the French Imperial army to Fight the 7th coaliliton, Despite multiple attempts to break enemy lines, Napolean was defeated ending to his second abduction / exile, thus ending the Napolionic wars.

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Napoleon's Exile and Death --October 15, 1815 - May 5, 1821

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Napoleon's Exile and Death --October 15, 1815 - May 5, 1821