French Revolution Timeline by ZANE ZAHNER

May 5th, 1789: Louis XVI Summons the Estates-General

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:14:15 UTC

This was a meeting with 300 Clergymen, 300 nobles, and 600 commoners, despite the commoners being around 98% of the population. This gathering was to address the financial crisis caused by funding several wars and lavish royal spending. Even though the leaders of France caused the debt, they left commoners to foot the bill (the nobles were tax-exempt). In addition, the Estates-General had not been called in quite some time, so people had numerous unsettled problems, and some hadn't been addressed for generations.

June 17th, 1789: Creation of the National Assembly

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:14:23 UTC

On June 17th, the third Estate (the one for the commoners) announced that they would draft a new constitution that would reduce the king's power. Three days later, they said they wouldn't disband until they had made a new constitution. This declaration is called the "Tennis Court Oath" because it was decided on the tennis court in Versailles, and they were there because they were locked out of the original meeting room.

July 14th, 1789: Storming of the Bastille

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:14:44 UTC

The Storming of the Bastille was caused by the firing of Jacques Necker. Jacques was an ally of the commoners and wanted to make the national budget public so everyone could see how their government was spending taxpayer money. The French Monarchy did not like this, so they fired him on July 11th, 1789. Commoners were outraged at this decision, so they protested at the Palais-Royal on the 12th. Eventually, they directed their indignation toward symbols of the government's oppressing taxation. During the 12th-14th, they burned toll booths and tax records and took 30,000 weapons from Hôtel des Invalides. They realized they needed ammunition, and that's when they decided to invade the Bastille.

August 4th, 1789: The Abolition of Feudalism

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:14:55 UTC

This marked the once-widespread economic idea of Feudalism in France. No longer did serfs have to work for their masters to get shelter, and nobles couldn't just rake in money for existing. This also allowed for a more free market, as people could sell their crops instead of giving most of them away in feudal dues. Now, people could own the land they worked on, incentivizing them to work harder, which led to higher crop production.

August 26th, 1789: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:15:03 UTC

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was a document that served to state all of the fundamental ideas French law is to be based on, phrases like "all men are born free and equal" and "Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else" laid the foundation to build the rest of the country. It was like the American Bill of Rights, just before their Constitution instead of after it. Consequently, these ideas are more baked into their Constitution rather than an addition to it.

October 5th–6th, 1789: The Women’s March on Versailles

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:15:13 UTC

The origins of the March go back to when Jacques Turgot deregulated the price of grain (because of his laissez-faire philosophy). As a result, grain prices became very volatile and spiked significantly, especially due to the hoarding of grain (which artificially drove up the price). Bread, once a staple of diets everywhere, became a luxury in France, leaving millions starving. Eventually, word got around that there might be a stockpile in the Palace of Versailles, so a bunch of women broke into the palace searching for both grain and the royal family. Even though they were given some bread, they still brought the family back to Paris.

June 20th–21st, 1791: Royal Flight to Varennes

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:15:24 UTC

After the commoners seized the royal family, they dragged them back to Paris and locked them in Tuileries Palace as the Hernan Cortes did to Moctezuma. Obviously, the royal family did not appreciate this, so they tried to escape to Montmédy and eventually start a counter-revolution. They left in the dead of night dressed as commoners and they escaped Paris by coach. However, due to numerous delays and unlucky occurrences, they were captured 31 miles from Montmédy and sent back to Paris. This huge scandal caused even further distrust in the royal family.

August 10th, 1792: Arrest of King Louis XVI

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:15:33 UTC

When they brought the family back, they placed them back in the Tuileries Palace with increased security. Despite having little power, the King did as much as he could to stall their reform; he "vetoed" everything and made a secret deal with the Prussian and Austrian governments called led to the Brunswick Manifesto. In this document, the Prussians and Austrians declared that they would use military force on the commoners if they hurt the French Royal Family (those two countries were currently at war with France, so he was conspiring with a current foreign enemy). This directly incited the commoners to storm the Tuileries Palace, where they forced the royal family into the Temple prison(August 10th, 1792). After a while, the National Assembly/Convention charged him with high treason (Dec. 3, 1792), put him on trial (Dec. 3, 1792-Jan. 15, 1793), and killed him via guillotine (Jan. 21, 1793).

September 5, 1793 – July 27, 1794: Reign of Terror and Robespierre

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:15:58 UTC

During this period, Maximilien Robespierre took charge of France's fledgling government. However, complications quickly arose, and the government soon became tyrannical. Hundreds of thousands were imprisoned, and tens of thousands died. Like many dictatorships, the Jacobin idea of "those who are not for me are against me" was extremely prevalent. People were given cards that declared they were with the revolution, and people were reported for being "against the revolution" but this devolved into witch hunts and a way to control the masses (like the Red Scares). Citizens grew weary of these scare tactics and killed him via guillotine.

April 10th, 1796 – October 17th, 1797: Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:16:18 UTC

Originally, Napoleon was seen as a green general who owed his rank to his wife. However, he quickly proved himself on the battlefield. He swiftly beat the Piedmontese and the Austrians, then went on to capture even more of the Italian Peninsula (something other generals hadn't done in two years of fighting). These battles and subsequent victories in the Northern Italian Peninsula brought Napoleon's name into the limelight, and he was recognized as a strong military leader. It also brought an end to the war against the First Coalition, which was a leap towards sustaining peace in the region.

May 19th, 1798 – August 23rd, 1799: Napoleon’s Invasion of Egypt

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:16:28 UTC

After his previous victories, he thought it would be a good idea to capture Egypt, as it would boost his ego and hurt the British because it lengthened their route to India. The Directory (the government at the time) also thought it would be a good idea, as they could send him off somewhere random and not think about him. Even though the conquest ultimately failed, Napoleon came back as a hero, and the French would still hold onto territory there until September 2, 1801.

November 9th, 1799: Coup of 18th Brumaire

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:16:36 UTC

After his Egyptian campaigns, Napoleon decided he wanted to be in charge of France. He wanted to take over the Directory but needed the approval of both councils. So he summoned the council because of a supposed Jacobin plot, but he had more nefarious intentions. The Council of the Ancients put up little fight, but the Council of 500 wasn't easily persuaded. So Napoleon left and had his friends send in some big, scary grenadiers to break up the Council of 500. Eventually, they both agreed to dissolve the Directory and create a Consolate (with Napoleon being the first and most powerful of the three). Despite the name "The Bloodless Coup," Napoleon had a ton of soldiers surrounding the city, so the Directory didn't have much of a choice.

December 2nd, 1804: Napoleon Crowning as Emperor

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:16:46 UTC

On this day, Napoleon was crowned at the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Pope was there to bless the coronation, but Napoleon crowned himself, symbolizing his independence both from the church and in general. This also ended the consulate, giving Napoleon near-complete control over the government. Now, the First French Empire was fully underway, and the French Revolution was no more.

August 22nd, 1791 – January 1st, 1804: Haitian Revolution & War of Independence

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:16:55 UTC

This was a big hit to France, as the colony of Saint-Domingue was a huge exporter of sugar, coffee, and other lucrative cash crops. Originally starting as a slave revolt, the occupants of Haiti fought hard for 13 years for their independence. They also provided hope to other slave populations, hope that they may one day be free. For this reason, the US didn't particularly care for Haiti and placed trade sanctions on them. This was also due to the war disrupting the US sugar supply. However, there was an upside for the US as well. Because Napoleon just lost a very profitable colony, he was more willing to sell the Louisiana Territory for some extra money. Plus, Napoleon was going to use Haiti as a jumping-off point into America, so the Louisana Territory was of little use now that Haiti was gone.

December 2nd, 1805: Battle of Austerlitz

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:17:02 UTC

Napoleon used several great strategies to win this battle. He faked weakness, which goaded Russian and Austrian forces into attacking; centralized his position, allowing for the attacking of the enemy flanks; and broke his enemies' center at Pratzen Heights, splitting the forces. This battle was quite significant politically, as it caused the end and beginning of several groups. It ended the Third Coalition and the Holy Roman Empire, but it started the Confederation of the Rhine and French military dominance in Europe.

October 21st, 1805: Battle of Trafalgar

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:17:09 UTC

The Battle of Trafalgar was a large battle off the Spanish coast, where a fleet of 17,000 Britons faced off against a French and Spanish group of 30,000. British forces caught them by surprise, and they lost only 1,500 people plus their commander, but they took out 14,000 of their enemies' troops. This dissuaded Napoleon from invading Britain and established British naval superiority.

June 24th – December 14th, 1812: Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:17:18 UTC

There were a couple of reasons Napoleon invaded Russia, but the gist of it was that he didn't like that they exited the Continental System (a complete blockade of Britain) and that Napoleon might've wanted to reinstate Poland as a country. Generally, he wanted Russia to see France as a threat and obey their policies. However, things didn't go as he planned. Winter quickly became cold, and supplies ran out. The graphic shows he crossed the Neman River with 422,000 troops, but as many as 600,000 fought in total. And he had anywhere from ten to thirty thousand come back.

September 1, 1814 – June 9, 1815: Congress of Vienna

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:17:25 UTC

The Congress of Vienna consisted of Austria, Russia, Prussia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and numerous other smaller states. They met to redraw country borders, create new states, and prevent further wars from happening. The meeting was quite successful, as they created the Netherlands and German Confederation to replace the Holy Roman Empire and it kept peace until World War I.

April 11, 1814: Napoleon’s Exile to Elba

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:17:34 UTC

After his defeat against the Russians, Napoleon had relatively few troops left. This caused the rise of the SIXTH Coalition! Seriously, it took other countries six tries to take Napoleon down. Finally, they invaded French soil and forced Napoleon to abdicate his throne. He was exiled to Elba, where he was allowed to keep the title of French Emperor and governed the island quite well (though I supposed these acts were to appease Napoleon's ego and prevent escape). However, he escaped anyway and took over France for about 100 days

June 18, 1815: Battle of Waterloo

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:19:28 UTC

Despite his initial victories at Ligny and Quatre Bras a couple of days earlier, Napoleon suffered a crushing defeat at Waterloo. After this loss, Napoleon knew he knew it was a matter of time before he was captured, so he abdicated the throne and left it to his son, Napoleon II (I know it was the custom of the time, but it's very Napoleon to name his son after himself). He then tried to flee to America but was quickly captured by a British naval blockade.

October 15, 1815: Napoleon’s Exile to Saint Helena

zzahner26 — 2025-02-11 20:19:37 UTC

After he was captured, he was sentenced to exile to Saint Helena, a cold, wet island in the middle of the South Atlantic. This was a for-sure downgrade (just compare his houses), but European leaders couldn't take the risk of his escape again. He had a few friends and servants with him, but he no longer controlled the government. He had a tenuous relationship with the governor of Saint Helena who made sure he couldn't escape. Finally, Napoleon died on May 5, 1821.

March 20th-June 22nd, 1815: Napoleon's 100 Days

zzahner26 — 2025-02-22 01:25:56 UTC

^{(There isn't a photo because it goes with the previous slide)}

March 1st: Napoleon arrives in France.

March 20th: Napoleon takes the throne back without a problem.

March 25th: Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia create the Seventh Coalition to oppose Napoleon AGAIN (c'mon, come up with a more creative name!).

June 18th: The Battle of Waterloo - effectively ends his reign

June 22nd: Napoleon abdicates for a second time.