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Excessive spending and poor harvests lead to a financial crisis in France
After the Seven years war, France went into a substantial amount of debt. King Louis XIV was a huge spender, who wanted to flaunt his wealth. He ended up spending more money than the country had pushing France further into debt. France was in severe financial problems. King Louis XIV assembled the Estates General to address the financial issues. -
King Louis XVI calls the Estates General
King Louis XVI calls the Estates General to help solve the on going financial crisis in France. The Estates General was made up of 3 estates. The first estate was the clergy, the second estate was the nobility, and the third estate was the common people. The third estate was angry with the government because they had unfair representation. The third estate declared themselves as the National Assembly to rebel against the government. -
First and Second Estates join the Third Estate in the newly formed National Assembly
The First and Second states join the Third Estate in the National assembly. The National Assembly wanted to address inequality in the government and how to fix it. The National Assembly challenged the structure of the government. The First and Second estate had a lot of power and they saw the flaws France had within the government. This was the first time the first and second estates would challenge the king. -
Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly knew that there was a lot of necessary change that needed to happen to the government. When they tried to meet, they found out that they were locked out of the Versailles, where they normally met. They believed that the king wanted them to disband so they met in an indoor tennis court. They took an oath to not disband until a written constitution was created. -
Storming of the Bastille
Some of the Third Estates believed that they king was going to attack them so they stormed the Bastille. The Third Estates came up with a list of demands for the king. One of these demands was that the common people should have more say in the government. The third estates stormed the Bastille to get weapons to support themselves in the Revolution. This eventually led to the French Revolution. -
The Women’s March on Versailles Napoleon's coup d'etat, overthrowing the Directory
The people of France wanted King Louis XVI to sign the Declaration of the Rights of man but he refused. The economy still suffered from financial crisis and there were food shortages throughout France. This lead to inflation when the prices of goods increased. King Louis XVI stored food for himself which made many people very angry, especially the women. Lots of women marched to Versailles and demanded that King Louis XVI fix the economic crisis. -
The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was inspired by Enlightenment ideas on natural rights. The French believed that natural rights should be universal. It was inspired by the Declaration of Independence, which reflected the core values the French wanted to have in their government. The National Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. which showed that they were actively trying to change the government for the better. -
Napoleon is exiled to Elba Napoleon is declared First Consul
After Napoleon's first defeat as Emperor, he was exiled to Elba. He became Emperor of Elba for a little over 9 months. Eventually he escaped from Elba and made his way back to France. He took over France once again. -
The Constitution of 1791 sets up a constitutional monarchy in France
The Constitution of 1791 said that all three Estates will have an equal amount of say and power in the government, getting rid of an absolute monarchy. The National Assembly became the Legislative Assembly. They would have control of the sovereignty, they could raise taxes and declare war. The constitution allowed for the monarchy to still exist but had little to no power. -
Louis XVI is executed at the guillotine
King Louis XVI failed to fix the financial problems created by his grandfather and was a very selfish ruler. The people of France revolted against him leading to the French Revolution. He fled to Austria to escape the revolution. He committed treason and was sentenced to death by the guillotine. -
Robespierre's Reign of Terror
After the First French republics was created a period called the Reign of Terror started in France. A key leader in the French Revolution was Robespierre, who led many efforts to punish people who were suspected to be against the revolution. Violence spread across France and people accused their neighbors, friends and family to seem like they were for the revolution. People could be beheaded just for saying something nice about the monarchy. -
The Directory is installed
France created a directory. It was a body of government that had 5 directors and held executive power. The directory had no legislative power but it still abused the power it had. The directory was very unpopular and corrupt. They believed in a laissez-faire approach and they failed to solve many issues. -
The Continental System is implemented
Napoleon wanted to block British commence and ruin their economy during the Napoleonic wars. He created the Continental system but it completely back fired. He had no control over the seas so Britain's navy would smuggle goods and keep trade routes open. Europe's economy began to fail because goods became scarce and people all over Europe started to hate Napoleon. -
Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)
The Battle of Nations was fought between France versus Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden. It lead to the defeat of the French army. Other global powers believed that Napoleon and France had too much power. This battle ended all power that France had in Germany and Poland. -
Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo
When he escaped from Elba, he created a army. It had some success but eventually was defeated at Waterloo. He was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition. After his defeat at waterloo he was exiled to St. Helena's island.
