Pre-Révolution

1774:               Louis XV dies; Louis XVI’s coronation

1776 - 1782:   Offices revoked & reinstated, cabinet reshuffling

1785:               Affaire du Collier

1787:               Several Parlements exiled

1788:               Increasing riots

 

Révolution

1789:               Widespread riots         

[1 May] États Généraux (Estates General) convoked – first since 1614;

3^rd Estate numbers doubled, but still vote by Estate

[17 June] 3^rd Estate proclaims itself National Assembly

                        [20 June] Tennis Court Oath

                        Troops ordered to Paris & Versailles

                        [11 July] Necker (minister of finance) dismissed - widespread public

unrest & anxiety

                        [14 July] Bastille taken by Parisian mob

                        [26 August] Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen

                        [5-6 October] Women march on Versailles, return King to Paris

                        [2 November] National Assembly takes over Church property

 

1790:              Many tariffs & taxes abolished 

                        [19 June] Nobility abolished 

                        [12 July] Civil Constitution of Clergy  

 

1791:              [20-21 June] Flight to Varennes

                        [14 September] Louis XVI signs new Constitution

                        [17 October] Counterrevolutionaries killed at Avignon

 

1792:              Royalist uprisings

                        [10 August] Royal family arrested; Terror begins

                        [21 September] Monarchy abolished

                        [22 September] first day of An I

 

1793:               Ier Républic

                         Decrees concerning standardizations (methods of payment, universal

schooling, wage & price caps, etc.) 

[21 January] Louis XVI executed

                        [January – March] Europe declares war

                        [6 April] Comité du Salut Public formed; Jacobins in control

                        [22 September] Revolutionary calendar adopted

                        [16 October] Marie-Antoinette guillotined

 

1794:               White Terror

                        [March – July] Terror leaders arrested & guillotined

                        [27 July / 9 Thermidor] Robespierre & Saint-Just arrested; guillotined next day

                        Paris Jacobin club closed

 

1795:               [5-6 October] Bonaparte’s “whiff of grapeshot” to Paris crowd

 

1799:               [9 November / 18 Brumaire] Napoléon’s coup d’état → Consulat

 

1800:               [December] Napoléon’s coronation as Emperor

 

 

Who’s Who and What’s What 

Cahiers de doléance:  presented by representatives to King during États Généraux; filled with complaints about taxes, famines, etc.

Club des Cordeliers:  Parisian political club founded by Danton; members included Marat & Desmoulins; called for removal of King; the club was taken over by extremists who considered themselves the porte-parole for the sans-coulottes

Comité du Salut Public:  revolutionary group which controlled France during the Terror, composed of 12 radical politicians:

     -  Robespierre            - Lindet                           - Couthon

     -   Saint-Just                - Saint-André                 - De la Côte-d’Or

     -    Barère                      - D'Herbois                    - Billaud-Varenne

     -    Carnot                     -  De la Marne                 - De Séchelles