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It was the government in charged during the first years of the revolution, then it was replaced by the Legislative Assembly. The National Assembly acted as constituent assembly and a constitution was drafted, which established a limited monarchy and declared the separation of powers. Its members were mainly representatives of the Third State and the main functions were to represent common people, provide them with more rights and privileges and create a more equal society.
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The Estates General had not been called in almost 200 years, but due to the economic and social crisis the king Louis XVI was forced to summon the Estates General formally, which was composed by the three states: nobility, clergy and commoners. This event marked the start of the French Revolution. The voting system of the Estates General was unfair and the Third Estate ended up creating the National Assembly so that everything they vote was approved or deny according to a fair majority. -
The members of the Third Estate did not think that the voting system of the Assembly was fair because it seemed that the clergy and nobility had more voting rights. They wanted to meet to make changes but the Menus-Plaisir, the place where they met, was locked, so they decided to go to a tennis court, next to their place of meeting, which was property of the royal family, and locked themselves inside. They declared that until a constitution was written and established they would not move. -
Parisians stormed the Bastille, which was an old fortress that held political prisoners, like aristocrats, because it was easier to get privileges there. This marked the start of the French Revolution and also became a symbol of it. The population was angry at the monarchy due to economic and political crisis, so they decided to attack the fortress to take weapons and gunpowder. It was one of the first bloodshed during the Revolution. This was the first step of the abolishment of the monarchy. -
The deputies of the National Assembly abolished feudalism, tithes and reduced noble's privileges by approving the August Decrees, nineteen articles giving more rights to common people. These decrees were approved because the citizens were not happy with the country's situation. However, the Catholic Church and nobles did not like the decrees and tensions between the Church and Revolutionary France began to grow. These decrees led to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens. -
The Declaration was inspired by the Enlightenment ideas and thinkers, such as Montesquieu and Voltaire. Moreover, many countries had created these type of documents, which gave more rights to the Third Estate. It was drafted by the Marquis of Lafayette and then presented and approved in the National Assembly. The Declaration consisted on 17 articles and as the name states, it talked about the rights that all man equally must have and until this day we can see parts in the Constitution of France. -
It was the national parliament during part of the Revolution and then during the Second Republic. The Assembly was created after the Constitution of 1791, which established a constitutional monarchy. It was formed by more than 700 deputies, Jacobins and Feuillants. It had many problems because the king had the power to choose the ministers and suspensive veto, which help the king to maintain his power. One of the most important decisions they took was to declare a war to Austria in 1792.
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It was the royal family's failed attempt to escape from the riots in the capital, Paris. The plan was originally made by Fersen, in which they wanted to reach a fortress in northern France called Montmedy. However, the royal family did not reach their destination and were captured in Varennes and sent to Paris again. After the attempt of escaping, the royal family was ridiculed and the chances of having a constitutional monarchy were destroyed, finally leading to their execution in 1793. -
It governed France during one of the most important periods of the French Revolution. It was created to established a new constitution after the monarchy's fall down and one of the first things they did was to abolish the monarchy and create a Republic. It was divided into the Girondist and the Montagnards, which, in the power, established a revolutionary government that ruled during the Reign of Terror. It ended with the establishment of a new Constitution, leading to the Directory government.
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The Legislative Assembly declared the war to Austria because some members mainly from the Girondin Party wanted to expand the nation and its ideas of revolution. Austria and Prussia joined together to fight back the French army, but because the French army was not prepared the strength of the Austria-Prussian army. The Austria-Prussian army entered Paris, but the French army could finally stopped the invasion. After this Britain, Spain, Austria and more joined to create the First Coalition. -
Commoners attacked the official place of living of the Royal family of France, the Tuileries Palace. After the flight to Varennes, Louis XVI and his family were under a stricter house arrest and the people were still not happy about the court's form of living. The sans-culottes ideas of republicanism grew among the population, that led to the attack, in which the Royal family had to hide in the Legislative Assembly building. After it the monarchy was abolished, which led to their execution. -
In 1792, the king Louis XVI was tried and found guilty, so he was sentenced to death, as for his wife Marie Antoinette. Since the storming of the Tuileries, they were being kept as prisoners and because the monarchy was abolished there was no respect for the king and his family anymore. In the trial, the majority vote for execution, however not everyone was comfortable with that and some tried to give different alternatives. In the end, Louis XVI was executed on the Place of the Revolution. -
Maximilien Robespierre was the representative of the Third Estate in the Estates General. During the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety executed a lot of people with the purpose of defending the Republic. Robespierre gained power and people were scared. Robespierre was denounced and him and his supporters hid in the Hotel de Ville, where they were arrested. The next day, they were executed. This put ended the Reign of Terror and show the rejection to the Jacobin party of the French. -
The Directory was the government in power established by the Constitution of the Year III during the last few years of the French Revolution. It was created to avoid the dictatorship seen during the Reign of Terror, but the Directory was known for being a weak government and was not liked among the population. Despite it, during this government there was an economic growth and various military successes, which helped Napoleon to reach the power in 1799 through the Coup of 18 Brumaire.
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It was the government established after the Coup of 18 Brumaire. The Constitution of the Year VIII gave the power to three consuls, Napoleon was the First Consul, but the other two consuls were not as important and Napoleon held the main power. During this period, the main achievements of Napoleon were to reconciled both with the church and nobles, he also created the Napoleonic Code and provide with public education. The Consulate ended when Napoleon was declared Emperor in 1804.
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The Empire was created after Napoleon Bonaparte was declared Emperor of the French. It ended when Louis XVIII, in 1814, returned to power and then restored for 100 days when Napoleon regained the power. Napoleon achieved many military successes like the Battle of Austerlitz and Ulm. However, towards the end of the Empire Napoleon was defeated several times and it marked the decline of the French Empire and the final one was the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated and lost his power.
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It was a naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars against the British. It was set next to the Cape of Trafalgar, in Spain. The battle was between the Franco-Spanish fleet, led by Pierre de Villanueve, and the British fleet, led by Horatio Nelson. When the Treaty of Amiens ended, Napoleon tried to invade Britain but he couldn't, so he tried to defeat them in an other place. However, the French fleet lost this battle, because they couldn't defeat Britain's fleet, and this then led to his final defeat. -
It was the first conflict of the War of the Third Coalition and also of the Napoleonic Wars. It was set in Austerlitz, now Czech Republic and it was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, in which he defeated the Austria-Russian army, which was bigger and more powerful and was led by the Russian Tsar Alexander I and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. After the defeat, only the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II signed the Peace of Pressburg, putting into an end to the Third Coalition. -
Napoleon tried to invade Russia, but he failed and led to the formation of the Sixth Coalition, a group of countries including Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden. Then, he tried to regain power in Germany but the Sixth Coalition fought his army in Leipzig, Saxony. This defeat made Napoleon lose power in Central Europe and his empire began to fall. In addition, it was one of the most important defeats and events of Napoleon and help to his final defeat in the battle of Waterloo. -
It was Napoleon's final battle and when he was finally defeated. It was fought during the 100 days that Napoleon reached power again after he was exiled for the first time and the battle was between the French army and a group of countries, including Germany, Prussia, Belgium and Britain. Napoleon wanted to restore the power he lost, so he tried to defeat these countries, but he was defeated in Waterloo and then exiled to the Saint Helena island, the place where he died in 1821.