French Revolution Timeline

1740
to 1748
War of Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) involved nearly all the powers of Europe (except for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire). The war began under the pre...
1756
to 1763
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a major military conflict that lasted from 1756, as a result of the French and Indian War that erupted in North America in 1754, until the conclusion of the treat...
1778 France declares war on Britain in support of the American colonies
France entered the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1778, and assisted in the victory of the Americans seeking independence from Britain (realized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris). ...
1783 Sep 3 Treaty of Paris
The treaty document was signed at the Hôtel de York – which is now 56 Rue Jacob – by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay (representing the United States) and David Hartley (a memb...
1788 Jun 7 Day of the Tiles
The Day of the Tiles (French: Journée des Tuiles) is an event that took place in the French town of Grenoble on June 7, 1788. It was among the first of the revolts which preceded the Fren...
1788 Jul 21 Assembly of Vizille
The Assembly of Vizille was the result of a meeting of various representatives in Grenoble, which took place on June 7th 1788. Its purpose was to discuss the events of The Day Of The Tile...
1789 Apr 28 Reveillon riot
The Réveillon Riot occurred on 28 April 1789 in the St. Antoine district of Paris where a factory which produced luxury wallpaper was owned by Jean-Baptiste Réveillon. The factory employe...
1789 Jun 20 Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath (French: serment du jeu de paume) was a pivotal event during the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 out of the 577 members from the Third Estate ...
1789 Jul 9
to 1791 Sep 30
 National Constituent Assembly formed
The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. After ...
1789 Jul 14 The storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille, in Paris, was the flashpoint of the French Revolution and signified the fall of the monarchy and royal authority. A crowd of about 1,000 armed civilians g...
1789 Jul 15 The French National Guard is created
The National Guard (French: la Garde nationale) was the name given at the time of the French Revolution to the militias formed in each city, in imitation of the National Guard created in ...
1789 Jul 20
to 1789 Aug 5
 The "Great Fear"
The "Great Fear" (French: la Grande Peur) occurred from July 20 to August 5, 1789 in France at the start of the French Revolution. Rural unrest had been present in France since the worsen...
1789 Aug 4 The August Decrees: Abolition of French Feudalism
The next major event of the revolution occurred on 4 August 1789, when the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism, sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estat...
1789 Aug 26 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Approved
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 brought together two streams of thought: one springing from the Anglo-American tradition of legal and constitutional guarantees of...
1789 Aug 27 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individu...
1789 Oct 5
to 1789 Oct 6
 The March on Versailles
The March on Versailles, also known as The Bread March of Women, and The Women's March on Versailles, was an event in the French Revolution. Although the National Assembly had taken the T...
1790 Jul 12 Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (French: "Constitution civile du clergé") was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church i...
1791 Feb 28 Day of Daggers
The Day of Daggers or 'Day of Poignards' was an event during the French Revolution which occurred on 28 February 1791 when the Marquis de Lafayette arrested 400 armed aristocrats at theTu...
1791 Jun 20
to 1791 Jun 25
 Flight to Varennes
The Flight to Varennes ( 20-25 June 1791 ) was a significant episode in the French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family were unsuccessful in their att...
1791 Aug 27 Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz on August 27, 1791, was a statement issued at the Castle of Pillnitz in Saxony (south of Dresden) by the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Frederick W...
1791 Sep 3 French Constitution of 1791
The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popul...
1791 Oct 1
to 1792 Sep 19
 Legislative Assembly formed
During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from October 1, 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary la...
1792
to 1802
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states. Marked by French revo...
1792 Mar 20 The Guillotine is adopted as the Revolution's official means of execution
The guillotine became infamous (and acquired its name) in France at the time of the French Revolution. The device derives its name from Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French doctor and me...
1792 Apr 25 "Battle Hymn of the Army of the Rhine" is composed by Rouget de Lisle
"La Marseillaise" ("[The Song] of Marseille"; French pronunciation: [la maʁsɛˈjɛz]) is the national anthem of France. It is a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle...
1792 Jul 25 Brunswick Manifesto
The Brunswick Manifesto was a proclamation issued by Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commander of the Allied Army (principally Austrian and Prussian), on July 25, 1792 to th...
1792 Sep 21 France Abolishes Monarchy
On the night of 10 August 1792, insurgents, supported by a new revolutionary Paris Commune, assailed the Tuileries. The royal family ended up prisoners and a rump session of the Legislati...
1793
to 1797
First Coalition
The First Coalition (1793–1797) was the first major concerted effort of multiple European powers to contain Revolutionary France. It took shape after the French Revolutionary Wars had alr...
1793
to 1796
War in the Vendee
The War in the Vendée (1793 to 1796) was a civil war and counterrevolution in the Vendée between suppressed Catholics and Royalists on the one hand and Republicans on the other, during th...
1793 Mar 18 Battle of Neerwinden
The Battle of Neerwinden took place on (18 March 1793) near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under Gener...
1793 Apr 6 Committee of Public Safety formed
The Committee of Public Safety (French: Comité de salut public), created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured July 1793, formed the de facto executive government...
1793 Jun
to 1794 Jul
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (June, 1793 – July 27, 1794), also known as the The Terror (French: la Terreur) was a period of violence that occurred for one year and two months after the onset of t...
1793 Aug 23 "Levee en Masse" is declared in France
The first modern use levée en masse occurred during the French Revolutionary Wars. Under the Ancien Régime, there had been some conscription (by ballot) to a militia, milice, to supplemen...
1793 Sep 17 Law of Suspects
The Law of Suspects is a term which is used to refer to an enactment passed on September 17, 1793 during the course of the French Revolution. It allowed for the creation of revolutionary ...
1793 Sep 29 Convention Passes the General Maximum
General Maximum or The Law of the Maximum was a law created during the course of the French Revolution as an extension of the Law of Suspects on 29 September 1793. Its purpose was to set ...
1793 Oct 16 Marie Antoinette Is Executed
Marie Antoinette was declared guilty of treason in the early morning of 16 October, after two days of proceedings. The same day at 12:15 pm, two and a half weeks before her thirty-eighth ...
1793 Dec 5 The First Issue of Le Vieux Cordelier is Published
During the French Revolution, Le Vieux Cordelier was a journal of which seven issues were published, between 5 December 1793 and 25 January 1794. It was edited by Camille Desmoulins, who ...
1794 The White Terror
The White Terror took place in 1794, during the period known as the Thermidorian Reaction, in the aftermath of the Reign of Terror. It was organized by reactionary "Chouan" royalist force...
1794 Mar 13 The Last Edition of Jacques Hebert's Le Pere Duchesne is Produced
Le Père Duchesne (Old Man Duchesne or Father Duchesne) was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Hébert, who published 385 issues from September 179...
1794 May 7 The National Convention Establishes the Cult of the Supreme Being
The Cult of the Supreme Being (French: Culte de l'Être suprême) was a form of deism devised by Maximilien Robespierre, intended to become the state religion after the French Revolution. T...
1794 Jun 10 Law of 22 Prairial
"Every citizen is empowered to seize conspirators and counterrevolutionaries, and to bring them before the magistrates. He is required to denounce them as soon as he knows of them." —A clause of the Law of 22 Prairial
1794 Jun 26 Battle of Fleurus
In the Battle of Fleurus (26 June 1794) French forces under Jourdan defeated an Austrian army under Saxe-Cobourg in one of the most decisive battles in the Low Countries during the French...
1794 Jul 27 Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Robesp...
1795 Apr 5
to 1795 Aug 28
 Peace of Basel
The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France (represented by François de Barthélemy). France made peace with Prussia (represented by Karl August von Harden...
1795 Aug 22 French Constitution of 1795
The Constitution of 22 August 1795 (also known as the Constitution of the Year III, or the Constitution of 5 Fructidor) was a national constitution of France ratified by the National Conv...
1796 May 10 Battle of Lodi
The Battle of Lodi was fought on May 10, 1796 between French forces under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Sebottendorf at Lodi, Italy. The rear guard was...
1796 Jun 4 The Siege of Mantua
On June 4, 1796, during the Napoleonic Wars, Mantua was besieged by Napoleon as a move against Austria, who joined the First Coalition. Austrian and Russian attempts to break the siege fa...
1797 Apr 17 Treaty of Leoben
The Treaty of Leoben (also known as the Peace of Leoben) was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clau...
1797 Sep 4 Coup of 18 fructidor an V
The Coup of 18 fructidor an V was a seizure of power under the Directory, on 4 September 1797. The three Directors, Barras, Rewbell and La Révellière-Lépeaux, staged a coup d'État support...
1797 Oct 17 Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio or Peace of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire, Year VI of the French Republic) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl as re...