APPENDIX 1

Chronology of the French Revolution

1756–1763

Seven Years War.

1762

Publication of Rousseau’s Emile and Du contrat social.

1764

Expulsion of Jesuits.

1768

Corsica annexed.

1770

Marriage of dauphin (future Louis XVI) to Marie Antoinette. Partial bankruptcy of Terray.

1771

Remodelling of parlements by Maupeou.

1774

10 May

Accession of Louis XVI.

24 Aug.

Dismissal of Maupeou and Terray. Reintegration of parlements follows.

1775

Apr.–May

‘Flour War’.

11 June

Coronation of Louis XVI.

1776

4 July

American Declaration of Independence.

22 Oct.

Necker joins government.

1778

Franco-American alliance. War with Great Britain. Death of Voltaire and Rousseau. Necker establishes two ‘provincial administrations’.

1781

19 Feb.

Necker’s Compte rendu.

19 May

Necker resigns from government.

1783

Peace of Paris.

3 Nov.

Calonne appointed Comptroller-General of Finances.

1784

Death of Diderot.

1785

Necker’s Administration of the Finances.

1786

Anglo-French commercial treaty.

20 Aug.

Calonne presents reform proposals to Louis XVI.

1787

22 Feb.

Assembly of Notables convenes.

8 Apr.

Calonne dismissed. Brienne joins government (30th).

25 May

Assembly of Notables dissolved.

Aug.

Exile of parlements of Paris and Bordeaux.

13 Sept.

Prussian invasion of Dutch Republic.

19 Nov.

Royal Session in parlement of Paris.

1788

8 May

Lamoignon remodels parlements.

June/July

Noble revolt. Day of Tiles in Grenoble (7 June). Assembly of the three orders of Dauphiné at Vizille (21 July).

Aug.

Estates-General convoked for May 1789 (8th). Payments from treasury suspended (16th). Brienne resigns; Necker reappointed (24th–26th).

Sept.

Parlements restored. Paris parlement demands ‘forms of 1614’ (25th).

5 Oct.–12 Dec.

Second Assembly of Notables.

27 Dec.

Doubling of third estate.

1789

24 Jan.

Estates-General formally summoned.

Feb.–June

Elections to Estates-General.

Feb.

Publication of Sieyés’s What is the Third Estate?

27–8 Apr.

Reveillon riots.

5 May

Estates-General convene.

June

Third estate votes for common verification of credentials (10th). First parish priests break ranks (13th). National Assembly proclaimed (17th). Tennis Court Oath (20th). Royal Session (23rd). Orders unite (27th).

July

Necker dismissed (11th). Bastille falls (14th). Necker recalled; troops withdrawn (16th). Foulon and Bertier murdered (22nd).

Late July

Great Fear.

Aug.

Abolition of feudalism and privileges (4th). Renunciations of 4th codified (11th). Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen (26th).

Sept.

Second chamber rejected (10th). Suspensive veto (11th).

Oct.

October Days; Louis XVI and National Assembly move to Paris (5th–6th). Martial Law against Tumults (21st).

Nov.

Church property nationalized (2nd). Deputies excluded from government (7th).

12 Dec.

Assignats introduced.

1790

Feb.

Monastic vows forbidden (13th). Execution of Favras (19th).

12 Apr.

Dom Gerle’s motion on established religion.

May

Sections of Paris established (21st). Foreign conquests renounced (22nd).

June

Bagarre at Nîmes (13th). Nobility abolished (19th).

July

Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12th). Feast of the Federation (14th).

Aug.

Judiciary reorganized: parlements abolished (16th). Mutiny at Nancy (31st).

27 Nov.

Oath of the clergy.

1791

3 Jan.

Roll-call on clerical oath.

Feb.

Emigration of king’s aunts (19th). ‘Day of Daggers’ (28th).

2 Mar.

Guilds dissolved.

Apr.

Death of Mirabeau (2nd). Pope condemns Civil Constitution (13th). Louis XVI prevented from spending Easter at Saint-Cloud (18th).

May

Debates on colonies and civil status of free coloureds (7th–15th). Self-denying law (16th).

June

Voltaire’s ashes placed in Pantheon (11th). Le Chapelier Law (14th). Flight to Varennes (10th).

July

Leopold II’s Padua Circular (10th). Reinstatement of Louis XVI (16th). Champ de Mars massacre (17th).

Aug.

Slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue (14th). Declaration of Pillnitz (27th).

Sept.

Annexation of Avignon. Louis XVI accepts constitution (14th). National Assembly dissolved (30th).

Oct.

Legislative Assembly convenes (1st). Brissot’s first call for war (20th).

Nov.

Decree against émigrés (9th). Louis XVI vetoes émigré decree (12th). Decree against refractory priests (29th).

19 Dec.

Louis XVI vetoes decree against priests.

1792

25 Jan.

French ultimatum to Austria.

10 Mar.

Dumouriez joins government.

Apr.

War declared on Austria (20th). First use of guillotine (25th).

27 May

New decree against refractories.

June

Dismissal of Brissotin ministry; Prussia declares war (13th). Sansculottes invade Tuileries (20th). Lafayette denounces Jacobins (29th).

July

Petition of 20,000 (1st). Decree of ‘Country in Danger’ (11th). ‘Country in Danger’ proclaimed (22nd). Paris sections in permanent session; Brunswick Manifesto (25th). Marseilles fédérésenter Paris (30th).

Aug.

Paris sections demand dethronement (3rd). Vindication of Lafayette (8th). Storming of Tuileries; overthrow of the monarchy (10th). Extraordinary tribunal established (17th). Defection of Lafayette; Prussians cross the frontier (19th). Fall of Longwy (10th).

Sept.

Fall of Verdun (2nd). September Massacres (2nd–6th). Battle of Valmy (20th). Convention meets (21st). Republic proclaimed (22nd). Nice occupied (29th).

10 Oct.

Brissot expelled from Jacobins.

Nov.

Battle of Jemappes (6th). Decree of fraternity and help to foreign peoples (19th). Armoire de fer discovered (20th). Annexation of Savoy (27th).

Dec.

Decision to try Louis XVI (3rd). Interrogation of Louis XVI (11th). Decree on treatment of occupied territories (15th). Defence of Louis XVI (26th).

1793

Jan.

Condemnation of Louis XVI (7th). Death sentence on Louis XVI (16th). Vote against reprieve (18th). Le Peletier assassinated (20th). Execution of Louis XVI (21st). Second partition of Poland (23rd).

Feb.

War declared on Great Britain and Dutch Republic (1st). Amalgamation of volunteer and line regiments (21st). Decree conscripting 300,000 men (24th). Food riots in Paris (25th–27th).

Mar.

War declared on Spain (7th). Revolutionary Tribunal created (10th). Revolt in the Vendée (11th). Battle of Neerwinden (18th). Revolutionary Armies decreed; revolutionary committees created (21st).

Apr.

Dumouriez defects (5th). Committee of Public Safety created (6th). Assignats made sole legal tender (11th). Marat sent for trial (13th). Marat acquitted (24th). ‘Federalist’ uprising in Marseilles (29th).

May

First maximum decreed (4th). Forced loan on the rich; Commission of Twelve appointed (20th). Chalier overthrown in Lyons (30th). First anti-Girondin uprising in Paris (31st).

June

Purge of Girondins from Convention (2nd). Spread of ‘Federalist revolt’ to Bordeaux and Caen (7th). Vendéans capture Saumur (9th). Constitution of 1793 accepted (24th).

July

Danton leaves Committee of Public Safety (10th). Marat assassinated (13th). Final abolition of feudalism (17th). Fall of Mainz (23rd). Death penalty for hoarding (26th). Robespierre joins Committee of Public Safety (27th).

Aug.

Decree of levée en masse (23rd). Marseilles recaptured (25th). Toulon surrenders to the British (27th).

Sept.

Convention forced to implement government by terror (5th). Battle of Hondschoote; first French victory in 1793 (8th). Law of Suspects (17th). Year II begins (22nd). General maximum introduced (29th).

Oct.

Girondins sent for trial (3rd). Revolutionary calendar introduced (5th). Fall of Lyons (9th). Revolutionary Government declared (10th; 19th vendémiaire). Battle of Wattignies; Marie Antoinette executed (16th). Vendéans defeated at Cholet (17th). Trial of Girondins (24th–30th). Execution of Girondins (31st).

Nov.

Festival of reason in Notre-Dame (10th; 20 brumaire). Vendéans retreat from Granville (13th). All Parisian churches closed (22nd).

Dec.

Law constituting Revolutionary Government (4th; 14 frimaire). First issue of Vieux Cordelier (5th). Vendéans defeated at Le Mans (12th). Fall of Toulon after British evacuation (19th). Vendéans defeated at Savenay (23rd).

1794

12 Jan. (23 nivôse)

Fabre d’Eglantine arrested.

Feb.

Abolition of slavery (4th). Price controls revised (21st). First Law of Ventôse (26th; 8 ventôse).

Mar.

Second Law of Ventose (3rd; 13 ventose). Arrest of Hébertists (13th). Hèbertists executed (24th). Revolutionary Armies disbanded (27th).

Apr.

Danton and Desmoulins executed (5th; 16 germinal). Rousseau’s ashes moved to Pantheon (14th).

June

British naval victory, ‘Glorious First of June’ (1st; 13 prairial). Festival of the Supreme Being (8th; 20 prairial). Law of 22 prairial (10th). Battle of Fleurus (26th).

July

Wage controls introduced in Paris (5th; 17 messidor). Fall of Robespierre (27th–28th; 9–10 thermidor).

Aug.

Law of 22 prairial repealed (1st; 14 thermidor). Revolutionary Tribunal reorganized (10th). Reorganization of government (24th).

Sept.

Trial of Nantes Federalists (8th). State renounces all subsidies to religion (18th; 2nd complementary day). Year III begins (22nd).

Nov.

Jacobin Club closed (12th; 22 brumaire). Carrier sent for trial (23rd).

Dec.

Reinstatement of surviving Girondins (8th; 18 frimaire). Execution of Carrier (16th). Maximum abolished; invasion of Holland (24th).

1795

20 Jan. (I pluviôse)

Amsterdam occupied.

Feb.

Pacification of Lajaunye in Vendée (17th; 29 pluviôse). Freedom of worship restored (21st).

Mar.

Arrest of Barère, Billaud-Varenne, Collot d’Herbois (2nd; 12 ventôse). Fouquier-Tinville sent for trial (28th).

Apr.

Uprising of Germinal (1st–2nd; 12–13 germinal). Treaty of Basle concluded with Prussia (5th). Disarmament of ‘terrorists’ (10th). Peace concluded with chouans at La Prévalaye (20th).

May

Prison massacre at Lyons (4th; 15 floréal). Fouquier-Tinville executed (6th). Treaty of The Hague concluded with Batavian Republic (16th). Uprising of Prairial (20th–23rd; 1–4 prairial). Revolutionary Tribunal abolished (31st).

June

Death of Louis XVII (8th; 20 prairial). Declaration of Verona (24th). Royalists land at Quiberon (27th).

July

Quiberon invasion defeated (21st; 3 thermidor). Treaty of Basle concluded with Spain (22nd).

22 Aug. (5 fructidor)

Constitution of the Year III and Two Thirds Law approved.

23 Sept. (1 vendémiaire)

Year IV begins; constitution and Two Thirds Law promulgated.

Oct.

Annexation of Belgium (1st; 9 vendémiaire). Uprising of Vendémiaire (5th). End of Convention (26th).

Nov.

Directory constituted (2nd; 11 brumaire). Pantheon Club opened (16th).

10 Dec. (19 frimaire)

Forced loan.

1796

Feb.

Abolition of assignats (19th; 30 pluviôse). Stofflet executed (25th). Pantheon Club closed (27th).

Mar.

Bonaparte appointed commander in Italy (2nd; 12 ventôse). Territorial mandates issued (18th). Charette executed (29th).

Apr.

Invasion of Italy (11th; 22 germinal). Armistice with Piedmont; Police Legion mutiny (28th).

May

Battle of Lodi; Arrest of Babeuf (10th; 21 floréal). Anti-French rising in Pavia (23rd).

12 June (24 prairial)

Papal territory invaded.

5 Aug. (18 thermidor)

Battle of Castiglione; alliance with Spain.

Sept.

Grenelle uprising (9th; 23 fructidor). Year V begins (22nd).

Oct.

Peace overtures from Great Britain. Cispadane Republic created (16th; 25 vendémiaire).

15–18 Nov. (25–7 brumaire)

Battle of Arcole.

15 Dec. (25 frimaire)

Irish expedition sails.

1797

Jan.

Withdrawal of Irish expedition (6th; 18 nivôse). Battle of Rivoli (14th).

Feb.

Mantua falls (2nd; 14 pluviôse). Return to metallic currency (4th). British naval victory at St Vincent (14th). Treaty of Tolentino with the Pope; Babeuf’s trial begins at Vendôme (19th).

18 Apr. (29 germinal)

Preliminaries of Leoben; elections of Year V.

May

Venetian Republic occupied (15th; 27 floréal). Councils convene; Barthélemy enters Directory (20th). Execution of Babeuf (27th).

29 June (11 messidor)

Cisalpine Republic created.

July

Ministries reshuffled (16th; 28 messidor). Political clubs closed (25th).

24 Aug.

Laws against clergy repealed.

Sept.

Coup d’état of Fructidor (4th; 18 fructidor). Carnot and Barthélemy removed from Directory (5th). British peace overtures rejected (17th). Year VI begins (22nd). Consolidation of Two Thirds Debt (30th).

Oct.

British naval victory at Camperdown (11th; 20 vendémiaire). Peace of Campo Formio (18th; 26 vendémiaire).

28 Nov. (8 frimaire)

Congress of Rastadt opens.

8 Dec.

Ochs meets Bonaparte and Reubell.

1798

Jan.

Dutch Convention purged (22nd; 3 pluviôse). Annexation of Mulhouse (28th). Law on elections (31st; 21 pluviôse).

Feb.

Roman Republic proclaimed (15th; 27 pluviôse). Alliance with Cisalpine Republic (21st).

Mar.

Egyptian expedition approved (5th). Helvetic Republic proclaimed; elections of Year VI (22nd).

May

Coup d’état of Floréal (11th; 22 floréal). Treilhard joins Directory (16th). Egyptian expedition leaves (19th). Uprising in Ireland (21st).

10 June (22 prairial)

Fall of Malta.

1 July (13 messidor)

Bonaparte lands in Egypt.

Aug.

Battle of the Nile (1st; 14 thermidor). Humbert lands in Ireland (22nd).

Sept.

Jourdan Law on conscription (5th; 19 fructidor). Turkish declaration of war; Surrender of Humbert at Ballinamuck (9th). Year VII begins (22nd).

12 Oct. (21 vendémiaire)

Peasants’ War in Belgium begins.

25 Nov. (5 frimaire)

Neapolitans take Rome.

1799

Jan.

French take Naples (23rd; 4 pluviôse). Parthenopean Republic proclaimed (26th).

Mar.

Austria declares war (12th; 22 ventôse). Battle of Stokach (25th).

Apr.

Elections of Year VII. Pope brought to France (10th). Suvorov takes Milan (28th).

9 May (20 floréal)

Reubell retires from Directory.

June

Sieyès assumes power as a Director (9th; 21 prairial). Coup d’état of 30 Prairial (18th). Forced loan (27th).

July

Manège Club founded (6th; 18 messidor). Law of Hostages (12th).

Aug.

Royalist uprising around Toulouse (5th; 18 thermidor). Manège Club closed (13th). Joubert killed at Novi (15th). Bonaparte leaves Egypt (22nd). Anglo-Russian force lands in Holland (27th).

Sept.

Rejection of Jourdan’s ‘Country in Danger’ motion (13th; 27 fructidor). Year VIII begins (23rd).

Oct.

Bonaparte lands in France (9th; 17 vendémiaire). Bonaparte reaches Paris (16th). Anglo-Russian invaders evacuate Holland (18th).

Nov.

Bonaparte overthrows the Directory (9th–10th; 18–19 brumaire). Law of Hostages repealed (13th).

25 Dec.

Constitution of Year VIII comes into force.

1800

13 Jan. (23 nivôse)

Bank of France established.

Feb.

Referendum results published (7th; 18 pluviôse). Prefects established (17th).

15–23 May (25 floréal)

Bonaparte crosses the Alps.

14 June (25 prairial)

Battle of Marengo.

2 July (13 messidor)

Bonaparte returns to Paris.

23 Sept.

Year IX begins.

Dec.

Battle of Hohenlinden (3rd; 12 frimaire). Attempted assassination of Bonaparte (24th; 3 nivôse).

1801

5 Jan. (15 nivôse)

Proscription of Jacobins.

Feb.

Peace of Lunéville (9th; 20 pluviôse). British peace overtures (21st).

23 Mar.

Assassination of Paul I.

2 Apr.

Battle of Copenhagen.

16 July (17 messidor)

Concordat signed.

23 Sept.

Year X begins.

1802

27 Mar.

Peace of Amiens.

Apr.

Purge of Tribunate and Legislative Body (1st; 10 germinal). Organic Articles added to Concordat (8th). Promulgation of Concordat (18th).