Timeline of American, French, and Spanish Revolutions (1776-1814)

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 in History

The American Revolution (1776-1787)

  • December 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party.
  • July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence.
  • October 17, 1777: First victory of the rebels at Saratoga. In November, the members of the Second Continental Congress approve the Articles of Confederation.
  • 1778: The government of Louis XVI signs a treaty of Alliance with the rebels, represented by Benjamin Franklin.
  • 1781: Surrender of England’s General Cornwallis at Yorktown.
  • September 3, 1783: Signature of the Peace of Versailles.
  • September 17, 1787: Approval of the Federal Constitution by the Continental Congress. (Ratification pending by the states, completed by 1789).

The French Revolution (1789-1799)

The Origins of the Revolution (May to October of 1789)

  • May 5, 1789: Opening of the Estates General.
  • June 17, 1789: The Third Estate is transformed into a National Assembly.
  • July 14, 1789: The Storming of the Bastille. First popular revolution.
  • August 26, 1789: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
  • October 6, 1789: The people of Paris force the royal family to flee from Versailles to Paris. The Constituent Assembly also moves. Second popular revolution.

The Stage of the Constitutional Monarchy (October 10, 1789 – August 10, 1792)

  • October 10, 1789: The Constituent Assembly grants the king a new title: “Louis, by the grace of God and constitutional law, King of the French.”
  • July 14, 1790: Celebration of the Federation. Origin of the French.
  • June 20-21, 1791: The Flight to Varennes. The king’s attempt to flee France is foiled.
  • September 3, 1791: Approval of the first French Constitution.
  • October 1, 1791: Opening of the Legislative Assembly.
  • April 20, 1792: The Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria.
  • August 10, 1792: Third popular insurrection. The mob overruns the Tuileries Palace. The king and his family are jailed.

The Establishment of the First French Republic: The Stage of the Convention (September of 1792 – October of 1795)

  • September 2-6, 1792: Elections to the Convention.
  • September 20, 1792: First military victory of revolutionary France at Valmy.
  • September 22, 1792: Abolition of the monarchy and proclamation of the “republic.”
  • January 21, 1793: The execution of Louis XVI.
  • February 1793: First coalition of European monarchies against revolutionary France.
  • June 24, 1793: New French Constitution (Constitution de l’ An II). Universal masculine suffrage is established. It will be a “virtual” text, its application suspended by the state of emergency declared.
  • November 24, 1793: Implantation of a revolutionary calendar (Fabré d’ Églantine) as a measure of “de-Christianization.”
  • January 1794: Robespierre seizes power (which he maintains until July).
  • July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, An II): The Thermidorian Reaction. Moderates and centrists arrest and execute Robespierre and other “terrorists.”
  • August 22, 1795: Third French Constitution (L’ An III).

The Second Stage of the First French Republic: The Directory (October of 1795 – November of 1799)

  • April 1796: The Conspiracy of Equals (Babeuf).
  • September 5, 1798: The Jourdan Law enacts obligatory military service for unmarried men ages 20 to 25.

The Napoleonic Period (1799-1815)

  • November 9, 1799: Napoleon seizes power through a coup d ‘ état.
  • December 25, 1799: The Year VII Constitution (1799) enters into force.
  • August 2, 1802: French electors approve of Napoleon becoming sole consul, for life. Two days later the Constitution of the Year X is approved (August 4, 1802).
  • May 18, 1804 (28 Floréal, An XII): The Senate approves a new constitution under which the government of the Republic is handed over to Napoleon as “Emperor of the French.” The Constitution is ratified by plebiscite on November 6, 1804.
  • December 2, 1805: Battle of Austerlitz. This victory marks the zenith of Napoleon’s military glory.
  • May 2, 1808: Madrid rebels against Napoleon troops. Beginning of the Independence War.
  • June 1812: Napoleon invades Russia in command of 700,000 men.
  • December 1812: Napoleon withdraws from Russia in defeat.
  • March 31, 1814: Marshals force Napoleon to abdicate.
  • April 3, 1814: The Senate removes Napoleon from office.
  • June 4, 1814: Louis XVIII grants the French a charte.
  • March 1, 1815: Napoleon disembarks in France.
  • June 18, 1815: Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo.
  • June 22, 1815: Napoleon’s second abdication.
  • October 14, 1815: Napoleon reaches St. Helena in the English warship Northumberland.

Spain from 1779 to 1814

Reign of Charles III

  • 1779-1783: Spain sends money, weapons, and munitions to help American rebels against British armies.
  • 1783: Treaty of Versailles. After the independence of the United States, Spain recovers from Great Britain East and West Florida, the coast of Nicaragua, Honduras (Mosquito’s coast), Campeche, and the island of Minorca.

Reign of Charles IV

  • 1789: The beginning of the French Revolution makes Floridablanca, Spanish prime minister, stop reforms and establish censorship and a reactionary policy to counteract revolutionary propaganda.
  • November 15, 1792: Manuel Godoy, prime minister of Spain.
  • 1793: Spain declares war on the French Convention after the beheading of Louis XVI.
  • July 22, 1795: Peace of Basel. Spain accepts the French regime after losing the war.
  • October 27, 1795: Treaty of San Lorenzo (Pinckney’s Treaty). Spain guarantees the United States rights on the Mississippi River.
  • 1796: Treaty of San Ildefonso. Spain signs an Alliance with revolutionary France and declares war on Great Britain.
  • 1802: Peace of Amiens. Spain recovers Minorca from Great Britain. Reinforcement of the alliance with France.
  • October 21, 1805: Naval Battle of Trafalgar. The Spanish and French fleets are destroyed by Admiral Nelson.
  • 1807: Treaty of Fontainebleau. Godoy authorizes Napoleon to cross the Spanish border with an army to invade Portugal.

War of Independence -Peninsular War- (1808-1814)

  • March 19, 1808: Mutiny of Aranjuez against Godoy. Charles IV abdicates on his son Ferdinand VII.
  • May 2, 1808: The people of Madrid rebel against French troops of Murat.
  • May 5, 1808: Ferdinand VII and Charles IV abdicate the Spanish throne to Napoleon. He cedes it to his brother Joseph.
  • July 7, 1808: Approval of Bayonne’s Statute, the first Spanish written constitution.
  • July 21, 1808: Battle of Bailén. A Napoleon’s army is defeated for the first time.
  • September 25, 1808: The anti-Napoleonic Spain names a provisional government (Junta Central Suprema).
  • November to December 1808: Napoleon comes to Spain and conquers Madrid.
  • December 1809: The city of Gerona surrenders to the French after seven months of fierce resistance.
  • September 24, 1810: Antinapoleonic Spain representatives meet in extraordinary Cortes in Cadiz.
  • March 19, 1812: The Cádiz Cortes approve a constitution for anti-Napoleonic Spain.
  • July-November 1812: Napoleon is defeated in Russia.
  • June 1813: French troops are heavily defeated in Vitoria.
  • February 2, 1814: The Cortes approve a decree forcing Ferdinand VII to accept the 1812 constitution.
  • May 4, 1814: Ferdinand VII reestablishes Absolute monarchy in Valencia and annuls the constitution and all legislation approved by the Cortes.