This article is about the specific polity First French Republic and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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With the French Revolution , the Monarchy was abolished and replaced with a Republic.
Summary
The French Revolution began in 1789 with the Storming of the Bastille and the formation of the National Assembly. The Revolution sought to overthrow the monarchy and the old feudal system in France, establishing new democratic and republican principles. After the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, the National Convention declared France a republic and began the First French Republic.
In September 1792, the National Convention proclaimed France a republic, abolishing the monarchy and establishing a republican form of government. The Convention had a wide range of political views, from the more moderate Girondins to the radical Jacobins led by Maximilien Robespierre. The Jacobins gained control and began a period of terror, executing thousands of suspected enemies of the revolution in the Reign of Terror.
The most significant event of the First Republic was the Reign of Terror from 1793-1794. During this time, Robespierre and the Jacobins ruthlessly eliminated all opposition through mass executions, with an estimated 16,000 to 40,000 people guillotined. The Committee of Public Safety, led by Robespierre, oversaw the Terror and consolidated Jacobin power. They sought to purge France of all traces of the old regime and create a new revolutionary society.
However, the excesses of the Terror led to a backlash, and in 1794 Robespierre himself was overthrown and executed. This marked the end of the Jacobin dictatorship. A new government, the Directory, took power and ruled France from 1795-1799. The Directory struggled to restore order and stability, but was plagued by economic problems, foreign wars, and political factions.
In 1799, a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup and took control of the French government, ending the First Republic. Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of France in 1804, establishing the French Empire. The First Republic had lasted just 12 years, from 1792 to 1804, but its radical experiments in democracy and republicanism had a lasting impact on France and Europe.
The First Republic was a tumultuous and violent period, as competing factions vied for power and sought to remake French society through radical means. The Jacobin Reign of Terror was a particularly dark chapter, with thousands executed in the name of revolutionary ideals. While the Republic failed to establish lasting democratic institutions, it did pave the way for the rise of Napoleon and the French Empire. The legacy of the First Republic continues to resonate in French politics and society to this day.
Establishment
September 1792: The monarchy was abolished in 1792 during the French Revolution.
September 1792: First Coaltion leaves conquered territory in the Rhineland.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
January 1799: On December 10, 1798, the Piedmontese Republic was established in Turin, recognized by the French who had occupied the city.
January 1799: France annexes Geneva and creates the department of Léman.
January 1803: Napoleonic occupation of Zibello.
January 1803: On September 11, 1802 (24 Fructidor, Year X), the French Senate took an "organic senatus-consultum, bringing together the departments of Po, Dora, Marengo, Sésia, Stura and Tanaro in the territory of the French Republic ". A part is annexed by Italy.
January 1803: Salm was created in 1802 as a state of the Holy Roman Empire in order to compensate the princes of Salm-Kyrburg and Salm-Salm, who had lost their states to France in 1793-1795. The new territory was not near most of the old territories of the princes, but instead extended the County of Anholt, which had been a minor possession of the prince of Salm-Salm. Most of the area was taken from the dissolved Bishopric of Münster.
February 1803: Reichsdeputationsschluss: the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Empire. The law secularized nearly 70 ecclesiastical states and abolished 45 imperial cities to compensate numerous German princes for territories to the west of the Rhine that had been annexed by France as a result of the French Revolutionary Wars.
May 1804: Declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon.
1.1.War of the First Coalition
Were a series of wars between the Kingdom of France (later the French Republic) and several European Monarchies. The French Revolution had deteriorated the relations of France with the other European countries, that tried several times to invade France in order to crash the revolutionary government.
January 1793: In 1792, revolutionary France annexed several territories of the Holy Roman Empire, including Worms, Speyer, and territories of the Flanders region.
January 1793: With an unauthorized plebiscite, under pressure from French revolutionaries, the Comtat Venaissin was annexed by France.
February 1793: French control of the Principality of Monaco during the French revolution from 1793 to May 17, 1814, as part of the département of Alpes-Maritimes.
March 1793: The Rauracian Republic was annexed by the First French Republic and became the department of Mont-Terrible.
August 1793: Counter-revolutionary forces turned Toulon over to Britain and Spain.
December 1793: Toulon was not retaken by Dugommier (with the assistance of the young Napoleon Bonaparte) until 19 December.
January 1794: In 1793, the territory of Dachstuhl was annexed by the First French Republic.
January 1794: Salm-Salm annexed to France.
January 1794: In 1793, the territory of Moempelgard was annexed by the First French Republic.
January 1794: In 1794, during the War of the First Coalition, the French armies, led by generals such as Jean-Charles Pichegru and Jacques François Dugommier, were defending the border regions in the Pyrenees against the Spanish and British forces. The territory ultimately went to the First French Republic.
January 1795: The French armies drove the Austrians, British, and Dutch beyond the Rhine, occupying Belgium, the Rhineland, and the south of the Netherlands.
January 1795: The Imperial City of Cologen (German: Köln) is annexed by France.
May 1795: The Treaty of Den Haag was signed on May 16, 1795 between representatives of the French Republic and the Batavian Republic. The Batavian Republic ceded to France the territories of Maastricht, Venlo, and Zeelandic Flanders. Moreover, the accord established a defensive alliance between the two nations.
August 1795: Peace of Basel of 1795 at the end of the War of the First Coalition between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Republic. France gained the left bank of the Rhine.
January 1796: In 1795, the territory of Ligny was annexed by the First French Republic.
January 1796: In 1795 the area of Stablo-Malmedy became part of the French department of Ourthe, and from 1796 the abbeys and monasteries were secularized.
January 1796: Wied-Runkel was annexed by France.
January 1796: In 1795, the territory of Rochefort was annexed by the First French Republic.
January 1796: Salm-Salm annexed to France.
January 1796: Between 1798 and 1814, Schleiden County was part of France after being conquered in the First Coalition War and through the French annexation of the left bank of the Rhine and through the Peace of Campo Formio and Lunéville.
1.1.1.Battle of Valmy
Was a battle between France and an alliance of European states led by Prussia that attempted an invasion of the French territory.
1.1.2.Flanders Campaign
Was a French military campaign in the Flanders.
July 1793: Condé-sur-l'Escaut conquered by First Coalition.
July 1793: Valenciennes conquered by First Coalition.
September 1793: Coalitionary forces captured Le Quesnoy, a strategic town in northern France.
September 1793: Maubege is conquered by coalitionary forces.
September 1793: In 1793, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the Austrian general Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, began besieging the French-held city of Maubeuge as part of the First Coalition's efforts to defeat the revolutionary government in France.
October 1793: Dumonceau (France) drove the Hanoverians from Menen.
October 1793: Cysoing conquered by First Coalition.
October 1793: Marchiennes on 29 October 1793 was the site of a battle between the French Revolutionary Army, led by General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and the First Coalition forces. The First Coalition was a group of European nations united against revolutionary France during the French Revolutionary Wars.
January 1794: Spanish armies crossed the Pyrenees.
April 1794: Landrecies fell on 30 April 1794 to the First Coalition forces, led by Austrian General Prince Josias of Coburg and British General Sir William Erskine. The capture of Landrecies was part of the larger War of the First Coalition, a conflict between revolutionary France and a coalition of European powers.
December 1794: By 28 December the French had occupied the Bommelwaard and the Lands of Altena.
January 1795: On 10 January French general Pichegru ordered a general advance across the frozen river between Zaltbommel and Nijmegen and the allies were forced to retreat behind the Lower Rhine.
June 1795: Territory evacuated by the French at the end of the Flanders Campaign. The surrender of Luxembourg on 7 June 1795 concluded the French conquest of the Low Countries, thus marking the end of the Flanders Campaign.
1.1.3.British Invasion of Corsica
British forces invaded and succesfully occupied Corsica during the War of the First Coalition.
February 1793: The French forces, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte, withdrew from San Fiorenzo in 1793 after facing military occupation by Great Britain. This event marked a strategic victory for the British forces in the Mediterranean region during the French Revolutionary Wars.
May 1794: In 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the city of Bastia in Corsica surrendered to British Admiral Samuel Hood offshore. This marked the beginning of Great Britain's military occupation of the territory, which lasted until 1796.
August 1794: In 1794, during the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom, negotiations between British commander Stuart and French commander Raphaël de Casabianca in Calvi, Corsica, resulted in a truce and eventual capitulation on August 10th.
1.1.4.War of the Pyrenees
Was the Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic.
April 1793: In 1793, Spanish General Antonio Ricardos invaded the Cerdagne region and captured the town of Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans during the War of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. This military occupation marked a significant event in the conflict between the two countries.
June 1793: The Siege of Bellegarde was part of the War of the First Coalition, with the French garrison surrendering to the Spanish forces led by Captain General Antonio Ricardos. This marked a significant victory for Spain in the conflict.
September 1793: Eustache Charles d'Aoust rallied the French to win the Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September. This represented the farthest Spanish advance in Rousillon.
December 1793: In 1793, during the French Revolutionary Wars, Spanish General Gregorio García de la Cuesta led the successful military occupation of Collioure and Port-Vendres, seizing control of the ports from the French.
July 1795: Spanish general Cuesta recaptured Puigcerdà and Bellver from the French on 26 and 27 July.
1.1.5.Peace of Basel
Were a series of Treaties between the French Republic and Prussia, Spain and Hesse-Kassel that ended the War of the First Coalition with these countries.
April 1795: Peace of Basel of 1795 at the end of the War of the First Coalition between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Republic. France gained the left bank of the Rhine.
1.1.6.Italian theatre (War of the first coalition)
Was the Italian theatre of the War of the First Coalition.
May 1796: On 28 April, the Piedmontese signed an armistice at with the French at Cherasco. On 18 May they signed a peace treaty in Paris, ceding Savoy and Nice and allowing the French bases to be used against Austria.
October 1796: Spain signed the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso with France on 19 August 1796, entering the war against Britain on the side of France in return for concessions in Italy. In response, Britain withdrew from Corsica. On 19 October 1796, the French reconquered Bastia and Corsica became a French département.
1.1.7.Rhine campaign of 1796
Were a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
July 1796: Neuwied conquered by france.
September 1796: End of Mainz blockade.
1.1.8.Rhine campaign of 1799
Was one of a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
September 1796: The Austrians established a strong cordon that forced General Jean Victor Marie Moreau to shift his forces southward to the remaining bridgehead at Hüningen.
1.1.9.Rhine campaign of 1800
Was one of a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
October 1796: The French retreated across the rivers Rhine and Elz, destroying all the bridges.
October 1796: French forces occupy Schliengen.
1.1.10.Rhine campaign of 1801
Was one of a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
January 1797: The French besieged Kehl from 10 November 1797.
1.1.11.Treaty of Campo Formio
Was a treaty between France and Austria that ended the War of the First Coalition.
January 1798: In 1797, the territory of St. Hubert was ceded to the First French Republic. This decision was made as part of the Treaty of Campo Formio, signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian foreign minister Count Ludwig von Cobenzl.
January 1798: The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI). The treaty transferred the Austrian Netherlands to France. The territories of Venice were partitioned, most were acquired by Austria. Austria recognized the Cisalpine Republic and the newly created Ligurian Republic. Extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer.
1.2.War of the Second Coalition
Was the second war that saw revolutionary France against most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria, and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join this coalition, and Spain supported France.
1.2.1.German Front (War of the Second Coalition)
Was the German theatre of the War of the Fifth Coalition.
December 1800: Austria was defeated by France in the Battle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800). By december, 25th the French forces were 80 km from Vienna. The Austrians requested an armistice, which French general Moreau granted on 25 December.
1.2.2.Suvorov Swiss campaign
Was a military campaign led by Russian general Alexander Suvorov against France that took place in Switzlerand.
October 1799: The Russian troops were forced by the French to abandon their hold on the left bank of the Rhine.
1.2.3.Treaty of Lunéville
Was a treaty between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire that formally ended the partecipation of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire in the War of the Second Coalition.
February 1801: The Treaty of Lunéville was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville between the French Republic and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Certain Austrian holdings within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were relinquished, and French control was extended to the left bank of the Rhine, "in complete sovereignty" but France renounced any claim to territories east of the Rhine. Contested boundaries in Italy were set. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was awarded to the French.
March 1801: The Duchy of Parma-Piacenza is occupied by France after the Traety of Lunéville (2/9/1801).
1.3.Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800)
Was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between the Spanish Empire and the French Republic by which Spain agreed to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany.
October 1800: The treaty of San Ildefonso (October 1, 1800) between France and Spain provided for the transfer of the island of Elba, then part of Tuscany, under French sovereignty.
January 1796: Wied-Runkel was annexed by France.
Disestablishment
May 1804: Declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon.
Selected Sources
Addington, L. (1994): The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century, Bloomington (USA), p.24
Alison, A. (1835): History of Europe, W. Blackwood and Sons, pp. 86-90.
Articles secrets et convention additionelle du traité de Campo Formio. Retrieved on March, 24th 2024 on https://books.google.de/books?id=SStJAAAAcAAJ&dq=Trait%C3%A9%20de%20paix%20de%20Campo%20Formio&hl=de&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=Trait%C3%A9%20de%20paix%20de%20Campo%20Formio&f=false
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), p. 48
Fournier. A (1913): Napoleon I. Eine Biographie, Vienna (Austria), p. 255
Frieden von Campoformio. Retrieved on March, 24th 2014 on https://books.google.de/books?id=UbGMtENHaBIC&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false
Gagliardo, J. (1980): Reich and Nation: The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806, Bloomington (USA), p. 192
Guthrie, W. (1798): A New geographical, historical and commercial grammar and present state of the several kingdoms of the world, printed for Charles Dilly and G.G. and J. Robinson, p. 473
Günther Cordes: Grafschaft Schleiden. In: Gerhard Taddey (Hrsg.): Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte. Personen, Ereignisse, Institutionen. Von der Zeitwende bis zum Ausgang des 2. Weltkrieges. 2., überarbeitete Auflage. Kröner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-520-80002-0, S. 1106.
Jorio, M. (2002): Basel, Frieden von (1795). Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/044887/2002-05-01/
Kreins, J. (2003): Histoire du Luxembourg, Paris (France), p. 63
Poole, R.L. (1902): Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, Oxford (United Kingdom), Plate XI
Smith, D. (1998): The Napoleonic Wars Data Book, London: Greenhill, p. 104
Swiss campaign of Suvorov and his wonder-heroes. Top War. 30 September 2011. https://en.topwar.ru/7227-shveycarskiy-pohod-suvorova-i-ego-chudo-bogatyrey.html
First French Republic
