CHRONOLOGY
The history that led to the novel and the musical
1845
1845 – Victor Hugo starts writing Les Misérables
1848-1851
Reign of King Louis Philippe ends with uprising and Louis Napoleon becomes President of the Second French Republic
1792
First French Republic declared
1792-95
The republican “Convention”, ending in Robespierre’s “terror”
1793
Louis XVI executed. The Royal insurgents begin their full scale civil war against the republican French Government. Victor Hugo describes this conflict in his novel “93”.
1795-99
“Le Directoire” becomes the first post-revolution government
1799-1804
“The Consulate”; Napoleon Bonaparte takes command
1804-15
French Empire; the rise and fall of Napoleon, ending with the battle of Waterloo
1815
France becomes a monarchy again with Louis XVIII as King
1824-30
The reign of Charles X
1832
Death of general Lamarque, a hero to workers and students. His funeral degenerates into riots, described by Hugo in Les Misérables
1848-51
Regime of Louis Phillipe ends with uprising and Louis Napoleon becomes president of the Second Republic. He dissolves Parliament and is given full powers for ten years
1852
Louis Napoleon declares himself Emperor. Hugo urges the populace to rise against the monarch and flees the country to Belgium
1862
Victor Hugo publishes Les Misérables, written in exile
1870
Louis Napoleon is forced to abdicate and is replaced by a democratically elected government. Hugo returns to France in triumph.
1885
Hugo dies. Two million mourners pay their respects at his massive funeral.
1906
The first silent film of Les Misérables is directed in France by Albert Capellini
1910
The first American film, Galley Slaves, is produced as a silent film, directed by James Stuart Blackton
1935
The first American sound version is produced by Richard Boleslawski
1980
The original arena production of the Boublil-Schönberg musical, Les Misérables, is presented at the Palais des Sports, Paris
1985
Les Misérables open at the Barbican Theatre in London
1987
Les Misérables opens at the Broadway Theatre in New York
End
