History of France

The History of France has been divided into a series of separate historical articles navigable through the template to the right. The chronological era articles (highlighted in blue) address broad French historical, cultural and sociological developments. The dynasty and regime articles deal with the specific political and governmental regimes in France. The history of other cultural topics such as French art and literature can be found on their own pages. For information on today's France, see France. For other information, go to France.

Historical Overview

Gaul

Settled mainly by Celtic peoples (that the Romans referred to as the "Gauls"), a shrinking area of Basque population in the southwest and Ligurian population on the southern coast, the area of modern France comprised the bulk of the region of Gaul (Latin: Gallia) under the rule of the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

France in the Early Middle Ages

In 486, Clovis I, leader of the Salian Franks to the east, conquered the Roman territory between the Loire and the Somme, subsequently uniting most of northern and central France under his rule and adopting in 496 the Roman Catholic form of Christianity (over the Arianism preferred by rival Germanic rulers).

After Clovis's death in 511 his realm underwent repeated division while the Merovingian dynasty eventually lost effective power to their successive Mayor of the Palace, the founders of what was to become the Carolingian dynasty. The assumption of the crown in 751 by Pipin the Short (son of Charles Martel) established Carolingian rule.

The new rulers' power reached its fullest extent under Pippin's son Charlemagne, who in 771 reunited the Frankish domains after a further period of division, subsequently conquering the Lombards under Desiderius in what is now northern Italy (774), incorporating Bavaria (788) into his realm, defeating the Avars of the Danubian plain (796), advancing the frontier with Islamic Spain as far south as Barcelona (801), and subjugating Lower Saxony (804) after prolonged campaigning.

In recognition of his successes and his political support for the Papacy, Charlemagne was in 800 crowned Emperor of the Romans, or Roman Emperor in the West, by Pope Leo III: on the death of his son Louis I (emperor 814-840), however, the empire was divided among Louis's three sons (Treaty of Verdun, 843). After a last brief reunification (884-887), the imperial title ceased to be held in the western part which was to form the basis of the future French kingdom.

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France in the Middle Ages

The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire, and Charles the Bald ruled over Western Francia, roughly corresponding to the territory of modern France. The Middle Ages in France were marked by the Viking invasions and the piecemeal dismantling of the Carolingian Empire by local powers, the elaboration of the seigneurial economic system and the feudal system of rights and obligations between lords and vassals, the growth of the Capetian dynasty and their struggles with the expanding Norman and Angevin regions, a period of artistic and literary outpouring from the 12th to the early 14th centuries, the rise of the Valois dynasty, the protracted dynastic crisis of the Hundred Years' War with Britain and the catastrophic Black Death epidemic, and the expansion of the French nation in the 15th century and the creation of a sense of French identity. Philippe II of France undertook a massive French expansion in the 13th century, but most of these acquisitions were lost both by the royal system of "apanage" (the giving of regions to members of the royal family to be administered) and through losses in the Hundred Years' War. Only in the 15th century would Charles VII of France and Louis XI of France gain control of most of modern day France. After victory over England, France's emergence as a powerful national monarchy was crowned by the "incorporation" of the Duchy of Burgundy (1477) and Brittany (1532), which had previously been independent European states.

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Early Modern France

From the fifteenth century to 1789.

France evolved from a feudal country to an increasingly centralized state (albeit with many regional differences) organized around a powerful absolute monarchy which relied on the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings and the explicit support of the established Church. France engaged in the long Italian Wars (1494-1559) which marked the beginning of Early Modern France. Renewed Catholic reaction headed by the powerful dukes of Guise culminated in a massacre of Huguenots (1562), starting the first of the French Wars of Religion, during which English, German and Spanish forces intervened on the side of rival Protestant and Catholic forces. During the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), France was the dominant power in Europe, aided by the diplomacy of Richelieu's successor (1642-1661) Cardinal Mazarin and the economic policies (1661-1683) of Colbert. On the eve of the French Revolution of 1789, France was in a profound institutional and financial crisis, but the ideas of the Enlightenment had begun to permeate the educated classes of society.

The Early Modern period in French history spans the following reigns:

Valois Dynasty
House of Bourbon
- Henry IV
- the Regency of Marie de Medici
- Louis XIII and his minister Cardinal Richelieu
- the Regency of Anne of Austria and her minister Cardinal Mazarin
- Louis XIV
- the Régence of Philip II of Orleans
- Louis XV
- Louis XVI

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France in Modern Times I (1792-1914)

From the Revolution to World War I.

On May 28, 1789, the Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate proceed with verification of its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so, and then voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the National Assembly. On July 14, 1789, after four hours of combat, the insurgents seized the Bastille prison, killing the governor and several of his guards. After the first great victory of the French revolutionary troops at the battle of Valmy on 1792 September 20 the French First Republic was proclaimed the day after on 1792 September 21. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, seized power as First Consul, and in 1802 he was made First Consul for life.

For detailed coverage of 1802—1814, see the main article: Napoleonic Wars

The disaster of the march on Moscow would lead to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Nations in 1813 and his abdication in 1814. After an initial forced exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon briefly returned to power (the Hundred Days of 1815), but the imperial dream was finally crushed by the defeat of Waterloo and Napoleon was definitively exiled. Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Allies restored the Bourbon Dynasty to the French throne. In 1830 discontent culminated in an uprising in the streets of Paris, known as the July Revolution. Louis-Philippe's "July Monarchy" (1830-1848) is generally seen as a period during which the haute bourgeoisie was dominant. France was ruled by Emperor Napoleon III of France from 1852 to 1870. With the humiliating defeat of Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the fall of the second Empire, the French legislature established the Third Republic which was to last until the military defeat of 1940.

See also:

French Revolution
First Empire of Napoleon, Napoleonic Wars, Continental System
Restoration of Louis XVIII and Charles X
July Revolution (1830) and the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe (often treated as a continuation of the Restoration)
1848 Revolution
French Second Republic
Second Empire of Napoleon III
Franco-Prussian War, Paris Commune
French Third Republic

France in Modern Times II (1914-today)

World War I (1914-1918) brought great losses of troops and resources. Fought in large part on French soil, it lead to approximately 1.4 million French dead including civilians (see World War I casualties), and four times as many casualties. The stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles (1919) were severe: Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France; Germany was required to take full responsibility for the war and to pay war reparations; the German industrial Saarland, a coal and steel region, was occupied by France.

In the 1920s, France established an elaborate system of border defences (the Maginot Line) and alliances (see Little Entente) to offset resurgent German strength and in the 1930s, the massive losses of the war lead many in France to choose a policy guaranteeing peace, even in the face of Hitler's violations of the Versailles treaty and (later) his demands at Munich in 1938; this would be the much maligned policy of appeasement. The German Blitzkrieg began its attack in May 1940, and in six weeks of savage fighting the French lost 130,000. France surrendered to Nazi Germany on June 24, 1940. Nazi Germany occupied three fifths of France's territory, leaving the rest to the new Vichy government established on July 10, 1940. France was liberated by allied forces in 1944.

After a short period of provisional government initially led by General Charles de Gaulle, a new constitution (October 13, 1946) established the Fourth Republic under a parliamentary form of government controlled by a series of coalitions. The May 1958 seizure of power in Algiers by French army units and French settlers opposed to concessions in the face of Arab nationalist insurrection led to the fall of the French government and a presidential invitation to de Gaulle to form an emergency government to forestall the threat of civil war. In May 1968 students revolted, with a variety of demands including educational, labor and governmental reforms, sexual and artistic freedom, and the end of the Vietnam War. The student protest movement quickly joined with labor and mass strikes erupted. While France continues to revere its rich history and independence, French leaders increasingly tie the future of France to the continued development of the European Union. Current President Jacques Chirac assumed office on May 17, 1995, after a campaign focused on the need to combat France's stubbornly high unemployment rate. The French have stood among the strongest supporters of NATO and EU policy in the Balkans.

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External links

History of France, from Middle Ages to XIXe century (in French)
Websites about History of France (in French)
A History of France (in English)
Voices in the Dark - Paris in World War II (in English)

History of Europe | History of France

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Historical Overview

Gaul

France in the Early Middle Ages

France in the Middle Ages

Early Modern France

France in Modern Times I (1792-1914)

France in Modern Times II (1914-today)

See also

Further reading

External links