FRANCE

French History
 Facts about France
Population: more than 11,000,000
Capital: Paris
Cities: Chartres,Chantilly, Provins, Rambouillet,Barbizon, Malmaison,
Compiegne
Castles: Vaux-le-Vicomte,Versailles, Fontainebleau
Points of Interest: Park of Asterix, the cathedrale of Notre-Dame-of-Chartres,
the center of Georges Pompidou
Parks and Gardens: le bois of Boulogne, le parc des bords de l’Eure
Resources and Industries: agriculture, tourism, transportation
Famous People: Claude Monet, George Sand, Simone de Beauvoir, Marcel
Proust
Map of France
Early Settlers
Human have inhabited the area of modern France for nearly a 100,000 thousand years. The Stone-
Aged people left vivid cave paintings of the animals that they hunted.
Around 3,000 B.C. they inhabitants of France began to develop larger communities near rivers and
seas, and grow food crops.
Around 800 B.C hardy warriors called Celts invaded France from the east. The Celts soon gained
control of most of the European continent.
The Greeks first tried to settle in Celtic Gaul and managed to establish a small colony in Marseille in
600 B.C.
Then it was the turn of the Romans, lead by Julius Caesar, who entirely invaded Gaul during the
Gallic Wars [58-51 B.C.] The Romans brought unity and peace for two centuries of Pax Romana
during which agriculture, cattle-breeding and urban development were greatly improved.
During the 2nd century A.D. Romans brought Christianity into Gaul and by the 3 rd century the power
of the Roman Empire had begun it’s decline.
The 4th century started with Barbarian invaders from the east such as the Franks the Vandals and the
Visigoths. Clovis, king of the Franks, converted to Christianity and his power brought unity to Gaul,
starting the Merovingian dynasty.
Middle Ages
637-Dagobert 1, last 1096-First Crusade
Mervingian king 1066-William of
732-Charles Martel stops Normandy starts invading
Arab invasion England
800-Charlemagne 1120-St.Denis Cathedral
crowned Holy Roman is rebuilt:birth of Gothic
Empire architecture.
910-Foundation of the 1337-England and France
monastery of Cluny went to war, that
987-Hugue Capet start continued for 116 years.
Capetian dynasty [hundred years’ war]
Joan of Arc
She was a shepherdess from the northern village of Domremy in Lorraine. She claimed
that from the age of 12, she heard voices from God urging her to fight for France. When
she was 16 she began bravely to take action.
She persuaded the young uncrowned Dauphin son of the dead King Charles the 4 th that
he should still become the King of France. Dressed in armor, Joan led the newly inspired
French troops to victory at Orleans in 1429.
She Accompanied the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation as Charles V11
During the siege of Paris, Joan was captured by the Duke of Burgundy and delivered to
the English. When she would not deny that she had heard the saints’ voices, she was
tried by the Church as a witch and burned at the stake in Rouen in northern France in
1431. She was just 19 years old.
Almost 500 years later after her death, in 1920, Joan of Arc was named a saint of the
Catholic Church.
Statue of Joan of Arc
 Renaissance
Roughly, the boundaries of modern France were established by around 1500. The
greatest flowering of the French Renaissance occurred during the reign of Francis 1 st.
[1515-47]
In the early 16th century after a series of Italian wars, Francis 1 st strengthened the French
crown and welcomed to France many Italian artists and designers, such as Leonardo da
Vinci. Their influence assured the success of the Renaissance style characterized by
enlarged doors and windows, the great sophistications of the interiors.
The Loire Valley Chateaus and Francis 1 st Chateau of Fontainebleau are perfect
examples of the Renaissance style, which combined defensive fortresses with luxurious
palaces.
Between 1562 and 1598, the increase in the number of the Protestants led to the Wars of
Religion. Catherine de Medici ordered the St.Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of hundreds
of Protestants. In 1589, Henri 4th, a target of the massacre, becomes the first Bourbon
king of France and converted to Catholicism. He ended the Wars of Religion by enacting
the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious and political right to the Huguenots.
 Grand Siecle
The 17th century was a period of exceptional power and glamour for the
French Monarchy. Starting with King Louis 13th and the Cardinal Richelieu
who together transformed the feudal French Monarchy to an Absolute
Monarchy, by controlling the opposition of the Lords and the growing power
of the Protestants
Marzarin, Louis 14th regent, ended the popular revolts of La Fronde. Louis 14th
managed to keep all the Princes and Lords at his court in Versailles, to better
control and display his glorious power.
Louis 14th also known as the Sun King, was the most powerful and opulent
monarch Europe had seen since the Roman Empire. Political brilliance in this
period was matched only by the genius of the writers, architects and musicians
generously promoted by the royal court.
Growing resentment of the Bourgeoisie, who demanded political rights more
in keeping with their expanding power and wealth, would prove to be a
political challenge to the King’s successors.
 Timeline of the 18th century
1715- Louis 14th died leaving his country in debt 1791-The constitution of 1791 was adopted
from the money he spent supporting the arts. June 20,1791-Louis 16th and his family tried to flee
1774- Louis 15th died leaving an even bigger debt France but were arrested.
from all the wars France was in during his reign. April 20,1792- France declared war on Austria
1789- French peasants were mad because of the September 1792-The national convention held their
unfair tax system and a poor harvest in 1788. first meeting
May 5,1789-Louis 16th called Estates to a meeting in January 21,1793-Louis 16th sentenced to the
Versailles to approve a tax plan. guillotine
June 17,1789-The 3rd Estate declared themselves the August 1793-A national draft called for all able-
National Assembly and made the Tennis Court Oath. bodied men to join the army.
July 14,1789- The people of Paris stormed Bastille. September 1793 to July 1794-The Reign of Terror
August 4,1789-The national assembly announced the court sentenced 20,000 to 40,000 people to death.
end of feudalism and serfdom in France. July 27,1794- The National convention arrested
August 27,1789-The national assembly issued the Robespieere
Declaration of the Rights of Man. July 28,1794-Robespierre was beheaded.
October 5, 1789- French women invaded Versailles. 1795-A new constitution was adopted.
1790-The civil constitution of the Clergy was passed. 1799-The directory fell and ended the French
Revolution.
Napoleonic Era
The Revolution ends in 1799 when Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris and was crowned
First Consul at the age of thirty. A brilliant politician and a military genius, he took the
title of emperor Napoleon 1st in 1804.
After establishing a powerful central administration and a strong code of law, he started
numerous military campaigns which almost gave him the control of the entire European
continent.
First defeated in Russia in 1812 and then in Waterloo in 1815, he was replaced by Louis
18th.
Louis 18th constitutional monarchy was overthrown under Charles X, whose
conservatism was a reminiscence of the old regime and lead to the July Revolution of
1830.
The following July Monarchy , had elected King Louis Philippe. He ruled France for 18
years of stable prosperity.
In 1848, Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon 1 st, was elected the first president of the
Second Republic. In 1852, he was proclaimed Emperor Napoleon 3 rd by national
plebiscite. It was he who commissioned Baron Haussman to redesign Paris and started
the French industrial revolution.
Napoleon
 19th Century
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war erupted, Paris fell to the
Germans and France lost the Alsace and Lorraine regions.
Following the defeat, Napoleon 3rd was exiled and France’s
Third Republic marked the definite end of centuries of
monarchy.
The industry expansion was not slowed by the war and
continued at a fast pace. To commemorate the centenial of the
French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower was constructed during the
Universal Exhibition of 1889. The cultural and artistic scene
thrived and evolved with the Impressionists, the Art Nouveau
style, the novelist Flaubert and the satirist Zola.
20th Century
The first World War erupted in 1914 in northeast France and after two
years of German victories, fell into the horrors of trench warfare. The
United States entered the war in 1917 and helped France to victory.
During the 2nd World War, in 1940 the Germans invaded Paris and
occupied the north and west parts of France until 1944. The rest of the
country was under the authority of the puppet government of Vichy
led by Marshal Petain.
General Charles de Gaulle was organizing the Resistance movement
of the Free France from London. Soon after the American, British and
Canadian military invasion of the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944,
de Gaulle entered Paris to head the new government of the 4th
Republic.
Map of World War 2nd in Europe and North
Africa
 Modern France
Today France is a democratic republic, with its
capital in Paris. The government since 1958, has
been known as the 5th republic. Frances national
government has three branches. The executive
branch is headed by the president and the prime
minister. The legislative branch is the Parliament
made up of the two houses-the national assembly
and the Senate. The Judicial branch consists of a
system of courts.