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Brief history of France. History of France (key dates) Where does the history of France begin?

France is without a doubt one of the most interesting countries not only in Europe, but all over the world. Therefore, it is not surprising that about 80 million tourists visit France every year, who are interested in local attractions, beach resorts on the Cote d'Azur, as well as upscale ski resorts. For each of these tourists, France is not only an “eternally cute image”, as the Russian poet Nikolai Gumilyov thought about this country, but also an amazing vacation.

Geography of France

France is located in Western Europe. To the north, the English Channel ("English Channel") separates France from Great Britain. France borders Spain and Andorra in the southwest, Switzerland and Italy in the southeast, and Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium in the northeast. In the West, the coast of France is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and in the south by the Mediterranean Sea.

France also includes 5 overseas territories (the islands of Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Martinique, Reunion, and Guiana in South America), as well as overseas communities (Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia), and overseas territories with special status (Clipperton, New Caledonia and the French Southern and Antarctic Territories).

The total area of ​​France in Europe is 547,030 sq. km., including the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. If we take into account the French overseas territories, then the area of ​​​​France is 674,843 square kilometers.

France's landscape is very diverse, ranging from the coastal plains in the north and west, to the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central, and the Pyrenees in the southwest. The highest peak in France is Mont Blanc in the Alps (4810 m).

Several large (Seine, Loire, Garron and Rhone) and hundreds of small rivers flow through France.

Approximately 27% of the territory of France is occupied by forests.

Capital

The capital of France is Paris, which is now home to more than 2.3 million people. According to archaeological finds, on the site of modern Paris, a settlement of people (Celts) existed already in the 3rd century BC.

Official language

The official language in France is French, which belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European language family.

Religion

About 65% of the population of France are Catholics, adherents of the Roman Catholic Church. However, only about 4.5% of French Catholics go to church every week (or more often).

In addition, about 4% of the French population are Muslims, and 3% are Protestants.

State structure of France

According to the Constitution of 1958, France is a parliamentary republic in which the head of state is the President.

The source of legislative power is the bicameral Parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and the Senate. The legislative powers of the Senate are limited, and the National Assembly has the final vote.

The main political parties in France are the Socialist Party and the Union for a Popular Movement.

Climate and weather

In general, the climate of France can be divided into three main climatic zones:

  • Oceanic climate in the west;
  • Mediterranean climate in the south and southeast (Provence, Languedoc-Roussillon and the island of Corsica);
  • Continental climate in the central regions of the country and in the east.

In the southeast of France, in the Alps, the climate is alpine. Winter in the mountains of France, including the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, is cold, often with heavy snowfalls.

Average air temperature in Paris:

  • January - +3C
  • February - +5C
  • March - +9C
  • April - +10С
  • May - +15C
  • June - +18C
  • July - +19C
  • August - +19C
  • september - +17C
  • october - +13С
  • November - +7С
  • December - +5C

Seas and oceans

The coast of France is washed by the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west.

The average temperature of the Mediterranean Sea near Nice ("Cote d'Azur"):

  • January - +13C
  • February - +12С
  • March - +13С
  • April - +14C
  • May - +17C
  • June - +20С
  • July - +22C
  • August - +22С
  • september - +21C
  • october - +18С
  • November - +15С
  • december - +14С

Rivers and lakes

On the European territory of France, there are 119 rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The largest rivers in France are the Seine, Loire, Garron and Rhone.

Lakes in France are not very large, but very beautiful. The largest of them are Bourget, Egblett and Annecy.

History of France

People on the territory of modern France appeared 10 thousand years ago. Around the VI century BC. on the Mediterranean coast of France, colonies of the Phoenicians and ancient Greeks were formed. Later, the territory of modern France was settled by Celtic tribes. In the era of Ancient Rome, France was called Gaul. In the middle of the 1st century BC. Most of Gaul was conquered by Gaius Julius Caesar.

In the 5th century AD the Frankish tribes invaded France, which formed their empire in the 8th century (this was done by Charlemagne, who took the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire).

In the X century, the Vikings began to raid the coast of France, gradually colonizing Normandy. From 987, the kings of France were from the Capetian family, and from 1328 - Valois.

During the Middle Ages, France waged constant wars with its neighbors, gradually expanding its territory. So, in 1337, the so-called. The "Hundred Years War" between France and England, as a result of which the British were expelled from French lands (only the port of Calais remained behind them). During the Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc became famous.

In the middle of the 16th century, under the influence of the Protestant Reformation, the teachings of John Calvin began to spread in France, which led to a long-term civil war. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted French Protestants (Huguenots) equal rights with Catholics.

As a result of the French Revolution (1789-94), the monarchy was abolished in France and a republic was proclaimed. However, after some time, the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte was established in France. Under Napoleon Bonaparte, France extended its power over almost all European countries. In 1815, after the defeat at Waterloo, the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte was liquidated.

In the 20th century, France took an active part in all two world wars, suffering millions of human losses in them. After the Second World War in 1946-1958 in France there was a so-called. "Fourth Republic", and in 1958, after the adoption of the Constitution, the "Fifth Republic" was established.

Now France is part of the NATO military bloc and is a member of the EU.

culture

The history of France has many hundreds of years, and therefore the French, of course, have a very rich culture, which had a great influence on the cultures of other peoples.

Thanks to France, the world received a large number of brilliant writers, artists, philosophers and scientists:

  • Literature (Pierre Beaumarchais, Alexandre Dumas père, Anatole France, Victor Hugo, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Anne Golon, Jules Verne, and Georges Simenon);
  • Art (Jean-Antoine Watteau, Delacroix, Degas, and Jean Paul Cezanne);
  • Philosophy (Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Comte, Henri Bergson, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre).

Every year France celebrates a wide variety of folk festivals and carnivals. The most popular carnival takes place every year in March, welcoming spring.

French Cuisine

The French have always been proud of their art of cooking. Now French cuisine is considered the most diverse and sophisticated in the world.

Each region of France has its own special culinary tradition. So, in the north-west of the country in Brittany pancakes with cider are popular, in Alsace (near the border with Germany) they often make “la choucroute” (stewed cabbage with pieces of sausage), in the Loire Valley they eat a special dish of fish Lotte (monk fish) , which is found only in the Loire River. Seafood dishes (mussels, clams, oysters, shrimp, squid) are very popular on the coast of France.

In some regions of France, exotic dishes are prepared for you and me - snails in garlic and oil, as well as frog legs in sauce.

France is famous for its wines. Winemaking in France dates back to around the 6th century BC. In the Middle Ages, French wines from Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux became known throughout Europe. Now wine is produced in almost every region of France.

Sights of France

A person who has been to France can probably talk for hours about its sights, because this country has a very rich history. The top ten attractions in France, in our opinion, include the following:

Cities and resorts

The largest French cities are Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Lille.

France is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The total coastline of mainland France is 3,427 kilometers. On the southeastern coast of France (this is the Mediterranean Sea) is the famous "Côte d'Azur" (French Riviera), where tourists can relax in popular beach resorts. The most famous of them are Nice, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Ile-du-Levent, and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

In winter, hundreds of thousands of tourists come to France to ski in the local ski resorts.

Top 10 best French ski resorts:

  1. Brides-les-Bains (Bride Le Bains)
  2. Argentière (Argentière)
  3. Les Arcs (Les Arcs)
  4. Meribel
  5. Tignes (Tignes)
  6. Saint Martin de Belleville
  7. Paradiski (Paradiski)
  8. Courchevel (Courchevel)
  9. Alpe d "Huez (Alpe d'Huez)
  10. Val d "Isère (Val d" Isère)

Souvenirs/Shopping

Tourists from France usually bring various souvenirs with the image of the Eiffel Tower. However, we advise you to buy scarves and ties, chocolate, coffee cups, lavender tea (made in Provence), Dijon mustard (there are 50 types of this mustard), French perfumes, French wine in France.

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Briefly about France

The history of France began in the west of Europe. Briefly speaking about its formation, it is worth adding that long before the appearance of the Frankish tribes, various tribes lived in these territories. The first records of people living here appeared at a time when the ancient Greeks founded the city of Massalia on the site of modern Marseille. Before here the Celts lived. The Celtic tribes living on the territory of modern France were called Gauls in the Roman Empire. In 220 B.C. era, the Romans conquered these lands, and the Celtic tribes were assimilated.
On the eve of the collapse of the Roman Empire, tribes of Franks, Saxons, Burgundians and Germans came to this land. Together they repulsed the Hun invasion, and then the Frankish state was born here, formed in 481. Up to the year 8, it grew, and under the rule of Charlemagne, it completely occupied the entire territory of modern Italy and Germany. However, after the death of the king, the kingdom fell apart.
By the end of the 11th century, Normandy, ruled by the Vikings, was effectively part of France, but with the Norman Conquest, the territory of Britain and Normandy broke away from the French crown. In subsequent years, several dynasties of kings changed in France, and conflicts constantly arose between Great Britain and France, one of the longest was the Hundred Years War.
In 1792, royal power was overthrown and France became a republic. However, soon after that, France became an aggressor country for some time, the military campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, who seized power, shook the whole of Europe.
However, this did not last long, the monarchy was finally destroyed in 1870. France was also actively engaged in colonization, but after the first and second world wars, all the colonies got out of control, and France itself was captured by the Germans in 1940.
Speaking briefly about France today, this country is one of the founders of the European Union. Its territory occupies 674.685 thousand square meters. km, and the population is 66 million people. Throughout the history of France, the city of Paris remained the capital, and only sometimes in transitional moments the power in the country was concentrated in other cities. Almost every child associates France with the Eiffel Tower, but a huge number of castles have been built in the country over the centuries, and the most ancient cities seem to bear the imprint of history.

Sealine - tours to France

History of France (key dates)

1st century BC – 3rd century AD
Active Romanization of southern Gaul - cities are being built (many public buildings: baths, theaters, temples), aqueducts. Remains of Roman structures still remain today.

4th century
The city of Burdigala (modern Bordeaux) is famous for its high school(study of Greek and Latin literature, rhetoric)

5th century
There were more than 100 cities in Gaul. Under pressure from the Germanic tribes of the Suebi, Burgundians and Franks, the Roman troops withdrew from the border along the Rhine, leaving part of Gaul to the Germans. The Visigoths occupied Aquitaine from the Loire to the Garonne and founded the Kingdom of Toulouse.

Around 450
Under the onslaught of the Anglo-Saxons, part of the Briton tribes moved from the British Isles to the Armorica Peninsula (modern Brittany), the ethnic identity of this province is still preserved.

451
Invasion of the Huns. Roman troops and Frankish squads defeated the Huns of Attila in the battle on the Catalaunian fields, near Troyes.

5th century, last quarter
The Visigoths captured Gascony, Provence and almost all of Spain, as well as the central regions (modern Bury, Limousine and Auvergne). In the valleys of the Saone and Rhone, the Burgundians founded the kingdom of Burgundy.

482 year
The northern regions from the Loire to the Somme and the Meuse subjugated tribal union francs. The ruler of the Franks, Holdwig, founded the Frankish state of the Merovingians. The Franks retained the Roman cities and administration.

496
The Franks converted to Christianity according to the Roman rite, which provided them with the support of the Pope of Rome against the rest of the Germanic tribes who professed Arianism.

6th century, beginning
The first edition of the Salic Truth was created - a code of laws, which included the norms of unwritten (customary) law and the norms of early feudal law. For the Gallo-Roman population, the norms of Roman law are preserved.

511 year
Holdwig died. The Frankish state crumbled into the inheritances of his sons.

6th century, middle
The Franks established their dominance by subjugating the Visigoths and Burgundians. The Frankish state of the Merovingians was formed. Under the influence of the Germans, feudal land ownership began to take shape in Gaul.

6th century, end - 7th century, beginning
During the internecine wars, four parts of the Frankish state took shape: Neustria (in the northwest, with a center in Paris and a predominantly Halo-Roman population, Burgundy (in the east), Aquitaine (in the southwest) and Austrasia (northeastern part of Gaul, settled by the East Franks later became part of Germany).

687
Mayor Pepin II (administrator of the royal domain, appointed by the king) concentrated in his hands the real power in the Frankish state.

732 year
Battle of Poitiers. The Frankish Major Karl Martel (nickname means "hammer") defeated the Arabs, stopping their advance into the interior of the country.

737 year
Charles Martell seized power in the Frankish state.

751
Pepin III the Short exiled the last Merovingian king to a monastery and founded the new Carolingian dynasty.

768-789 years
Charlemagne (742-814) became King of France. Under him, global transformations were carried out within the state, for example, an administrative reform: a court, a palace court, and an office were created to manage the empire. An active foreign policy was carried out (the creation of border stamps, for example, Spanish, Breion). Charles became famous as a patron of the arts. The flowering of culture under him was called the "Carolingian Renaissance". Schools were opened at all the monasteries of the Frankish state.

800 year
The state of the Franks turned into a huge "Holy Roman Empire", covering the western part of Germany, all of France and the northern part of Italy, headed by Emperor Charlemagne. Under the influence of a higher Gallo-Romance culture, the Franks assimilated, lost their language, assimilating the Gallo-Romance speech and enriching it with Germanic words. The official language of the Frankish state is Romance.

842
Exchange of "Oaths" (the first document on French) between kings Charles the Bald and Louis the German.

843
Treaty of Verdun - the division of the Frankish Empire, the separation of the West Frankish state, which became known as France.

9th century, middle
Norman raids on France. Not only coastal cities were devastated, but also settlements inland, including Paris. The Normans captured part of France at the mouth of the Seine and founded the duchy of Normandy (911).

10th century
France was divided into counties and duchies.

X-XII centuries
Romanesque style in architecture.

910
Abbey of Cluny founded.

987
End of the Carolingian dynasty. Count Hugh Capet of Paris is elected King of France. The beginning of the reign of the Capetian dynasty (ruled until 1328). The royal domain included lands along the Seine and Loire with Paris and Orleans.

1060-1108 years
Philip I. The struggle of the cities of the communes with the lords became a means of strengthening the Royal power. As they joined the royal domain, duchies and counties became provinces.

1095
Pope Urban II called at the Council of Clermont to "liberate the Holy Sepulcher"

1096-1099 years
I Crusade. It consisted of two parts - the campaign of the poor (from central and northern France and western Germany) under the leadership of Pierre of Amiens (The Hermit) along the pilgrimage route - along the Rhine and Danube to Constantinople. At the same time, the first Jewish pogroms in the history of medieval Europe took place. At the end of 1096, detachments of feudal lords moved from Lorraine, Normandy, southern France and Italy. In the east, the crusaders created a number of states: the Jerusalem state and its vassal counties - Tripoli and Edessa, the principality of Antioch.

Around 1143
In the south of France, between Toulouse and Albi, the heresy of the Cathars (from the Greek "pure") spread. The Cathars rejected all Catholic dogmas, submission to the state, demanded the confiscation of church lands, which attracted the nobility to them. They created their own church organization.

1147
The Muslims conquered Edessa, which was the reason for the II Crusade, led by Louis VII and the German Emperor Conrad III (ended in vain). Louis VII divorced Alleonora of Aquetaine, Henry II Plantagenet, Count of Anjou married her.

1154
Henry II Plantagenet became king of England and almost 2/3 of France. Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou, Maine, Poitou fell under his rule and cut off access to the sea to the royal domain. There was an instant conflict between England and France.

1209-1228
The kings and knights of Northern France, taking advantage of the spread of the Albigensian (Cathars and Waldenses) heresy in the south, subjected the southern regions with a higher economic and cultural standard of living to a terrible defeat and annexed the County of Toulouse (Languedoc) to the royal domain.

Around 1226
The Inquisition was organized in Toulouse.

1226-1270 years
Louis IX Saint.

1248-1254 years
Saint Louis IX led the VII Crusade to Egypt, where he was captured and ransomed for a huge sum.

1270
Louis IX gathered the VIII Crusade, but having reached Tunis, he died of the plague, like most of the knights.

1285 - 1314
Philip IV Handsome.

1302
"Bruges Matins". In the city of Bruges, the French garrison was cut out, stationed here during the struggle for the County of Flanders. In response, Philip IV the Handsome led his knights to Flanders. A “Battle of the Spurs” took place, during which the Flanders weavers killed the knights, removed their golden spurs (the distinction of a knighthood and hung them in the church. The States General was convened - a class assembly to vote taxes. The first estate was the clergy, the second was the nobility, the third was the bourgeois (citizens, taxable estate).

1306
Philip IV the Beautiful confiscated the property of the Jews (mainly usurers) and expelled them from France, but then allowed them to return (this happened more than once during his reign).

1307
The order of the Templars, to whom the king owed huge sums, was defeated. Many members of the order were executed, some were expelled, and the colossal property of the order was confiscated. The master of the order, Jacques de Molay, cursed the king and his offspring at the stake. In 1312, the pope dissolved the order.

1328-1350
Philip VI the beginning of the reign of the Valois dynasty, a side branch of the Capetians (until 1589).

1337-1453 years
Hundred Years War with England.

1380-1422 years
Large feudal lords ruled on behalf of Charles VI, who suffered from bouts of insanity.

1413
Confrontation under King Charles VI of two parties - Armagnacs and Burgundians. Revolts in Paris, convocation of the Estates General, resumption of the Hundred Years' War.

1420
The Duke of Burgundy went over to the side of the English king. Occupation of Paris.

1422-1461
Reign of Charles VII.

1429
Joan of Arc persuaded the indecisive and weak Charles VII to entrust her with an army to lift the siege of Orleans, and when this succeeded, she went with Charles VII to Reims for his coronation in Reims Cathedral, the traditional place for the coronation of French kings.

1430
In the battle with the British at Compiègne, Jeanne with a detachment had to retreat to the city gates, but they remained locked. The Burgundians captured her and sold her to the British. The court sentenced Jeanne to death, and in 1431 she was burned at the stake in Rouen. In 1456, all charges were dropped from Jeanne, and she became a national heroine. In the twentieth century, the Catholic Church canonized her.

1439
Charles VII declared the independence of the French Church from the Pope.

1453
Charles VII conquered Bordeaux, ending the Hundred Years' War. The British lost all continental possessions, except for the city of Calais.

1461-1483 years
Louis XI. A skilled diplomat, he did not like war and bequeathed to his son to remember: "He who does not know how to pretend, he does not know how to manage." Crafts and trade revived. The embryos of the economic policy of mercantilism, which is based on a positive trade balance, have emerged. Louis XI encouraged the development of industry (in particular, he forced Lyon to produce silk fabrics and organize fairs, which quickly overshadowed those in Geneva).

1477
Accession of Burgundy to the royal possessions after the death of Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy.

1483-1498
Reign of Charles VIII.

1515-1547
Reign of Francis I.

1534
The Jesuit order "Society of Jesus" was founded to fight the Reformation.

1559
King Henry II died during the tournament. His wife Catherine de Medici became regent under the minor under the minor Francis II, then under Charles IX.

1562-1592
Religious Wars. A war began (1562) between Catholics and Huguenots (Protestants, followers of Calvin. Most often they were townspeople and nobles of the south of France). Internal migration has led to the blurring of regional differences.

1589
A Dominican monk killed Henry III, the last king of the Valois dynasty.

1589-1610
Henry IV of Bourbon. The beginning of the reign of the Bourbon dynasty (until 1792 and in 1814-1830). The integrity of the country was restored according to the principle of uniting "all lands where French is spoken."

1598
Edict of Nantes. The Catholic religion is recognized as dominant in France. Established freedom of Protestant worship. Catholics and Protestants are equal in rights.

1610
The Catholic fanatic Ravaillac killed Henry IV, under which religious peace was established, the state of finance and government improved. Louis XIII (1601-1643), son of Henry IV and Marie de Medici, ascended the throne. During the years of the regency of M. Medici, the country was actually ruled by her favorite, the Italian adventurer Concino Concini (involved in the assassination of the king), whom she made Marquis d'Ancor and Marshal of France.

1617
The favorite of Louis XIII, the Duke of Luynes, persuaded the king to remove Concini. Killed, and his wife was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake, Luin appropriated their huge fortune and achieved the expulsion of Marie Medici.

1618-1648
Thirty Years' War. France helped the Protestants in Germany in the fight against the Habsburgs.

1624-1642
Reign of Richelieu under Louis XIII. Richelieu contributed to the strengthening of the absolute monarchy and actually created a centralized state of France.

1631
The first French newspaper "GAZETTE DE FRANCE" is founded.

1635
Richelieu founded the French Academy.

1648
As a result of the Thirty Years' War, France occupied a dominant position in Central Europe.

1659
The marriage of the future Louis XIV with the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa put an end to the long feud between the two royal houses.

1664
Colbert founded the West Indies and New East Indies Campaigns.

1665
Jean-Baptiste Colbert is appointed Comptroller General of France's finances. Pursuing a policy of mercantilism, he stabilized the financial system and ensured economic growth.

1669
The construction of the Palace of Versailles began.

1685
Cancellation of the Edict of Nantes on the freedom of Protestant worship, the flight of the Huguenots.

1701-1714
War of the Spanish Succession: Austria, Holland, the Habsburg Empire against France and Bavaria. Philip V (grandson of Louis XIV) became King of Spain. France lost part of the American possessions.

XVIII century of enlightenment

1715
After the death of Louis XIV, his great-grandson Louis XV became king (until 1774). The country is heavily devastated: "1/10 of the inhabitants are begging, and 1/2 do not have the opportunity to give alms."

1733
War with Austria and Russia for the Polish inheritance.

1774-1793 years
Reign of Louis XVI.

1781
Report of the Minister of Finance on the appalling state of the country's budget.

1788
The Treasury has declared bankruptcy.

1789-1794
The French Revolution.

1789
After a 175-year break, the States General convened. A month and a half later, the third estate proclaimed itself the National Assembly - this became the prologue of the Great French Revolution. The bourgeois demanded equality before the law, the abolition of tax privileges.

1789
Summer. Peasant uprisings, the abolition of feudal duties. Political clubs arose in Paris, from which political parties were formed. Nationalization of church property to reduce the budget deficit. On August 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted.

1790
Church reform, abolition of hereditary nobility, adoption of the first constitution.

1791
The failed flight of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from Paris. Aggravation of relations between radical and moderate deputies of the National Assembly. The Jacobins, led by Robespierre, demanded that the king be punished and that a republic be proclaimed.

1791 end
In Europe, interventions were being prepared against revolutionary France.

1792 August 10
The storming of the royal palace of the Tuileries, the overthrow of the monarchy (the king and his family are imprisoned).

1793 April 6-June 2
1793, April 6-June 2, the Committee of Public Safety came to power. The main government body of the Jacobins, headed by Danton.

1794
The Jacobin bloc split into right and left: the Dantonists (Danton) and the Héberists (Hébert).

1794 mara
The Héberists opposed the government and were executed (Hébert and Chaumet).

1794 April
Danton, Desmoulins and other Dantonists (supporters of radical measures who opposed terror) were executed.

1794 July 26
Thermidorian revolution. The Jacobin club is closed, Robespierre and Saint-Just are arrested and executed without trial. New constitution.

1794 October
Ecole Normal is established - educational institution for teacher training.

1795
The Institute of France, the highest scientific center of the country, was created.

1796
Napoleon's campaign in Italy, the defeat of the Austrian troops.

1798
The Egyptian campaign of Napoleon, the capture of Malta, the victory of Admiral Nelson at Abikur. Napoleon returned to France.

1799
Napoleon carried out a military coup. Under the new constitution, power passes to three consuls. Napoleon is the first consul.

1802
Napoleon appointed consul for life. Amnesty for emigrants, economic reforms started.

1804
Napoleon was proclaimed emperor, the nobility was restored, state power was strengthened, and the Civil Code (Napoleon Code) was put into effect.

1805
The defeat of the Austro-Russian troops at Austerlitz ended the war with the third anti-French coalition.

1807
Peace of Tilsit - Russian-French rapprochement. French hegemony in Europe. The first meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I.

1812 Napoleon's campaign in Russia, the capture of Moscow, the death of the French army in Russia.

1813
French troops expelled from Spain. Strengthened anti-French coalition. Battle of Leipzig - "Battle of the Nations", the defeat of Napoleon.

April 1814
Allied troops (England, Austria, Prussia and Russia) occupied Paris. The provisional government announced the deposition of Napoleon, he was left the title of emperor and exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. After the abdication of Napoleon, Louis XVIII (brother of the executed king) received power. Civil liberties and the Napoleonic Code were preserved in the country. The Treaty of Paris is relatively soft conditions for France, which lost the war.

1815
"Napoleon's Hundred Days": Napoleon's landing on the southern coast of France, march on Paris. Louis XVIII fled. Empire restored. The battle of Waterloo ended in the defeat of Napoleon, a link to the island of St. Helena. Restoration of the monarchy. The second Treaty of Paris is more stringent than the first (1814).

1821
Death of Napoleon.

1824
Under the Constitutional Charter granted by the King, France became a constitutional monarchy. The national flag is the white banner of the Bourbons.

1830 July - August
July Revolution, abdication of Charles X of Bourbon. The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Pens elected Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans, as king. The flag of France became tricolor. The revolution was not as bloody as the Great Revolution, but swept Belgium, Poland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland.

1840
The ashes of Napoleon were transported to Paris.

February 1848
A new revolution has begun. Fighting in Paris, the Tuileries Palace captured, Prime Minister Guizot resigned, Louis-Philippe abdicated. Republic proclaimed. Decree on the right to work, Decree on the organization of national workshops.

1848
The victory of the Republicans in the elections to the National (Constituent) Assembly.

1848 February 10
The constitution of the second republic was adopted. Louis Napoleon (Napoleon I's nephew) became President of France.

1849
Elections to the Legislative Assembly. The victory of the monarchists over the republicans.

1850
Law on the transfer of public education to the clergy.

1851
Disbanded the National Assembly. Louis Napoloen is endowed with dictatorial powers, censorship has been introduced.

1852
Louis Napoleon declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. Second Empire (until 1870).

1870
France declared war on Prussia. Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III surrendered, abdicated. Paris is surrounded by Prussian troops.

1871
The capitulation of Paris, the signing of peace on very unfavorable terms for France.

1871, March 18-May 16
Parisian Commune. Power passed to the Central Committee of the National Guard. The Cabinet of Ministers and the army fled to Versailles.

1871
The commune was defeated by German and French troops. 25 thousand people died.

1871 August
The National Assembly elected Thiers President of the French Republic.

1875
Constitution of the Third Republic.

1894
President assassinated (since 1887). The rise of revolutionary anarchism.

1895
The Lumière brothers invented the cinematograph

The founder of France is considered to be King Clovis, who ruled it from 481. He belonged to the Merovingian dynasty, named after the mythical king Merovei, to whom, according to legend, Clovis was the grandson. King Clovis went down in history as a wise ruler and a brave warrior, and also as the first ruler of France to convert to Christianity. He converted to Christianity in 496 at Reims, and since then all French monarchs have been crowned in this city. He and his wife Clotilde were devotees of Saint Genevieve, the patroness of Paris. It is in his honor that seventeen rulers of France are named after Louis (Louis).


After the death of Clovis, his country was divided by his four sons, but they and their descendants were incapable rulers, and the Merovingian dynasty began to fade away. Because they spent all their time in the palace, tired of entertainment, they were called lazy kings. The last ruler of the Merovingian dynasty was King Childeric III. He was replaced on the throne by the first monarch from the Carolingian dynasty, Pepin, nicknamed the Short, given to him because of his short, to put it mildly, growth. About him, Dumas wrote a short story of the same name (Le chronique du roi Pepin).

Pepin the Short (714-748) ruled France between the years 751-768. He was a majordom - one of the king's advisers from 741, and, like other majordorms, he had great power at court. Pepin showed himself to be a skilled warrior and an intelligent, talented politician. He strongly supported the Catholic Church, and in the end received the full support of the Pope, who, under pain of excommunication, forbade the election of a king from any other kind.



The name of the dynasty itself came from Pepin's son, Charles (Charles), known by the nickname "The Great". Dumas also wrote a short story about him called Charlemagne (Les Hommes de fer Charlemagne). Thanks to numerous campaigns of conquest, he greatly expanded the boundaries of his kingdom, which included almost the entire territory of modern Western Europe. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned imperial in Rome by Pope Leo III. His eldest son, Louis I, nicknamed "The Pious", became his heir. Thus, the tradition by which the kingdom is divided equally among all heirs was abolished, and henceforth only the eldest son inherited the father.

A succession war broke out between the grandchildren of Charlemagne, this war greatly weakened the empire, and ultimately led to its collapse. The last king of this dynasty was Louis V. After his death in 987, a new king was elected by the nobility - Hugo, nicknamed "Capet", and this nickname gave the name to the entire Capetian dynasty.

After the death of Louis V, Abbe Hugo became king, nicknamed "Capet" due to the fact that he wore the mantle of a secular priest, which was called "kapa". Under the Capetians, feudal relations began to take shape in France - the feudal lords, or seigneurs, were obliged to protect their vassals, and the vassals swore allegiance to the feudal lords and sponsored their idle lifestyle.

Under the Capetians, for the first time in history, religious wars took on an unprecedented scale. The First Crusade began in 1095. The bravest and strongest nobles from all over Europe went to Jerusalem to liberate the Holy Sepulcher from Muslims after ordinary citizens were defeated by the Turks. Jerusalem was taken on July 15, 1099 at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Until 1328, France is ruled by the direct heirs of Hugh Capet, after which the last monarch, a direct descendant of King Hugh - Charles (Charles) IV, nicknamed "Beautiful", is succeeded by Philip VI, belonging to the Valois branch, which also belonged to the Capetian dynasty. The Valois dynasty would rule France until 1589, when Henry (Henri) IV of the Capet dynasty of the Bourbon branch ascended the throne. The Capetian dynasty ended the rule of France forever in 1848, when the last monarch from the Orleans branch of the Bourbons, King Louis-Philippe, nicknamed Louis-Philippois, was expelled.

In the three decades between the death of Louis XI (1483) and the ascension to the throne of Francis I (1515), France broke away from the Middle Ages. It was the 13-year-old prince, who ascended the throne in 1483 under the name of Charles VIII, who was destined to become the initiator of the transformations that changed the face of the French monarchy under Francis I. From his father Louis XI, the most hated of the rulers of France, Charles inherited the country, in which was put in order, and the royal treasury was significantly replenished. The reign of Charles VIII was marked by two important events. By marrying Duchess Anne of Brittany, he incorporated the previously independent province of Brittany into France. In addition, he led a triumphal campaign in Italy and reached Naples, declaring it his possession.



Charles died in 1498, leaving the throne to the Duke of Orleans. Having ascended the throne under the name of Louis XII (1498-1515), the new king gained fame thanks to two acts. First, he also led the French nobles on an Italian campaign, this time laying claim to Milan and Naples. Secondly, it was Louis who introduced the royal loan, which played such a fatal role 300 years later. The introduction of the royal loan allowed the monarchy to withdraw money without resorting to excessive taxation or recourse to the Estates General. Since the cities became the largest source of taxes, of which Paris was undoubtedly the largest and richest, this new banking system proved to be a profitable source of royal income.

Louis' heir was his brisk cousin and son-in-law, the Count of Angouleme. He got a rich and peaceful country, as well as a new banking system that could provide large amounts of money that seemed inexhaustible. Nothing could better match the passions and abilities of Francis I.

Francis I (1515–1547) was the embodiment of the new spirit of the Renaissance. His reign began with a lightning-fast invasion of Northern Italy. His second trip to Italy, undertaken ten years later, ended in failure. Nevertheless, Francis remained one of the main political figures in Europe for more than a quarter of a century. His biggest rivals were the English King Henry VIII and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

During these years, Italian humanism had a transformative influence on French art, architecture, literature, science, social customs and even Christian doctrine. The influence of the new culture could be seen in the appearance of royal castles, especially in the Loire Valley. Now they were not so much fortresses as palaces. With the advent of printing, there were incentives for the development of the French literary language.

Henry II, who succeeded his father on the throne in 1547, must have seemed a strange anachronism in Renaissance France. His life was cut short unexpectedly: in 1559, fighting in a tournament with one of the nobles, he fell pierced by a spear. In several lightning-fast, well-planned operations, Henry II recaptured Calais from the British and established control over dioceses such as Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which had previously belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. Heinrich's wife was Catherine de Medici, a representative of a family of famous Italian bankers. After the untimely death of the king, Catherine played a decisive role in French politics for a quarter of a century, although her three sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, officially ruled. The first of these, the sickly Francis II, was under the influence of the powerful Duke of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. They were uncles to Queen Mary Stuart (of Scotland), to whom Francis II was engaged as a child. A year after accession to the throne, Francis died, and the throne was taken by his ten-year-old brother Charles IX, who was entirely under the influence of his mother.

While Catherine succeeded in leading the child king, the power of the French monarchy was suddenly tottering. The policy of persecution of Protestants, begun by Francis I and tightened under Charles, ceased to justify itself. Calvinism spread widely throughout France. The Huguenots (as the French Calvinists were called) were predominantly townspeople and nobles, often wealthy and influential.

The fall in the authority of the king and the disruption of public order were only a partial consequence of the religious schism. Deprived of the possibility of waging wars abroad and not constrained by the prohibitions of a strong monarch, the nobles sought to get out of obedience to the weakening monarchy and encroached on the rights of the king. With the ensuing riots, it was already difficult to resolve religious disputes, and the country split into two opposing camps. The Guise family took the position of defenders of the Catholic faith. Their rivals were both moderate Catholics like Montmorency and Huguenots like Condé and Coligny. In 1562, an open confrontation between the parties began, punctuated by periods of truces and agreements, according to which the Huguenots were granted a limited right to be in certain areas and create their own fortifications.

During the official preparation of the third agreement, which included the marriage of the king's sister Margaret to Henry of Bourbon, the young king of Navarre and the chief leader of the Huguenots, Charles IX organized a terrible massacre of his opponents on the eve of St. Bartholomew on the night of August 23-24, 1572. Henry of Navarre managed to escape, but thousands of his associates were killed. Charles IX died two years later and was succeeded by his brother Henry III. Henry of Navarre had the greatest chances for the throne, however, being the leader of the Huguenots, he did not suit the majority of the country's population. The leaders of the Catholics formed a "league" against him, meaning to enthrone their leader, Henry of Giese. Unable to withstand the confrontation, Henry III treacherously killed both Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. Even at that Time of Troubles this act provoked general outrage. Henry III quickly moved to the camp of his other rival, Henry of Navarre, where he was soon killed by a fanatical Catholic monk.

Left out of work at the end of the wars abroad in 1559 and seeing the helplessness of the sons of Francis I, the nobles emotionally accepted religious strife. Catherine de' Medici opposed general anarchy, sometimes supporting different sides, but more often trying to restore the authority of royalty through negotiations and maintaining religious neutrality. However, all her attempts were unsuccessful. When she died in 1589 (her third son also died in the same year), the country was on the verge of destruction.

Although Henry of Navarre now enjoyed military superiority and received the support of a group of moderate Catholics, he returned to Paris only after renouncing the Protestant faith and was crowned at Chartres in 1594. The Edict of Nantes ended the wars of religion in 1598. The Huguenots were officially recognized as a minority entitled to labor and self-defense in some areas and cities.

During the reign of Henry IV and his famous minister, the Duke of Sully, order was restored to the country and prosperity was achieved. In 1610, the country plunged into deep mourning when it learned that its king had been killed by some madman while preparing for a military campaign in the Rhineland. Although his death kept the country from premature involvement in the Thirty Years' War, it set France back into a state of near regency anarchy, as the young Louis XIII was only nine years old. The central political figure at this time was his mother, Queen Marie de Medici, who then enlisted the support of the Bishop of Luson, Armand Jean du Plessis (aka Duke, Cardinal Richelieu), who in 1624 became the king's mentor and representative and actually ruled France until the end of his life in 1642 .



Richelieu's reputation as one of France's greatest statesmen rests on his consistent far-sighted and skillful foreign policy and on his ruthless suppression of recalcitrant nobles. Richelieu took away from the Huguenots their fortresses, such as La Rochelle, which withstood a siege for 14 months. He was also a patron of the arts and sciences and founded the Académie française.

Richelieu succeeded in compelling respect for the royal power through the services of royal agents, or commissaries, but he was able to significantly undermine the independence of the nobles. And yet, even after his death in 1642, the change of the king who died a year later passed surprisingly calmly, although the heir to the throne, Louis XIV, was then only five years old. The Queen Mother Anne of Austria assumed guardianship. Richelieu's henchman, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin, was an active conductor of the king's policy until his death in 1661. Mazarin continued Richelieu's foreign policy until the successful conclusion of the Westphalian (1648) and the Iberian (1659) peace treaties, but could not do anything more significant for France than the preservation of the monarchy, especially during the uprisings of the nobility, known as the Fronde (1648-1653). The primary goal of the nobles during the Fronde was to extract benefits from the royal treasury, and not to overthrow the monarchy.

After the death of Mazarin, Louis XIV, who by that time had reached the age of 23, took direct control over public affairs. In the struggle for power, Louis was helped prominent figures: Jean Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance (1665-1683), Marquis de Louvois, Minister of War (1666-1691), Sebastian de Vauban, Minister of Defense, and such brilliant generals as the Vicomte de Turenne and the Prince of Condé.

When Colbert managed to raise enough funds, Louis formed a large and well-trained army, which, thanks to Vauban, had the best fortresses. With the help of this army, led by Turenne, Condé and other able generals, Louis pursued his strategic line during four wars.

At the end of his life, Louis was accused of being "too fond of war." His last desperate struggle with all of Europe (the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714) ended with the invasion of enemy troops on French soil, the impoverishment of the people and the depletion of the treasury. The country has lost all previous conquests. Only a split among the enemy forces and a few very recent victories saved France from complete defeat.

In 1715 the decrepit old king died. The child, the five-year-old great-grandson of Louis XV, became the heir to the French throne, and during this period the country was ruled by a self-appointed regent, the ambitious Duke of Orleans. The most notorious scandal of the Regency era erupted over the failure of John Low's Mississippi Project (1720), an unprecedented speculative scam supported by the Regent in an attempt to replenish the treasury.

The reign of Louis XV was in many respects a pathetic parody of that of his predecessor. The royal administration continued to sell the rights to collect taxes, but this mechanism lost its effectiveness, as the entire tax collection system became corrupt. The army fostered by Louvois and Vauban was demoralized under the leadership of aristocratic officers who sought appointment to military posts only for the sake of a court career. Nevertheless, Louis XV paid great attention to the army. French troops first fought in Spain and then participated in two major campaigns against Prussia: the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763).

The events of the Seven Years' War led to the loss of almost all colonies, the loss of international prestige and an acute social crisis that gave rise to the Great French Revolution in 1789. The country was freed from all feudal vestiges, but by early XIX century, Napoleon seized power in the state.

Since 1804, France has become an empire, it has strengthened the bourgeois system and reached the highest greatness in the history of France. Patriotic War of the Russian people in 1812 predetermined the collapse of the Napoleonic empire and returned the country to a secondary position in world politics. A series of bourgeois revolutions (1830, 1848) contributed to the revival of the empire in 1852. France again turned out to be a world leader, and only the strengthening of Germany once again pushed this state to a secondary role. In 1870, a bourgeois-democratic form of government was approved in the country. The desire to resurrect lost greatness dragged France into the First world war against Germany. Success in it helped to strengthen the authority of the country and was further consolidated during the victory over Nazi Germany.




Today, this amazing country is considered to be one of the most advanced and respected on the planet.

French history was at the center of world attention during August 1997 when Princess Diana tragically ended her life in a car crash in Paris. And in July 1998, the French football team won a world victory in a match with the Brazilian national team (3:0).

In October 2001, flights were resumed on Concorde aircraft, which had been temporarily suspended since July 2000, after a major accident in which 113 people died.

In early 2003, France re-emerged on the world stage, this time insisting on vetoing any decision by the UN Security Council over a war with Iraq. The US government took this rather coolly and so far relations between France and the United States remain tense.

Brief history of France

The ancestors of the modern French people were the Germanic tribes of the Franks, who lived on the banks of the Rhine in the III century. However, the history of the French territory began much earlier, in the prehistoric period. Studies have shown that Pithecanthropes inhabited the lands of Gaul about 1 million years ago. Over time, they were replaced by homosapiens, that is, the ancestors of modern man. There is practically no information about this period.

The Celtic period in France began around the 10th century BC. and spread over several centuries. In the II century BC. the Roman era began. Since the Romans called the Celts Gauls, the country began to be called Gaul. Gaul occupied vast territories, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. With the arrival of the Romans, the Latin language and the Roman way of life came into use, but the Celtic culture and art survived.

In the middle of the 5th century, the power of the Roman governors weakened, the Early Middle Ages began. During this period, France broke up into dozens of petty kingdoms. The Burgundians ruled in the Rhine region, the Franks in the north, and Roman dominion still remained in the east. Unity in the country was achieved only under Charles I. This ruler was called the Great during his lifetime. AT 800 year he was elected emperor of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, after his death, his descendants began to fight for the inheritance, which greatly weakened Western Europe.

From the XII century, the Late Middle Ages began - a controversial era for the French people. On the one hand, it was the heyday of art, poetry, architecture, and on the other hand, serious crises were observed. So, in the XIV century, plague epidemics broke out everywhere, the Hundred Years War with England began. However, the strife in the country after this war did not end. During the reign of the Valois dynasty, clashes began between Catholics and Huguenots, ending with Bartholomew's Night August 24, 1572. That night, about 30 thousand people died in the massacre of the Huguenots.

After the Valois, the Bourbons came to power. The first king of this dynasty was Henry IV. (1589-1610). During his reign, a law on religious tolerance was passed. Cardinal Richelieu, who had actual power during the time of Louis XIII, did a lot for the good of the country. He managed to raise the prestige of France in Europe. The following rulers significantly weakened the country's economy with wars and thoughtless entertainment. As a result, a revolution began in the country, the result of which was a coup. 1799 of the year. From that moment began the period of Napoleon's reign. After several successful and then unsuccessful military campaigns, he was overthrown.

With 1814 year began the period of restoration of the monarchy. First, Louis XVIII came to power, then Charles X, and after him Louis-Philippe d'Orleans. In the middle of the 19th century, another revolution took place, after which power passed to the Provisional Government. Such a change of rulers took place until France received the status of a republic for the fifth time and appointed General de Gaulle as president. (1959-1969). It was he who was involved in the liberation of the country from the German invaders and the restoration of the economic balance.

see also: All short histories of states, cities, events
History abstracts

Flag of France

Coat of arms of France

France, the official name of the French Republic. France is a country in the west of the Eurasian continent in Western Europe.

The capital of France is the city of Paris. In the west, France is washed by Atlantic Ocean with its constituent seas, bays and straits. To the west by the Bay of Biscay, to the northwest by the Celtic Sea, to the north by the English Channel. In the south, the French shores are washed by the warm Mediterranean Sea. The territory of France is 547,030 sq. km, with overseas and dependent territories 674,685 sq. km. France ranks 48th in the world by area, 3rd in Europe and 1st in Western Europe. In the south-west, France borders on Spain and Andorra, in the east on Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.

In the north, France, divided by the English Channel, borders on Great Britain. Administratively, France is divided into the metropolis (the continental part of the state), and overseas possessions and dependent territories belonging to France.

Administrative divisions of France:

  • 18 regions with 5 overseas territories
  • 101 departments, of which five are overseas
  • 336 counties
  • 2074 cantons
  • 36,658 communes
  • The three largest French communes - Paris, Marseille and Lyon, in turn, are divided into 45 municipal or urban districts.

    The cities of Paris have 20 arrondissements, Marseille 16, and Lyon 9 arrondissements.

Paris as the capital of France is a separate department and consists of a single commune.

The overseas regions of France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion, Mayotte) consist of a single department.

The island of Corsica, which is also a separate region, includes 2 departments and has a special status of an administrative-territorial entity, which differs from other regions of the metropolis (continental France). It has independent governing bodies that are not subordinate to the center.

In 2003, a referendum on the unification of the 2 departments of Corsica failed. All these regions are part of the European Union.

Regions of continental (Metropolis) France:

  • New Aquitaine - Bordeaux
  • Brittany — Rennes
  • Burgundy - Franche-Comte - Dijon
  • Normandy - Rouen
  • Ile-de-France — Paris
  • Corsica - Ajaccio
  • Occitania - Toulouse
  • Grand Est — Strasbourg
  • Hauts-de-France — Lille
  • Auvergne - Rhone - Alps - Lyon
  • Lands of the Loire - Nantes
  • Provence - Alpes - Cote d'Azur - Marseille
  • Center - Loire Valley - Orleans

Overseas regions:

  • Guadeloupe - Basse-Terre
  • Guiana — Cayenne
  • Martinique — Fort-de-France
  • Reunion - Saint-Denis
  • Mayotte - Mamoudzu

France highly developed European country with high level life of the population succeeded and is one of the world leaders in the economic, scientific and technical, industrial, educational and humanitarian fields of activity.

France is of great political and economic importance both in the world and in Europe. In Europe, France has the second economy after Germany. France is a nuclear power with both a nuclear capability and a means of delivering nuclear weapons. France is a member of the UN and is one of the five permanent members of the UN with veto power. France, with its advanced economy, is also one of the most important members of the EU.

France is also a space power, which has its own spaceport in French Guiana, from which it launches its rockets.

Also in French Guiana, in joint cooperation with Russia, an additional Russian-French launch complex is being built for joint launches of Russian missiles. Along with all the scientific and technical, industrial and political and economic achievements, France has unique cultural, historical values ​​of world significance accumulated over many millennia of the development of European civilization.

France has given the world many great names in all fields of human activity.

Many world-famous museums and libraries in France contain world masterpieces of painting, sculpture, music and literature from all over the world. The Louvre alone is worth something with its priceless collections of world culture. France is also a world tourist power. Hundreds of millions of tourists visit French attractions every year. Probably, there is not a single tourist who would not be photographed against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, which is both a national treasure and a hallmark of France.

France is also famous for its Cote d'Azur on the Mediterranean coast with its unique resorts that annually attract tens of millions of tourists from all over the world to pamper their bodies under the warm gentle sun.

Also in France there are many natural attractions both on the coast and in the central and mountainous regions of the country.

Brief history of France

Home / Countries / France / History of France

History of France. France: main historical events

People inhabited the territory of France even, presumably, 1.8 million years ago.

In France, since the Paleolithic era, there are many cave paintings. The first colony in France was founded by the Greeks in 600 BC.

in the city then called Massalia, now called Marseille.

The spread of the Celtic tribes of the Gauls into France took place between the fifth and third centuries BC, during which much of the borders of modern France were delineated.

This territory was then known as Gaul, and its inhabitants, the Gauls, were at enmity with the Romans until the Romans captured the southern part of their country (Provence) in 125 BC.

The Franks, an ancient German pagan tribe from which the name "France" derives, settled in Gaul and later conquered it, dividing the territory into four regions for the sons of the Frankish king Clovis I. These kingdoms were subsequently united by Charles I the Great.

France played an important role during the Crusades between 1095 and 1291.

Between 1337 and 1453, a series of conflicts took place between France and England, called the "Hundred Years' War", after which there were several civil wars, called the "Fronde", at the same time there was a war with Spain, between 1635 and 1659.

At times European Studies France founded a colony in the New World.

Under the leadership of Louis XV, the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) in the New World ended with the loss of the territories of New France, and their conquest by Britain. As a result, France became the main ally of the American colonists during the American Revolution fighting for independence from Britain, which eventually led to the Peace of Paris in 1783.

Between 1789 and 1799, the Great French Revolution took place, culminating in the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, as a result of which absolute monarchy ended in France and a constitutional monarchy appeared.

The French Revolutionary Wars began in 1792, the same year France became a republic. King Louis XVI was executed in 1793 for treason, as was his wife, Marie Antoinette.

In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in the Republic, who later became emperor.

The French Empire began to conquer Europe, under the leadership of Napoleon, until his defeat in 1815.

During the nineteenth century, France became the second largest colonial power of all time, with colonies in North America, South-East Asia, North, West, and Central Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands.

Many of these colonies are still part of the French Republic. France played an important role in both World War I and World War II, and was a founding member of NATO in 1949.

History of France

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How did France originate?

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To the north of Languedoc stretched the country that the barbarian Franks conquered in ancient times - it was called Francia or France.

In the 8th century, the Franks were the first to create heavy knightly cavalry, and the great emperor Charles subjugated half of Europe - but Charles's weak successors could not restrain the willfulness of the knights.

Cheat Sheet: History of France in Modern Times

The once mighty state broke up into countless duchies, counties, baronies, and each owner of the castle considered himself the master of the district and master over the life and death of his peasants. Castles, formerly log towers, in the 12th century turned into stone fortresses with double walls, moats and drawbridges; over each castle towered an iron weather vane with the coat of arms of the owner - and France had more than ten thousand such owners.

Seniors fought among themselves, burned other people's villages, robbed on the roads; in times of relative peace, according to the old custom, they met in conventions and installed kings on the throne. In 987, they elected Duke Hugh Capet, ruler of the Ile-de-France, a region stretching from Paris to Orleans, as king of the Franks.

Hugo Capet was not the master even in his duchy, and his successors had to start with the subordination of local barons, who considered themselves fully entitled to fight with the “king of the Franks”.

Nevertheless, the Capetians managed to keep the crown: they made it a rule during the life of the king to gather congresses of the nobility for the coronation of the heir - and the nobility did not oppose this, because they did not take the royal title seriously.

By the beginning of the 12th century, the kings had brought order to their "domain", Ile-de-France, destroyed many castles and expelled the recalcitrant barons.

Bishops of neighboring regions began to turn to them for help: the church had long tried to stop private wars and establish "God's peace" - now it has acquired a strong ally, the king. Local councils imposed an excommunication on the barons who ruined the district and called on the royal soldiers against them, who moved siege towers to the walls of the castles and smashed the gates with battering rams.

Cities, seeking to free themselves from the power of the lords, also sought an alliance with the king; with the permission of the king, they proclaimed themselves communes and paid a lot of money for their support. Money, in turn, made it possible to hire soldiers - after all, the word "soldier" comes from a coin - "soldo"; mercenary crossbowmen and mounted "sergeants" were much more disciplined than vassal knights, whose service lasted only forty days a year.

HISTORY OF THE STATE AND THE LAW OF FRANCE IN MODERN TIMES

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French state of the early period of the revolution of the 18th century

Gironde republic

Jacobin Republic

Thermal Republic

Legal monarchy

Another republic

Other empires

Rehabilitation of the Republic

The Paris Commune in 1871

Third Republic

The French state of the early period of the revolution of the 18th century.

The beginning of the revolution.

The root, the deep cause of the revolution, was the contradiction between the forces of production and the feudal coefficients of production that prevailed in the country that reached its peak. Feudalism could no longer ensure their further growth and objectively transform into their inhibition. People felt this primarily in connection with the intensification of feudal oppression.

Even the majority of industrialists, merchants and merchants were not satisfied with their situation.

Significant taxes and duties were applied, mainly related to the upkeep of the royal court and privileged possession.

Brief history of France by dates for schoolchildren. For short and only important events

The government repeatedly carried out the so-called "pressed sponges": the entrepreneur grew up without forgery, mostly illegally, thrown into prison and released only after he gave them a large ransom.

The domestic market was extremely narrow for the industry, since the farmer (most of the country's population) hardly bought manufactured goods. A large number of internal customs hindered trade. The production of products was hampered by the rules of trade.

Foreign trade, especially colonial trade, was artificially concentrated in the hands of a small group of privileged merchants who shared their income with the aristocratic nobility.

Most of the nobility and the high priest tried to keep the existing system. The main weapon of its defense, not without reason, can be seen in the feudal absolutist state.

Meanwhile, the country has matured in understanding the need for profound changes. For them, it is also ready to the bourgeoisie, economically and politically the most influential and most organized and, no less important, educated social group in the protefedalističnem movement.

At that time in France, the bourgeoisie began to call bankers, tax tax farmers, manufacturers, merchants and even big businessmen; Before the bourgeoisie, the bourgeois were indigenous peoples. Mainly due to the financial and other support of the most famous works of the bourgeoisie by the ideologists of the Enlightenment - the theoretical thinkers of the movement, who were the subject of criticism of the feudal vision in the world of writing - absolutist arbitrariness, class privileges, medieval superstition and obscurantism.

Enlightened people, on the contrary, are a reactionary ideology with a new political perspective, which, they wrote, meets the requirements of a universal and timeless reason and justice. They studied the experience of the revolution in the Netherlands, England, the USA, including the practice of state building in these countries. Their views on a number of issues differed, but were generally united - in the need for serious state and legal reforms on a democratic basis.

In 1788

France was hit by a deep economic crisis. Due to the subsequent sharpening of the harvest, famine was threatened by farmers and poor cities in most countries. Production was limited and thousands of city workers lost their jobs. Rural upheavals began, which soon spread to the cities. What was new about these events was that the soldiers in several places refused to act against the people.

The transformation of the general states into a constitutional assembly.

In a situation where, according to one of the ministers, "there is no obedience and cannot be persuaded by the army", the government was forced to refuse concessions. He announced the convocation of the general states, which had not been formed for more than 150 years.

In the opinion of the ruling circles, countries should help the monarchies overcome financial difficulties by accepting new taxes. But other hopes are connected with the "third property" of common states, which offered to carry out important changes in the social and national system of France.

Mandates for their deputies - representatives of the great bourgeoisie - need to limit royal tyranny, introduce the right to approve the budget, supervise its implementation, establish strict laws in the activities of administrative bodies and courts, eliminate guild rules, improve the difficult situation of farmers and others.

In May 1789 the General Staff was opened. The ruling circles, who tried to maintain a pro-government majority, demanded that the old voting order be observed - each class has one vote.

Representatives of the third property did not agree with this. They demanded that meetings not be held separately in the classroom, but that decisions be taken by majority vote. members of the Third Estate. Only in this way can they count on the success of their efforts, since the number is equal to the number of members of the privileged classes, and they hope (later events showed that they do not mind) in support of some members of the privileged classes (the liberal nobility and the lower clergy).

In response to the government's refusal, he adopted a new voting procedure for members of the "third estate" in June 1789, which was adopted by the National Assembly, a month later - in the Constituent Assembly, which, on behalf of the French people, demanded the right to repeal the old laws and adopt a new one.

The king and nobles decided to dissolve the assembly. At Versailles, where the meeting took place, troops were assembled. It seemed that the government did not interfere with finding out what was planned.

The Constitutional Assembly saved the people. When Paris knew about the imminent massacre with the anti-feudal movement, the people in Paris rose to an armed revolt. Most of the soldiers soon went over to their side, and almost all of Paris was in the hands of the rebels.

On July 14, they attacked the royal fortress - a prison in the Bastille. Bastille Day was, in fact, the birthday of the new France and is now celebrated as a national holiday.

A constitutional monarchy. The revolution that began in Paris soon took over the whole country. The rebels were excommunicated from royal officials, farmers refused to fulfill feudal duties. In many provincial towns, the old local authorities were abolished.

The vast majority of the forces were in obedience to the royal generals. The soldiers didn't want to shoot people.

Those at the top of the "third estate" (big bourgeoisie), dominated the Constituent Assembly (i.e., in the capital), we used the popular movement to win political power and locally. new local communities were created - municipalities, where the richest person from the "third estate" played the main role.

At the same time, the bourgeoisie began to create their own armed forces.

It was announced the recruitment of the national guard - the territorial militia. Each national guard had to buy expensive weapons and equipment at its own expense, which blocked access to the national guard for all affected citizens.

The great bourgeoisie financed the acquisition of weapons, training, etc. In the National Guard, it appointed its people to command posts. The head of the national guard was Marquez M. J-Lafayette, a participant in the North American Revolutionary War, which supports the moderate reforms that were very popular in the country at the time.

As a result, the country ended up in the hands of a political group that objectively represented the interests of wealthy bourgeois and liberal nobles.

Its leaders - the Marquis Lafayette - Abbé Sieys, the scientist, astronomer Bailly, the sociologist A. Barnave, A. Lamet, and especially Count Mirabeau - a brilliant speaker, but an unscrupulous politician - did not demand the complete elimination of the old system. Their ideal was a constitutional monarchy, which is why they were called constitutionalists.

Their political activities were based on attempts to reach an agreement with the nobility on the basis of mutual concessions.

"The abolition of feudalism". The "abolition of feudalism" was solemnly proclaimed at the Constitutional Assembly. However, the publication of this Act (August 1789) showed that the basic demands of the farmers had not been met. This is due to the abolition of relatively small so-called personal feudal rights (a favor, the right to a "dead hand", the exclusive right to hunt, etc.). With a free rejection of them, he easily agreed, especially since they were actually lost - the farmers ignored them from the first days of the revolution.

Everything else: the rights to the land and the actual payments and benefits associated with agriculture have been preserved, the land belongs to the seigneur.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 On August 26, 1789, the constituent assembly adopted the most important document of the revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

Compiled as a program of the revolution, according to the plan of the creators, they contribute to the world of people, while maintaining "brotherly unity."

At the same time, its content largely depends on the specifics of a particular historical moment that the state is going through.

At that time, the political forces in the revolutionary camp did not run away, and the interest in the victory of the revolution was predetermined by the general direction of its anti-factional struggle. Some revolutionaries and their ideologists still believed in the possibility of an immediate triumph of the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity. However, many wanted to see the Declaration as a set of abstract principles that society should strive for, but not necessarily for immediate implementation. "The objectives of the Declaration," said one of its leading deputies, Dupont, in his speech before the Constitutional Assembly, to express the truth for all time and people.

Does that mean what if it was contrary to that part of the constitution that would be acceptable to us? “It is important that this statement does not contradict the ruling majority, but at the time of the adoption of the declaration, it gives an exception in case of its most progressive provisions.