History of France

Introduction to History of France

Archaeological evidence indicates that France was inhabited some 400,000 years ago. Southwestern France has been especially rich in prehistoric finds, including fossils of Neanderthal Man and Cro-Magnon Man. Cave paintings dating from about the end of the last Ice Age have been found at Lascaux and other sites. There are massive stone monuments of unknown origin in the northwest and elsewhere; the oldest date to about 4500 B.C.

Early History

Sometime about 1000 B.C., Celtic-speaking people began to migrate from the east. They were fierce warriors and soon came to dominate the native population. The southern coast was visited by Phoenician and Greek traders, and about 600 B.C. Greeks founded the city of Massalis (Marseille). Settlers and traders penetrated the interior along river routes. In the second century B.C., Rome began to extend its control over Gaul (the region occupied by the Celts, including what is now France) by military conquest and colonization. The successful military campaigns of Julius Caesar from 58 B.C. to 51 B.C. brought the entire region under Roman authority.

The Franks

Germanic peoples began entering from the east in the third century A.D., and within 200 years controlled nearly all of Gaul. They included Visigoths, Burgundians, Alamanni, and Franks. The last remains of Roman power disappeared with the victory of Clovis, a king of the Franks, in 486. (It is from the Franks that France got its name.) Clovis founded what was called the Merovingian dynasty. He accepted Christianity and allied his kingdom with the Roman Catholic church. Nearly all of what is now France was brought under Merovingian rule.

By the eighth century, Merovingian authority had declined and several armed factions had begun competing for power. In the early eighth century, Muslim invaders from Spain crossed the Pyrenees into France. They were met by the faction led by Charles Martel and defeated at the Battle of Tours in 732. Charles then conquered most of the Frankish kingdom. His son, Pepin the Short, deposed the last Merovingian king in 751 and established the Carolingian dynasty. Pepin's sons, Charlemagne and Carloman, succeeded Pepin in 768 and divided the kingdom. After Carloman's death, Charlemagne reunified the kingdom and built an empire that included most of western Europe. On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, became emperor in 814. Upon his death, the empire was divided among his three sons by the Treaty of Verdun (843); most of what is now France and southern Belgium came under the rule of the youngest son, Charles the Bald. During the 9th and 10th centuries, Norse invaders raided northwestern France. In 911, Charles the Simple obtained some relief by ceding to them territory that came to be known as Normandy. Louis V (986-87) was the last Carolingian monarch.

Growth of Royal Power

Upon the death of Louis V, French nobles chose Hugh Capet, duke of France, as king. He was crowned at Reims in 987. By that time, the feudal system had spread the power of government among local rulers, and the king had only nominal overlordship. During the reigns of Philip II (1180-1223) and his grandson, Louis IX (1226-70), the monarchy gradually expanded its power at the expense of local rulers. By the time Philip IV (1285-1314) came to the throne, France had become a unified nation. Philip's sons—Louis X, John I, and Philip V—produced no male heir, and in 1328 their cousin Philip, count of Valois, succeeded to the throne as Philip VI. Edward III of England contested Philip's right to the throne.This dispute led to what is known as the Hundred Years' War, a series of wars between England and France during 1337-1453. Early in the war, England won several major battles and conquered much French territory. When Charles VII became king in 1422, France was in a state of near anarchy. With the aid of Joan of Arc, he rallied the nation. By 1453, Charles had regained most of the territory occupied by the English.

Age of Religious Wars

As the feudal system declined in the 15th century, the monarchy gained more power, especially during the reign of Louis XI (1461-83). However, during the last half of the 16th century, the kings of France were mediocre leaders, and competing aristocratic factions sought dominant influence in the royal court. The House of Guise, a Catholic family, gained dominance in the court in the early 1560's. Their chief rivals were the Bourbons. The Bourbons allied with the Huguenots (French Protestants), who were being persecuted by the state. Because of this alliance, a political dispute became a religious one as well. Nearly 40 years of civil war followed. A climax was reached in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were murdered in what came to be called the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. In 1589, the last Valois monarch, Henry III, was assassinated. Despite opposition by the House of Guise, Henry of Navarre, a Protestant Bourbon and a direct descendant of Louis IX, came to the throne as Henry IV. He worked to ease religious tensions. Henry converted to Catholicism in 1593, appeasing many Catholic opponents. In 1598, he issued the Edict of Nantes, granting partial toleration to the Huguenots.

'The Great Century'

In 1610 Louis XIII succeeded to the throne. Cardinal Richelieu became Louis' principal adviser in 1624 and from that time virtually ruled the country. Under Richelieu's direction, the king's power over his subjects was greatly increased, largely at the expense of the Huguenots and the nobility). Long-standing rivalry with the Hapsburgs, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and of Spain, caused Richelieu to bring France into the Thirty Years' War in 1635. Richelieu died in 1642, but his policies were followed by his successor, Cardinal Mazarin. Victory over Austria established French supremacy in Europe.

Meanwhile, internal dissension over the increasing and arbitrary power of the government and the financial burdens of its policies led to a revolt, known as the Fronde, by some French nobles and the Parliament of Paris (1648--53). Suppression of the revolt by the crown led to the absolute rule of Louis XIV, who had succeeded to the throne in 1643. His reign, lasting until 1715, was called ``the Great Century.'' In this period, the French monarchy reached its peak of success and French influence and culture were at their highest level. Royal patronage aided the arts, and the monumental palace at Versailles was constructed as Louis XIV's main residence.

Following the death of Mazarin in 1661, Louis XIV assumed control of the government. The first 20 years of his personal reign were a period of great prosperity. Under the direction of his minister of finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert, trade and commerce were encouraged. Colonial expansion in North America included the acquisition of the lower Mississippi River region, called Louisiana. Military victories in Europe added Franche-Comté, a region bordering on Switzerland; a portion of the Spanish Netherlands; the greater part of Luxembourg; and Strasbourg.

Fall of the Monarchy

In 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes. Hundreds of thousands of Protestants emigrated, while others rose in rebellion. The revocation, as well as France's territorial expansion, turned the Protestant nations of Europe against France. In 1686 they formed the League of Augsburg (which later became the Grand Alliance). In 1688 war broke out. France was defeated and in 1697 had to give up the greater part of its recently acquired territories. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701--14), the French suffered numerous defeats. By the end of Louis XIV's reign, almost constant warfare had brought high taxes and great suffering to the French people.

During the reign of Louis XV (1715--74), most of the French colonial possessions in North America, including Canada and various islands in the West Indies, were lost to Great Britain. Louisiana was divided between Great Britain and Spain as a result of the Seven Years' War (1756--63). These losses together with the inefficiencies and administrative abuses of the government caused widespread unrest. By the time Louis XVI came to the throne, there was little popular support for royal authority. As a result of scattered movements of revolt and the threat of bankruptcy, Louis XVI summoned the States General (an assembly composed of representatives from the clergy, nobility, and common people) for the purpose of raising revenue.

The States General met in 1789. The representatives of the Third Estate, the Commons, were convinced that the government must be reformed. When their grievances went unheeded, they proclaimed themselves the National Assembly. The people of Paris began to riot and stormed the Bastille, a state prison, on July 14, 1789. Revolution erupted throughout the country, causing many royalists to flee. Peasants rioted in rural areas, attacking feudal estates and terrorizing landlords. The king became a virtual prisoner, and in 1791 he was forced to sign a constitution limiting his powers. Extremists, however, continued to demand the overthrow of the monarchy. In 1792, after more riots broke out in Paris, a convention, called by the Assembly, drafted a constitution and established a republic. Louis XVI was convicted of treason and guillotined in 1793.

Various factions struggled for power in the new government. The Jacobins, led by Max-imilien de Robespierre, gained dominance, and during a period known as the Reign of Terror they executed thousands of people in an attempt to crush all opposition to the new republic. Reaction against violence led to their overthrow. A new constitution, in which executive power was vested in a five-man committee called the Directory, went into effect in 1795.

Meanwhile, events in France had alarmed Europe's monarchs, who feared similar uprisings in their own domains. In 1792 Austrian and Prussian forces invaded France. The French drove out the invading troops and then took the offensive.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Despite military victories, the ruling Directory was on the verge of collapse. Taking advantage of the situation, Napoleon Bonaparte, a military hero, returned to France from an expedition to Egypt and seized control of the government in 1799. Peace came after the Austrians were defeated in 1800. During this respite, Napoleon consolidated his control over France. He reestablished order and centralized the administration. In 1804 he proclaimed himself emperor.

Meanwhile, warfare had erupted again. In 1805 French naval power was destroyed by the British off Cape Trafalgar. On the continent, a coalition that included Austria, Russia, and Sweden was formed to combat the territorial aggressions of France. Following brilliant military victories against Austrian and Russian forces, France took control of Italy, Holland, and south and west Germany. Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. He conquered Prussia and Portugal and then occupied Spain. In 1812, warfare again broke out with Russia. Napoleon victoriously made his way through Russia and entered Moscow. However, the city had been deserted and much of it was destroyed by a fire, probably started by the departing citizens. The French army, lacking adequate supplies for winter warfare, made a disastrous retreat.

In 1813, Russia and Prussia formed an alliance to liberate Europe from Napoleon. French forces were defeated in Spain, and Napoleon suffered his first great personal defeat in battle when troops under his command were routed at Leipzig. Armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Sweden invaded France and entered Paris in 1814. French royalists negotiated for a return of the Bourbon monarchy. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled. In 1815 he returned to France and attempted to regain power. He marched into Paris with the support of the French army, and declared himself emperor again. The other European powers, however, would not tolerate him as ruler. They assembled troops in Belgium and defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.

Monarchy, Republic, Empire

The Bourbons returned to the throne, but they were not popular. The last Bourbon, Charles X. was unseated in 1830 and Louis Philippe of the House of Orleans was crowned as a constitutional monarch. During his reign, Algeria was conquered and annexed to France. An uprising forced Louis Philippe to abdicate in February, 1848. A provisional government was formed that lasted until December, when Louis Napoleon, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, became president of the Second Republic. In 1851, he assumed dictatorial powers, and in 1852 he proclaimed himself emperor as Napoleon III.

In the 1850's, France joined Great Britain to defeat Russia in the Crimean War. French troops helped expel the Austrians from several Italian states, making possible unification of Italy. In the 1860's, a French occupation of Mexico ended in failure. In Europe the German state of Prussia was rapidly becoming a powerful rival to France. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war broke out after a series of disputes. The German states allied themselves with Prussia. The inefficient French armies were outmatched by the Germans, and after the battle of Sedan Napoleon III surrendered with 100,000 troops.

The Third Republic

After the surrender at Sedan, revolutionaries in the Legislative Assembly at Paris deposed the emperor and proclaimed the Third Republic. New armies were raised, but the French continued to lose. After a German siege of Paris and three other cities, the newly formed government surrendered in early 1871 and made peace with the newly formed German Empire. France had to agree to give up nearly all of Alsace and part of Lorraine and pay Germany reparations of $1,000,000,000.

Radicals who opposed the peace revolted in Paris and set up a revolutionary municipal government called the Commune. The army entered the city in May, 1871, and crushed the revolt. Thousands of Communards (supporters of the Commune) were executed. A new constitution was completed 1875, but the government remained shaky until 1879, when republicans gained control of the Assembly.

Most church officials and many army officers still favored a return to monarchy. The republicans wished to destroy the political power of both groups. The prestige of the government was weakened, however, by the disclosure in 1892 that government officials had accepted bribes from a French company that had been engaged in building the Panama Canal. This revelation was followed in 1894 by the Dreyfus scandal, as the result of which army influence was shattered and the republicans gained new strength.

Throughout these years France's colonial empire had been expanding rapidly. By the end of the 19th century, France had established control in Indochina, Madagascar, and a number of territories in northern and western Africa. Colonial expansion in Africa brought France into conflict with both Germany and Britain. An agreement with Britain in 1904 gave France control of Morocco. Germany objected, and demanded that an international conference be held to discuss the situation. At the conference, held at Algeciras in 1906, the great powers voted to uphold French claims.

The Triple Alliance, which brought together Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy in 1882, was viewed by France as a serious threat to national security. The Triple Entente, an alliance between France. Great Britain, and Russia, was formed in 1907. By the time World War I broke out in 1914 France had built up a strong military establishment.

Germany invaded France and much of the fighting was on French soil. Morale was low by the time Georges Clemenceau became premier in 1917, but he rallied the nation. In 1918, once the impact of the United States' entry into the war was felt, Germany was defeated. About one-sixth of France was devastated during the war and 1,358,000 French soldiers were killed and 4,000,000 more were wounded. Physical reconstruction was complete by 1928, but the terrible loss of life left France stunned for a generation.

Alsace and Lorraine, lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, were restored to France by the Treaty of Versailles. France also received a 15-year lease on Germany's Saar coal mines. In 1923 Germany failed to make its reparation payments and the French government seized the Ruhr valley. Germany resumed payment of reparations under the Dawes Plan.

A period of government instability began in 1929 with the fall of the Poincaré National Union ministry. In the ensuing period many French governments were formed, only to fall after short periods. France's foreign policy was vague and after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 the French government did nothing to challenge his violations of the Versailles Treaty. For defense, France relied upon the Maginot Line, a series of forts along the German border. In 1938 Great Britain and France attempted to appease Hitler by allowing Germany to occupy parts of Czechoslovakia. After Germany invaded Poland, however, France joined Great Britain in declaring war on Germany in 1939.

World War II

In May, 1940, Germany invaded France. By June, France was near defeat. Marshal Henri Pétain, a hero of World War I, became premier. On June 22 the Pétain government signed a treaty with Germany in Compiègne Forest in the railway car where Germany signed the 1918 armistice. France was divided into occupied and unoccupied zones. An authoritarian government under Pétain was established at Vichy in unoccupied France. Pétain and Pierre Laval, the vice premier, advocated full collaboration with the Germans.

Some French troops had escaped with the British forces at Dunkirk. General Charles de Gaulle used these as a nucleus for his Free French (later Fighting French) army. This was a rallying point for French people who escaped from the home country. Inside France, the Maquis (underground guerrilla fighters) resisted the Nazis. The Maquis later became the F.F.I. (French Forces of the Interior) and were equipped with arms parachuted from Allied planes.

While the Allies were preparing to liberate France, Laval assumed more and more power in the Vichy government. Pétain became a mere figurehead. In 1942 the Germans occupied the rest of France and the Vichy government was moved to Germany.

Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The F.F.I. rose throughout France to aid the Allies. Paris fell to the Allies on August 20. A provisional government, headed by de Gaulle, then assumed power. Frenchmen who had collaborated with the Nazis were brought to trial. Laval was convicted and put to death in 1945. Pétain was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Fourth Republic

France, though free, was prostrate. The country had been systematically looted by the Germans. Many French citizens had been carried off to Germany into forced labor. Scarcities of food and vital materials helped to increase inflation. The Communists won a position as the strongest political party in France, closely followed by the Popular Republicans. The Socialists also had a large following.

The Provisional Assembly voted in September, 1945, to establish the Fourth Republic. The new constitution greatly reduced the power of the president. De Gaulle resigned in protest in January, 1946. In the following October the voters accepted the new constitution. By its provisions, France's colonial empire was reorganized into a federation called the French Union. In Indochina the demand for independence resulted in bitter warfare between the pro-Communist nationalists (Vietminh) and the French and pro-French forces.

Early in 1947 Vincent Auriol, a Socialist, was elected president for a seven-year term. Shortly afterward Communists were excluded from the cabinet. The Communists opposed France's acceptance of the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan), and fomented a number of strikes. De Gaulle returned to politics and formed an oppostion party.

To counteract the strikes and to revive the economy, selected industries were brought under government control and an industrial modernization plan, drafted by Jean Monnet, was put into effect with American aid supplied through the European Recovery Program. In 1948 France joined Great Britain and the Benelux countries in a trade pact. Economic progress, however, was not matched by political stability; the Fourth Republic experienced frequent changes of premiers.

In 1949 France signed the North Atlantic Treaty, and two years later NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) established its military headquarters at Versailles. Under NATO France had to maintain a large army for European defense. This, together with the expense of the fighting in Indochina, was a great drain on the French economy.

The Schuman Plan, a proposal to pool the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany by removing tariffs and other trade barriers, was announced by the French in 1950. Other countries were invited to participate and in 1952 an economic alliance was formed that in 1957 was expanded to become the European Community (what is now the European Union).

The costly fighting in Indochina was not popular in France. In 1954 Premier Mendès-France brought it to a close by agreeing to the partition of Vietnam. South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos remained in the French Union, but all withdrew from it in the next two years.

In 1956 France granted independence to Morocco and Tunisia, but not to Algeria, which had a large French population. The Algerian nationalists, already militant, increased their violence, and France could not restore order. The crisis was matched by one in Paris---the inability of cabinets to stay in power long enough to govern effectively. Finally, the French army seized power in Algeria and demanded that de Gaulle come out of retirement and lead France.

The Fifth Republic

On June 1, 1958, General Charles de Gaulle became premier of France. The National Assembly granted him extraordinary powers. De Gaulle prepared a new constitution that vested great powers in the president. The French people in a referendum overwhelmingly approved the constitution. De Gaulle was elected president of the Fifth Republic and took office in January, 1959.

De Gaulle's immediate problem was Algeria. French voters approved his plan for Algerian self-determination but it was opposed by French settlers in Algeria and by many army officers there. De Gaulle put down a rebellion of his former supporters, and Algeria became independent in 1962.

De Gaulle, his position strengthened by France's becoming a nuclear power in 1960, demanded a dominant French role in European and world affairs and took steps to achieve that status. He blocked British membership in the European Community, noting that Britain differed from continental European nations by its insular position and economic makeup.

De Gaulle was reelected president in 1965. In 1966, France withdrew its military forces from the NATO command. Also, NATO powers, at de Gaulle's request, began a gradual removal of their military bases from France.

Opposition to de Gaulle's autocratic policies was building up among many groups, however. In 1967 a faction of the National Assembly almost succeeded in stripping him of some of his powers. In 1968 a protest movement of university students against overcrowding and central control of higher education erupted into riots. Workers of Communist unions joined the student demonstrations, then went on a massive strike that paralyzed the nation. The workers eventually were granted wage increases and returned to their jobs. An education reform act gave the universities virtual autonomy.

In 1969 de Gaulle resigned when his proposals for constitutional reform were rejected in a referendum. Georges Pompidou, a former prime minister, was elected president and continued many of de Gaulle's policies. Pompidou died in office in 1974. In the elections that followed, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing of the moderate Independent Republican party was elected president. Giscard took office with the support of the Gaullists, but as president built an independent governing coalition. Although he initiated an austerity program in 1976, inflation rose significantly.

In the 1981 presidential election François Mitterrand, leader of the Socialist party, defeated Giscard d'Estaing. The new government nationalized many banks and industries. Mitterrand was reelected president in 1988. During 1991--92 Edith Cresson served as prime minister, the first woman in French history to hold that office. In elections for the national assembly in 1993, the Socialists and allied parties lost the plurality they had held since 1981. A coalition of conservative parties won an overwhelming victory. In 1995 Mitterrand ended his second term of office. He was the longest-serving president in French history. In presidential elections that year, Jacques Chirac, leader of the conservative Rally for the Republic party, defeated Lionel Jospin of the Socialist party. Chirac was reelected in 2002.

In 1995, after nearly 30 years, France began to reintegrate itself back into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by sending a representative to NATO's military committee and by taking part in meetings of NATO defense ministers. Also that year, proposed cuts in government pensions led to widespread strikes. The strikes lasted more than three weeks and severely disrupted the French economy.

During 1995--96 France came under international criticism for conducting a series of underground nuclear tests in French Polynesia.