Before I begin, France has A LOT of history. I can’t cover it in detail (this is, after all, only one blog post), but I’ll do my best to do it justice. This will be a very brief sum up of France’s history. If anything interests you, I encourage you to look deeper into it. I encourage it in general. And please, if you feel like anything in this post needs a follow up, post it in the comments below! I would love to read it!
During BCE (before common era), France is split into several groups: the Gauls, the Aquitani, the Greeks, and the Belgae. The Romans, under Julius Caesar, conquered the Gallic region of France in the Gallic Wars. The war lasted from 58-51 BCE. France went through several wars in which they gained and lost land under several leaders. One of the more significant conflicts is the Hundred Year’s War, a series of wars that lasted from 1337-1453. It began after Charles IV of France died, leaving no blood heir other than Edward III of England. Edward III was Charles IV’s nephew and Phillip IV of France’s grandson which made him the last living male member of the House of Capet (aka House of France). Edward III’s Mother Isabella of France was unable to claim the throne due to a principle established in 1316 that made it impossible for women to succeed the throne so Isabella claimed it for her son. The French rejected this claim, stating that Isabella didn’t have the right to assert a ruler of France. The French wanted the House of Valois to control France, and so the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet went to war to decide who would rule over France. Joan of Arc entered the war in 1429, helped retake the city of Orléans, France, inspired the takeback of several other cities, and then was killed by the English in 1430. In the end, the French won, and Charles VII (aka Charles the Victorious) remained King of France. The most notable changes that came from the Hundred Year’s War were: the democratization of the French army, the modernization of weapons and the creation of French nationalism. During the Hundred Year’s War, the Black Death broke out (between 1348-1353). The Black Death is one of the most catastrophic pandemics; a plague that resulted in the death of something between 75-200 million people (worldwide).
More wars over land and religion ensued. One of those was a war with Italy, the First Italian War (over land and power), in which they lost but became inspired by the Italian Renaissance so they came home and started the French Renaissance. The French Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th-17th centuries. Most notably what came from the French Renaissance was the spread of humanism, exploration of the “New World,” the development of art, an elaboration of etiquette and the urbanization of Paris. More wars happened. Louis XIV created the idea of an absolute monarchical rule, known as the divine right of kings, which made the monarch more powerful than everyone, except for God. This means he was better than, and therefore didn’t have to listen to the people, the aristocracy, or even the church. More wars followed that made France the primal power in Europe.
In 1754, conflicts over territories in North America with the English led to the Seven Year War. The English won in 1763 which led to the French losing “New France” which consisted of territories in North America, Spanish Florida, several islands in the West Indies, the colony of Senegal on the West African coast, and superiority over the French trading outposts in India. This loss also meant that France was no longer the primal power in Europe anymore. Upset about this, the French assisted the Americans in their upheaval against the British in the American Revolutionary War. They did this hoping that it would help them gain back some of the land they lost in the Seven Year War, however it left them in further debt, and they gained very little from it.
After the recent wars (Seven Year War and American Revolutionary War) left the French bankrupt, a highly inefficient tax system screwed over the poor, years of bad harvests lead to increased food prices, malnutrition, and hunger, the rich couldn’t give a damn about the majority of France’s problems. All of which led to the French Revolutionary War. Notable events that occurred during the French Revolutionary War were: the storming of the Bastille (will cover in greater detail later), the curtailment of the church powers (this law reorganized the French Catholic Church, made it so the salaries of the priests would be paid by the state, abolished the Church’s authority to levy a tax on crops, and again cancelled some privileges for the clergy), and the creation of a constitutional monarchy (the King has to share power with an elected legislative assembly). Napoleon Bonaparte was a military and political figure that came to rise during the French Revolutionary War. Napoleon did a lot, however, the biggest impacts he had were: he shifted more power to Paris so that all decisions about France would be made in Paris, decreased hostility between the government and the church, came up with a modernized, more efficient tax system, made it so any man could serve in the army rather than the aristocrats choosing for them, and most importantly, helped create the Napoleonic Code (According to Wikipedia: “The Code recognized the principles of civil liberty, equality before the law, and the secular character of the state. It discarded the old right of primogeniture (where only the eldest son inherited) and required that inheritances be divided equally among all the children. The court system was standardized; all judges were appointed by the national government in Paris.”). After Napoleon died, France became politically unstable with the government changing every few months (even during peaceful times).
And you know what happened next! More wars over land and religion! Eventually the French railway system became popular which led to the modernization of French rural cities, and helped facilitate the rise of the industrial revolution. In 1869, the French said “NON” to the possible candidate to the throne of Spain, Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. The war over that (the Franco-Prussian War) ended with the Treaty of Frankfurt which meant the newly formed German Empire could keep Alsace and Lorraine (previously French provinces). Franz Ferndinand, an Austrian archduke, was shot and a shit ton of countries went to war with each other (World War I). Eventually France joined in, partly out of obligation, partly because they were hoping to get the provinces back that they had lost in the Franco-Prussian War. The Great Depression finally hit France around 1931, though not nearly as hard as it hit some other countries.
Germany invaded Poland in 1939 which forced Britain and France to declare war on Germany even though they REAAAAAALLLLLLLYYYY didn’t want to. In 1940, Germany defeated and occupied France but the Allies (the side France was on) won in 1945. After World War II, France was financially and socially messed up. Charles de Gaulle stepped up to put France’s shit back in order. He founded the fifth republic (France’s current system of government), initiated the “Politics of Grandeur” which stated that France shouldn’t rely on other countries for national protection and prosperity, withdrew the French military from NATO, and restored Franco-German relations.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union lessened tension in France leading to the reduction in their nuclear arsenal. Although nuclear threat went down, terrorism became more prevalent. To this day, terrorism in France remains a highly controversial topic. But when it does happen, the French remain strongly unified. Vive la France!
Or if watching videos is more your thing, check out Suibhne’s sum up of French history! It’s magnificent!:
And if you want to hear more about World War II, feel free to watch Eddie Izzard’s bit about it (he curses a lot):
Additional Reading:
http://www.expatica.com/fr/about/30-interesting-facts-about-France_109142.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_France
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I
figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great
though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Cheers
I read this post fully on the topic of the comparison of most recent
and previous technologies, it’s amazing article.
I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
It is pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made good content
as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
Hi, I do believe this is a great blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may revisit once again since I saved as a favorite it.
Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help
other people.
It’s an awesome post designed for all the internet viewers; they will
take benefit from it I am sure.
Hi there, everything is going sound here and ofcourse
every one is sharing information, that’s genuinely excellent, keep
up writing.
Peculiar article, exactly what I needed.
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating
it but, I’d like to shoot you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
I absolutely love your blog and find almost all of your post’s to be precisely what
I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content for
yourself? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating
on some of the subjects you write with regards
to here. Again, awesome website!
If some one desires to be updated with most recent technologies afterward he must be pay a visit this website and be up to
date daily.
What’s up, yup this piece of writing is really nice and I have learned lot of things
from it on the topic of blogging. thanks.
Outstanding story there. What occurred after? Take care!
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog.
Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I
can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about
setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any points or suggestions?
Appreciate it
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought
this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already ;
) Cheers!
This article will assist the internet viewers for creating
new web site or even a blog from start to end.
The articles can be very incredibly very good. Should you require information regarding lotto,
much more my very own site. Among net casino eager players in Indonesian this sort of
video gaming is known as togel. There is also a great deal of information about the agen togel.
The evaluation is extremely interesting. If you need to try out slot pulsa tanpa potongan, I recommend starting upon efficient
bandar slot sites. As possible attain big increases
all of the advantages and obtain assured pay-out odds.
If you would like to try out, you may directly the actual
hyperlink below. The web link is often a slot machine game game blog this
is often used among Indonesian member.
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different page and
thought I might check things out. I like what I see so i
am just following you. Look forward to looking over your web page again.
Hi to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one is getting more
from this web site, and your views are good in favor
of new users.
Howdy, I believe your blog may be having browser compatibility problems.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but
when opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
Besides that, excellent website!
Your evaluation is incredibly interesting. If you wish that can be played slot pulsa tanpa potongan, I
love to advise participating in in trusted situs slot deposit pulsa sites.
As you can complete big advantages and attain assured online marketer pay-out odds.
If you would like to test out, you could immediately click the
link00 right here. The link is actually a dock web page that is certainly
frequently used amongst Indonesia the members.
Great article. I am experiencing a few of these issues
as well..
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard
on. Any tips?
Hi there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
This paragraph is really a good one it helps new net viewers, who are wishing for blogging.
I do believe all of the concepts you’ve presented on your post.
They’re really convincing and can definitely work.
Still, the posts are too brief for beginners. May just you please prolong them a bit from subsequent time?
Thank you for the post.
Your analysis is very interesting. If you
want to try out slot terpercaya, I propose playing in efficient
slot websites. As you can obtain big victories and obtain specific pay-out possibilities.
If you need to experiment with, you may straight stick to the link in this article.
The web link is actually a video slot machine blog website which may be often used between Indonesian online players.
Get hold of the majority of the most well-known live casino
online game titles solely in our own web site. You can enjoy bandar live casino in comfort because there are many alternatives of suppliers.
I love it when folks get together and share opinions.
Great website, keep it up!
Hello, of course this paragraph is genuinely nice
and I have learned lot of things from it about blogging.
thanks.
The review is extremely interesting. If you wish to try out situs slot terpercaya, I would suggest participating in about
trusted slot online websites on the net. Because you can get big benefits and get
hold of a number of affiliate marketing winnings. If you want which can be played out, you may immediately take
a peek through in this article. The web link is actually a slot machine
web page this is often used among Indonesia the gamers.
I have been browsing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
I’ve been browsing on-line greater than three hours nowadays, yet I by no means found any fascinating
article like yours. It’s beautiful value sufficient for
me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made
good content material as you probably did, the internet
can be much more useful than ever before.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this excellent blog!
I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding
your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to
brand new updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook
group. Chat soon!
Hello this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs
use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with
HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Hi there! This article couldn’t be written any better! Looking at this article reminds me of
my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this.
I’ll forward this post to him. Fairly certain he’ll
have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
That is a great tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Simple but very precise info… Thanks for sharing this
one. A must read article!
When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me
when new comments are added- checkbox and
now each time a comment is added I receive four emails with the same comment.
Perhaps there is an easy method you are able to remove
me from that service? Many thanks!
Awesome blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for
a paid option? There are so many options out there that
I’m totally confused .. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hi everyone, it’s my first pay a quick visit at this web page, and
post is in fact fruitful in support of me, keep up posting these
types of articles or reviews.
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The text in your post seem to be running off the screen in Opera.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let
you know. The style and design look great though!
Hope you get the problem solved soon. Cheers
Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog website?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my blog so i came to “return the favor”.I am
trying to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose
its ok to use some of your ideas!!
Touche. Solid arguments. Keep up the amazing spirit.
Hi there to all, it’s actually a nice for me
to pay a visit this web page, it consists of helpful Information.
Undeniably believe that that you stated.
Your favourite justification seemed to be at the web the simplest factor to take into accout of.
I say to you, I definitely get annoyed even as other people consider concerns that they just don’t know
about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest and defined out the
entire thing without having side effect , other folks can take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
Hello friends, pleasant piece of writing and fastidious
urging commented here, I am in fact enjoying by these.
Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how
to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for
a while but I never seem to get there! Appreciate it
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button!
I’d definitely donate to this excellent blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and
adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look
forward to new updates and will share this blog with my Facebook group.
Chat soon!
Wonderful blog! Do you have any helpful hints for
aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there
that I’m totally confused .. Any ideas? Appreciate it!