Population:

60 million

Size - Texas

Louis XIV 1643-1715Louis XIII 1610-1643

The French Monarchy and Divine Right

The French Revolution 1789-1799

Louis XVI 1774-1792

Meeting of the Estates General (Feb 1789)

Estates General organized into three estates – clergy, nobility, and the rest of France

Had not meet since 1614.

Agreed to hold new elections in May

The National Assembly - Tennis Court Oath, June 10, 1789

Following the election, members of the Third Estate broke with the Estates General, forming their own National Assembly.

When the king ordered the state assembly closed, the discussion was moved to a nearby tennis court. Pledged to write a new constitution for France.

Storming of the Bastille July 14 1789

Fearing that the King would move against the new Assembly, insurgents stormed the Bastille, gathering weapons, and took control of Paris in a violent uprising.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Aug 26, 1789

Constitution of 1791

France becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

Abolition of Feudalism

Power vested in Legislative Assembly 1791-1792

Radicalization of the National Assembly

August 10, 1792 - Paris Commune storms the Tuileries Palace capturing the King and Queen.

France declares war on Austria and Prussia 1792-1797

National Convention proclaimed France a Republic (The First Republic) on September 20, 1792, radical members convinced the Convention to try and execute the King on Jan 17, 1793.

The Reign of Terror 1793-1794

Committee of Public Safety Maximilien Robespierre

Himself a victim in the Thermidorian Reaction 1794

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Coup of 18 Brumaire Year VIII

(November 9, 1799)

1799 Napoleon Bonaparte stages military coup overthrowing weak government.

First Empire 1804-1815

In 1804 Napoleon declared himself emperor of France (1st Empire).

Napoleonic Wars 1804-1815

He then set off on a series of campaigns against Italy, Spain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. He was finally defeated by the last remaining monarchy (the British) at Waterloo in 1814.

Restoration of the Monarchy

Louis XVIII

1815-1824

Charles X

1824-1830

The monarchy was restored in 1815 under Louis XVIII -brother of Louis XVI.

Louis XVIII agreed to share power with the National Assembly, but his successor Charles X sought to return to absolute monarchy.

Louis-Phillipe1830-1848

The July Monarchy

Charles X was deposed in 1830 and replaced by Louis-Philippe (The July Monarchy) who also agree to share power with the Assembly.

The July Monarchy ended in 1848 when Louis-Philippe was forced out by worker uprisings.

The Second Republic (1848-1852) and Second Empire (1852-1870)

Napoleon III

1851-1870

The Second Republic proved as brief as the first, when Louis-Napoleon III (a cousin of Napoleon) seized power in a coup in 1850.

The Second Empire as it came to be known lasted until Napoleon’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871.

Franco-Prussian War1870-1871

The Third Republic (1870-1940)

Prime Minister George Clemenceau

1906-1909, 1917-1921

The Third Republic would last from the end of the war in 1870 until the German invasion of France in 1940.

The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles advocated by French Prime Minister George Clemenceau gave rise to the Nazis and the ultimate demise of the Third Republic.

Marshal Philippe PetainChief of State of Vichy France 1940-1944

Vichy France

During German occupation, a Nazi-puppet French State was established with a capital in Vichy under the authority of former WWI French commander Marshal Petain.

The Fourth Republic 1946-1958

Gen. Charles De Gaulle

Leader of French Resistance

Gen. Charles De Gaulle would be instrumental in transitioning France from an occupied power to a Fourth Republic in 1946.

Algerian War1954-1962

French IndochinaWar in Vietnam 1945-1954

De Gaulle would also be called back when the Fourth Republic collapsed as a result of crisis in Indochina and Algeria.

Collapse of the Fourth Republic 1958

Pres. Charles De GaulleUDR, 1959-1969

The Fifth Republic 1958-pres.

As President of the 5th (and perhaps final) Republic, De Gaulle is credited with what has now become known as Gaullism

Guallism - a firm commitment to French independence and French nationalism in international and domestic politics.

His legacy can be found in the success of many Neo-Gaullist politicians still today.

The Resurgence of the Left

May 1968 Student Revolts

François Mitterrand

Socialist Party

1981-1995

The working class

The Socialist and Communist movements in France have always enjoyed a great deal of strength.

Workers and trade unions remain powerful in French politics (often through demonstrations, protests, and strikes).

In 1986, the neo-Gaullist party and its allies won control of the National Assembly.

President Mitterrand was forced to appoint Jacques Chirac as prime minister.

The Fifth Republic’s first case of cohabitation (president and prime minister of different party)

Recent Presidents of France

Nicolas Sarkozy

Union for a Popular Movement

Francois Hollande

Socialist Party

Elections to the French National Assembly

Local government and decentralization

France divided into 26 regions

Regions struggle against Paris for political control seeking greater decentralization of decision-making.

Political Parties of the Right

Chirac’s Rally for the Republic RPR 1976-2002

Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement

2002-present

Rally for the French People 1947-1955

Union of the New Republic 1958-1971

Union of Democrats for the Republic, UDR

1971-1976

Union for French Democracy, UDF

1978-2007

National Front

1972-present

Political Parties of the Left

Parti Socialiste

1969-present

French Communist Party 1921-present

French Green Party 1982-present

The Francophone World

Immigration from the Francophone World

Minorities in France

Les francais de souche (French stock) vs. immigrant communities.

Secularism (Laicite – separation of church and state since 1905) vs. Roman Catholic Church and Muslim groups

Head scarf controversy when Chirac banned head scarves in public schools saying “secularism is not negotiable”