History

The first people in France were cave dwellers. They made cave paintings like those find at Lascaux. The first known settlers were tribes from the east, such as the Gauls who came around 1000 BC. France used to be called Gaul. One famous leader of the Gauls was Vercingetorix. Around 50 BC Vercingetorix was defeated by the Roman army, led by Julius Caesar. The struggle between the Gauls and the Romans is humorously portrayed in the Asterix cartoons.

The Romans settled all over Gaul and built cities, aqueducts, temples, theatres and colisseums. Many can still be seen today, such as Pont du Gard. The Romans were defeated in 486 AD by the Franks. The leader of the Franks was Clovis, who renamed the land France. A famous leader of the Franks was Charlemagne, who ruled around 800 AD and conquered much of Europe.

Another group, the Normans, settled in northern and western France starting around 845 AD. They called their land Normandy and built castles to keep out enemies. One powerful Norman leader was William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066 AD. He deated the English King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Because of the Norman rule of England, many French words became part of the English language.

During the next 500 years, called the Middle Ages, dukes and kings ruled different parts of France, fighting each other for domination. Finally, one king named Hugh Capet ruled all of France. His descendents ruled the dynasties known as Capetian, Valois, and Bourbon. During this time, a group of Protestant Christians called the Huguenots developed in France. Some French kings, being Catholic Christians, fought against the Huguenots and tried to drive them out. Many Huguenots moved to America.

The greatest king in all of French history was Louis XIV, who was part of the Bourbon dynasty and ruled from 1643-1715. During this time, France was the most powerful and influential country in Europe. Louis XIV built a palace at Versailles and was known as the "Sun King", because everything revolved around him!

In the late 1700's, the ideas of the Enlightenment had begun to take hold among the French people, but the king at the time, Louis XVI, was still an absolute monarchy with little freedom for the people. The French Revolution of 1789 kicked out Louis XVI, killed him and his wife Marie Antoinette, and established a government known as the First Republic in 1792.

Not long afterwards, from 1799 to 1814, Napoleon I ruled France and conquered much of Europe. He was eventually defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.

After the fall of Napoleon I, the Bourbon dynasty returned to power in France until 1830, when another monarchy known as the July Monarchy took power until 1848. This period of monarchies is called the French Restoration period.

In 1848 another revolution took place, leading to the Second Republic, which only lasted until 1852. In 1852 a grandson of Napoleon I named Napoleon III took power and ruled as emperor until 1870 when France lost the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1870, the Third Republic was established in France. After going through some difficult events like the Dreyfus Affair and World War I, the Third Republic ended in 1940 by surrendering to Hitler during World War II.

The government of France during World War II (from 1940-1944) is known as Vichy France, because the capital was moved from Paris to Vichy. The Vichy France government was a puppet of the German Nazis, and sent half of its tax revenue to Germany as well as collaborating with the Holocaust. A group of Free French soldiers, led by Charles de Gaulle had escaped to Britain. They encouraged French people to resist the Vichy France government and took part in the Allied attack on France in 1944. The Allies and the Free French liberated Paris and then all of France from Nazi rule.

Charles de Gaulle established a new constitution and the Fourth Republic in 1946. He did not rule himself (after a transition period), but gave power to a parliament. This period was marked by fighting in French colonies like Indochina and Algeria and in 1958 a crisis led to the fall of the Fourth Republic when the government asked Charles de Gaulle to rule as president. He agreed, but demanded that there be a new constitution making the president more powerful.

So, in 1959, Charles de Gaulle established the Fifth Republic, which is still in power in France. A student revolt in May 1968 led to many changes in French society and government, and de Gaulle resigned the following year, leading to the election of a new president. So far, the Fifth Republic has included 5 presidents: Charles de Gaulle (1959-1969), Georges Pompidou (1969-1974), Valery Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981), Francois Mitterrand (1981-1995), and Jacques Chirac (1995-present). France is also a part of the growing European Union.