France History

France has a history that was at times glorious, such as during the reign of Louis XIV, and at times tragic, such as during the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution.  There were also moments when France was busy fighting or fending off its arch enemies, especially the Germans and the English.  Some of its historical figures rose to great heights, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, some met a terrifying end, such as Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette.  Some, such as Joan of Arc, inspire the French nation and all humanity.

The French story began at least around 5000 BC, as prehistoric caves, vivid wall engravings and paintings and other artefacts have been found especially in the Dordogne region and at Lascaus which show that humans had already inhabited present-day France by that time.

In about 55 BC, Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls (Celtics) who were living there and turned France into a Roman province, where Latin and later Christianity were introduced.  France prospered under the Romans and Lyon later became the second largest city in the Empire.

In the 5th century, a Frankish king, Clovis. drove out the Romans and unified most parts of France to form the Merovingian dynasty.  At around 735 AD, the grandfather of Charlemagne, the great Frankish ruler, established the Carolingian dynasty after defeating the Muslims who had conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula.  Charlemagne (ruling 768 to 814 AD) expanded the Frankish territories and eventually ruled over the areas of present-day France, Belgium, Holland and northern Italy.  In 800 AD, he was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III.  During his rule, he introduced a just government, promoted literacy, helped the poor, taxed the nobles, regulated trade and developed agriculture in the country. 

Charlemagne’s empire broke up within a century after his death.  The Vikings invaded from the north, Normandy was ceded to Norsemen in 911 AD and France was ruled by many feudal lords under a weak monarch. 

In 987, a feudal lord, Hugh Capet rose above the rest with the support of the Catholic church and founded a new dynasty.  The French monarchs in these early days had scant power over the larger duchies, such as Burgundy, Brittany and Normandy.  In fact, the Duke William II of Normandy became King William I of England after the Norman Conquest in 1066 to 1070; and later King Henry II of England was also the feudal lord of Normandy, Brittany and other French duchies.  However, gradually, the various French kings, from Louis VI onwards, were able to consolidate their powers to the extent that during the reign of King Philip IV from 1285 to 1314, he even quarrelled with Pope Boniface VIII, and moved the papacy to Avignon, where the popes stayed until 1377.

Meanwhile, between 1337 and 1453, France and England fought the Hundred Years’ War.  This arose because the English monarchs held certain French feudal territories and Edward III of England asserted his claim to the French throne because his maternal grandfather was French King Philip IV, who died without a male heir.  On the other hand, the French nobles wanted to rid France of English influence.  After several major wars, with each side in turn losing or winning, Henry V of England managed to force French King Charles VI in 1420 to have his daughter marry Henry, as a means to claim the French throne eventually.  At the end, the French under Joan of Arc stopped English advances, although she herself fell into English hands with church connivance and was burnt at the stake in 1431.  It took the French a few more decades to retake Paris and Rouen from the English and for the French monarchs to subdue the remaining powerful feudal lords of Burgundy and Brittany.  The Hundred Years’ War helped the French to create a national identity.

French history in the 16th and 17th centuries can be summed up as a period of convoluted and messy power struggles with the Italians, Spanish and the Hapsburgs of Austria for geopolitical and religious (Catholic vs Protestant) reasons, and civil wars within France between the Catholics and the Protestants.  This period also saw the acceptance of the products of the Italian Renaissance, with Italian culture and art flourishing in France. 

Through all these, and by the time Louis XIV came to wield power in 1661, France had managed to stop Hapsburg advances through its involvement in the Thirty Years’ War and the Treaty of Westphalia and Treaty of the Pyrenees.  It also firmly established Catholicism as the dominant religion within the country, and consolidated absolute power of the French monarch. Louis XIV further expanded French influence externally and his power within the country.  Known as the Sun King, his reign, which lasted until 1714, was perhaps the most glorious period of French history, when French political, military and cultural influence was at its height.

During the reigns of Louis XV and XVI ruled, thinkers and writers emerged in French society, demanding accountability of the church and monarch, as well as equality, in the context of royal excesses and insensitivity to the plight of the masses.  Therefore, the French Revolution of 1789 was probably inevitable.  Unfortunately, the Revolution was followed by the Reign of Terror which resulted in thousands of people, including the Louis XVI and his queen, losing their heads under the guillotine.

The 1789 Revolution and the ideas which prompted it hit an accord in the minds of other European societies, and scared the wits out of the other monarchs in Europe, who ganged up to invade France.  As events unfolded, Napoleon Bonaparte was able to lead the French army to conquer all of Europe between the English Channel and Russia, and proclaimed himself emperor in 1804.  His ill-conceived strategy of attacking Russia and misfortune of having to face a superior English naval force led to his downfall in 1815. 

It is an irony that the French Revolution, which saw the birth of the first French republic, went through four more emperors and kings after Napoleon: Louis XVIII, Charles X, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III until 1870.  The first two were brothers of Louis XVI and the last one was the nephew of Napoleon I.  It took the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 before France finally discontinued the monarchy system. 

The 1789 Revolution was not the only time the French became the model for other nations to emulate.  The 1848 French Revolution which was caused by discontent of the middle and working classes against Louise Philippe spread to practically the whole of Europe and had far-reaching consequences in the social and political orders of Europe.  Similarly, the student riots in France in the spring of 1968 soon spread worldwide and led to the recognition of the rights of students.

Back to power politics.  The French suffered a humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and was required to cede Alsace and Lorraine and pay a five billion franc indemnity.  To add insult to injury, the new German state created in 1871 crowned its new Kaiser William I and had its victory parade, of all places, in Versaillles and Paris, respectively.  This, among other things, led to the French desire for revenge and demand of a large compensation after Germany’s defeat in WW I, which in turn triggered WW II.

Out of the follies of the Europeans of the past is the realisation that France and other European nations have to learn to live in harmony.  This has led to the birth of the European Union after WW II.