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Louis Louis XIV had the longest reign in European history.
Louis XIV, France's Sun King, had the longest reign in European history (1643-1715). During this time he brought absolute monarchy to its height, established a glittering court at Versailles, and fought most of the other European countries in four wars. The early part of his reign, while Louis was young, was dominated by the chief minister Cardinal Mazarin. In the middle period Louis reigned personally and innovatively, but the last years of his personal rule were beset by problems. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution was a huge political section in a lot of ways. Politically, France suffered under an Absolute Monarchy, and most of the people were denied by basic rights. This war extended through the Imperial period and forced nations to marshal their resources to a greater extent than ever before. Many fast developing ideologies of the revolution were also spread across Europe. The French Revolution has often been called the start of the modern world. November 9, 1799 is when it ended. -
Napoleon gets crowned as Emperor for First French Empire.
Napoleon crowns himself emperor for First French Empire. Napoleon begins to encounter the first significant defeat of his military career. He suffered through a invasion in Europe, loss Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War, and endured a total defeat against an allied force by 1814. The Napoleon Empire stretched from the River Elbe in the North, down through Italy in the South. He established the Napoleonic Code which was a new system of French law. In 1840, he died at age 51. -
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War came about. This war fought by the French and the Germans was caused by the determination of the Prussian statesman Prince Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck to unify Germany under Prussian control. The military strength in Prussia was a threat in France on the continent of Europe. The Franco-Prussian War was the end of the Second Empire. This was because the French lost this war. This war ended May 10, 1871. -
Peace Treaty of Versailles
The Peace Treaty of Versailles was signed. World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations. Germany agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but those plans were cancelled in 1932, and Hitler’s rise to power rendered moot the terms of the treaty. -
World War II
World War II happens. In this, Germany occupies much of France. German bombers hit air bases in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This was destroying large numbers of allied planes on the ground and crippling allied air defenses. By this time, the size of the French army had been reduced by roughly half, and French leaders became resigned to an inevitable surrender. On June 22, 1940, France signed an armistice with Germany. This was the rise of the French Resistance. -
Women get the right to vote.
The order of 21 April 1944 adopted by the provisional government of General de Gaulle in Algiers stipulated that “women are voters and eligible under the same conditions as men”. The right to vote was initially reserved for male land-owners. Women were excluded because it was considered that their economic dependency prevented them from making free choices. The 1804 Civil Code admittedly gave women civil rights, but it refused to give them political citizenship. -
Allied Forces land at Normandy
In 1944, allied forces land at Normandy leading to liberation of France. The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 6, 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. The battle began with 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
France joins West Germany and other European nations.
In 1951, France joins west Germany and other European nations in the European Coal and Steel community. An administrative agency established by a treaty ratified in 1952, designed to integrate the coal and steel industries in western Europe. The original members of the ECSC were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The organization subsequently expanded to include all members of the European Economic Community and was later renamed the European Community. -
De Gaulle becomes the President of the Fifth Republic
In 1958, a revolt in French-held Algeria, combined with serious instability within France, destroyed the Fourth Republic. De Gaulle returned to lead France once more. The French people approved a new constitution and voted de Gaulle president of the Fifth Republic. Strongly nationalistic, de Gaulle sought to strengthen his country financially and militarily. He sanctioned the development of nuclear weapons, withdrew France from NATO and vetoed the entry of Britain into the Common Market.
