France

===Contemporary period (1946–present)===
[[File:De Gaulle-OWI.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Charles de Gaulle seated in uniform looking left with folded arms|[[Charles de Gaulle]], a hero of World War I, leader of the [[Free French Forces|Free French]] during [[World War II]], and [[President of France]]]]
The GPRF laid the groundwork for a new constitutional order that resulted in the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] (1946–1958), which saw spectacular economic growth (''les [[Trente Glorieuses]]''). France was one of the founding members of [[NATO]]. France attempted to [[First Indochina War|regain control of French Indochina]] but was defeated by the [[Viet Minh]] in 1954 at the climactic [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]]. Only months later, France faced another [[anti-colonialist]] [[Algerian War|conflict in Algeria]], then treated as an integral part of France and home to over one million European settlers ([[Pied-Noir]]). During the conflict, the French systematically used torture and repression, including extrajudicial killings to keep control of Algeria.<ref name="Macqueen2014">{{Cite book |first=Norrie |last=Macqueen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1YSBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Colonialism |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86480-6 |page=131}}; {{Cite news|title=In France, a War of Memories Over Memories of War|first=Michael|last=Kimmelman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/arts/design/05abroad.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 March 2009}}</ref> This conflict wracked the country and nearly led to a coup and civil war in France.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crozier |first1=Brian |last2=Mansell, Gerard |date=July 1960 |title=France and Algeria |journal=[[International Affairs (journal)|International Affairs]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=310–321 |doi=10.2307/2610008 |jstor=2610008|s2cid=153591784 }}</ref>

During the [[May 1958 crisis in France|May 1958 crisis]], the weak and unstable Fourth Republic gave way to the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]], which included a strengthened presidency.<ref>{{Cite web |title=From Fourth to Fifth Republic |url=http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/contem/fifth.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523234726/http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/contem/fifth.htm |archive-date=23 May 2008 |publisher=[[University of Sunderland]]}}</ref> In the latter role, de Gaulle managed to keep the country together while taking steps to end the Algerian War. The war was concluded with the [[Évian Accords]] in 1962 which led to [[1962 Algerian independence referendum|Algerian independence]]. Algerian independence came at a high price: it resulted in between half a million and one million deaths and over 2&nbsp;million internally displaced Algerians.<ref name="Springer">{{Cite book |title=A New Paradigm of the African State: Fundi wa Afrika |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |page=75}}; {{Cite book|author=David P Forsythe|title=Encyclopedia of Human Rights|year=2009|publisher=OUP US|isbn=978-0-19-533402-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1QbX90fmCVUC&pg=PA37 37]}}; {{Cite book|author=Elizabeth Schmidt|title=Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCMgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-31065-0|page=46}}</ref> Around one million Pied-Noirs and [[Harki]]s fled from Algeria to France upon independence.<ref name="google4">{{Cite book |last1=Cutts, M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54Oe1WTfBfAC&pg=PA38 |title=The State of the World's Refugees, 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action |last2=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199241040 |page=38 |access-date=2017-01-13}} Referring to Evans, Martin. 2012. ''Algeria: France's Undeclared War''. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> A vestige of the colonial empire are the [[Overseas France|French overseas departments and territories]].

In the context of the [[Cold War]], de Gaulle pursued a policy of "national independence" towards the [[Western Bloc|Western]] and [[Eastern Bloc|Eastern blocs]]. To this end, he withdrew from NATO's military-integrated command (while remaining within the NATO alliance), launched a [[Force de dissuasion|nuclear development programme]] and made France the [[France and weapons of mass destruction|fourth nuclear power]]. He [[Élysée Treaty|restored]] cordial [[France–Germany relations|Franco-German relations]] to create a European counterweight between the American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a [[Supranational union|supranational Europe]], favouring a Europe of [[Sovereign state|sovereign nations]]. In the wake of the series of worldwide [[protests of 1968]], the [[May 68|revolt of May 1968]] had an enormous social impact. It was the watershed moment when a conservative moral ideal (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) shifted towards a more liberal moral ideal (secularism, individualism, sexual revolution). Although the revolt was a political failure (as the [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] party emerged even stronger than before) it announced a split between the French people and de Gaulle, who resigned shortly after.<ref>Julian Bourg, ''From revolution to ethics: May 1968 and contemporary French thought'' (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2017).</ref>

In the post-Gaullist era, France remained one of the most developed [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|economies in the world]] but faced several economic crises that resulted in high unemployment rates and increasing public debt. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, France has been at the forefront of the development of a supranational [[European Union]], notably by signing the [[Maastricht Treaty]] (which created the European Union) in 1992, establishing the [[eurozone]] in 1999 and signing the [[Treaty of Lisbon]] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Declaration by the Franco-German Defense and Security Council |url=http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/anglais/speeches_and_documents/2004/declaration_by_the_franco-german_defence_and_security_council.1096.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025215249/http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/anglais/speeches_and_documents/2004/declaration_by_the_franco-german_defence_and_security_council.1096.html |archive-date=25 October 2005 |access-date=21 July 2011 |publisher=Elysee.fr}}</ref> France has also gradually but fully reintegrated into NATO and has since participated in most NATO-sponsored wars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=France and NATO |url=http://www.rpfrance-otan.org/France-and-NATO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509044211/http://www.rpfrance-otan.org/France-and-NATO |archive-date=9 May 2014 |website=La France à l'Otan}}</ref>

[[File:Marche républicaine, Paris, 11 janvier 2015 (15).jpg|thumb|alt=Place de la République statue column with large French flag|[[Republican marches]] were organised across France after the [[January 2015 Île-de-France attacks|January 2015 attacks]] perpetrated by [[Islamism|Islamist]] [[Terrorism|terrorists]]; they became the largest public rallies in French history.]]
Since the 19th century, France has [[Immigration to France|received many immigrants]]. These have been mostly male [[foreign worker]]s from European Catholic countries who generally returned home when not employed.<ref name="Marie-Christine Weidmann-Koop">Marie-Christine Weidmann-Koop, Rosalie Vermette, "France at the dawn of the twenty-first century, trends and transformations", [https://books.google.com/books?id=cVa46Q7oMlcC&pg=PA160 p. 160]</ref> During the 1970s France faced an economic crisis and allowed new immigrants (mostly from the [[Maghreb]])<ref name="Marie-Christine Weidmann-Koop"/> to permanently [[Family reunification|settle in France with their families]] and acquire French citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims (especially in the larger cities) living in subsidised public housing and suffering from very high unemployment rates.<ref>Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Michael J. Balz, "The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back?" ''International Migration'' (2006) 44#2 pp. 23–34.</ref> Simultaneously France renounced the [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of immigrants, where they were expected to adhere to French traditional values and cultural norms. They were encouraged to retain their distinctive cultures and traditions and required merely to [[Social integration|integrate]].<ref>Sylvia Zappi, "French Government Revives Assimilation Policy", in Migration Policy Institute {{Cite web |title=French Government Revives Assimilation Policy |url=http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/french-government-revives-assimilation-policy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130222428/http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/french-government-revives-assimilation-policy |archive-date=30 January 2015 |access-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>

Since the [[1995 Paris Métro and RER bombings]], France has been sporadically targeted by Islamist organisations, notably the [[January 2015 Île-de-France attacks|''Charlie Hebdo'' attack]] in January 2015 which provoked the [[Republican marches|largest public rallies]] in French history, gathering 4.4&nbsp;million people,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hinnant |first1=Lori |last2=Adamson |first2=Thomas |date=11 January 2015 |title=Officials: Paris Unity Rally Largest in French History |agency=Associated Press |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_ATTACKS_RALLY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-01-11-12-51-46 |url-status=dead |access-date=11 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111213526/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_ATTACKS_RALLY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-01-11-12-51-46 |archive-date=11 January 2015}}; {{Cite news|title=Paris attacks: Millions rally for unity in France|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30765824|access-date=12 January 2015|publisher=BBC News|date=12 January 2015}}</ref> the [[November 2015 Paris attacks]] which resulted in 130 deaths, the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 November 2015 |title=Parisians throw open doors in wake of attacks, but Muslims fear repercussions |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/14/paris-attacks-people-throw-open-doors-to-help |access-date=19 November 2015}}; {{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/paris-terror-attacks/paris-terror-attacks-yes-parisians-are-traumatised-but-the-spirit-of-resistance-still-lingers-34201891.html|title=Yes, Parisians are traumatised, but the spirit of resistance still lingers|first=Nafeesa|last=Syeed|newspaper=The Irish Independent|date=15 November 2015|access-date=19 November 2015}}</ref> and the deadliest in the European Union since the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|Madrid train bombings in 2004]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 November 2015 |title=Europe's open-border policy may become latest victim of terrorism |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/europe-s-open-border-policy-may-become-latest-victim-of-terrorism-1.2435486 |access-date=19 November 2015}}</ref> as well as the [[2016 Nice truck attack]], which caused 87 deaths during [[Bastille Day]] celebrations. [[Opération Chammal]], France's military efforts to contain [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]], killed over 1,000 ISIS troops between 2014 and 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 December 2015 |title=French policies provoke terrorist attacks |url=http://thematadorsghs.us/index.php/2015/12/14/french-policies-provoke-terrorist-attacks |website=The Matador}}; {{Cite book |editor-first=Gabriel |editor-last=Goodliffe |editor-first2=Riccardo |editor-last2=Brizzi |title=France After 2012 |publisher=Berghahn Books |date=2015}}</ref>