France

==History==
{{Main|History of France}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of French history}}
{{very long|section|words=4,600|nosplit=yes|date=March 2024}}

===Pre-6th century BC===
{{Main|Prehistory of France}}
The oldest traces of [[archaic humans]] in what is now France date from approximately 1.8&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Jean Carpentier 1987 p.17">Jean Carpentier (dir.), François Lebrun (dir.), Alain Tranoy, Élisabeth Carpentier et Jean-Marie Mayeur (préface de Jacques Le Goff), Histoire de France, Points Seuil, coll. " Histoire ", Paris, 2000 (1re éd. 1987), p. 17 {{ISBN|978-2-02-010879-9}}</ref> [[Neanderthal]]s occupied the region into [[Upper Paleolithic|the Upper Paleolithic]] era but were slowly replaced by ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' around 35,000 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=C. |date=2011 |title=A Brief History of France |publisher=[[Little, Brown Book Group]] |chapter=Cro-Magnon Man, Roman Gaul and the Feudal Kingdom|page=6|isbn=978-1849018128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urOeBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> This period witnessed the emergence of [[cave painting]] in the [[Dordogne]] and the [[Pyrenees]], including at the famous [[Lascaux]] site, dated to {{Circa|18,000}} BC.<ref name="Jean Carpentier 1987 p.17"/> At the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]] (10,000 BC), the climate became milder;<ref name="Jean Carpentier 1987 p.17"/> from approximately 7,000 BC, this part of Western Europe entered the [[Neolithic]] era, and its inhabitants became [[Sedentism|sedentary]].

After strong demographic and [[Agriculture|agricultural]] development between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, [[Metal Ages|metallurgy appeared]] at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, initially working gold, [[Chalcolithic|copper]] and [[Bronze Age|bronze]], then later [[Iron Age|iron]].<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 20–24.</ref> France has numerous [[megalith]]ic sites from the Neolithic, including the exceptionally dense [[Carnac stones]] site (approximately 3,300 BC).

===Antiquity (6th century BC – 5th century AD)===
{{Main|Gaul|Celts|Roman Gaul}}

In 600 BC, [[Ionia]]n [[Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul|Greeks]] from [[Phocaea]] founded the [[Greek colonisation|colony]] of [[Massalia]] (present-day [[Marseille]]), on the shores of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. This makes it France's oldest city.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1TmVvMwmo4C&pg=RA1-PA754 |title=The Cambridge ancient history |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-521-08691-2 |page=754 |access-date=23 January 2011}}; {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8cA8hymTw8C&pg=PA62|title=A history of ancient Greece|author=Claude Orrieux|page=62|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1999|access-date=23 January 2011|isbn=978-0-631-20309-4}}</ref> At the same time, some Gallic Celtic tribes penetrated parts of eastern and northern France, gradually spreading through the rest of the country between the 5th and 3rd century BC.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 29.</ref>

[[File:Maison_Carree_in_Nimes_(16).jpg|thumb|alt=Maison Carrée temple in Nemausus Corinthian columns and portico|The [[Maison Carrée]] was a temple of the [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] city of [[Nemausus]] (present-day [[Nîmes]]) and is one of the best-preserved vestiges of the [[Roman Empire]].]]
Around 390 BC, the Gallic [[Tribal chief|chieftain]] [[Brennus (leader of the Senones)|Brennus]] and his troops made their way to [[Roman Italy]] through the [[Alps]], defeated the Romans in the [[Battle of the Allia]], and besieged and [[ransom]]ed Rome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cornelius Tacitus, The History, BOOK II, chapter 91 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0080:book=2:chapter=91 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> The Gallic invasion left Rome weakened, and the Gauls continued to harass the region until 345 BC when they entered into a formal peace treaty with Rome.<ref>Polybius, The Histories, 2.18.19</ref> But the Romans and the Gauls would remain adversaries for the next centuries, and the Gauls would continue to be a threat in Italy.<ref>Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 325</ref>

Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans, who called this region {{Lang|la|[[Gallia Narbonensis|Provincia Nostra]]}} ("Our Province"), which over time evolved into the name [[Provence]] in French.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=13 July 1953 |title=Provence in Stone |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77 |magazine=Life |page=77 |access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> [[Julius Caesar]] conquered the remainder of Gaul and overcame a revolt carried out by the Gallic chieftain [[Vercingetorix]] in 52 BC.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 44–45.</ref> Gaul was divided by [[Augustus]] into Roman provinces.<ref name="c53">Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 53–55.</ref> Many cities were founded during the [[Roman Gaul|Gallo-Roman period]], including [[Lugdunum]] (present-day [[Lyon]]), which is considered the capital of the Gauls.<ref name="c53" />

From the 250s to the 280s AD, Roman Gaul suffered a serious crisis with its [[Limes (Roman Empire)|fortified borders]] being attacked on several occasions by [[barbarian]]s.<ref name="c77">Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 76–77</ref> Nevertheless, the situation improved in the first half of the 4th century, which was a period of revival and prosperity for Roman Gaul.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 79–82.</ref> In 312, Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|converted to Christianity]]. Subsequently, Christians who had been persecuted increased rapidly across the entire Roman Empire.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 81.</ref> But from the beginning of the 5th century, the [[Migration Period|Barbarian Invasions]] resumed.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, p. 84.</ref> [[Teutons|Teutonic]] tribes invaded the region from present-day Germany, the [[Visigoths]] settling in the southwest, the [[Burgundians]] along the Rhine River Valley, and the Franks in the north.<ref>Carpentier ''et al.'' 2000, pp. 84–88.</ref>

===Early Middle Ages (5th–10th century)===
{{Main|Francia|Merovingian dynasty|Carolingian dynasty}}
{{See also|List of French monarchs|France in the Middle Ages}}
At the end of the [[Late antiquity|Antiquity]] period, ancient Gaul was divided into several Germanic kingdoms and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory, known as the [[Kingdom of Soissons|Kingdom of Syagrius]]. Simultaneously, [[Celtic Britons]], fleeing the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]], settled in the western part of [[Armorica]]. As a result, the Armorican peninsula was renamed [[Brittany]], [[Celts|Celtic culture]] was revived, and independent [[petty kingdom]]s arose in the region.

The first leader to unite all Franks was [[Clovis I]], who began his reign as king of the [[Salian Franks]] in 481, routing the last forces of the Roman governors of the province in 486. Clovis claimed that he would be baptised a Christian in the event of his victory against the [[Visigothic Kingdom]], which was said to have guaranteed the battle. Clovis [[Franco-Visigothic Wars|regained the southwest from the Visigoths]], was baptised in 508 and made himself master of what is now western Germany.

Clovis I was the first [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] conqueror after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of the Roman Empire]] to convert to Catholic Christianity, rather than [[Arianism]]; thus France was given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" (''{{Lang-fr|La fille aînée de l'Église|links=no}}'') by the papacy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faith of the Eldest Daughter&nbsp;– Can France retain her Catholic heritage? |url=http://www.wf-f.org/03-1-France.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722112834/http://www.wf-f.org/03-1-France.html |archive-date=22 July 2011 |access-date=17 July 2011 |publisher=Wf-f.org}}</ref> and French kings would be called "the Most Christian Kings of France" (''{{Lang|und|Rex Christianissimus}}'').

[[File:Chlodwigs taufe.jpg|thumb|alt=painting of Clovis I conversion to Catholicism in 498, a king being baptised in a tub in a cathedral surrounded by bishop and monks|With [[Clovis I|Clovis]]'s conversion to Catholicism in 498, the [[List of Frankish kings|Frankish monarchy]], [[Elective monarchy|elective]] and [[Secular state|secular]] until then, became [[Hereditary monarchy|hereditary]] and of [[Divine right of kings|divine right]].|222x222px]]
The Franks embraced the Christian [[Gallo-Roman culture]], and ancient Gaul was eventually renamed ''[[Francia]]'' ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted [[Romance languages|Romanic languages]], except in northern Gaul where Roman settlements were less dense and where [[Germanic languages]] emerged. Clovis made [[Paris]] his capital and established the [[Merovingian dynasty]], but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land purely as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from that of Clovis: Paris, [[Orléans]], [[Soissons]], and [[Reims|Rheims]]. The [[Roi fainéant|last Merovingian kings]] [[Power behind the throne|lost power]] to their [[Mayor of the palace|mayors of the palace]] (head of household). One mayor of the palace, [[Charles Martel]], defeated an [[Umayyad invasion of Gaul]] at the [[Battle of Tours]] (732) and earned respect and power within the Frankish kingdoms. His son, [[Pepin the Short]], seized the crown of Francia from the weakened Merovingians and founded the [[Carolingian dynasty]]. Pepin's son, [[Charlemagne]], reunited the Frankish kingdoms and built a vast empire across [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]].

Proclaimed [[Holy Roman Emperor]] by [[Pope Leo III]] and thus establishing in earnest the French government's longtime [[History of the Catholic Church in France|historical association]] with the [[Catholic Church]],<ref name="georgetown1">{{Cite web |title=France |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206213909/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france |archive-date=6 February 2011 |access-date=14 December 2011 |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]]}} See drop-down essay on "Religion and Politics until the French Revolution"</ref> Charlemagne tried to revive the [[Western Roman Empire]] and its cultural grandeur. Charlemagne's son, [[Louis the Pious|Louis I]] (r. 814–840), kept the empire united; however, this Carolingian Empire would not survive his death. In 843, under the [[Treaty of Verdun]], the empire was divided between Louis' three sons, with [[East Francia]] going to [[Louis the German]], [[Middle Francia]] to [[Lothair I]], and [[West Francia]] to [[Charles the Bald]]. West Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France and was its precursor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2008 |title=Treaty of Verdun |url=http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/treaty-of-verdun.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716063456/http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/treaty-of-verdun.htm |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=17 July 2011 |publisher=History.howstuffworks.com}}</ref>

During the 9th and 10th centuries, continually threatened by [[Viking expansion|Viking invasions]], France became a very decentralised state: the nobility's titles and lands became hereditary, and the authority of the king became more religious than secular and thus was less effective and constantly challenged by powerful noblemen. Thus was established [[feudalism]] in France. Over time, some of the king's vassals would grow so powerful that they often posed a threat to the king. For example, after the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066, [[William the Conqueror]] added "King of England" to his titles, becoming both the vassal to (as [[Duke of Normandy]]) and the equal of (as king of England) the king of France, creating recurring tensions.

===High and Late Middle Ages (10th–15th century)===
{{See also|France in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Joan of Arc miniature graded.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Joan of Arc]] led the [[French Army]] to several important victories during the [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453), which paved the way for the final victory.]]

The Carolingian dynasty ruled France until 987, when [[Hugh Capet]], [[Duke of the Franks|Duke of France]] and [[Count of Paris]], was crowned [[List of French monarchs|king of the Franks]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of France&nbsp;– The Capetian kings of France: AD 987–1328 |url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1008&HistoryID=ab03&gtrack=pthc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806020426/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1008&HistoryID=ab03&gtrack=pthc |archive-date=6 August 2011 |access-date=21 July 2011 |publisher=Historyworld.net}}</ref> This date is often used as the transition between [[West Francia]] and the [[Kingdom of France]]. His descendants{{Mdash}}the [[House of Capet|direct Capetians]], the [[House of Valois]] and the [[House of Bourbon]]{{Mdash}}progressively unified the country through wars and dynastic inheritance. Starting from 1190, during the reign of [[Philip II of France|Philip II]], the Capetian rulers began to be referred as "kings of France" (''rex Francie'') rather than "kings of the Franks" (''rex Francorum'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Babbitt |first=Susan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyALAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA39 |title=Oresme's Livre de Politiques and the France of Charles V |date=1985 |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |isbn=978-0-871-69751-6 |page=39 |ol=2874232M}}</ref> Later kings would expand their directly possessed [[Crown lands of France|''domaine royal'']] to cover over half of modern continental France by the 15th century, including most of the north, centre and west of France. During this process, the royal authority became more and more assertive, centred on a [[Estates of the realm|hierarchically conceived society]] distinguishing [[French nobility|nobility]], clergy, and [[Estates General (France)|commoners]].

The French nobility played a prominent role in most [[Crusades]] to restore Christian access to the [[Holy Land]]. French knights made up the bulk of the steady flow of reinforcements throughout the 200-year span of the Crusades, in such a fashion that the Arabs uniformly referred to the crusaders as ''Franj'' caring little whether they came from France.<ref name="google.fr">{{Cite book |last1=Nadeau |first1=Jean-Benoit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYDOrzMpgGcC&pg=PT34 |title=The Story of French |last2=Barlow |first2=Julie |year= 2008 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-4299-3240-0 |pages=34ff |author-link=Jean-Benoît Nadeau |author-link2=Julie Barlow}}</ref> The French Crusaders also imported the French language into the [[Levant]], making [[Old French|French]] the base of the ''[[lingua franca]]'' (lit. "Frankish language") of the [[Crusader states]].<ref name="google.fr"/> French knights also made up the majority in both the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospital]] and the [[Knights Templar|Temple orders]]. The latter in particular held numerous properties throughout France and by the 13th century were the principal bankers for the French crown, until [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]] annihilated the order in 1307. The [[Albigensian Crusade]] was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical [[Catharism|Cathars]] in the southwestern area of modern-day France. In the end, the Cathars were exterminated and the autonomous [[Counts of Toulouse|County of Toulouse]] was annexed into the [[crown lands of France]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=28 April 1961 |title=Massacre of the Pure |magazine=Time |location=New York |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897752-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120172908/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897752-2,00.html |archive-date=20 January 2008}}</ref>

From the 11th century, the [[House of Plantagenet]], the rulers of the [[County of Anjou]], succeeded in establishing its dominion over the surrounding provinces of [[Maine (province)|Maine]] and [[Touraine]], then progressively built an "empire" that spanned from England to the [[Pyrenees]] and covering half of modern France. Tensions between the kingdom of France and the [[Angevin Empire|Plantagenet empire]] would last a hundred years, until [[Philip II of France]] conquered, between 1202 and 1214, most of the continental possessions of the empire, leaving England and [[Aquitaine]] to the Plantagenets.

[[Charles IV of France|Charles IV the Fair]] died without an heir in 1328.<ref name="guerard">{{Cite book |last=Guerard |first=Albert |title=France: A Modern History |date=1959 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |pages=100, 101 |author-link=Albert Léon Guérard}}</ref> Under [[Salic law]] the crown of France could not pass to a woman nor could the line of kingship pass through the female line.<ref name="guerard"/> Accordingly, the crown passed to [[Philip VI of France|Philip of Valois]], rather than through the female line to Edward of Plantagenet, who would soon become [[Edward III of England]]. During the reign of Philip of Valois, the French monarchy reached the height of its medieval power.<ref name="guerard"/> However Philip's seat on the throne was contested by Edward III of England in 1337, and England and France entered the off-and-on [[Hundred Years' War]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Templeman |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Templeman |date=1952 |title=Edward III and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |volume=2 |pages=69–88 |doi=10.2307/3678784|jstor=3678784 |s2cid=161389883 }}</ref> The boundaries changed greatly with time, but landholdings inside France by the English Kings remained extensive for decades. With charismatic leaders, such as [[Joan of Arc]] and [[La Hire]], strong French counterattacks won back most English continental territories. Like the rest of Europe, France was struck by the [[Black Death]], from which half of the 17&nbsp;million population of France died.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Le Roy Ladurie |first=Emmanuel |title=The French peasantry, 1450–1660 |date=1987 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05523-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/frenchpeasantry10000lero/page/32 32] |author-link=Emmanuel}}; {{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Turchin |author-link=Peter Turchin |date=2003 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mUoCrTUo-eEC&pg=PA179 179] |title=Historical dynamics: why states rise and fall |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-11669-3}}</ref>

===Early modern period (15th century–1789)===
{{Main article|Ancien Régime|France in the early modern period}}

The [[French Renaissance]] saw spectacular cultural development and the first standardisation of the French language, which would become the [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts|official language of France]] and the language of Europe's aristocracy. It also saw a long set of wars, known as the [[Italian Wars]], between France and the [[House of Habsburg]]. French explorers such as [[Jacques Cartier]] and [[Samuel de Champlain]] claimed lands in the Americas for France, paving the way for the expansion of the [[French colonial empire]]. The rise of Protestantism in Europe led France to a civil war known as the [[French Wars of Religion]], where, in the most notorious incident, thousands of [[Huguenots]] were murdered in the [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]] of 1572.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/516821/Massacre-of-Saint-Bartholomews-Day |access-date=21 July 2011}}</ref> Events such as this forced many Huguenots to flee to neighbouring Protestant regions such as the [[British Isles]] (especially [[History of the Huguenots in Kent|to the Kentish coast]]), the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Switzerland]], and more. The Wars of Religion were ended by [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]]'s [[Edict of Nantes]], which granted some freedom of religion to the Huguenots. [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] troops, the terror of Western Europe,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rex |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSVVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT302 |title=Tudors: The Illustrated History |year= 2014 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-4403-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref> assisted the Catholic side from 1589 to 1594 and invaded northern France in 1597; after some skirmishing in the 1620s and 1630s, Spain and France returned to all-out war between 1635 and 1659. [[Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)|The war]] cost France 300,000 casualties.<ref>Clodfelter 2017: 40</ref>

Under [[Louis XIII]], [[Cardinal Richelieu]] promoted the centralisation of the state and reinforced royal power by disarming domestic power holders in the 1620s. He systematically destroyed castles of defiant lords and denounced the use of private violence (duelling, carrying weapons and maintaining private armies). By the end of the 1620s, Richelieu established "the royal monopoly of force" as the doctrine.<ref>Tilly, Charles (1985). "War making and state making as organized crime," in Bringing the State Back In, eds P.B. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer, & T. Skocpol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. p. 174.</ref>

From the 16th to the 19th century, France was responsible for 11% of the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]],<ref name = "BNF">{{Cite web | author = Cécil Vidal | date = May 2021 | url = https://heritage.bnf.fr/france-ameriques/en/slave-trade-article | website = bnf.fr | title = Slave trade | language = en}}</ref> second only to Great Britain during the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web | author = Claire Sibelle | title = Guide des sources de la traite négrière, de l'esclavage et de leurs abolitions: XVIe – XXe siècles| url = https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=FR-SIAF&levelName=archdesc&t=sg&recordId=FRDAF_esclavage001 | website = Archives Portal Europe | language = fr}}</ref> While the state began condoning the practice with [[letters patent]] in the 1630s, Louis XIII only formalized this authorization more generally in 1642 in the last year of his reign. By the mid-18th century, [[Nantes]] had become the principal [[Nantes slave trade|French slave-trading port]].<ref name = "BNF"/>

[[File:Louis XIV of France.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Louis XIV of France standing in plate armour and blue sash facing left holding baton|[[Louis XIV]], the "Sun King", was the [[Absolute monarchy in France|absolute monarch of France]] and made France the leading European power.]]During [[Louis XIV]]'s minority and the regency of [[Anne of Austria|Queen Anne]] and [[Cardinal Mazarin]], a period of trouble known as the [[The Fronde|Fronde]] occurred in France. This rebellion was driven by the great feudal lords and [[Parliament|sovereign courts]] as a reaction to the [[Absolutism (European history)|rise of royal absolute power]] in France. The monarchy reached its peak during the 17th century and the reign of Louis XIV. By turning powerful feudal lords into [[courtier]]s at the [[Palace of Versailles]], his command of the military went unchallenged. Remembered for numerous wars, the so-called "Sun King" made France the leading European power. France became the [[Demographics of France|most populous country in Europe]] and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became the most-used language in diplomacy, science, literature and international affairs, and remained so until the 20th century.<ref name="Language and Diplomacy">{{Cite web |title=Language and Diplomacy |url=http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2004/language-and-diplomacy/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721070018/http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2004/language-and-diplomacy/ |archive-date=21 July 2011 |access-date=21 July 2011 |publisher=Nakedtranslations.com}}</ref> During his reign, France took colonial control of many overseas territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. In 1685, Louis XIV [[Edict of Fontainebleau|revoked the Edict of Nantes]], forcing thousands of Huguenots into exile and published the ''[[Code Noir]]'' providing the legal framework for slavery and expelling Jewish people from the French colonies.<ref>{{Cite journal | journal = Louisiana Law Review | title = The Origins and Authors of the Code Noir | author = Vernon Valentine Palmer | url = https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol56/iss2/5 | year = 1996 | volume = 56 | issue = 2}}</ref>

Under the wars of [[Louis XV]] (r. 1715–1774), France lost [[New France]] and most of its [[French India|Indian possessions]] after its defeat in the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–1763). Its [[Metropolitan France|European territory]] kept growing, however, with notable acquisitions such as [[Lorraine]] (1766) and [[Corsica]] (1770). An unpopular king, Louis XV's weak rule, his ill-advised financial, political and military decisions—as well as the decadence of his court—discredited the monarchy, which arguably paved the way for the [[French Revolution]] 15 years after his death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC History: Louis XV (1710–1774) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/louis_xv.shtml |access-date=21 July 2011 |publisher=BBC}}; {{Cite web|url=http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/cdhjones/documents/gn_pdf.pdf|title=Scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones (2002)|access-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725101858/http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/cdhjones/documents/gn_pdf.pdf|archive-date=25 July 2011}}</ref>

[[Louis XVI]] (r. 1774–1793) [[France in the American Revolutionary War|actively supported the Americans with money, fleets and armies]], helping them win [[American Revolutionary War|independence from Great Britain]]. France gained revenge but spent so heavily that the government verged on bankruptcy—a factor that contributed to the French Revolution. Some of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] occurred in French intellectual circles, and major scientific breakthroughs and inventions, such as the [[Antoine Lavoisier|naming of oxygen]] (1778) and the first [[Montgolfier brothers|hot air balloon carrying passengers]] (1783), were achieved by French scientists. French explorers, such as [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville|Bougainville]] and [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse|Lapérouse]], took part in the [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration|voyages of scientific exploration]] through maritime expeditions around the globe. The Enlightenment philosophy, in which [[Rationalism|reason]] is advocated as the primary source of [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimacy]], undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and also was a factor in the French Revolution.

===Revolutionary France (1789–1799)===
{{Main|History of France#Revolutionary France (1789–1799)}}
[[File:Prise de la Bastille.jpg|thumb|alt=drawing of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, smoke of gunfire enveloping stone castle|The [[Storming of the Bastille]] on 14 July 1789 was the most emblematic event of the [[French Revolution]].]]
Facing financial troubles, Louis XVI summoned the [[Estates General of 1789|Estates-General]] (gathering the three [[Estates of the realm]]) in May 1789 to propose solutions to his government. As it came to an impasse, the representatives of the [[Commoner|Third Estate]] formed a [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]], signalling the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]]. Fearing that the king would suppress the newly created National Assembly, insurgents [[Storming of the Bastille|stormed the Bastille]] on 14 July 1789, a date which would become [[Bastille Day|France's National Day]].

In early August 1789, the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] [[Abolition of feudalism in France#August decrees|abolished the privileges]] of the [[French nobility|nobility]] such as personal [[serfdom]] and exclusive hunting rights. Through the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] (27 August 1789), France established fundamental rights for men. The declaration affirms "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" to "liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression". [[Freedom of speech]] and [[Freedom of the press|press]] were declared, and arbitrary arrests were outlawed. It called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges and proclaimed freedom and equal rights for all men, as well as access to public office based on talent rather than birth. In November 1789, the Assembly decided to nationalise and sell all property of the Catholic Church which had been the largest landowner in the country. In July 1790, a [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]] reorganised the French Catholic Church, cancelling the authority of the Church to levy taxes, et cetera. This fueled much discontent in parts of France, which would contribute to the civil war breaking out some years later. While Louis XVI still enjoyed popularity among the population, his disastrous [[flight to Varennes]] in June 1791 seemed to justify rumours he had tied his hopes of political salvation to the prospects of foreign invasion. His credibility was so deeply undermined that the [[Abolition of monarchy|abolition of the monarchy]] and the establishment of a republic became an increasing possibility.

In the August 1791 [[Declaration of Pillnitz]], the Emperor of [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] and the King of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] threatened to restore the French monarch by force. In September 1791, the National Constituent Assembly forced Louis XVI to accept the [[French Constitution of 1791]], thus turning the French absolute monarchy into a [[Kingdom of France (1791–92)|constitutional monarchy]]. In the newly established [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Legislative Assembly]] (October 1791), enmity developed and deepened between a group later called the '[[Girondins]]', who favoured war with [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], and a group later called '[[The Mountain|Montagnards]]' or '[[Jacobins]]' who opposed such a war. A majority in the Assembly in 1792 however saw a war with Austria and Prussia as a chance to boost the popularity of the revolutionary government and thought that such a war could be won and so [[French Revolutionary Wars|declared war on Austria]] on 20 April 1792.

[[File:Serment du Jeu de Paume - Jacques-Louis David.jpg|thumb|[[The Tennis Court Oath (David)|''Le Serment du Jeu de paume'']] by [[Jacques-Louis David]], 1791]]
On 10 August 1792, an angry crowd [[Insurrection of 10 August 1792|threatened the palace of Louis XVI]], who took refuge in the Legislative Assembly.<ref name=Shus-5/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Censer |first1=Jack R. |title=Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution |last2=Hunt |first2=Lynn |date=2004 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=[[Penn State University Park]]}}</ref> A Prussian army invaded France later in August 1792. In early September, Parisians, infuriated by the Prussian Army capturing Verdun and counter-revolutionary uprisings in the west of France, [[September Massacres|murdered between 1,000 and 1,500 prisoners]] by raiding the Parisian prisons. The Assembly and the [[Paris Commune (1789–1795)|Paris City Council]] seemed unable to stop that bloodshed.<ref name=Shus-5/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=William |title=The Oxford History of The French Revolution |date=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=191–192}}</ref> The [[National Convention]], chosen in the first elections under male [[universal suffrage]],<ref name="Shus-5">{{In lang|nl}} Noah Shusterman – ''De Franse Revolutie (The French Revolution).'' Veen Media, Amsterdam, 2015. (Translation of: ''The French Revolution. Faith, Desire, and Politics.'' Routledge, London/New York, 2014.) Chapter 5 (p. 187–221) : The end of the monarchy and the September Murders (summer-fall 1792).</ref> on 20 September 1792 succeeded the Legislative Assembly and on 21 September abolished the monarchy by proclaiming the [[French First Republic]]. Louis XVI [[Trial of Louis XVI|was convicted of treason]] and [[Execution of Louis XVI|guillotined in January 1793]]. France had declared war on Great Britain and the Dutch Republic in November 1792 and did the same on Spain in March 1793; in the spring of 1793, Austria and Prussia invaded France; in March, France created a "[[sister republic]]" in the "[[Republic of Mainz]]" and kept it under control.

Also in March 1793, a [[War in the Vendée|counter-revolution in Vendée]] began, evoked by both the [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]] of 1790 and the nationwide army conscription in early 1793; elsewhere in France rebellion was brewing too. A factionalist feud in the National Convention, smouldering ever since October 1791, came to a climax on 2 June 1793 with the group of the Girondins being forced to resign and leave the convention. By July the counter-revolution had spread to [[Brittany (administrative region)|Brittany]], Normandy, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Toulon, and Lyon. Between October and December 1793, Paris' Convention government took brutal measures to subdue most internal uprisings at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some historians consider the civil war to have lasted until 1796 with a toll of possibly 450,000 lives.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Linton |first=Marisa |title=The Terror in the French Revolution |publisher=Kingston University |url=http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter1/interviews/filetodownload,20545,en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117152123/http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter1/interviews/filetodownload%2C20545%2Cen.pdf |archive-date=17 January 2012}}; Jacques Hussenet (dir.), ''" Détruisez la Vendée ! " Regards croisés sur les victimes et destructions de la guerre de Vendée'', La Roche-sur-Yon, Centre vendéen de recherches historiques, 2007</ref> By the end of 1793, the allies had been driven from France.

Political disagreements and enmity in the National Convention reached unprecedented levels, leading to dozens of Convention members being sentenced to death and guillotined. Meanwhile, France's external wars in 1794 were prospering, for example in Belgium. In 1795, the government seemed to return to indifference towards the desires and needs of the lower classes concerning freedom of (Catholic) religion and fair distribution of food. Until 1799, politicians, apart from inventing a new parliamentary system (the '[[French Directory|Directory]]'), busied themselves with dissuading the people from Catholicism and royalism.

===Napoleon and 19th century (1799–1914)===
{{Main|History of France#Napoleonic France (1799–1815)|History of France#Long 19th century, 1815–1914}}
{{See also|France in the long nineteenth century|History of France (1900–present)}}
[[File:Jacques-Louis David - The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=painting of Napoleon in 1806 standing with hand in vest attended by staff and Imperial guard regiment|[[Napoleon]], [[Emperor of the French]], built a [[First French Empire|vast empire across Europe]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Frank W. |last=Thackeray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0ktX_xI1fYC&pg=PA6 |title=Events that Changed the World in the Nineteenth Century |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-313-29076-3 |page=6|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }}</ref>]]
General [[Napoleon]] Bonaparte [[Coup of 18 Brumaire|seized control of the Republic]] in 1799 becoming [[French Consulate|First Consul]] and later [[Constitution of the Year XII|Emperor]] of the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] (1804–1814; 1815). As a continuation of the French Revolutionary Wars, changing sets of [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars|European coalitions]] declared [[Napoleonic Wars|wars on Napoleon's empire]]. His armies conquered most of continental Europe with swift victories such as the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|battles of Jena-Auerstadt]] and [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]]. Members of the [[House of Bonaparte|Bonaparte]] family were appointed as monarchs in some of the newly established kingdoms.<ref name="Blanning">{{Cite news |last=Blanning |first=Tim |author-link=T. C. W. Blanning|date=April 1998 |title=Napoleon and German identity |volume=48 |work=[[History Today]] |location=London}}</ref>

These victories led to the worldwide expansion of French revolutionary ideals and reforms, such as the [[metric system]], the [[Napoleonic Code]] and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In June 1812 Napoleon [[French invasion of Russia|attacked Russia]], reaching Moscow. Thereafter his army disintegrated through supply problems, disease, Russian attacks, and finally winter. After the catastrophic Russian campaign and the ensuing [[War of the Sixth Coalition|uprising of European monarchies]] against his rule, Napoleon was defeated. About a million Frenchmen [[Napoleonic Wars casualties|died during the Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name="Blanning"/> After his [[Hundred Days|brief return]] from exile, Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815 at the [[Battle of Waterloo]], and the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon monarchy was restored]] with new constitutional limitations.

The discredited Bourbon dynasty was overthrown by the [[July Revolution]] of 1830, which established the constitutional [[July Monarchy]]. In that year, French troops began the [[French conquest of Algeria|conquest of Algeria]]. In 1848, general unrest led to the [[French Revolution of 1848|February Revolution]] and the end of the July Monarchy. The abolition of slavery and the introduction of male universal suffrage, which were briefly enacted during the French Revolution, was re-enacted in 1848. In 1852, the president of the French Republic, [[Napoleon III|Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte]], Napoleon I's nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]], as Napoleon III. He multiplied French interventions abroad, especially in [[Crimean War|Crimea]], [[Second French intervention in Mexico|Mexico]] and [[Second Italian War of Independence|Italy]] which resulted in the annexation of the [[Duchy of Savoy]] and the [[County of Nice]], then part of the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]. Napoleon III was unseated following defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870, and his regime was replaced by the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]]. By 1875, the French conquest of Algeria was complete, with approximately 825,000 Algerians killed from famine, disease, and violence.<ref name="Kiernan2007">{{Cite book |first=Ben |last=Kiernan |url=https://archive.org/details/bloodan_kie_2007_00_0326 |title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-300-10098-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bloodan_kie_2007_00_0326/page/374 374] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

[[File:France colonial Empire10.png|thumb|upright=1.6|The first (light blue) and second (dark blue) [[French colonial empire]]]]

France had [[French colonial empire|colonial possessions]], in various forms since the beginning of the 17th century, but in the 19th and 20th centuries its [[List of largest empires|global overseas colonial empire]] extended greatly and became the second-largest in the world behind the [[British Empire]].<ref name=":8"/> Including metropolitan France, the total area of land under French [[sovereignty]] reached almost 13&nbsp;million square kilometres in the 1920s and 1930s, 8.6% of the world's land. Known as the ''[[Belle Époque]]'', the turn of the century was a period characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In 1905, [[Secular state|state secularism]] was [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|officially established]].

===Early to mid-20th century (1914–1946)===
{{Main|History of France (1900–present)}}
France was [[French entry into World War I|invaded by Germany and defended by Great Britain]] to start World War I in August 1914. A rich industrial area in the northeast was occupied. France and the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] emerged victorious against the [[Central Powers]] at a tremendous human and material cost. World War I left 1.4&nbsp;million French soldiers dead, 4% of its population.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 January 2008 |title=France's oldest WWI veteran dies |publisher=BBC News |location=London |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7199127.stm}}</ref> Between 27 and 30% of soldiers conscripted from 1912 to 1915 were killed.<ref>Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts (2005). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&pg=PR25 Encyclopedia Of World War I: A Political, Social, And Military History]''. ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-420-2}}</ref> The interbellum years were marked by [[Events preceding World War II in Europe|intense international tensions]] and a variety of social reforms introduced by the [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front government]] (e.g., [[annual leave]], [[Eight-hour day|eight-hour workdays]], [[women in government]]).
[[File:El 114 de infantería, en París, el 14 de julio de 1917, León Gimpel.jpg|thumb|French [[Poilu]]s posing with their war-torn flag in 1917, during World War I]]In 1940, France was [[Battle of France|invaded and quickly defeated]] by [[Nazi Germany]]. France was divided into a [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German occupation zone]] in the north, an [[Italian occupation of France|Italian occupation zone]] in the southeast and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern French metropolitan territory (two-fifths of pre-war metropolitan France) and the French empire (including [[French protectorate of Tunisia|French Tunisia]], [[French protectorate in Morocco|French Morocco]], and [[French Algeria]]); the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]], a newly established authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, ruled the unoccupied territory. [[Free France]], the government-in-exile led by&nbsp;[[Charles de Gaulle]], was set up in London.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crémieux-Brilhac |first=Jean-Louis |title=La France libre |publisher=Gallimard |year=1996 |isbn=2-07-073032-8 |location=Paris |language=fr}}</ref>

From 1942 to 1944, about 160,000 French citizens, including around [[The Holocaust in France|75,000 Jews]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies |url=http://www.holocaust-education.dk/holocaust/deportationer.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416061232/http://www.holocaust-education.dk/holocaust/deportationer.asp |archive-date=16 April 2014}}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/jewish_deportation_01.shtml|title=BBC – History – World Wars: The Vichy Policy on Jewish Deportation|publisher=BBC}}; France, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, {{Cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005429|title=France|access-date=16 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206075910/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005429|archive-date=6 December 2014}}</ref> were deported to [[Extermination camp|death camps]] and [[Internment|concentration camps]] in Germany and [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]].<ref>Noir sur Blanc: Les premières photos du camp de concentration
de Buchenwald après la libération,{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.ain.fr/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-05/dp_expo_schwartz_auf_weiss_nantua_2011bd.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109055804/http://www.ain.fr/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-05/dp_expo_schwartz_auf_weiss_nantua_2011bd.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2014 |access-date=14 October 2014}} (French)</ref> In September 1943, [[Corsica]] was the first French metropolitan territory to liberate itself from the [[Axis powers]]. On 6 June 1944, the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] [[Operation Overlord|invaded Normandy]], and in August they [[Operation Dragoon|invaded Provence]]. Over the following year, the Allies and the [[French Resistance]] emerged victorious, and French sovereignty was restored with the establishment of the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]] (GPRF). This interim government, established by de Gaulle, aimed to continue to [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|wage war against Germany]] and to [[Épuration légale|purge collaborators from office]]. It also made several important reforms (e.g., suffrage extended to women and the creation of a [[Social security in France|social security]] system).

===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>