France

===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.