France

History:

Roman Gaul (58 BCE–486):

In 58 BCE, Gauls, Germani, Britons. Aquitanians and Iberian peoples fought the Gallic Wars
against the Roman Republic.

Kingdom of the Franks (481–843):

The Franks expanded through much of Western and Central Europe, and parts of Italy, ruled
by the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties. They fought against the Visigothic Kingdom
in the Battle of Vouillé (507). Clovis I expanded the kingdom’s territories and converted to
Catholicism due to Clotilde’s insistence. Feudalism was the predominant economic system
that expanded through Europe. Duke Charles Martel’ son Pepin the Short replaced Childeric
III and established an alliance with the Church and Pope Zachary, helping the formation of
the Papal States. Charlemagne was responsible for much of the kingdom’s expansion, and
was regarded as a great leader. He established the system of higher education with the liberal
arts education’s trivium and quadrivium. Louis the Pious dismantled the kingdom.

West Francia (843–987):

In 843, the Treaty of Verdun, divided the Frankish Kingdom into West, Middle, and East
Francia. West Francia was a very divided and non-centralized kingdom that held almost no
real power in comparison to dutchies and local rulers.

Kingdom of France (987–1792):

Hugh of Capet established the Kingdom of France. France led a series of crusades. In the
11th-century, a Norman army led by William the Conqueror invaded and occupied England.
The Angevin Empire (1154–1214) describes the possession of French territories by English
kings. France established a series of colonies in Canada, Senegal, the Caribbean, India,
African islands and Guiana. Charles IV’s death in 1337 led to the Hundred Years' War over
the right to rule the Kingdom of France. As an English victory approached, Joan of Arc
boosted morale, helping kick the English out. In 1447, France incorporated the western part
of Burgundy, and the Duchy of Brittany in 1532. The Protestant Reformation caused the
expulsion of the Huguenots. Their following victories in the Italian Wars (not continuously
1494–1559) and the Thirty Years' War consolidated France as a regional power, and their
subsequent colonial gains as a global one.

They fought in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) to a loss, and in the American
Revolutionary War to a victory. By 1780, debts from wars, discontent from the peasants to
the absolute monarchy, national famines and liberal ideas from the Enlightenment led to the
French Revolution (1789–1799), during which the French parliament was established, the
bastille was stormed, and Louis XVI was executed. Maximilien Robespierre was a French
lawyer and an important revolutionary figure.

French First Republic (1792–1804):

The successful war of independence led to a political, economic and social instability. France
fought a successful War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) mainly due to the military talent
of Napoleon Bonaparte, who seized power during the War of the Second Coalition (1798–
1802). He continued accumulating victories throughout the following Coalition Wars against
France.

First French Empire (1804–1815):

Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Kingdom of France: Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830):

France was politically unstable, but its strong economy led its colonial expansion through
Africa, and Asia.

Kingdom of France: July Monarchy (1830–1848):

French Second Republic (1848–1852):

Second French Empire (1852–1870):

French Third Republic (1870–1940):

Rising tensions, an imbalance in power, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
started WWI, between the Central and Allied Powers. At first, France was very unsuccesful,
but the Allied Powers eventually won. The Treaty of Versailles granted France the Alsace-
Lorraine territories. At the start of WWII in 1939, France became a target of Nazi Germany,
being occupied throught a blitzkrieg attack. France again had an unsuccesful start but an
Allied victory at last.

Vichy France (1940–1944):

French Fourth Republic (1946–1958):

French Fifth Republic (1958–present):

France started its decolonization process with the First Indochina War (1946–1954), and
Algerian War (1954–1962).

Architectural styles:

● Gothic architecture: It features pointed arches, rib vault, pinnacle.