France through the Ages - A Historical Timeline

1. Origins

21,500 BC

Prehistoric populations, cave art and stone monuments.

1200 BC

Settlement by the Gauls (related to the Celts).

59-52 BC

Conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar and the beginning of Gallo-Roman civilization.

500 AD

Barbarian invasions and the end of Pax Romana following the fall of Rome.

600 AD

Settlement by the Franks, the barbarian tribe from which France derives its name.

2. Establishment of a State and Nation

768 AD

Charlemagne, named Emperor of the Western world, attempts to recreate the Roman Empire.

987 AD

Hughes Capet founds the Capetian dynasty, which will last until 1328. The monarchy asserts its new power over feudal lords.

11th-13th centuries

Middle Ages: flourishing of Romanesque and Gothic art. Crusades.

14th-15th centuries

French-English rivalry culminates in the Hundred Years War triggering a new wave of nationalism. France is also plagued by the Black Death and famines.

3. Absolute Monarchy and the Enlightenment

15th-16th centuries

The Renaissance.

1539

French replaces Latin as the official language.

1562-1589

Religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.

1598

Edit of Nantes grants freedom of conscience and worship.

1610-1715

Reign of Louis XIII followed by the Absolute Monarchy of Louis XIV resulting in royal authority and hegemony; increased spread of French culture.

18th century

Economic and demographic growth. Age of Enlightenment. Absolutism questioned. French participate in the American Revolution (see page 28).

1789

French Revolution; Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. End of the monarchy.

4. Political Experiments

1804-1815

Napoleon is named Emperor; he reorganizes the French administration and legal system, establishing the Napoleonic Code.

1815

Restoration of the Monarchy.

1830-1848

Revolution. July Monarchy. Industrialization.

1848

Revolution. Second Republic. Slavery abolished.

1852-1870

Second Empire under Napoleon III. Prosperity and growth. Colonial conquests.

1870-1871

Loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

1875

Third Republic.

5. Republican France

1880-1910

Secular education, freedom to assemble, separation of church and state (1905). Colonial expansion.

1894-1906

France is split over the Affaire Dreyfus: A Jewish army captain is wrongly accused of treason, but found innocent a few years later.

1914-1918

World War I (1,350,000 killed). The U.S enters the war in 1917. Alsace-Lorraine restored to France. Peace Treaty of Versailles (1919).

1936-1938

Rise of the Popular Front. Social developments include agreements on work conditions and paid vacations.

1939-1945

World War II (700,000 killed). Germany occupies France. Collaboration of the Vichy regime. General de Gaulle in London calls on the French to resist. Resistance.

1944-1945

Normandy and Provence landings. Liberation of France.

1946-1958

Fourth Republic is marked by economic reconstruction and end of colonization. Political instability. Beginning of the European construction. Sharp demographic increase.

6. Fifth Republic

1958

De Gaulle returns to power and founds the Fifth Republic, adopted by referendum.

1962

End of Algerian War, begun in 1954.

1969-1974

Georges Pompidou elected President of the Republic. European construction strengthened.

1974-1981

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the Republic. Oil crisis followed by recession.

1981

Socialist candidate François Mitterrand is elected President of the Republic with a left-wing majority in the National Assembly; Abolition of the death penalty. Decentralization laws. Nationalization of large coorporations.

1986

Legislative elections; the Left loses out to conservative parties. Jacques Chirac, a conservative, is appointed Prime Minister. First cohabitation. Re-privatization.

1988

François Mitterrand is re-elected President of the Republic. The Left wins a majority in legislative elections.

1992

The French ratify the Maastricht Treaty on European Union by referendum.

1993

March 29, victory of the Right in legislative elections: second cohabitation government. Privatization program resumes.

1995

May 7, Jacques Chirac of the neo-Gaullist RPR party is elected President of the Republic. Alain Juppé is appointed Prime Minister.

1997

June 3, Lionel Jospin is named Prime Minister after Jacques Chirac has dissolved the National Assembly.
October 1997: Signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.

January 1, 1999

Beginning of the introduction of the euro. The exchange rates for 11 European currencies are permanently fixed relative to each other and relative to the euro.

September 24, 2000

In a referendum, 73 percent of the French people voted in favor of shortening the presidential term from 7 to 5 years. The 5-year term will be effective after the presidential elections of 2002.

January 2, 2002

Euro bills and coins are introduced. The euro now is used for all transactions in the 12 participating European Union countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland).

February 17, 2002

French francs are no longer legal tender in France.

May 5, 2002

Jacques Chirac is re-elected President of the Republic and appoints Jean-Pierre Raffarin as Prime Minister. It is the end of the third cohabitation.