Surely everyone will be interested to know where the origins of the most beautiful and romantic French language come from, who speaks it and why. French kings, princes and conquerors have achieved a lot, subjugating various corners of the world, teaching and forcing the locals to speak their own language, and today all former French colonies either simply speak the language of France, or they have it official in the country.

According to 2013 data, more than 7 billion people live on planet Earth, and more than 200 million people speak French, this is more than the entire population of the Russian Federation, as information for comparison. If we use the data of previous years, then the following distribution of those who speak the language is observed:

• about 70 million speak French imperfectly, the rest fluently.
• More than 100 million people study French, that is, those who are very interested.
• In France itself, more than 60 million people speak the state language.
• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, otherwise known as Zaire, more than 24 million people speak French.
• Algeria is also popular for its French-speaking population - 16 million.
• Côte d'Ivoire has 12.7 million French speakers.
• There are 11.5 million French speakers in Canada, including the French themselves.
• The Moroccan Republic has over 10 million inhabitants speaking the French language.
• In Cameroon, 7.3 million people speak French.
• Tunisia has 6.3 million French-speaking residents.
• Also in Belgium, 6.3 million people speak French.
• And in Romania there are 6 million French speakers.

History of the emergence of France

North of Languedoc, a country was located that belonged to the ancient barbarian conquerors and was called Francia or France, and its settlers called themselves Franks. It was they who created the knights and cavalry, and a decent amount of European lands was subordinated by Emperor Charles. It was in the 8th century, but Charles's successors did not cope with the freedom-loving knights. The state collapsed, and counties appeared, where everyone tried to call himself the ruler of his little land.

Many castles and serfs appeared, and the rulers were constantly at war with each other, so wooden houses turned into real stone fortresses with towers, on one of which the coat of arms and the flag had to flaunt.

In 987, the king was elected by the Franks, the king - Hugo Capet, who owned the Ile-de-France, this is the territory from Paris to Orleans. Hugo Capet was not even a master in his own duchy, and his numerous successors had a hard time, because they had to start with the subordination of local barons, and they considered it normal to fight with their king. But they managed to keep the crown, and later it was customary to gather nobles for the coronation in order to personally see the reaction of the public, that is, whether it opposes or not.

By the 12th century, the kingdom already existed peacefully and harmoniously, the rebellious barons were expelled or punished, the church advocated peace and the absence of wars and misunderstandings, the kings hired soldiers to protect them from the warlike barons, the word soldiers came from soldo - the currency, that is, these people were servants for money. Also, crossbowmen and mounted warriors appeared, who were considered top officials.

Thus, the French territory was born, the borders of which changed for some time, but the spread of the French throughout the world began in the 16th century, when the French conquerors expanded their territories by colonizing new territories.

French colonies

The first appropriation of colonies is associated with a period of expansion of horizons, the ability to travel and discover new geographical areas. One of the first to seize territories in America, both North - Florida, the Basin of the St. Lawrence River, and South - Brazilian Lands, was not able to stay there for a long time, since the Latin American confrontation turned out to be stronger. After 100 years, the invasions of America were repeated, which resulted in the lands of Canada, where to this day the French language plays an important role, being the second most popular and official language of the country.

The following lands were in the French possessions: Guadeloupe, Louisiana, Martinique, some part of the island of Haiti. Also in the 17th century, the invasions of the French also affected African lands, then the French reached India, appropriating Pondicherry. The conquered lands were turned into plantations for the cultivation of various crops, on which the local residents worked. The most popular products were: cane sugar, tobacco, spices and condiments, tea and coffee.

The Great French Revolution triggered liberation movements in the occupied territories, some managed to free themselves from the colonialists and become independent.

Often, in the process of land grabbing, France faced another strong adversary - Great Britain, which claimed the French colonies, and in some cases had to yield.

France actively fought for the division of the world and the appropriation of new lands. In 1895, the island of Madagascar began to belong to France, as well as many lands in the basins of the rivers Niger, Congo, Ubangi, Shari, as well as near Lake Chad, after which the advance began to Sudan and the Nile. A struggle was fought for Morocco, which France ceded to Germany.

By the 20th century, the conquest of new lands by France and their transformation into colonies was practically completed. Some states were considered independent, but France still had supremacy over them. These lands include Algeria, Tunisia, Laos, Cambodia. In fact, power belonged to local leaders and rulers, but France dictated its terms. Borders were arbitrary and often changed, regardless of the ethnicity of the people. French West Africa was created, which included Franz. Sudan, Franz. Guinea, Senegal, Bones, and French Equatorial Africa: Gabon, Ubangi Shari, Middle Congo, Chad.

By the First World War, France had 10 million square meters. km and more than 55 million inhabitants in these colonial territories. At the end of the war, the territory of the colonies increased. And the Second World War led to the largest crisis in the colonial system, completely ruining it. Many territories during the war had already gained independence, for example, Lebanon, and some became free at the end of hostilities.

The inhabitants of the colonies rose to the colonial wars, demanding full independence, as a result of which the territories of colonial France were slowly but surely shrinking.

In 1958, a constitution was adopted under the Fifth French Republic, according to which there was a French community, all members of which were independent and had the right to independently govern the country's internal affairs. Progressing countries demanded full autonomy, continuing anti-colonial actions, and some decided to stay in the community. France soon lost its dominance over these lands, as amendments were introduced to the constitution for the complete independence of the members of the community.

At the present stage, there is no concept of colonies, but the previous influence turned out to be very large, therefore, in all the former colonies of France, the population knows and speaks French.

Strengthening royal power. The consolidation of the Capetian power and the final transformation of France into the largest power of the Middle Ages began during the reign of Louis VI Tolstoy (1108-1137), who replaced the inactive Philip I (1060-1108). During his 30-year reign, Louis established control over his own lands. He forced all his vassals in the Ile-de-France to recognize him as their rightful master and to fulfill their feudal obligations in good faith. Louis destroyed the castles that served as a refuge for the feudal lords who did not obey him, and won control of the rest of the castles. Having gained direct control over the territory adjacent to Paris, Louis took up management affairs. He appointed only loyal and capable officials, who were called provosts. They carried out the royal will and were always under the supervision of the king, who constantly traveled around the country. Before his death, Louis married his son, also Louis, to Alienore of Aquitaine, the heiress of the largest duchy of France. The transformations that took place in the Ile-de-France under Louis VI were exactly repeated in other large feudal states. The County of Flanders has become the most influential state in the north of Europe. The Counts of Flanders received large incomes from the cities and the wool-spinning industry and soon accumulated considerable wealth. The Duchy of Normandy was just as strong, the County of Anjou was not much behind. Famous fairs of the 12th century in Champagne provided this county with the broadest fame in Europe. A critical stage in the history of the Capetian dynasty falls on the years 1137-1214. The desire to destroy this dynasty appeared among the kings of England, who were strong and determined opponents. Back in 1066, the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, defeated the army of King Harold of the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings and annexed his rich kingdom to his duchy. With such a foothold, Wilhelm and his successors gained a power unparalleled in France. During the reign of Louis VII (1137-1180), English kings captured almost half of France and even annexed the Ile-de-France. The English king Henry II (1154-1189) took possession of not only England and Normandy, but also the counties of Anjou, Maine and Tours inherited from his father, Count Geoffroy of Anjou, who was married to the English queen Matilda. Due to the shortsightedness of Louis VII, he was able to further expand his possessions in France. The marriage of Louis VII and Alienora of Aquitaine was unsuccessful. Louis was unable to understand the fervent Allenore and forgive her love interests during the 2nd Crusade (1147-1149). In addition, the spouses did not have an heir. As a result, in 1152, Louis persuaded the pope to allow him a divorce. Because of this ill-considered act, he lost southwestern France, and Henry II of England got Alienora's hand in two months and annexed her duchy to his vast dominions on the mainland. Henry II, King of England, gained control of Brittany by marrying his son Geoffroy to the heiress of that duchy. He also enlisted the support of the Counts of Toulouse and Auvergne. Henry created a vast feudal state that almost surrounded the Ile-de-France.

Philip II August. If Louis VII were succeeded on the throne by another equally indecisive king, France could be in disaster. Fortunately, his son Philip II Augustus (1180-1223), one of the greatest kings of medieval France, became the successor. By inciting rebellion against Henry II and encouraging his internecine struggle with the sons who ruled the lands on the mainland, Philip was able to prevent encroachments on his power. After the only political defeat of Henry II on the mainland, he forced him to return the border fortresses and pay war reparations. During the reign of Henry's successor Richard I (1189-1199), Philip was less fortunate. Both kings began their relationship with assurances of friendship. Richard recognized Philip's possessions in France, and both vowed to march together on the 3rd Crusade (1189-1192). However, on the way to Palestine, they quarreled. In 1191 Philip became ill and returned to France to plot against Richard. Teaming up with vassals in the English domain and with Richard's younger brother John, Philip provoked unrest in France and England. After Richard was captured in Austria on his return from the crusade in 1192 and handed over for ransom to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Philip invaded Richard's domain with impunity. However, in 1194 Richard was released and returned to France to settle scores with Philip. Until 1199, he constantly won victories. Only the sudden death of Richard during a predatory raid saved Philip from further defeats. Philip continued his intrigues against Richard's successor John (1199-1216). After a short time, he called on John to appear at the feudal court in Paris to account for some of the actions that were considered inappropriate for a vassal. John disregarded this invitation, and he was declared a criminal, and the lands that belonged to him were ordered to be confiscated. In the war that broke out in 1202, Philip won a complete victory and in two years deprived John of all his possessions in France, with the exception of Gascony. However, Philip's activities did not end there. In 1214 he had to fight again with John and with a broad coalition of Germanic and Dutch rulers in Bouvines in southern Flanders. There he inflicted a decisive defeat on the troops of John, Otto IV and the Flemings. So Philip established the hegemony of France in Western Europe for the next century. In addition to uniting the northern and central regions of France, Philip laid the foundation for the annexation of the southwestern part of the country. In 1208, when Pope Innocent III called for a crusade against the county of Toulouse, where the Albigensian heresy was deeply rooted, Philip, without personally interfering, encouraged the French nobility to participate in this campaign. In 1213 Toulouse was conquered and occupied by the troops of Simon de Montfort and his crusaders. Although the Count of Toulouse later returned his lands, Philip's successor was able to extend the royal power to this territory. Philip transformed royal finances on the model of the English treasury, expanded the powers of the royal court, and reformed local government. His most progressive innovation was the appointment of officials to administer the newly formed judicial districts. Receiving wages from the king, these new officials faithfully carried out royal assignments and helped to unite the newly conquered territories. Philip himself stimulated the development of cities in France, giving them broad rights of self-government.
Louis IX. During the short reign of the son of Philip Augustus Louis VIII (1223-1226), the county of Toulouse was annexed to the kingdom. France now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. When Louis VIII died, the throne passed to his twelve-year-old son Louis IX (1226-1270), who was later named Saint Louis. While the king remained underage, the kingdom was in danger. There were rebellions of feudal lords, conspiracies and peasant uprisings. Louis did not consider it necessary to expand the boundaries of the kingdom by force. Having completely defeated the English king Henry III, he signed the Treaty of Paris in 1259, according to which he recognized the rights of the British to Gascony in exchange for Henry III's confirmation of the French rights to Normandy and adjacent lands. A year earlier, having concluded a treaty at Corbeil, Louis had settled the dispute between France and Aragon. In such acts, he displayed a sense of ethics and tolerance unprecedented in the medieval era. As a result, during the long reign of Louis IX, France almost always lived in peace. The only exception was the participation of the king in two crusades. However, the 6th crusade against Egypt (1248-1250) led by Louis ended in complete defeat. His army, drained of blood by plague and fighting, was forced to surrender. A large ransom had to be paid for Louis and the other survivors. Already old and weak, in 1270 he launched the 7th Crusade against the Turks in North Africa. There the king died even before the outbreak of hostilities. The most significant legacy of Louis IX for France was the improvement of the management system. In order to verify the officials acting in the field on his behalf, he introduced the practice of inspection visits by representatives of the king. Louis actively participated in the work of the royal court and at times convened the supreme court of France, called the parliament. The Treasury also operated fairly efficiently and was staffed with employees who knew about finance. Loyal to the church, he nevertheless did not allow the pope to challenge the royal prerogative and did not allow religious courts to interfere with the jurisdiction of the royal tribunals. The reign of Philip III (1270-1285) was a continuation of the policies of Louis IX. Philip's attempt to expand the kingdom ended in failure: in the Aragonese campaign of 1285, his army was defeated, and he himself was killed. A significant historical achievement of Philip was the agreement on the marriage of his son to the heiress of the County of Champagne, which guaranteed the annexation of these rich lands to the royal possessions.
Philip IV the Handsome. The reign of Philip IV the Fair (1285-1314) is equal in importance to the reigns of Philip Augustus and Saint Louis. An active champion of innovation, Philip played a significant role in transforming France into a modern state. Surrounding himself with such advisors as Pierre Fleet, Guillaume Nogaret and Pierre Dubois - people whose goal was to strengthen and centralize royal power, Philip laid the foundations of an absolute monarchy. Philip methodically expanded the territory of the kingdom. To justify the seizure of the lands of his vassals, he used the norms of feudal law, taking advantage of his position as the ruler of all of France. In 1294-1303 he almost managed to conquer Gascony, the possession of the English king Edward I. Philip intended to seize the rich county of Flanders, adjacent to his kingdom on the other side, and even held it for some time. However, in the spring of 1302, the Flemings revolted, killed the French garrison in Bruges, and then defeated the French army at the battle of Kortrijk (Courtrai). Thus, in the Middle Ages, Flanders never became part of France. However, in the southeast, Philippe managed to acquire Franche-Comté and land around the cities of Lyon and Toulouse. Philip limited the popes' involvement in the government of the French church, opposed the transfer of cases from French religious courts to the papal courts, and rejected the pope's demand that clergy be taxed only with papal consent. Philip ignored the bulls of Boniface VIII, who asserted the superiority of the church and the pope over kings. If the clergy refused to pay him taxes, he outlawed him and even allowed his supporters to take Boniface as a hostage in the Italian town of Anagni. This act led to the imminent death of the elderly dad. Then Philip ensured the election to the papal throne of the French prelate, ordered him to remain in France and settle in the city of Avignon, in Provence. Popes stayed here for most of the 14th century. like the real puppets of the French kings. To consolidate his position, Philip put forward alleged charges of heresy against the ancient knightly order of the crusaders - the Templars. Philip decided to appropriate the wealth of the order and thus eliminate the debts of the monarchy. In 1307, he forced the Pope to take up the affairs of the Templars. In the course of rigged trials, torture and persecution, which lasted for seven years, the Templars were completely ruined, and their property went to the crown. The name of Philip is associated with the first convocation of the States General of France, traditionally regarded as a national assembly, consisting of representatives of several estates: the first (clergy), the second (feudal lords) and the third (townspeople). Philip met with congregations in 1302, 1308, and 1314 to raise funds for wars and to secure public support for his political and military activities. Philip (d. 1314) left the centralized state after himself. The French feudal aristocracy was dissatisfied with the consolidation of the monarchy and the restrictions imposed on it. After Philip's death, the nobles demanded that the guarantees of traditional feudal rights be respected. Although the uprisings of the feudal lords were successfully suppressed, they contributed to the weakening of the Capetian dynasty, which now suffered from the short reign of kings and the absence of direct heirs. When Philip IV's son Louis X (1314-1316) died, the Capetian dynasty was left without a male heir for the first time in 329 years. The assembly of large feudal lords decided that the crown should go to Louis X's brother Philip V, who ruled from 1316 to 1322. The same step was repeated in 1322, and this time the throne went to Philip V's brother Charles IV (1322-1328). When the latter also died without leaving a son, the crown passed to his closest male relative, cousin Philippe of Valois, the founder of the Valois dynasty, which held the reins of rule in France until the end of the Middle Ages. Economic recovery under the Capetian. France under the Capetian experienced an economic upturn. When in 987 Hugo Capet was proclaimed king, in France, surrounded by forests, there were many villages, the population of which was engaged in agriculture. There were practically no roads. It was hardly possible to find a settlement that looked like a city. The capital Paris was a small fortress located on the Ile de la Cité on the river Seine. Royal taxes were paid almost exclusively in natural products. Genuine trade and industry did not exist. However, gradually at the end of the 10th-11th centuries, with the establishment of political stability in northwestern Europe, an opportunity to engage in trade appeared. Merchants often had to live outside the fortress walls. Gradually, many of them settled in places conveniently located for trade or crafts, such as Paris, Lyon, Rouen, Troyes, Tours, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Narbonne and others located on the coast of the seas and along the banks of rivers, as well as along roads. Walls were erected around new trading settlements, and thus medieval cities arose. From the beginning of the 11th century. city ​​dwellers were freed from feudal dependence and acquired the rights of free citizens. They could buy, sell, and dispose of property and paid nominal rent for their land and homes. The townspeople were given some trade privileges. During the 12-13th centuries. hundreds of communities have acquired these new elementary privileges. More enlightened kings and feudal lords encouraged such trends, realizing that new cities were conducive to the development of commerce, industry, and the exploitation of various economic resources. From legal, economic and social privileges, it remained to take a small step towards the conquest of political rights. Since the 11th century. the largest cities have achieved self-government. Such cities, called communes, elected their councils, which did all their affairs. These councils adopted decrees that affected all aspects of urban life, from the economic regulation of trade and production to the maintenance of schools, hospitals and fortifications. The Soviets were engaged in collecting taxes and deducting from them the necessary amount to the feudal landowners. In the 13th century. France was greatly transformed and markedly different from the state of the times of Charlemagne or Hugo Capet. Companies were organized; letters of credit and bills of exchange appeared to facilitate credit and exchange of money; bank branches were created in business centers; insurance was developed to reduce economic risk. Successful merchants invested their income in businesses and estates. In the 12-13th centuries. most of the economic activity of France was under the control of entrepreneurs, who in their behavior and essence were capitalists. Although the country's economy was still based on agriculture, market relations and capital turnover became increasingly important.
Development of culture. The transformation of the French economy, which began at the end of the 10th century, was a prerequisite for the development of culture. In the 900, intellectual achievements such as the ability to read and write Latin were only available to the clergy. The role of the church in France was very weak. However, in the 10th century. Under the influence of the Cluny movement, which spread from the monastery of Cluny, founded in 910 in Burgundy, the church advocated an end to the trade in ecclesiastical offices and the consolidation of the hierarchy of the clergy. In the 11th century. this reform was supported by the revived papacy, and at the end of the 11th century. the church in France became such a dynamic force that it was able to lead the 1st Crusade and turned its energies towards raising the level of education of the population. Monasteries again became centers of enlightenment, and famous cathedral schools arose in Laon, Chartres and Paris. On the basis of the Parisian school at the end of the 12th century. the famous Paris University was organized, which became a model for other French universities that arose in the 13-14 centuries. The most famous medieval scholars aspired to Paris, including Pierre Abelard, Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great. In Paris and other centers of education, Latin literature was cultivated. The Greek classics, primarily Aristotle, were translated into Latin. Roman canon law was diligently studied and systematized, theological works were written, encyclopedias were compiled. Students from all over Europe came to Paris and other French universities. In France, a thorough study of the Latin language and literature led to the creation of remarkable Latin lyric and epic poetry by itinerant schoolchildren and students, who were called goliards, or vagantes. Soon, works in prose and poetry in the popular language appeared. France stood out for its achievements in art and architecture. In the 11th - first half of the 12th century. majestic Romanesque churches were built with imposing, sculptured facades and columns, massive walls with adjoining galleries. These extraordinarily beautiful churches include Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, Notre-Dame in Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Trofim in Arles and Abbe-aux-Om in Cana. Gothic cathedrals were magnificent and original architectural creations of medieval France. The Gothic style, which developed in the Ile-de-France around the middle of the 12th century, then spread throughout France and Western Europe. The most beautiful cathedrals and churches were built in the Ile-de-France and neighboring areas. Notre Dame Cathedral (Notre Dame) and cathedrals in Reims, Chartres, Laon, Amiens, Beauvais and Soissons stand out among them. Perfect harmony and proportions in the composition, sculptural decorations and skillfully executed stained-glass windows testify to the achievement of a high level of technical knowledge and artistic skill. Monuments of Gothic architecture are eloquent evidence of the splendor of French culture in the Middle Ages.

Kings of the Valois dynasty. Hundred Years War. For a century and a half, France's history has been clouded by intervention, civil war, and the rule of many mediocre kings. When Philip VI of Valois (1328-1350) ascended the throne, he inherited the most powerful state in Europe. Almost all of France recognized him as a ruler, and the popes in Avignon obeyed him. However, in a few years the situation changed dramatically due to his negligent rule and the Hundred Years War that broke out between France and England in 1337. Hoping to gain the laurels of the victor and return to England the lost possessions in France, King Edward III (1327-1377) made a claim to the French throne as the maternal grandson of Philip IV the Fair. Edward invaded France with an army that was small in number, but included a mass of skilled archers. At the Battle of Crecy in northern France in 1346, Edward utterly defeated the French. Then, after 10 years of border battles, another English army, led by Edward's son, the "Black Prince", inflicted an equally brutal defeat on the French at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. The new French king John the Good (1350-1364) was captured and freed for a huge ransom. In 1360 France was forced to conclude peace, and according to the treaty signed in Bretigny, Edward III was given the land around the city of Calais and the territory adjacent to the English Gascony. The country lost part of its territory, suffered from the scourge of war, lost the agreement between the king and the feudal aristocracy, was devastated by troops and gangs of hired bandits, in 1348-1350 a plague epidemic began. John was succeeded on the throne by his capable son Charles V (1364-1380), who changed the course of the war and recaptured almost all of the lost possessions, except for a small area around Calais. While still a Dauphin, Charles brutally suppressed the peasant uprising (Jacquerie) in 1358 and the movement of the Parisians, led by the merchant foreman Etienne Marcel. For 35 years after the death of Charles V, the war was fought in the form of separate raids and sieges: both sides - both the French and the British - were too weak to conduct major military operations. The next king, Charles VI (1380-1422), was insane for most of his life. Therefore, the rule was exercised by rival groups of nobles, led by the king's uncles - the dukes of Burgundy and Orleans. Taking advantage of the difficult situation in France, the English king Henry V (1413-1422) invaded this country in 1415 and inflicted a crushing defeat on the French army at the Battle of Agincourt, and then began to conquer northern France. In Paris, the Burgundians took over the temporary control of France, but soon, frightened by the offensive of the troops of Henry V, entered into negotiations with the Orleanists. Negotiations were interrupted in 1419 when the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, was stabbed to death by one of the Orleanists. John's son and heir, Philip the Good, immediately made an alliance with Henry V and signed a treaty humiliating France at Troyes (1420). Under its terms, Henry V was to marry the daughter of the French king Catherine and, after the death of Charles VI, become king of France. However, in 1422, death overtook both Henry V and Charles VI, and the one-year-old son of Henry V and Catherine, Henry VI, was proclaimed king of France. In 1422 the British held most of France north of the Loire River. Under the leadership of the Duke of Bedford, they launched attacks on the fortified cities that defended the southern lands that still belonged to the son of Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles. In 1428, British troops laid siege to Orleans. However, in the spring of 1429, the French army, led by Jeanne d "Arc, succeeded in expelling the British, and the siege of the city was lifted. Gradually, the British were expelled from other cities, and the Dauphin in 1429 was crowned in Reims Cathedral under the name of Charles VII (1422-1461). Convinced that her mission was completed, Jeanne asked to be allowed to return to her native village of Donremy in Lorraine, but Charles, realizing its significance as a unifying national symbol, refused to grant this request. 1431 burned at the stake in the market square in Rouen.In the next 20 years, the French army drove out the British, and in 1453, after the capture of Bordeaux, only the port of Calais remained under British rule.After many military and political setbacks, the Hundred Years War ended, and France finally regained its formerness greatness In the second half of the 15th century the country again became the most powerful state in Western Europe.

Strengthening the monarchy. Louis XI (1461-1483) succeeded in perfecting the absolute monarchy in France. He selected bourgeois advisors and provided stable and secure rule to the growing middle class in exchange for financial and political support. He also destroyed the last manifestations of feudal opposition. Through years of intrigue and diplomacy, he undermined the power of the Dukes of Burgundy, his most serious rivals in the struggle for political dominance. The Burgundian Duke Charles the Furious was killed and his army was defeated at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. The state created by the Dukes of Burgundy on the territory between France and Germany was partially annexed to France.

FRANCE OF MODERN AND MODERN TIME
The era of the French Renaissance. In the three decades between the death of Louis XI (1483) and the accession to the throne of Francis I (1515), France parted with the Middle Ages. The subjects of Charles VII (1483-1498) and Louis XII (1498-1515) hardly understood the significance of these changes. It was the 13-year-old prince, who came to the throne in 1483 under the name of Charles VIII, who was destined to become the initiator of the transformations that changed the face of the French monarchy under Francis I. From his father Louis XI, the most hated of the rulers of France, Charles inherited a country in which was put in order, and the royal treasury was significantly replenished. The reign of Charles VIII was marked by two important events. By marrying the Duchess Anne of Breton, he incorporated the previously independent province of Brittany into France. In addition, he led a triumphal campaign in Italy and reached Naples, declaring it his possession. Although he was forced to retreat under pressure from the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire, the papacy and several Italian cities, this expedition gave vent to the ambitions of his nobles and provided an opportunity to experience the wealth and culture of Renaissance Italy. Charles died in 1498, leaving the throne to the Duke of Orleans. Having ascended the throne under the name of Louis XII (1498-1515), the new king gained fame for two acts. First, he, too, led the French nobles on an Italian campaign, this time claiming Milan and Naples. Secondly, it was Louis who introduced the royal loan, which played such a fatal role 300 years later. The introduction of the royal loan allowed the monarchy to withdraw money without resorting to excessive taxation and without resorting to the States-General. Of course, the French kings had to borrow money before. However, new was the introduction of a regular banking procedure, according to which tax proceeds from Paris became the guarantee of the loan. Since the cities became the largest source of taxes, of which Paris was undoubtedly the largest and richest, this new banking system has proven to be a lucrative source of royal income. It provided investment opportunities for wealthy French citizens and even bankers in Geneva and Northern Italy. Louis's heir was his lively cousin and son-in-law, the Count of Angoulême. He inherited a rich and peaceful country, as well as a new banking system that could provide large sums of money that seemed inexhaustible. Nothing could better match Francis I's predilections and abilities.
Francis I (1515-1547). Francis was the embodiment of the new spirit of the Renaissance. His reign began with a lightning-fast invasion of Northern Italy. His second trip to Italy, undertaken ten years later, ended in failure. Nevertheless, Francis remained one of the main political figures in Europe for over a quarter of a century. His biggest rivals were the English king Henry VIII and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. During these years, the country enjoyed peace and prosperity. Italian humanism has had a transformative influence on French art, architecture, literature, science, social morals and even Christian doctrine. The influence of the new culture could be seen in the appearance of the royal castles, especially in the Loire Valley. Now these were not so much fortresses as palaces. With the advent of typography, there were incentives for the development of the French literary language. During the reign of Francis, the following main events took place: a successful campaign in Italy in the year of coronation (1515), crowned with a victorious battle at Marignano; the conclusion of a special treaty with the pope (the so-called Bologna Concordat of 1516), according to which the king began to partially dispose of the property of the French church; Francis's unsuccessful attempt to proclaim himself emperor in 1519, when his significant financial resources could not compete with the funds of the Fugger bankers who supported Charles; his ostentatious meeting with Henry VIII near Calais (then still belonging to England) at the famous "Field of Golden Brocade" in 1520; and, finally, the second campaign in Italy, which ended in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Pavia (1525). Francis himself was taken prisoner then. After paying a huge ransom, he returned to France and continued to rule the country, abandoning ambitious foreign policy plans. Civil wars in France. Henry II, who succeeded his father on the throne in 1547, must have seemed like a strange anachronism in Renaissance France. His life ended unexpectedly: in 1559, fighting in a tournament with one of the nobles, he fell, pierced by a spear. In a series of lightning-fast, well-planned operations, Henry II recaptured Calais from the British and established control over such dioceses as Metz, Tul and Verdun, previously belonging to the Holy Roman Empire (under the treaty of Cato Cambresi in 1559). The king's long-term love affair with the beauty of the court Diana de Poitiers is also known. Henry's wife was Catherine de Medici, a representative of a family of famous Italian bankers. After the untimely death of the king, Catherine played a decisive role in French politics for a quarter of a century, although her three sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III officially ruled. The first of these, the sickly Francis II, was under the influence of the powerful Duke of Guise and his brother the Cardinal of Lorraine. They were the uncles of Queen Mary Stuart (Scots), to whom Francis II was engaged as a child. A year after accession to the throne, Francis died, and the throne was taken by his ten-year-old brother Charles IX, who was entirely under the influence of his mother. However, while Catherine succeeded in leading the child king, the power of the French monarchy suddenly reeled. The policy of persecution of Protestants, begun by Francis I and intensified under Charles, has ceased to justify itself. Calvinism spread widely across France. The Huguenots (as the French Calvinists were called) were predominantly townspeople and nobles, often wealthy and influential. The fall of the king's authority and the disturbance of public order were, however, only a partial consequence of religious schism. Perhaps more important was the irrepressible ambition of the nobility. Deprived of the possibility of waging wars abroad and not constrained by the prohibitions of a strong monarch, the nobles sought to break out of obedience to the weakening monarchy and encroached on the rights of the king. In the ensuing unrest, it was already difficult to resolve religious disputes, and the country split into two opposing camps. The Gizov family took the position of defenders of the Catholic faith. Their rivals were both moderate Catholics like Montmorency and Huguenots like Condé and Coligny. In 1562, an open confrontation between the parties began, interspersed with periods of armistice and agreements, according to which the Huguenots were given a limited right to be in certain areas and create their own fortifications. During the formal preparation of the third agreement, which included the marriage of King's sister Margaret to Henry of Bourbon, the young king of Navarre and the main leader of the Huguenots, Charles IX organized a terrible massacre of his opponents on the eve of St. Bartholomew on the night of 23-24 August 1572. Henry of Navarre managed to escape, but thousands of his companions were killed. Charles IX died two years later and was succeeded by his brother Henry III. Henry of Navarre had the greatest chances for the throne, however, being the leader of the Huguenots, he did not suit most of the country's population. The leaders of the Catholics formed a "league" against him, with the intention of enthroning their leader, Heinrich of Guise. Unable to withstand the confrontation, Henry III treacherously killed both Giza and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. Even at that troubled time, this act caused general outrage. Henry III quickly went to the camp of his other rival, Henry of Navarre, where he was soon killed by a fanatical Catholic monk. Left out of business after the end of the wars abroad in 1559 and seeing the helplessness of the sons of Francis I, the nobles emotionally embraced religious strife. Catherine de Medici opposed general anarchy, at times supporting different parties, but more often trying to restore the authority of royal power through negotiations and observing religious neutrality. However, all her attempts were unsuccessful. When she died in 1589 (the same year her third son died), the country was on the brink of ruin.

The Bourbon dynasty. Although Henry of Navarre now had military superiority and received the support of a group of moderate Catholics, he returned to Paris only after renouncing the Protestant faith and was crowned at Chartres in 1594. The Edict of Nantes ended the end of the wars of religion in 1598. The Huguenots were officially recognized as a minority entitled to labor and self-defense in some areas and cities. During the reign of Henry IV and his famous minister, the Duke of Sully, order was restored to the country and prosperity was achieved. In 1610, the country plunged into deep mourning when it learned that its king had been killed by some madman while preparing for a military campaign in the Rhineland. Although his death kept the country from being prematurely involved in the Thirty Years' War, it threw France back into a state close to regency anarchy, as the young Louis XIII was only nine years old. The central political figure at this time was his mother, Queen Maria de Medici, who then enlisted the support of the bishop of Luzon, Armand Jean du Plessis (aka Duke, Cardinal Richelieu), who in 1624 became the king's mentor and representative and actually ruled France until the end of his life in 1642 Richelieu's reputation as one of France's greatest statesmen rests on his consistent, forward-looking and skillful foreign policy and ruthless suppression of recalcitrant nobles (see also Richelieu). Richelieu took their fortresses from the Huguenots, for example La Rochelle, which withstood the siege for 14 months. He was also a patron of the arts and sciences and founded the French Academy. Richelieu was able to make respect for the royal power through the services of royal agents, or intendants, but he was able to significantly undermine the independence of the nobles. And yet, even after his death in 1642, the change of the king who died a year later passed surprisingly calmly, although the heir to the throne, Louis XIV, was then only five years old. The Queen Mother Anne of Austria took over the guardianship functions. Richelieu's protege, the Italian cardinal Mazarin, was an active conductor of the king's policy until his death in 1661. Mazarin continued Richelieu's foreign policy until the successful conclusion of the Westphalian (1648) and Iberian (1659) peace treaties, but could do nothing more significant for France than the preservation of the monarchy , especially during the uprisings of the nobility, known as the Fronde (1648-1653). The primary goal of the nobles during the Fronde was to extract benefits from the royal treasury, and not to overthrow the monarchy.
Louis XIV. After Mazarin's death, Louis XIV, who had reached the age of 23 by that time, took direct control of state affairs into his own hands. In the struggle for power, Louis was assisted by prominent personalities: Jean Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance (1665-1683), Marquis de Louvoie, Minister of War (1666-1691), Sebastian de Vauban, Minister of Fortifications, and such brilliant generals as the Viscount de Turenne and the Prince of Condé. When Colbert was able to raise enough funds, Louis formed a large and well-trained army, which, thanks to Vauban, had the best fortresses. With the help of this army, led by Turenne, Conde and other capable generals, Louis pursued his strategic line during four wars.
(see also Louis XIV). At the end of his life, Louis was accused of "being too fond of war." His last desperate struggle with all of Europe (the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714) ended with the invasion of enemy troops into French soil, the impoverishment of the people and the depletion of the treasury. The country has lost all previous conquests. Only a split among the enemy forces and a few of the most recent victories saved France from complete defeat.

Decline of the monarchy. The decrepit old king died in 1715. The heir to the French throne was a child - the five-year-old great-grandson of Louis XV, and during this period the country was ruled by a self-appointed regent, the ambitious Duke of Orleans. The most high-profile scandal of the Regency era erupted over the failure of John Lowe's Mississippi Project (1720) - an unprecedented speculative scam supported by the regent in attempts to replenish the treasury. The reign of Louis XV was in many ways a pitiful parody of the reign of his predecessor. The royal administration continued to sell the rights to collect taxes, but this mechanism became ineffective as the entire tax collection system became corrupt. The army, fostered by Louvois and Vauban, was demoralized under the leadership of aristocratic officers who sought appointment to military posts only for the sake of a court career. Nevertheless, Louis XV paid great attention to the army. French troops first fought in Spain and then participated in two major campaigns against Prussia: the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). In these wars at sea, France also confronted England and was defeated. England, the leader in trade, science and technology, seized a leading position in Europe mainly because the new English bourgeois class was able to limit the power of the monarch. In France, the royal administration controlled the sphere of trade and did not take into account its own interests. However, the developed agriculture of France for a long time smoothed out the crown's disdain for trade. Even after the humiliating Paris Peace (1763), when France had to give up most of its colonies and abandon its claims to India and Canada, the port cities of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Nantes and Le Havre continued to prosper and enrich themselves.

Louis XVI: Prelude to the Revolution. Although the cynical old king said: "After me - even a flood", the subjects took his death, cherishing hope for the best. The weakness of the monarchy, as well as major political divisions, was exposed in France when it became involved in the Revolutionary War in North America. Wanting to avenge England for their defeat 20 years ago, French ministers decided to respond to the Americans' appeal for help, despite the obvious fact that any war becomes an impermissible luxury for the exhausted royal treasury and does not leave even a timid hope of compensation in the future. Moreover, the campaign was presented in a heroic light as the most radical experiment in the history of political reform in the West, responding to lofty aspirations and philosophical theories. Even at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, some of his ministers from time to time tried to carry out some reforms, sometimes met with the support of the king. Jacques Turgot, finance minister from 1774-1776, tried to reform the tax system and rebuild the economy so that it would contribute to the development of capitalism in France. To complete the reforms, the monopolies of the merchant guilds had to be eliminated, but Turgot was defeated and eventually resigned as a result of court intrigues, probably orchestrated by Queen Marie Antoinette. He was succeeded by the Swiss banker Jacques Necker, who was appointed CEO of finance (due to his Protestant religion, he could not hold the post of minister). He, too, failed to save the state from financial collapse, exacerbated by the country's participation in the War of Independence in North America. After his dismissal, Necker tried to justify himself: in his pamphlet The Report, he published the royal budget for the first time in the history of France. The materials of the pamphlet completely dispelled any illusions about the viability of the monarchy. The king, faced with the need to choose between the adoption of radical reforms and bankruptcy, invited Charles Calonne to the post of Minister of Finance in the hope that this sophisticated courtier will work a miracle. However, this "miracle", based on further loans, further heated up and exacerbated the situation. This gave Calonne the idea that nothing could save France other than the imposition of a carefully prepared universal land tax. The nobles took this encroachment on their rights as hostile as the reforms of Turgot, and Calonne became a victim of intrigue from the queen's entourage. In place of Calonne, Louis appointed the aristocrat Loménie de Brienne, who tried to negotiate reforms with representatives of the privileged class at the Assembly of Notables, convened in 1787. The only thing he managed to do was to propose to convene the States General in the hope that it would be possible to borrow some of the money from the Third Estate. Then de Brienne tried to carry out appropriate reforms. The Paris parliament refused to approve the decrees, but the king supported them, dispersed the rebellious parliament and replaced it with a new one. The reform project has failed. However, the States General were convened, Necker reinstated in his office. It took a year for the revival of the ancient institution of the States General (the last time they met in 1614) to redefine the voting procedure, elect deputies and formulate for them the famous orders of the third estate. Finally, in May 1789, representatives of the clergy, nobility, and the third estate gathered at Versailles. Disputes immediately began about how many representatives of each estate should be included in the States General. The third estate demanded 600 seats for itself - twice as much as for representatives of the nobility or the church. The dispute was temporarily resolved when the third estate was granted 600 seats, implying, however, that each estate would have only one vote.

The French Revolution. It seemed that the opening of the meetings of the States General (May 5, 1789), accompanied by solemn ceremonies, had gone well. Nevertheless, the decision to vote by estates gave an advantage to the nobility and clergy, so the third estate rejected it, insisting on holding joint meetings of all estates and voting of all deputies. It took almost six weeks to discuss this issue. On June 17, the deputies of the third estate proclaimed themselves the National Assembly, inviting the rest of the deputies to join them. In response, the government expelled the recalcitrant MPs from the courtroom. Three days later, the deputies of the third estate gathered in the ballroom and, inflamed by the speech of the deputy Mirabeau, swore an oath not to disperse until a new French constitution was drawn up. The lower clergy, led by Talleyrand, then Bishop of Auten, joined the National Assembly, after which Louis had only to come to terms with the fait accompli and demand that the nobility and the higher clergy also take part in the work of the meeting. By that time, it proclaimed itself a Constituent Assembly, i.e. the highest representative and legislative body of the French people. A long-overdue revolution began. The king drew up troops in the vicinity of Versailles and sacked Necker. Fearing an attack from the king, the Parisian mob, arms in hand, took the Bastille by storm on July 14 and held the city under control for several days until it finally submitted to the newly formed National Guard and the provisional city administration. This explosion of violence forced some of the high aristocrats, who feared for their lives, to flee the country. Thus, the beginning of the mass emigration of the nobility was laid. At the same time, spontaneous peasant unrest swept across the country, stimulating the famous meeting of the Constituent Assembly on August 4, 1789, which voted to abolish all peasants' duties. Three weeks later, on August 26, the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" was adopted. Another change in the deployment of royal troops, as well as serious food shortages in the capital, led to the fact that on October 5 the famous march of several thousand Parisian women to Versailles took place. The crowd demanded bread, the condemnation of the hated Queen Marie Antoinette and the return to Paris as hostages of the royal family. Louis hesitated, not knowing whether to use force against the crowd or seek protection from the Assembly. Finally he allowed himself to be taken to Paris. It was followed by the Constituent Assembly. These turbulent events only exacerbated the financial crisis. Realizing that the tax system cannot be reformed quickly enough, the deputies decided to pay off the debt at the expense of large church land holdings. These lands were expropriated, bank notes were also issued, which gave their owners the right to acquire part of the confiscated lands. The aristocracy agreed to the convening of the States General, frankly hoping to preserve their privileges. By refusing to vote by estate, the bourgeoisie not only sought to save bankers' investments and protect their financial interests by increasing control over government activities. The third estate was ready to reform the government if necessary. The storming of the Bastille brought a Parisian crowd into the political arena, apparently subsidized and led by ambitious politicians (possibly the Duke of Orleans), and fears of a peasant revolution spurred reforms on August 4. Among the deputies of the third estate, lawyers, teachers and representatives of the liberal professions from small towns in the interior regions of the country predominated (and not merchants, bankers, Parisian workers or peasants). These MPs had little interest in land, trade, or royal debt issues, but they were unhappy with the regime. The further history of the revolution can be traced to the actions of these groups and classes. The new constitution was presented to the king at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The Constituent Assembly then set about reorganizing the royal administration. Local communities were formed - communes with almost complete rights of self-government. The whole country was divided into 83 new administrative-territorial units - departments that replaced the previous provinces. Parliaments were dissolved and the courts were radically transformed. In the course of these transformations, the church was integrated into the general system of government in accordance with the Civil Constitution of the clergy, promulgated on July 12, 1790. In addition to the seizure of church lands, the state also took control of other functions of the church, including education, charity and support of the religious hierarchy. The offices of priest and bishop became elective, it was required that these persons take an oath of allegiance to the revolutionary state. On June 20, 1791, Louis XVI and his family tried to flee abroad, which had long been demanded by his advisers. The poorly prepared action ended in the border town of Varennes, where the king was captured and returned to Paris as a prisoner. However, after a while he was again recognized as king. This absurd situation was dictated by the new constitution, according to which the monarchy remained in the country. Some deputies were inclined to accept a more radical system of government, especially since the number of the king's supporters was rapidly decreasing. A group of the first leaders of the revolution, known as the Girondins (since many of these deputies came from the Gironde department), held the cabinet in their hands. But events quickly got ahead of their intentions, and now the group played a conservative role. Members of the "Society of Friends of the Constitution" became their new-found rivals. This club, better known as the Jacobin (because it sat in a Jacobin convent in Paris), had branches throughout France and gradually developed into a strong political apparatus. Although both the Girondins and the Jacobins were betrayed by the revolution, they disagreed on most issues. This was especially true of understanding the scope and goals of the revolution. The Girondins, who arrived from the cities near the coast, adhered to the traditional pro-English orientation and advocated moderate rule. The Jacobins, representing the cities of the interior of the country, were determined to transform France into a republic at any cost.
First republic. King of Prussia Frederick William II and Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II met at Pillnitz Castle on August 27, 1791 and signed a declaration of joint action in defense of the King of France. True, the government of the Girondins and the king's supporters were not afraid of war. Some hoped that victory would strengthen the regime, while others hoped that defeat would help restore royal power. When the new Legislature first met on October 1, 1791, it faced the obvious danger of foreign invasion. War was declared on April 20, 1792, and the French immediately suffered heavy losses in the border battles. The Gironde government fell in June. The slogan “Fatherland is in danger!” Swept across the country, and in August a revolutionary city commune was created. Then the assault on the royal palace of the Tuileries took place, the Swiss guards were killed, and the king was suspected of treason and arrested. The Constituent Assembly, which replaced the Legislative Assembly, was now dominated by representatives of the popular masses. It called elections in the so-called. National Convention. On September 20, 1792, French troops won their first victory at the Battle of Valmy, during the autumn they conducted offensive operations and captured the Austrian Netherlands (now the territory of Belgium), part of the Rhineland, Savoy and Nice. After that, the Convention made an offer to help all oppressed peoples. Meanwhile, in France, the monarchy was abolished and a republic was proclaimed. In December 1792, Louis appeared before the court. He was charged with a treacherous relationship with the enemy. The king was found guilty and sentenced to death by a majority of the members of the Convention by a margin of one vote. On January 21, 1793 the sentence was carried out. In the spring, military fortune changed France again as England, the Netherlands and Spain joined her opponents. In the face of this new crisis, the Jacobins, led by Robespierre and Danton, seized power. They established the Committee for Public Safety and the Committee for Public Safety and with their help proclaimed the beginning of the revolutionary terror, the first act of which was the condemnation and execution of 31 Girondins. The threat of inflation has now joined the military setbacks. After 1789, no one seriously tried to collect taxes, and bank notes issued by a number of governments began to depreciate. Prices have increased, especially for bread. At the same time, speculation in confiscated land flourished, and supplies for the army brought in huge profits. Extreme measures were taken to control prices and incomes, as well as to maintain the value of banknotes, including a "maximum" law, violators of which were sentenced to death as enemies of the revolution. Most of the French were hostile to the Jacobin dictatorship. In a number of large cities of the country, uprisings against the government broke out in the early autumn of 1793. This desperate, Girondist in spirit, attempt to put an end to tyranny and war and create a decentralized republic led to another round of terror. The uprisings were suppressed by the end of the year. In the midst of the crisis, a new faith emerged - the religion of Reason, supplemented by community service ceremonies, a new calendar, and a puritanical morality. The prophet of the "new faith" was Robespierre. In the end, as a result of a conspiracy, he was removed from power on the 9th day of the month of Thermidor (July 27, 1794) and was executed the next day. In October 1795, the Convention was besieged by a crowd of royalist-minded French, which, on the orders of the young artillery officer Napoleon Bonaparte, was dispersed by volleys of large grape-shot. The coup of 9 Thermidor actually overthrew the Jacobin dictatorship and thereby put an end to the revolution. The government structures and committees created by the Jacobins were disbanded and their financial reserves seized.

Directory. On October 26, the Convention was dissolved, giving way to the complex mechanism of the Directory. Although the word itself has become a household word for inefficiency and corruption, the work of the Directory has led to a number of significant achievements. She ruled France for four years and fought two major wars. One of them is Bonaparte's campaign in Italy, which culminated in the conclusion of the Campoformi Peace Treaty of 1797. Another campaign was directed against the Second Coalition (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Naples).
Napoleon Bonaparte. Consulate. If the government in France until 1799 had little influence, then after the coup of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799), the situation quickly changed. The Directory was replaced by the Consulate, and Napoleon Bonaparte became the first consul. The reorganization of France and Europe carried out by him formed the basis of modern society. In the first year after the coup, Bonaparte enacted a new constitution, rebuilt the old centralized bureaucratic system with a new division into departments, reintroduced regular tax collection, and instituted an effective system of universal conscription. Then in the spring of 1800 he launched a series of campaigns against southern Germany, Austria and Italy, so successful that in February 1801 he was able to dictate the harsh terms of the Luneville Peace Treaty to the vanquished. Having seized the left bank of the Rhine, Napoleon compensated the German princes for the damage by giving them the territory of tiny states beyond the Rhine. In this way, he not only laid the foundation for the consolidation of Germany, but also acquired large new territories for France. The Po and Arno valleys, Switzerland and the Lower Rhine were turned into dependent republics with neoclassical names: Ligurian, Cisalpine, Helvetic, Batavian. The subsequent peace period was marked by active diplomatic activity. A concordat was signed with Pope Pius VII (1801), defining the position of the newly restored church in France. This was followed by the conclusion of the Amiens Peace Treaty with England (1802), which provided for the pacification of Europe. In France, Bonaparte revised the constitution, reorganized the Institute of France (the French Academy and four secondary academies), established the Legion of Honor, and on May 18, 1804, proclaimed himself emperor of France.
Empire. Meanwhile, England began to form an alliance, which in 1805 became the Third Coalition. The emperor, who had gathered forces for the invasion on the banks of the English Channel, suddenly headed east and on December 2, 1805, in the battle of Austerlitz, he crushed the combined armies of Austria and Russia. This was one of his greatest victories. Although the British had just inflicted an even greater defeat on the French fleet at Cape Trafalgar, after which France was left without a powerful navy for half a century, it remained invincible on the mainland. Napoleon continued the division of Germany and Italy, dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, and then utterly defeated the Prussian army in two battles - at Jena and Auerstedt. Following this triumph, he occupied Berlin (1806), where he signed the famous decree on the Continental Blockade, the purpose of which was to reduce trade with England and bring it to bankruptcy. This grandiose blockade system was also aimed at strengthening French hegemony in Europe. The plan almost worked: the British government was indeed insolvent for a short period, but England did not consider itself bankrupt. Nevertheless, the blockade also cost France dearly. Pursuing a policy of blockade, Napoleon entered into direct negotiations with Tsar Alexander I and signed the Peace of Tilsit with them in 1807. On the other side of Europe, however, a full-scale war broke out in Spain. The war in Spain was waged to prevent the entry of British goods through the ports of that country, but the Spaniards quickly turned the campaign into a fierce guerrilla war, imbued with a spirit of national resistance. This was the first of Napoleon's fatal mistakes. In the Iberian Peninsula, with its rugged relief, small detachments of the British, thanks to the outstanding military abilities of the Duke of Wellington, were able to withstand the superior forces of the French. Moreover, the very Spanish nationalism, which until now the French could use for their own purposes, was now turned against them. Taking advantage of this situation, the Austrian Archduke Karl tried to organize "national" German resistance to the French, but Napoleon again defeated the Austrian troops at the Battle of Wagram (1809) and as a result of the conclusion of the Schönbrunn Peace Treaty in Vienna reached the zenith of his glory. He became the sole ruler of France, whose borders now ran beyond the Rhine, along the coast of the North Sea and on the other side of the Alps (in Tuscany and Dalmatia). All of Europe to the west of Russia and to the east of Portugal was unconditionally subordinate to him. He put his relatives and favorites on the thrones of dependent states and received tokens of recognition and respect from his recent enemies and forced allies. Relations with Austria changed after the marriage of Archduchess Maria Louise to her family's worst enemy Napoleon. At the beginning of 1812 Napoleon, trying to plug the last breach in the blockade system, prepared for a massive attack on Russia. The latter began to gather a new coalition against the French. Nevertheless, in June Napoleon's armies crossed the Niemen. At first, the invasion proceeded almost unhindered, and after the Battle of Borodino in mid-September, Moscow was captured. Unable to decide what to do with Russia, Napoleon gave the order to retreat. Under the blows of the Russian partisans, the retreat turned into a flight, and the harsh winter aggravated the plight of the French army. Although Napoleon gathered another army and fought his most splendid campaign, his fate was sealed and his days were numbered. On October 19, 1813, the Allies dealt a crushing blow to Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig. It was the worst defeat in his life. He lost 30,000 soldiers, and the retreat to the west was as chaotic as the flight from Russia. Across the Rhine, Napoleon regrouped his forces and fought desperately on his way to Paris. Unable to defend the capital, he abdicated the throne at Fontainebleau.

Restoration. The conditions offered to the French under the first Paris Peace Treaty (May 30, 1814) were very generous: France remained within the borders of 1792 and did not have to pay an indemnity. Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba, and Talleyrand, who negotiated from the French side, convinced the allies to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France in the person of the brother of the last king. This middle-aged prince, who, as they were assured, "learned nothing and forgot nothing," became King Louis XVIII. He offered the French people a Constitutional Charter, which was extremely liberal and confirmed all the most important reforms of the era of the revolution. The problems of restoring peace in Europe turned out to be so difficult that representatives of European states gathered for a congress in Vienna. Disagreements between the great powers led to the conclusion of separate secret agreements between them and to the threat of war. At this time, Napoleon fled from Elba to southern France, from where he led a triumphal procession to Paris. In the Allied camp, the differences that surfaced at the Congress of Vienna were instantly forgotten, Louis XVIII fled to Belgium, and Wellington met Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. After the defeat, Napoleon was sentenced to life imprisonment and exiled to St. Elena. Until the middle of the 19th century. most of the French were preoccupied with personal affairs and made little effort to appear in the political arena. Indeed, during the reign of the anachronistic court, two chambers (deputies and peers) and successive ministers and politicians), no significant events took place in the country. At the court there was an ultra-royalist group headed by the king's brother Count d "Artois. Louis XVIII did not want to cede power to them, but after his death in 1825 d" Artois ascended the throne under the name of Charles H. The law on the eldest son's right to inherit property was rejected , but then another law passed, providing financial compensation to the nobles, whose lands were confiscated during the revolution. The efforts of financial circles to restrict Charles by constitutional measures prompted him to sign decrees contrary to the constitution - "ordinances" (July 25, 1830). The ordinances provided for the dissolution of the lower house, a two-fold reduction in the number of deputies, the exclusion from the voter lists of all holders of trade and industrial patents and the restriction of the electorate only to large landowners (i.e., mainly nobles), and the introduction of a system of preliminary permits for the publication of newspapers and magazines. In response to this attempted coup, the opposition called on the population to resist the government. Demonstrations took place in the streets of Paris, which escalated into an uprising. On July 29, 1830, the people took possession of the Tuileries Palace in battle. Under pressure from the masses, Charles X abdicated and fled to England. The organizers of the conspiracy, including Talleyrand and Adolphe Thiers, created a provisional government that handed over the crown to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans.
July Monarchy. The revolution of 1830 brought about a change in the king, but not in the regime. The new constitution, adopted on August 14, 1830, retained many of the provisions of the previous Charter. The rights of the Chamber of Deputies were slightly expanded, and the number of voters increased (from 100 thousand to 240 thousand) due to a slight decrease in the property qualification. The privileges of the top of the commercial, industrial and banking bourgeoisie, which acquired full power in the country, were secured. No wonder Louis Philippe began to be called "the bourgeois king." Railroad construction began in the 1840s, accompanied by a speculative investment boom. A European harvest failure in 1847 and a grain shortage in many areas foreshadowed famine, and rising prices led to the massive impoverishment of urban workers. The famine had an indirect effect on the London foreign exchange market, causing capital outflows from Paris. This predetermined a major financial crisis in France. In this position, the king stubbornly adhered to a policy that was in his personal interests and dangerous to all other French investors. The Royal Minister François Guizot controlled all the activities of the government, bribing the majority of the deputies. Thus, he could cut off all legal channels through which the opposition could operate without visible violation of constitutional privileges. In the face of bankruptcy, the injured bankers and businessmen organized protest rallies to intimidate the king and force him to make concessions. However, the king was counting on a repeat of the 1830 uprising and his appeal to the crowd. This time, the crowd turned out to be less accommodating, and Louis Philippe had to abdicate in favor of his grandson the Count of Paris and flee to England. The rebels surrounded the Chamber of Deputies and demanded the proclamation of a republic.
Revolution of 1848. The provisional government was under constant threat, and the situation was saved only by the promise of the Minister of Labor to provide employment to many unemployed and to organize the so-called. "national workshops" (which meant different types of public works). These workshops formed part of a plan for cooperative socialism, outlined in the publications of the journalist Louis Blanc, who had just been appointed Minister of Labor. In the spring of 1848, thousands of unemployed and homeless people arrived in Paris from the provinces to find work in the workshops. A series of massive street demonstrations convinced the government that if the workshops were not immediately disbanded and the workers were dispersed, the situation would finally spiral out of control. The liquidation of the national workshops was announced, and the provincials were given the opportunity to return home or join the army. The leaders of the demonstrations, realizing the danger of inevitable repression, decided to revolt. Orders to liquidate the workshops were ignored, the workers took up arms and went to the barricades. General Louis Cavaignac withdrew government troops and allowed the insurgents to disperse across Paris. For four days, from June 23 to June 26, 1848, street battles continued in the city, which ended in a brutal suppression of the uprising.
Second republic. In early November, a new constitution for the republic was published. She guaranteed universal suffrage, a single representative assembly, and a popular election of the president. The introduction of universal suffrage was an attempt to oppose the massive majority of conservative peasants to the urban radical minority. In the presidential elections in the republic (December 10, 1848), all the main candidates were unexpectedly outstripped by Prince Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the late emperor and the successor of Bonapartist traditions. Louis Napoleon outwitted the Assembly, won the confidence of the army, and negotiated financial support with a group of bankers who hoped to keep it under their control. Since, according to the constitution, the president could not remain in office for a second term, and the Legislative Assembly rejected Louis Napoleon's proposal to reconsider this provision, he, on the recommendation of his advisers, decided to carry out a coup d'état. On December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon and his supporters seized power in the country, suppressed mass unrest and staged a plebiscite to revise the constitution. With a vote of confidence, Louis Napoleon drafted an authoritarian constitution, essentially establishing imperial power. True, the name "Second Empire" appeared only on December 2, 1852, when, following a national plebiscite, the ruler of the country was proclaimed emperor by Napoleon III.
Second Empire. Napoleon III began his reign with a long-term program of increasing wealth. He supported the expansion of credit operations through the banks Credit Fonsier and Credit Mobile, approved public works projects such as the modernization of Paris under the leadership of Baron Georges Hussmann, and stimulated the completion of the main railway network. During the first half of his reign, Napoleon III pursued an active foreign policy. In 1854 France, together with Great Britain, entered the Crimean War against Russia. This campaign ended in 1856 with the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty. As President of the Congress, Napoleon III was involved in reshaping the political map of Europe, contributing to the formation of nation states. Defending this line, in 1859 France together with Piedmont waged a war against Austria for the liberation and unification of Italy. By 1860, Napoleon III had won significant recognition in Europe and also consolidated his position in France. In the same 1860, Napoleon III signed the famous trade agreement with Great Britain, which opened access for English goods to the French market, and a year later he got involved in an adventurous campaign in Mexico. These two so different political acts greatly weakened his position both in France itself and in the international arena. A tariff treaty, influenced by Saint-Simon's ideas about the importance of industrialization, could in the long run give the French economy an edge over England's. However, the French manufacturers took up arms against him, believing that he was the cause of the crisis that hit the country in the 1860s. Napoleon III's attempt to found an empire in Mexico led by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg was doomed to failure and ended tragically. It all started with a joint effort by England, Spain and France to collect debts that Mexico had refused to pay. Then Napoleon III undertook a campaign of conquest in this country. In 1865, immediately after the end of the Civil War, the US government demanded the withdrawal of all French troops from Mexico. In response to opposition demands, Napoleon III formed a new government, accountable to a bicameral parliament, tantamount to restoring the Charter of Louis XVIII. Before the new government could establish itself, Bismarck launched a provocative campaign to force France to declare war on Prussia. The candidacy of a prince from the Hohenzollern dynasty for the vacated Spanish throne was used by Bismarck to incite popular uprisings in France, as well as in Prussia. The French were afraid of being surrounded, and the press demanded either a diplomatic or, if necessary, a military victory. July 19, 1870 France declared war on Prussia. The new Prussian army was superior to the French in almost every respect, and in early September Napoleon III and his army lost the battle at Sedan, and Napoleon himself was captured. Despite the fact that France still possessed significant military power, the empire surrendered without resistance.
Third republic. On September 4, 1870, the Third Republic was proclaimed, and Paris prepared for a siege. The interim government of national defense tried to continue the war, and the leader of the radicals, Leon Gambetta, undertook a spectacular flight from the besieged capital in a balloon to organize resistance in the provinces. However, after the capture of Paris, defeat was inevitable, and the Prussians agreed to an armistice so that the French could elect a representative assembly to negotiate. The republicans were in favor of continuing the war, the monarchists for the conclusion of peace. Since the Bonapartists were completely discredited, and the population in its mass was in favor of peace, the monarchists received a majority of the seats in the National Assembly. Half of the monarchist deputies were Legitimists who supported Charles X's heir, Count of Chambord. The other half - the Orleanists - supported the grandson of Louis Philippe. Provoked by the Frankfurt Peace Treaty, which provided for the payment of a huge indemnity to Germany and the transfer of Alsace and eastern Lorraine to it, and the triumphant entry of Prussian troops into Paris, the National Guard of Paris captured several cannons and refused to transfer them to army units sent by Thiers. Following the traditions of 1793, a revolutionary city government - the Paris Commune - was created and Paris defied the National Assembly, unleashing an essentially civil war that lasted nearly two months. The radical movement was brutally suppressed. After the defeat of the Commune, the National Assembly was faced with the need to fulfill the terms of the peace treaty and create a permanent form of government. On the surface, the restoration of the monarchy seemed unrealistic. The Count of Chambord was returned from exile, but it immediately became apparent to everyone, including himself, that he would not be able to become the head of state. As a precaution, the Orleanists agreed to postpone the presentation of their candidate, Count of Paris, until the expected abdication of Chambord from the throne. As an interim solution, in 1873, Bonapartist military leader Marshal Patrice McMahon was elected president for a seven-year term. It was agreed that MacMahon would resign when the conditions for the revival of the monarchy appeared (according to many monarchists, this should have happened in the next three to four years). The laws that established a bicameral parliament in the country and the official name "Republic" were formally enshrined in the Constitution of 1875. However, the entire republican system was severely tested during the crisis on May 16, 1877. In the first general elections to the House (as the lower house of parliament is now called) in 1876, predominantly Republicans were elected, ousting the former monarchist majority. This chamber was at odds with President McMahon when he demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Jules Simon, who enjoyed the support of the majority of the deputies. The new government, the so-called. "the government on May 16," received a vote of no confidence from the Chamber of Deputies. Then, with the approval of the Senate, the chamber was dissolved. The president found himself in a difficult position, and when the Republicans won the majority in the elections, he had to resign.
Public life and politics in 1875-1914. In the 1870s, life in France was largely determined by the consequences of her recent defeat in the war, including the payment of a huge indemnity. The young republic carried out a reform of the army and the education system, since these levels of government were most discredited during the war. In the last years of the 19th century. the army and the school system of education were the targets of confrontation between political groups fighting for power and influence in the country. Although in France universal suffrage was introduced in 1848, political parties cared little for support from the general population. None of the original political groups or leaders of the Third Republic had significant support from the voters, but already in the 1880s, a bitter struggle for votes unfolded between the parties. At the end of the 19th century. France was well aware of the importance and political implications of education in a democratic society. In general, the conservatives promoted church schools and sought to support the church in every possible way. Most of the radicals, on the other hand, held anti-clerical views and feared church influence, especially in the field of education. Unsurprisingly, the left began its power struggle with a campaign for universal compulsory secular education. At the same time, the main railroad network was expanding, which the Conservatives saw only as an attempt to attract voters. However, the significance of this campaign was that for the first time a large number of rural residents were able to establish contacts with the capital and major cities. Another important trend in the 1880s was the transfer of heavy industry from the Haute-Loire to Lorraine, where the development of huge iron ore reserves began, which were located near the Ruhr coal deposits. Among the political scandals of the late 19th century. the so-called "the Boulanger case". By speculating on widespread discontent among various groups of the population, General Georges Boulanger gained popularity and launched a massive campaign against republican rule. It culminated in a by-election in Paris in January 1889, when Boulanger inflicted a decisive defeat on the official government candidate. The crowd demanded that the general arrest the government, but he did not dare to take such a step. The bourgeois republicans exposed Boulanger's connections with the monarchist circles that financed his activities. The government threatened the general with arrest, and he fled abroad. In 1890-1894, the popes carried out a famous campaign (Ralliement) among the Catholic clergy of France in support of the republic as a legal form of government. Around this time, France was stunned to learn of widespread corruption among government officials in the wake of the collapse of a French company that intended to build the Panama Canal. This story was supposed to seriously weaken the Republican regime, but in the elections of 1893, the Republicans again won the majority of the votes. In 1895, Léon Bourgeois formed a radical socialist government that attempted to implement a social welfare program funded by a progressive income tax. The latter proposal so shocked the wealthy segments of the population that conservative monarchists and centrists-republicans united in a coalition against radicals and socialists. After a very intense struggle, Bourgeois had to resign, and the tax was abolished. Jules Melin, who formed the next government, proposed in 1892 a new tax law that satisfied both big businessmen and peasants. This law provided conservatives with the same electoral support that radicals and socialists received combined.
The Dreyfus affair and its aftermath. In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus was arrested on charges of high treason. Many other factors contributed to this arrest and the resulting tragedy, including growing anti-Semitism. During the investigation, evidence of information leakage to the German military attaché and the facts of the involvement of a number of officers of the General Staff in the crime were uncovered. Dreyfus was convicted, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. However, doubts gradually arose about the fairness of the verdict, and a campaign began to revise it. The case received publicity in the capital of the country and in the provinces, and many public figures were involved in it. Critics of this unsightly story eventually secured access to some of the documents, and it turned out that another officer was to blame. A turning point in the proceedings came when the main witness, Colonel Henri, admitted to forging documents and committed suicide. The Dreyfus affair deeply shook the entire civilized world. France has acquired a reputation for being destroyed by powerful forces of militarism, clericalism and anti-Semitism. The decision to reconsider the case was made by the government, which from 1899 was headed by Rene Waldeck-Rousseau. It consisted of a coalition of representatives of all left-wing parties, including the socialist Alexander Millerand (the first time a representative of this party entered the cabinet of ministers). While this government and the government that succeeded him, Emile Combes, were leading the way towards the separation of church from state in 1905, the socialists were actively discussing the question of their participation in coalition governments. Jules Guesde, the leader of the Socialists in parliament, argued that Millerand's participation in the Waldeck-Rousseau government did not contribute to the achievement of important social benefits for workers and, instead of political struggle, pushed them to appear in professional associations. This was remembered when the unions joined the struggle for workers' rights, beginning with the general strike on May 1, 1906. The period of intensive trade union activity reached its climax during the mass strike of railway workers in 1910, which could have developed into a "revolution", however, Prime Minister Aristide Briand ruthlessly dealt with the strikers. The Socialist Party grew in size, and after the 1914 elections it received a significant number of votes in the Chamber of Deputies. However, the struggle of this party for social reform was suspended due to the outbreak of war.
World War I. France was almost entirely preoccupied with its internal problems and paid very little attention to the threat of war. True, the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 nevertheless caused alarm, and in 1913 representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff, confident that Germany was preparing for war, with difficulty persuaded the Chamber of Deputies to pass a law on three-year military service. This law was opposed by the entire bloc of the left, especially the socialists, who, under the leadership of the famous Jean Jaurès, were ready to call for a general strike to prevent mobilization. They were confident that the German Socialists would do the same (although reports from Germany did not confirm this). Meanwhile, the new president of the French Republic, Raymond Poincaré, did everything he could to strengthen France's position, and especially insisted on an alliance with Russia. When the international situation became more complicated in the summer of 1914, he paid an official visit to Tsar Nicholas II. Despite this, for the majority of the population, the outbreak of the war was a complete surprise. France was saved from complete defeat during a massive German offensive thanks to the landing of the British in Belgium, the unexpected entry of the Russian army into East Prussia, and the courage of the French troops during the retreat to the Marne. After that, major strategic operations in the Western European theater ceased for a long time. The parties went over to the defensive, which marked the beginning of positional forms of war. Such a trench war under the cover of machine guns lasted four years. The war ended as quickly as it began. In 1917, after the United States entered the war, the German army made a last desperate attempt to achieve victory by combining the so-called. "merciless" submarine war with the last major offensive by ground forces in France. These campaigns were largely successful, but the arrival of American troops, ammunition and food in Europe stopped the German offensive and weakened the morale of the German army. The famous Marshal Foch, with the support of the Clemenceau government, led the Allied forces in a brilliant campaign that culminated in the expulsion of the Germans from French territory. Germany, close to depletion of its resources and political disintegration, requested an armistice, which was concluded on November 11, 1918.

Interwar period (1918-1939). The domestic policy of France in the 1920s was largely determined by the unresolved problems that arose after the end of the war. Two main directions were associated with the financial and foreign policy of the country, which was led by Raymond Poincaré and Aristide Briand. High military spending was covered by France through loans, which inevitably led to inflation. Poincaré counted on German reparations to keep the franc at least 1 / 10th of its pre-war value, to cover the cost of rebuilding the devastated areas, and to pay interest on loans to Britain and the United States. However, the Germans did not want to fulfill their obligations. Many in general doubted the possibility of Germany paying large reparations. Poincaré, who did not share these doubts, in 1922 sent troops to the Ruhr region. The Germans resisted and surrendered only after the introduction of emergency measures. British and American experts put forward the Dawes plan to finance reparations payments, mainly through American loans to Germany. In the first half of the 1920s, Poincaré enjoyed the support of the nationalist-minded parliament, elected in 1920. But in the next elections in 1924, despite the split of the left forces into the warring communist and socialist parties (1920), the coalition of radical socialists and socialists (the alliance of the left) was able to get most places. The new chamber rejected the Poincaré line along with his firm monetary policy in France and, in order to improve relations with Germany, brought first Edouard Herriot and then Briand to power. Briand's plans for peace in Europe apparently met with a favorable response from Gustav Stresemann, Reich Chancellor and German Foreign Minister. Stresemann initiated the conclusion of a guarantee pact on the inviolability of state borders in the Rhine region and on the preservation of the demilitarization of the Rhineland, which was reflected in the Locarno treaties of 1925. From the mid-1920s until his death in 1932, Briand directed French foreign policy. He made artful and tireless attempts to mend relations with Germany as the basis for maintaining peace under the auspices of the League of Nations, although he knew that Germany was rearming. Briand was confident that France could never independently confront Germany without the support of its former allies or the League of Nations. In the early 1930s, France was in a deep economic crisis. A massive labor movement developed in the country and at the same time the threat from Nazi Germany increased. Both the equal social security program, which the working class insisted on, and the policy of effective rearmament to eliminate the threat posed by a remilitarized Germany rested on the need for an effective recovery of the French economy. Moreover, in the 1930s, with a worldwide slump in production, France would hardly have been able to achieve genuine international cooperation that alone could have saved the country's economy from collapse. The global crisis and its worst consequence - unemployment - manifested itself in France in mid-1934. In the 1936 elections, the Popular Front won a decisive victory, partly because it seemed the only defense against totalitarian right forces, but mainly because of the promise to improve the economic situation and implement social reforms (by analogy with the New Deal in the USA). Socialist leader Leon Blum formed a new government. Hitler's rise to power initially had little impact on events in France. However, his call for rearmament (1935) and the capture of the Rhineland (1936) posed a direct military threat. This radically changed the attitude of the French to foreign policy. The left could no longer support the policy of rapprochement between the two states, and the right did not believe in the possibility of military resistance. One of the few concrete foreign policy measures of this period was the mutual assistance pact with the USSR, concluded by Pierre Laval in 1935. Unfortunately, such an attempt to revive the long-standing Franco-Russian alliance to curb Germany was unsuccessful. After the capture of Austria (1938), Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia transfer the Sudetenland to Germany. At the Munich Conference, France agreed to the partition of Czechoslovakia. The French could take a decisive position at the conference, since it had non-aggression agreements with both Czechoslovakia and the USSR. However, the representative of France, Edouard Daladier, took a position similar to that of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
The Second World War. In 1939 England began to re-equip the army, however, when Chamberlain opposed the German invasion of Poland and declared war on the aggressor (September 3, 1939), Daladier followed suit. In the period from September 1939 until the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, France was inactive, therefore the confrontation with Germany acquired the character of the so-called. "strange war". Morally and militarily, France was completely unprepared to repel a German attack in May 1940. Within six fateful weeks, the Netherlands, Belgium and France were defeated, and British troops were expelled from mainland Europe. Despite the military weakness of France, the defeat of this country was so sudden and complete that it defied any rational explanation. The armistice agreement, concluded on June 22, 1940, ended the fighting in France. At the same time, French General Charles de Gaulle spoke on the radio from London and called on all French to unite to fight the invaders. In France, a semblance of the former parliament met in Vichy and handed over "legal power" to Marshal Philippe Petain. The Vichy government retained control over 2/5 of the country's territory (central and southern regions), while German troops occupied the entire north and the Atlantic coast. The Vichy government lasted until the invasion of North Africa by Anglo-American troops in November 1942. After that, the Germans completely occupied France. The Germans pursued a brutal policy in the occupied territory. The Resistance movement, initially weak, intensified significantly when the Germans began to export the French for forced labor in Germany. Although the Resistance contributed to the liberation of France, the main role was played by the combat operations of the Allies who landed in Normandy in June 1944 and on the Riviera in August 1944 and reached the Rhine by the end of the summer. The reconstruction of the country began, under the leadership of General de Gaulle and the leaders of the Resistance, especially Georges Bidault and Guy Mollet, who represented, respectively, the liberal Catholic and socialist organizations. Resistance leaders called for the creation of a new society based on brotherhood and general economic equality, while guaranteeing genuine individual freedom. The Provisional Government embarked on a social development program based on a significant expansion of state ownership. The implementation of all these principles greatly complicated the unstable financial system of the country. To support it, it was necessary to carry out restoration, systematic development and expansion of the industrial base of the economy. The plans were developed by a group of experts led by Jean Monnet.
Fourth republic. In 1946, the Constituent Assembly adopted a draft of a new constitution, which eliminated a number of shortcomings of the Third Republic. General de Gaulle spoke in favor of the establishment of an authoritarian presidential regime. The Communists (who, thanks to their active participation in the Resistance, now played an important role in the government) made a proposal for a single Legislative Assembly. However, the majority of voters realized that the plan was fraught with the threat of a communist conspiracy, and did not accept it in a general referendum. In a second referendum, a compromise constitution was adopted, under which a weak president and an advisory advisory upper house were complemented by an influential National Assembly, which oversaw government activities. The similarities between the Fourth and Third Republics were evident. In 1947, the United States announced an extensive program of economic assistance (the Marshall Plan) in order to prevent the disintegration of the economic and political structure of Europe and to accelerate the reconstruction of its industry. The United States provided assistance on the condition that the newly-created Organization for European Economic Cooperation would initiate the integration of European states. The Marshall Plan coincided with the first phase of the Cold War. Soviet policy forced the United States to take a defensive (or at least deterrent) military position in Western Europe. For this purpose, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created. France took part in the general activities under the treaty, although this fell heavily on the country's budget and depleted its military resources. Thus, an insoluble conflict arose between the fulfillment of treaty obligations to NATO and the financial capabilities of France. After World War II, the national liberation movement intensified in the countries of Southeast Asia, including the French protectorate of Indochina. Although de Gaulle's interim government promised to grant political rights to all subjects, which was confirmed by the 1946 constitution, France supported the reactionary regime in Indochina, opposing the Viet Minh forces, which had previously fought to liberate the country from the Japanese occupation, and then received the support of China. After the conclusion of the armistice in Korea, it became clear that France would have to evacuate its troops from Vietnam. During this period, in France itself, attempts by the communists to discredit American aid or to refuse it intensified, and de Gaulle's party, the French People's Union (RPF), wishing to save the country from communism, sought power and a change in the state system. In the general elections of 1951, the party-political struggle reached its climax. The Communists and Gaullists won a significant number of votes. However, thanks to the change in the electoral law (abandonment of the proportional election system and the introduction of voting under the majoritarian system), the Republican parties, united before the elections in a bloc called "Third Force", were able to win almost two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. This allowed them to form a coalition government. Shortly after the complete defeat of the French army in Indochina, in the large-scale battle of Dien Bien Phu, Pierre Mendes-France was appointed as the new prime minister. A former financial expert with firm anti-colonialist views, he negotiated peace and in July 1954 signed the Geneva Accords to end the war in Indochina. Although Mendes-France had his own program, he immediately got involved in the struggle for the approval of the treaty on the organization of the European Defense Community (EOS) and for the inclusion of the Federal Republic of Germany. In France, opponents of the revival of the German army were so influential that this treaty, inspired by the United States, was never ratified. The failure of Mendes-France, who supported the EOC project, caused hostility to him from the Christian Democrats, led by Georges Bidault. As a result, the government was forced to resign. In the mid-1950s, unrest began in North Africa - Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria (the first two were considered French protectorates, and the last - an overseas department of France). Tunisia gained independence in 1956, and Morocco in 1957. The army, which had just returned from Indochina, was deployed to Algeria to repel terrorist attacks by the National Liberation Front (FLN) rebels. Although during the election campaign, Mollet promised to conduct peace negotiations with the rebels, in the spring of 1956 he announced a general mobilization in the country in order to pacify Algeria by force. Since Egypt supported the FLN, France sent troops in retaliation to aid England in her campaign in the Suez Canal zone in the fall of 1956. By becoming involved in this conflict, the French government lost popular confidence and political prestige, and also significantly depleted the treasury. The French army in Algeria, with the instigation and support of the Europeans, who constituted 10% of the total population of this country, actually ceased to obey the government. Although the large cities of Algeria were pacified, a wave of discontent rose in France itself. The fact that the army was clearly overstepping its authority did not absolve the government of moral responsibility. However, in the case of restoring order in the army, the country would lose effective power and lose hope of victory. Spurred on by the Gaullist leaders, the army and French colonists openly defied the government. Violent rallies and demonstrations that unfolded in Algeria spread to Corsica, the metropolis was under the threat of a civil war or a military coup. Torn by contradictions, the Fourth Republic on June 2, 1958 transferred emergency powers to Charles de Gaulle - the only person who could save France.
Fifth Republic. De Gaulle headed the government and was endowed with emergency powers. He intended to change the constitution, greatly expanding the rights of the president of the republic. A referendum in September 1958 approved the draft of a new constitution. In the parliamentary elections held in November 1958, Gaullists won the majority of the seats in the National Assembly, largely aided by carefully drafted amendments to the electoral law. Then, when de Gaulle was elected president (December 21, 1958), the new constitution granted him broad powers and accordingly limited the power of parliament. Around the same time, France achieved the first positive results from the economic program proposed by Monnet for the development of industry and the country's entry into the European Common Market. However, in January 1960, an ultra-colonialist rebellion broke out in the Algerian capital, directed against the de Gaulle government, which had embarked on a course of self-determination for Algeria. This time, the bulk of the troops remained loyal to the government. In March 1962, France signed the Evian Accords, which granted independence to Algeria. However, shortly thereafter, Paris was swept by a wave of terrorist attacks prepared by the right-wing Armed Secret Organization (SLA), which was trying to prevent the separation of Algeria from France. De Gaulle pursued an independent foreign policy, which demonstrated France's independence from NATO allies and helped to increase the country's prestige in the international arena. France officially recognized the People's Republic of China, withdrew French troops from NATO control and demanded the withdrawal of NATO headquarters from France. The development of nuclear weapons programs was accelerated in the country, and therefore France refused to sign treaties on the cessation of nuclear tests and on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. De Gaulle openly criticized the US war in Vietnam, condemned Israel's position in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, forged closer ties with the USSR and other Eastern European countries, and obstructed Britain's entry into the Common Market. In 1965, de Gaulle failed to gain the majority of votes in the first round of the presidential elections, and in the second round he passed with a slight advantage. In 1967 the Gaullists lost most of their seats in parliament. In May 1968, student protests against the traditional system of school and university education escalated into armed clashes with the police. At the same time, a general strike of farmers and workers took place, paralyzing the entire country. By campaigning against the threat of an alleged communist conspiracy, the Gaullists managed to hold onto a majority of the seats after the parliamentary elections in June 1968. The financial crisis that erupted in November 1968 threatened to undermine the country's economy. The speculation in the franc and inflation caused by the increase in wages and rising prices have led to a severe depletion of the country's gold reserves. To save the financial system, de Gaulle adopted highly unpopular stabilization measures, including strict wage and price controls, money control, and tax increases. On April 28, 1969, de Gaulle resigned after his proposals for constitutional reform were rejected. In the first round of the new presidential elections, held on June 1, none of the candidates received a majority of the votes. In the second round, on June 15, the main contenders were the Gaullist candidate Georges Pompidou, former governor of the Rothschild bank and prime minister under de Gaulle in 1962-1968, and Alain Poer, chairman of the Senate and candidate of a number of small centrist groups. Pompidou won the election. After becoming president, he retained de Gaulle's independent foreign policy, but did not always follow the principles of Gaullist domestic policy. In August 1969, he devalued the franc (which de Gaulle once opposed) and thereby reduced the purchasing power of the population. Galloping inflation exacerbated this trend in 1972-1973. Dissatisfaction with the economic situation resulted in a series of strikes, and the political position of the left strengthened. In 1972, the Socialists and Communists created their first electoral bloc after the 1930s. The united bloc of the left won a significant number of seats in the parliamentary elections of 1973. In April 1974, Pompidou died suddenly. There was a split among the Gaullists. One possible contender, former Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, failed in the first round of voting. The Socialist and Communist candidate François Mitterrand received the largest number of votes, but this was not enough to elect him. In the second round on May 19, Treasury Minister Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, a candidate of the Conservative party of “Independent Republicans.” and abortion. The population was dissatisfied with the economic downturn and deep inflation. However, on the eve of the 1978 parliamentary elections, the left bloc disintegrated. As a result of the vote, Gaullists, Republicans (formerly "Independent Republicans") and their conservative allies won the majority of the seats in the National Assembly. Giscard d'Estaing decided to stimulate economic growth by reducing the role of the state. Price controls on many goods were removed and the number of civil servants reduced. The unpopularity of these measures, combined with the rejection of the authoritarian rule of Giscard d'Estaing, led to the removal of the right from power in 1981 François Mitterrand, who defeated Giscard d'Estaing in elections in May 1981, became the first socialist president of the Fifth Republic.After the Socialist Party won the majority of seats in early parliamentary elections in June, the new government began to implement its reform program. This included the nationalization of several large banks and corporations, the liquidation of prefectures to promote local self-government, and the abolition of the death penalty.Socialists raised the minimum wage, extended paid leave for workers from four weeks to five, and raised social security spending. world recession in 1981-1982. Nevertheless, inflation rates remained high, causing a sharp drop in the value of the franc on the world market. As a result, in 1983 the government was forced to cut social spending and close a number of unprofitable state-owned enterprises and mines, which led to an increase in unemployment. Socialist prestige was hit in 1985 when French agents in Auckland, New Zealand sank the Rainbow Warrior to prevent a nuclear-test protester from visiting French test sites in the South Pacific. In the parliamentary elections of 1986, the Socialists lost their majority in the National Assembly. The right-wing forces won. The new prime minister, Gaullist leader Jacques Chirac, has put up for sale the most profitable of the recently nationalized industrial companies and banks. Mitterrand defined his policy towards the government of the right as one of the forms of "coexistence" - restrained and avoiding open confrontation. This out-of-the-battle position raised Mitterrand's rating as a politician. In May 1988, he was re-elected as president. In the parliamentary elections in June 1988, the Socialists won the majority of the seats. The socialist government was headed by Michel Rocard. In 1990, disregarding massive public protests, the government sent approx. 10 thousand servicemen to participate in the actions of the anti-Iraqi coalition. In 1991, the Rocard government resigned. Edith Cresson, a member of the Socialist Party, became Prime Minister of France. After the unification of Germany, Mitterrand began to insist on closer economic and financial integration with other countries of Western Europe. France signed an agreement on the creation of the European Community (EU) in Maastricht (Netherlands) in December 1991. In connection with the disagreements that arose in France, a general referendum was held in which the treaty was approved by a small majority of votes: "for" - 51.05%, " against "- 48.95%. In April 1992, Mitterrand appointed Pierre Beregovoy as prime minister. In February 1993, there were press reports that Beregova was selling confidential financial information. In the parliamentary elections in March of that year, the right won the majority of the seats, and the Gaullist Édouard Balladur became prime minister under President Mitterrand. In May, the exposed Beregova committed suicide. When the 1995 presidential campaign began, Chirac surpassed Balladur in second place behind the unexpectedly emerging Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin. In the second round, the right rallied around Chirac, and he won with 52% of the vote. Balladur resigned shortly after the elections, and Chirac appointed Alain Juppe, former foreign minister, of the Gaullist Party (OPR) as prime minister. Juppe's government was faced with difficult tasks. The resumption of nuclear tests in the South Pacific, initiated by Chirac, provoked strong protests from the world community. For France's accession to the EU, requirements were put forward to limit pensions and social benefits. However, the government's submission of relevant proposals caused massive strikes and demonstrations. As a result, these proposals remained unfulfilled. The success of the National Front in local elections undermined the position of the traditional right-wing parties. Immigration restriction laws met with opposition from the left, but they did not satisfy the right either. Anticipating the need for further introduction of unpopular measures, Chirac called early parliamentary elections for May-June 1997, hoping to retain the majority in parliament for another five years. However, his coalition was defeated, and the Socialists (241 seats), their communist allies (38 seats) and the Greens won a majority in the National Assembly. Socialist leader Lionel Jospin became prime minister. The Gaullist ODA won 134 seats, the Union for French Democracy (SFD) 108 seats and the National Front one seat (although it won more votes than the SFD in the first round). The defeat in the parliamentary elections and the subsequent setbacks in the municipal and regional elections led to a crisis of the right. Philippe Séguin launched a successful campaign against Chirac and Juppe's leadership in the OPR and succeeded Juppe as party chairman. In May 1998, the ODA and SFD formed a bloc called the Alliance in an attempt to bridge the differences that had arisen. As a result, the Liberal Democrats, the leading force in the SFD, separated from this party and joined the Alliance. Other right-wing leaders have been expelled from their parties for contact with the National Front. The Jospin government has successfully fought to keep the budget deficit within the limits necessary for joining the European Monetary Union, and has made some progress in addressing unemployment problems. It introduced liberal reforms on citizenship, immigration and political refugees. Nevertheless, in late 1997 - early 1998, the population expressed dissatisfaction with the government's measures to combat unemployment and in the field of social security. Strikes and demonstrations have resumed in the country.

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

From the Carolinian Empire in the Middle Ages, the "Kingdom of France" stands out. The Middle Ages brought decentralization to the country. The power of princes in the XI century reaches its climax. In 987, the Capetian dynasty was founded by Hugo Capet. Capetian rule opens the gates for religious wars. The king's vassals seize territories outside France. The most significant was the Norman conquest of England by William I the Conqueror. The Battle of Hastings was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry.

Philip II Augustus (1180-1223) does a lot for his country. Thanks to Philip II, the University of Paris is founded, the construction of Notre Dame Cathedral continues. He begins the construction of the Louvre. At the time of Philip, it was a castle-fortress.

At the end of the 12th century, the French economy slowly began to rise, industry was developing, and power was being centralized, which allowed the country to defeat England and complete the unification of its lands. In the 12-13th centuries, a number of architectural structures were built that became national monuments of France. One of them, Reims Cathedral, is a prime example of Gothic architecture. In 1239, Saint Louis brought the Crown of Thorns from Venice. The Saint-Chapelle chapel is being built to store this relic.

With the death of the last descendant of the Capetian, a conflict ensued between the houses of Valois and the Plantagenets for succession to the throne.

The family of Valois enthroned of the French Empire (1328-1589)

During this period, the country's military operations took center stage. The Hundred Years War begins. After the death of Charles IV, King Edward III of England decides to seize the French throne by force. France is a loser: the battle of Poitiers deprives the country of the color of chivalry, King John the Good is taken prisoner.

France has reached a dead end: there is no army, no king, no money. The entire burden of the situation that has arisen falls on the shoulders of ordinary Frenchmen. The people revolted: Paris, Jacqueria is revolting. The outrage was suppressed. The British decide to take Orleans to open the way to the south of France.

The Virgin of Orleans, Jeanne D'Arc, leads the French army and defeats the British at Orleans in 1429. She convinced the Dauphin to undergo the coronation ceremony in the Cathedral in the Rhine under the name of Charles VII. After 2 years in Rouen, Jeanne dies at the stake in agony. The French people consecrated not one architectural structure of this courageous girl. For example, the statue of Jeanne is located in the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, which is located on the hill of Montmartre.

Only in 1453 did the confrontation of the dynasties end with the victory of Valois, which strengthened the French monarchy. The struggle between the two powers for territory and the throne lasted for a long and painful 116 years. France becomes a colonial empire, powerful and powerful. In the second half of the 18th century, the country will lose its positions on all counts.

From Louis to Louis

In the meantime, in the XV-XVII centuries, kings replace each other, ruling the country according to their capabilities and abilities. Under Louis XI (1461-1483), the country expanded its territory, science and art flourished, medicine developed, the post office began to work again. It is he who makes the famous and formidable dungeon out of the fortress - the Bastille.

He was replaced by Louis XII (1498-1515), then Francis I (1515-1547) held the reins of government. Under him, a beautiful Renaissance palace was built in the vicinity of Fonteblo. Soon the palace was overgrown with structures around it, and a whole city was formed. The palace is decorated with three gardens: the Great Parterre, the English Garden and Diana's Garden.

The next ruler of the country was Henry II (1547-1559), famous for increasing taxes. His life ended in the Place des Vosges during a tournament in 1559.

Under his son, Francis II, the Huguenots are protesting against taxation. The reign of Charles IX (1560-1574) plunges the country into religious wars. In fact, power was in the hands of Catherine de Medici (it was she who became one of the mistresses of the "Ladies' castle" - the Chenonceau castle on the river Cher), under which Catholics and Protestants had already openly expressed their intransigence towards each other.

Ten wars have passed in three decades. The most terrible page in them was St. Bartholomew's Night from 23 to 24 August 1572, the mass extermination of the Huguenots on the day of St. Bartholomew. One of the best historical television series - "Queen Margot", which shows these events in a colorful and authentic way.

Homo sapiens began to populate Europe about 200 thousand years BC, but he died 30 thousand years ago, presumably during a period of cold weather. Around 2500 BC. the Celts came from Central Europe and settled in Gaul (fr. Gaul). The Celts were "iron" workers and ruled in Gaul until 125 BC, while the Roman Empire began to rule in southern France. The Greeks and Phoenicians established settlements along the Mediterranean Sea, especially on the site of modern Marseille (fr. Marseille). Julius Caesar conquered part of Gaul in 57-52 BC, and it remained until the Roman Franks invaded in the 5th century AD.

Gaul was divided into seven provinces. The Romans feared for the population and began to drive them out in order to avoid a threat to Roman integrity. This is why many Celts were carried over and driven out of Gaul. Many changes took place in the course of cultural evolution in the Roman Empire, one of which is the change of the Gaulish language to the Folk Latin, the similarity between one language and another influenced the transition. Gaul has been under Roman control for centuries.

In 486, Clovis I, the leader of the Franks, defeated Syagrius at Soissons, and then united northern and central Gaul under his rule. Christianity in France began to develop when Clovis I adopted the Roman Catholic form of Christianity in 496. On the one hand, the reign of Clovis I brought stability and unity to France, and on the other hand, it led to disunity, since Clovis I divided the territory as gifts and awards.

Charles Martel was the first leader of the Carolingian dynasty and responsible for the expansion of the kingdom of the Franks, and also stopped the Muslim invasion. Karl was not only a military leader, but he was also a great supporter of education and the arts. There was a period of Carolingian revival during the reign of Charlemagne, but soon after his death, the kingdom was divided.

Hugh Capet was elected to the throne of France, thus the Carolingian dynasty ended and the Capetian dynasty began. In 1066, William (fr. William), Duke of Normandy invaded England and was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066. With the marriage of Eleanor, who was married to King Louis VII of France and married to King Henry II of England, the western part of France came under British rule.

After the death of the last king of the Capetian dynasty, Charles IV (fr. Charles IV), King Edward III of England ascended the throne and unleashed a century-long war in 1337. With the help of the French peasant girl Joan of Arc, Charles VIII was victorious and drove the English back to Calais.

France became a centralized state, where an absolute monarchy was established with the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings and the unequivocal support of the established church. The long Italian War (1494-1559) marked the beginning of early modern France. When Francis I (fr. Francis I) was captured in Pavia, the French monarchy was forced to seek allies, and found in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Admiral Barbarossa captured Nice on August 5, 1543 and handed it over to Francis I. In the 16th century, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs were the dominant powers in Europe, controlling several duchies and kingdoms throughout Europe. Despite this, French became the preferred language of the European aristocracy.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Francis I strengthened the French crown. He also invited many Italian artists to France, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who was an Italian polymath: scientist, architect, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, engineer, painter, sculptor, musician and writer. ... Their influence guaranteed renaissance success.

From 1562 to 1598, there was an increase in the number of Protestants, which led to a war of religions between Catholics and Protestants. Catherine de Medici (fr. Catherine de Medici), Queen of France, wife of King Henry II of France, ordered on the day of St. Bartholomew massacre hundreds of Protestants. Henry IV, of the Bourbon dynasty, issued the Edict of Nantes (1598) granting religious tolerance to the Huguenots (French Protestants).

History of France from the 17th to the 19th century

The 17th century was a period of extravagance and power of the French monarchy. King Louis XIII (FR. Louis XIII) and Cardinal Richelieu (FR. Cardinal Richelieu) transformed the French feudal monarchy into an absolute monarchy. The French king most associated with this period is Louis XIV.

Also known as the sun king, Louis XIV consolidated his rule over all local princes and lords, where he administered the difficult court of life in his palace at Versailles. The purpose of this judgment of life is to maintain power over the local princes and lords and not undermine Louis' power. This period is also known for the brilliant writers, architects and musicians who were promoted by the royal court. The folly of Louis XIV, costly external wars that weakened the government, plunged France into an economic and financial crisis. Louis XIV died in 1715 and Louis XV ascended the throne. The bourgeoisie began to demand more political rights, and this became a big problem for Louis's successors.

France was the scene of many battles during the French Revolution in early 1789, and also created the first Republic and the period of authoritarianism of Napoleon Bonaparte, who successfully defended the nascent republic from the enemy, and then became the first consul in 1799 and the emperor in 1804 year. The Congress of Vienna (1815) tried to restore the pre-Napoleonic order in the person of King Louis XVIII, but industrialization and the middle class were at the mercy of Napoleon, they demanded changes, and finally Louis Philippe, the last of the Bourbons, was overthrown in 1848.

In 1852, Prince Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon I, declared the Second Empire and took the throne as Napoleon III. However, Louis Napoleon was against the growing power of Prussia, and that the Franco-Prussian war broke out (1870-1871), and when the war ended in his defeat, he abdicated the throne.

Thus, the monarchy in France came to an end by 1871 and the Third Republic was created. In 1889, what is now some of the most impressive and visited monuments in the entire world was built. The Eiffel Tower was built to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. A large and important contribution in the nineteenth century was made by the paintings of the Impressionists, the Art Nouveau style, the satirist Emile Zola and the novelist Gustave Flaubert.

History of France in the XXI century

During the First World War, the French troops and army suffered heavy losses, the northeast of France was turned into ruins, but despite this, France gained European power. Beginning in 1919, France's goal was to keep Germany as far away from its territory as possible, and a system of border defenses and alliances was developed. But, unfortunately, this was not enough, and on May 10, 1940, at the beginning of the Second World War, the Nazis attacked and occupied Paris, the Italians entered with German troops. On July 10, 1940, the Vichy Government was created. In August 1944, France was finally liberated by the Allied forces, and the interim government of Charles de Gaulle was created. The fourth republic was formed on December 24, 1946. France joined NATO.

But in May 1968, many violent student protests and factory workers' strikes undermined the government of Charles de Gaulle. The following year, de Gaulle's policy was changed by his successor Georges Pompidou to a policy of non-intervention in relation to domestic economic issues. The conservative, pro-business climate contributed to the selection of Valery Giscard d "Estaing" as President in 1974.

Socialist Francois Mitterrand won the 1981 presidential election. In the first two years of the government, there was 12% inflation and devaluation of the franc. In 1995, a new president, Jacques Chirac, was elected. French leaders are increasingly linking France's future to the further development of the European Union. France is one of the founding partners of the European Union and also the largest site of all partners. During his tenure as president, Mitterrand emphasized the importance of European integration and advocated the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty in a European economic and political union with French voters narrowly approved in September 1992. In 2002 he was re-elected for a second term.

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd president of France, was elected president on May 6, 2007, replacing Jacques Chirac as head of state. In the Presidential elections on May 6, 2012, he lost to the socialist candidate François Hollande. Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to nominate himself for the upcoming 2017 presidential elections in France. François Hollande defeated Sarkozy in the second round. On May 15, 2012, he took the oath at the Elysee Palace, thus becoming the 24th President of France and automatically the 7th President of the Fifth French Republic.

France is a developed country with the sixth largest economy in the world. Its main ideals are expressed in the Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen. France is also a founding member of the United Nations and a member of the Latin Union, the French-speaking countries and the G8. France is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with a veto and a recognized nuclear power. It is considered one of the great powers after World War II. France is the most popular international tourist destination in the world with over 75 million foreign tourists annually.

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Completion in the main process of feudalization by the middle of the XI century. led to the political collapse of the empire Charlemagne which began after his death (814). Large feudal lords became almost independent from the central government; small and medium feudal lords, becoming their vassals, were much more connected with the magnates than with the head of state - the king. The peasantry was basically already enslaved.

Son and successor of Charlemagne Louis the Pious(814-840), so nicknamed for his particularly zealous commitment to the church and generous gifts in its favor, in 817 divided the empire among his sons, retaining only the supreme power.

In 843, after the death of Louis, his sons, having gathered in, concluded a treaty on a new division of the empire. Due to the fact that the new section corresponded to the boundaries of the settlement of the French, German and Italian peoples, Treaty of Verdun actually laid the foundation for the existence of three modern states of Western and Central Europe - France, Germany, Italy.

Under the Treaty of Verdun, the youngest son of Louis the Pious, Charles, nicknamed the Bald, received lands west of the Scheldt, Meuse and Rhone rivers - the West Frankish kingdom, which included the main territories of the future France.

France in the IX-XI centuries

After the collapse of the Carolingian Empire, the eastern border of France ran mainly along the Meuse, Moselle and Rhone rivers.

In the 10th century, internecine wars between the German and French Carolingians were fought almost continuously. The constant raids of the Normans brought many disasters. In a fierce struggle with them, the rich and influential came to the fore - in contrast to the weakened and lost almost all of their estates Carolingians Counts of Paris(Robertine). They successfully defended their cities from the enemy - and, becoming the main rivals of the last Carolingians in the struggle for the crown. In 987, the largest secular and spiritual feudal lords elected Robertina as king, and from then until the end of the 18th century (the French crown remained with the descendants of the Capetian.

In the 10th century, feudal relations were established in the French kingdom and a long process of merging of heterogeneous ethnic elements. On the basis of the Gallo-Roman nationality mixed with the Germans, two new ones formed, which became the nucleus of the future French nation: the North French and the Provençal. The border between them ran slightly south of the course of the Loire River.

In the 10th century, the country acquired its present name. It began to be called not Gaul or the West Frankish kingdom, but France (after the name of the area around Paris - Ile-de-France).

In the territory occupied by the northern French people, several large feudal possessions were formed: Duchy of Normandy, County Blois, Touraine,Anjou, Poitou. The Capetian lands (royal domain) were concentrated around Paris and Orleans.

On the territory of the Provencal people, the counties of Poitou, Auvergne, Toulouse and the Duchies of Aquitaine, Gascon, Burgundy and others were formed.

The first kings from the Capetian house differed little from the large feudal lords. They did not have a permanent residence, they moved with their retinue from one estate to another. In the XI century, the Capetian slowly accumulated land holdings, extracting income mainly from their own estates, that is, from the direct exploitation of dependent and serfs, who were in personal, land and judicial dependence on them.

The peasants resisted feudal exploitation in every possible way. In 997, an uprising swept. The peasants demanded the restoration of their former rights to the free and gratuitous use of communal lands. In 1024 a peasant uprising broke out in. As the chronicle says, the peasants rebelled "without leaders and weapons," but managed to offer heroic resistance to the knightly detachments. Defending their rights, the peasants usually acted as whole communities.

France in the XI-XIII centuries

In the XI-XIII centuries, agriculture developed significantly in France: the three-field became widespread, the plow was improved, wheat took the first place from grain crops. Thanks to the new harness system, it became possible to use horses instead of oxen. In the 12th century, a massive clearing of fallow lands and forests for arable land began. The practice of fertilizing fields has become more widespread. New varieties of vegetables were grown in the vegetable gardens. At the end of the 12th century, windmills appeared in France.

Labor productivity grew mainly in the peasant economy. The peasant worked much harder and better on his allotment than on corvee. It became more profitable for the lords to collect feudal rent not in the form of forced corvee labor, but from the harvest taken by the peasants from their plots. The victory of the grocery rent over the labor rent was also facilitated by other circumstances, in particular, the clearing of forests. The main role in these works belonged to fugitive peasants who settled on new lands, personally free, but dependent on the feudal lords in land and judicial relations. Some of the peasants remained in a serf state in the 11th-12th centuries.

With the final establishment of feudalism, the fragmentation of France reached its end, and the feudal hierarchy was distinguished by the greatest complexity. The king was a lord only for his immediate vassals: dukes, earls, as well as barons and knights of his domain. The rule of feudal law was in effect: "The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal."

The feudal fragmentation of France was further aggravated by significant differences in the socio-economic and political development of the northern and southern parts of the country, as well as by the presence on its territory of two nationalities - northern French and southern French (Provencal). As in the earlier period, these peoples spoke local dialects of various languages: in the south of France - Provencal, in the north - northern French. According to the different pronunciation of the word "yes" in these languages ​​("os" - in Provencal, "oil" - in Northern French) later, in the XIII-XIV centuries, the northern regions of France were called " Languedoil", And the southern ones -" Languedoc».

In the X century, on the basis of the separation of handicrafts from agriculture, feudal cities began their life - the economic centers of handicrafts and trade. Old cities flourished and numerous new cities arose. In the 13th century, the whole country was already covered with many cities. The southern cities became practically independent republics. The nobles also lived and were engaged in trade in them. The independent, wealthy southern cities had little to do with each other. Therefore, even at the time of their peak in the XII century, a single economic and political center was not created in the south. The power of the large feudal lords was weakened by the independence of the big cities.

The cities of the North faced a more difficult fate, since their economic activities met many obstacles on their way. The cities were ruled by seniors, mostly bishops, who mercilessly robbed the townspeople under various pretexts, often resorting to violence. The townspeople had no rights, their property was constantly under the threat of appropriation by the feudal lords. Therefore, the fight against the lords became a matter of paramount importance for the cities of the North. Usually the townspeople organized a secret conspiracy and, with weapons in hand, attacked the lord and his knights. If the uprising was successful, the feudal lords were forced to provide the city with a greater or lesser degree of self-government.

Urban growth has accelerated the socio-economic differentiation of the urban population. The merchants and craftsmen of some workshops (butchers, cloth makers, jewelers, etc.) became rich and became very strong; in the communes, they completely seized power, neglecting the interests of the masses of artisans and small traders. A fierce internal struggle began in the cities. Taking advantage of this, the kings interfered in the internal affairs of the communes and from the beginning of the XIV century began to gradually deprive them of their former rights and privileges.

The city economically subjugated a rather vast rural area. Runaway serfs flocked to it, gaining freedom there. Strong walls and armed guards now defended the cities from the encroachments of the feudal lords.

In the XII century, the process of state centralization begins in France. Initially, it is deployed in Northern France, where economic and social preconditions existed for it. The policy of royal power, aimed at subordinating it to the feudal lords, was dictated primarily by the interests of the feudal class as a whole. Its main goal was to strengthen the central government to suppress the resistance of the peasants. This was especially needed by the small and medium feudal lords, who did not have sufficient means of non-economic coercion. They were interested in strengthening the royal power also because they saw in it protection from violence and oppression by more powerful large feudal lords.

The opponents of this policy were large feudal lords, who most of all valued their political independence; they were supported by some of the higher clergy. The strengthening of royal power was favored by the continuous enmity of the large feudal lords among themselves. Each of them strove to strengthen itself at the expense of the others. Kings took advantage of this and fueled strife.

The turning point in the rise of royal power dates back to the beginning of the 12th century, when the resistance of the feudal lords in the royal domain was ended. The importance of royal power increased greatly at the beginning of the 13th century after it entered the domain after Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. Royal possessions by this time had increased approximately fourfold.

In the 13th century, the strengthening of royal power was consolidated by a number of important reforms. For example, on the territory of the royal domain, judicial duels (that is, the solution of litigations by means of a duel between the parties), which were widely used in senior courts, were prohibited; the litigants were given the opportunity to transfer the case to the royal court. The decision of any feudal court could be appealed to the royal court, which thus became the supreme court of justice for the entire kingdom. A number of important criminal cases were removed from the jurisdiction of the feudal courts and were considered exclusively by the royal court.

The central administration was further developed. From the Royal Council, a special court of justice, called the "parliament", emerged. For communication between the central authorities and local authorities, royal auditors were appointed, who controlled the activities of the local administration and reported to the king about all abuses.

In the royal domain, wars between feudal lords were prohibited, and in the domains not yet attached to the domain, the custom of "40 days of the king" was legalized, that is, the period during which the one who received the challenge could appeal to the king. This weakened the feudal strife. A single monetary system was introduced in the royal domain, and the royal coin was to be accepted throughout the country along with the local one. This contributed to the economic cohesion of France. Gradually, the royal coin began to oust the local one from circulation.

Thus, the formation of a feudal state in France in the XI-XIII centuries went through a number of stages. Feudal fragmentation was first overcome in the northern part of the country on the basis of the development of cities and the strengthening of economic ties between regions. Paris, which turned into a large trade, craft and political center, became the capital of France. Part of the southern regions was annexed to the Capetian possessions later, when the northern part of the country was already quite firmly united around Paris and the royal power.