All About France

Normandy lush landscape, pastures and meadows Mont St Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site Let the wine roll in your mouth French wine tasting Hotel barges, discover Burgundy in luxury and comfort self-hire boats on a canal to discover Burgundy Guédelon castle construction adventure Read more...

François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande, born 12 August 1954, is the current President of France and joint head of state of the Principality of Andorra. He was previously the first secretary of the French Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008, and the deputy of the National Assembly of France for Corrèze’s 1st constituency from 1988 to 1993 and then again Read more...

Nicolas Sarkozy, born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa on 28 Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France January 1955 in Paris, France, is a French politician. He is leader of the UMP, and was elected President of the French Republic on 6 May 2007 after defeating Socialist Party contender Ségolène Royal during the 2007 election, and took office on the morning Read more...

Jacques René Chirac (born November 29, 1932) is a French politician. He was elected President of the French Republic in 1995 and 2002 (in addition, inherently, being Co-Prince of Andorra).Jacques Chirac President of France An only child, Chirac is the son of a bank clerk and later an executive for an aircraft company.In 1954, he graduated from the Institut d’Études Read more...

François Mitterrand (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996) was a French politician and President of France from May 1981, re-elected in 1988, until 1995.François Mitterand President of France Mitterrand was born in Jarnac, Charente. In his youth he was a staunch conservative and an ardent Catholic. His first political act was to join the ultranationalist Croix de Feu, which he Read more...

Georges Pompidou (July 5, 1911 – April 2, 1974) was President of France from 1969 to his death in 1974.Georges Pompidou, President of France He was born in Monboudif, Cantal, France and graduated from the École Normale Supérieure. A supporter of Charles de Gaulle, he served under him as Prime Minister from April 16, 1962 to July 13, 1968. As Read more...

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (born February 2, 1926 in Koblenz, Germany) is a French politician who was President of the Republic from 1974 until 1981.Valéry Giscard d’Estaing President of France He is a son of Edmond Giscard d’Estaing (1892-1982), a French civil servant, and his wife, May Bardoux, who was a daughter of French senator and academicien Jacques Bardoux and a great-granddaughter of Read more...

Charles-André-Joseph-Marie de Gaulle (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle, was a French general and politician. He was the leader of the Free French Forces in World War II and head of the provisional government in 1944-46. Called to form a government in 1958, he inspired a new constitution and was Read more...

French history The Fifth Republic is the period of the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on October 5, 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the ashes of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a weak and factional parliamentary government with a stronger, more centralized democracy. The impetus behind the creation of the Fifth Republic was the Read more...

French history The Fourth Republic existed in France between 1946 and 1958. It was the period where they were under France’s fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic which had ruled before the Second World War. France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on October 13, 1946. Some attempts were made to Read more...

French history France surrendered to Nazi Germany early in World War II (June 24, 1940). Nazi Germany occupied three fifths of France’s territory (Northern France and the entire French Atlantic Coast) and on July 10, 1940 established a new French government based at the town of Vichy. This government, was commonly referred to as Vichy France and was headed by Read more...

French history The French Third Republic, (in French, Troisième Republique, sometimes written as IIIème Republique) (1870/75-1940/46), was the governing body of France between the Second Empire and the Fourth Republic. It was a republican parliamentary democracy that was created on September 4, 1870 following the collapse of the Empire of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War. It survived until the Read more...

French history The French Second Republic (often simply Second Republic) was the republican regime of France from February 25, 1848 to December 2, 1852. It is counted as the second republic because the government during the French Revolution is counted as the first, although the revolutionary government is more often discussed as three periods: the National Convention, the Directory, and Read more...

French history The Second French Empire or Second Empire was the imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second republic and the Third Republic, in France. Steps towards Empire The anti-parliamentary constitution instituted by Napoleon III on January 14, 1852 was largely a repetition of that of the year VIII. All executive power was entrusted Read more...

French history Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Bourbon Dynasty was restored to the French throne. The period of their reigns is called in French the Restauration. Louis-Philippe ascended to the throne during the July Revolution; some historians treat the resulting July Monarchy as a separate period in French history.Following the ouster of the last king to Read more...

French history The First French Empire, commonly known as the French Empire, the Napoleonic Empire or simply as The Empire, covers the period of the domination of France and of much of continental Europe by Napoleon I of France. Constitutionally, it refers to the period of 1804 to 1814, from the Consulate to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in Read more...

The law of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (Fr. “Constitution Civile du Clerge”), passed July 12, 1790 during the French Revolution, subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. It is often erroneously stated that this law confiscated the Church’s French land holdings or banned monastic vows. In fact, that had already been accomplished by earlier Read more...

The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers the year following the fall of the Bastille, roughly from the abolition of feudalism (August 4, 1789) to the adoption (by the National Constituent Assembly) Read more...

The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers the earliest period of the revolution, from the meeting of the Estates-General (May 5, 1789) to the storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) and Read more...

The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article deals in some detail with the events immediately prior to the revolution itself. Financial Crisis 1770s-1787 Proto-revolutionary activity started when the French king Louis XVI (reigned Read more...

France in 1789 was one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe. Only in Great Britain and the Netherlands did the common people have more freedom and less chance of arbitrary punishment. Nonetheless, a popular rebellion would first to bring the regime of King Louis XVI of France under control of a constitution, then to depose, imprison, try, Read more...

1789 January 24: Summoning of the States-General May 5: Meeting of the States-General June 17: National Assembly declared June 20: Tennis Court Oath July 9: National Constituent Assembly declared July 11: Necker dismissed July 14: Storming of the Bastille August 4: Surrender of feudal rights August 27: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen October 5-6: Outbreak Read more...

French history The French Revolution, as a period in the history of France, covers the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. While France would oscillate among republic, empire, and monarchy for 75 years after the First Republic fell to a coup by Napoleon Bonaparte, the revolution nonetheless Read more...

French history The House of Bourbon dates back to at least the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord, vassal of France. With the course of time, the House of Bourbon would become one of the most powerful ruling families of Europe, with its members becoming monarchs of Navarre, France, Spain and Read more...

French history The Valois Dynasty succeeded the Capetian Dynasty as rulers of France from 1328-1589 C.E. They were descendants of Charles of Valois, the second son of King Philip III of France. Philippe VI, the Fortunate 1328-1350 Philippe VI, the Fortunate, (1293 – August 22, 1350) was King of France from 1328 to 1350. He was the son of Charles Read more...

French history During the latter years of the elderly Charlemagne’s rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of his kingdom. After Charlemagne’s death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining any kind of political unity and the once great Empire began to crumble. Viking advances were allowed to escalate, their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Read more...

French history The Franks formed one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm in an area that covers part of today’s France, and Germany (Franconia), forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries. The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided Read more...

French history Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Roman name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. In English the word Gaul commonly refers to a Celtic inhabitant of that region in ancient times. But the Gauls were widespread Read more...

French history The relationship of French history to the English speaking nations cannot be underestimated. What can be learned from a perusal of French History? Much. The ‘Franks’ episode opens up the scenario of the arrival of ‘tribes’ from the Urals… tribes that, today, are the main nations of Europe. Everyone’s heard of ‘Asterix the Gaul’, the first album of Read more...

When you’re preparing a trip to a ‘foreign’ country, especially the first time, many little details cross your mind: Are there ATMs? Is my driver’s license valid? Do I need adapter plugs? What about temperatures to know what clothes to pack? You need useful information about France and this page is where you’ll find answers to all those needling questions. Read more...