The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is a symbol of French patriotism. Napoleon
Bonaparte began the stone arch as a monument to his troops in 1806, and King
Louis Philippe completed it in 1836. Under the arch lies the tomb of France's
Unknown Soldier of World War I.
Fashion styles from Paris are copied by clothing manufacturers throughout the world. This model
wears an evening ensemble by French designer Jean-Louis Scherrer at a fashion
show.
The French countryside has many picturesque villages. This village lies in the
Perigord region of southwestern France. Many French villagers farm the land or
work in nearby cities.
Open-air markets spill out onto the pavements of many French cities and
towns. These shoppers are selecting fresh fruits and vegetables. The French
value good food and skilful cooking.
Population density - The population distribution of mainland France is fairly even. Paris is
the most heavily populated urban area. On Corsica - most people live near the
coast.
Apartment buildings, such as these in Lyon, are home to many French city dwellers.
Villages set amid well-tended fields typify much of rural France. About a quarter of the French live in rural
areas. Most enjoy the same modern comforts as city dwellers.
The Tour de France is the greatest national sporting event in Pavement cafes provide
a pleasant place for French people France. Each summer, more than 100 of the
world's top cyclists stop to eat or drink and meet with friends. The cafes are
popular compete in the nearly month-long race spots in most French cities and
towns.
Bastille Day, July 14, is France's national holiday. The people of France celebrate
the holiday with parades, fireworks, and dancing. These dancers are performing
at a celebration in Arles.
French museums are among the best in the world. The Orsay Museum, above, occupies a restored former
railway station in Paris. It displays art from the 18ffs and 1900's.
Castles called chateaux were the high point of Frence Renaissance architecture. Many of these
magnificent castles stand in the Loire Val ley. At Chenonceaux, near Tours, a
chateau spans the River Cher. It was built ii the 1500 s.
Monument to Balzac (1897), a bronze statue; Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Sculptor Auguste Rodin created many expressive figures. One of his finest works is a statue of
French author Honore de Balzac.
St John on Patmos, a manuscript painting from The Hours of Etienne Chevalier (1450-14551);
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.
The Table 119251, an oil painting on canvas; Tate Gallery, London
French painting has produced great works for centuries. In the
1400's, Jean Fouquet painted richly coloured miniatures. The work
of artists such as Pierre Bonnard, right, made France the centre of Western painting in the late 1800's and
early 1900's
Masterpieces of French decorative art include beautiful tapestries and carpets, and richly carved furniture.
Detail of a room (late 1600's) in the
palace of Versailles, France
The Gross Domestic Product (CDP) is the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a
year. The GDP measures a nation's total economic performance and can also be
used to compare the economic output and growth of countries. France's GDP was
U.S.$1,194,201,000,000 in 1991. (Services = 67%, Industry 20% and Agriculture =
4%)
Tourism contributes significantly to
the French economy. A bateau mouche (excursion boat), carries tourists along the Seine River in Paris.
Millions of tourists visit Paris every year.
Car production is one of
France’s leading industries. Examples - workers build engines in a Renault
factory.
France produces more wine than any other country except Italy. Wooden barrels hold the wine for
aging. A wine tester, on the left, uses a wine thief to draw a
sample.
France's TGV (train a grande vitesse, or high-speed train) began operating between Paris and Lyon in 1981.
Storming of the Bastille (about 18001, an oil painting on canvas by an unknown artist; Chateau
Versailles, France
The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, was an early event in the French Revolution. A huge
crowd of Parisians captured the fortress, forcing royal troops to withdraw
from Paris.
Charles de Gaulle served as president of France from 1958 to 1969. He greatly increased
the power of the presidency, particularly in the conduct of foreign policy.
France is the
largest country of Western Europe in area. Paris, the capital of France and
largest city in the country, ranks as one of the world's great cities. For hundreds
of years, Paris has been a world capital of art and learning. Its university is
over 800years old, and is one of the largest in the world. Paris attracts
artists and writers of all nationalities. Many great artists have produced
their finest masterpieces there. It is a city renowned for its beauty and
magnificent architecture. Every year, millions of tourists visit such famous
Paris landmarks as the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the
Louvre—which is one of the largest art museums in the world.
There is much
more to France than just Paris, however. The snow-capped Alps form the border
between France and Italy and attract many climbers and skiers every year. Sunny
beaches and steep cliffs stretch along the French coast on the Mediterranean
Sea. The French Riviera, the stretch of coast by the Italian border, is a
popular holiday region. Fishing villages dot the Atlantic coast of northwestern
France.
The peaceful,
wooded Loire Valley has many historic chateaux
(castles). Colourful apple orchards, dairy farms, and vineyards are located
throughout much of the countryside. Many regions of France have fields of
golden wheat.
The Franch are
famous for their enjoyment of life. Good food and good wine are an important
part of everyday living for most French people. The wines of France are
considered to be the best in the world. Almost every restaurant and area has
at least one special recipe of its own. The delicious breads, appetizers,
sauces, soups, and desserts of France are imitated by cooks in most parts of
the world.
France has a
long and colourful history. Julius Caesar and his Roman soldiers conquered the
region before the time of Christ Then, after Rome fell, the Franks and other
Germanic tribes invaded the region. France was named after the Franks. By the
A.D. 800's, the mighty Charlemagne, king of the Franks, had built the area into
a huge kingdom.
In 1792, during
the French Revolution, France became one of the first nations to overthrow its
king and set up a republic. A few years later, Napoleon Bonaparte seized power.
He conquered much of Europe before he finally was defeated. During World Wars I
and II, France became a bloody battleground for Allied armies and the invading
German forces.
France is not
only a beautiful and historic country, it is also rich and powerful. France has
great car, chemical, and steel industries. It is a leader in growing wheat, vegetables,
and many other crops. France stands fifth among the countries of the world in
its trade with other nations, as measured by exports. France also plays an important
part in world politics. Its foreign policies affect millions of people in
other countries.
The political
importance of France today has resulted partly from the leadership of Charles
de Gaulle, who served as president of the country from 1958 to 1969. De Gaulle
established a strong French republic. He looked 0n France as a world
power and followed a policy that was independent of both the United States and
the Communist nations. De Gaulle ended France's close military ties with the
United States and tried to improve relations with Communist countries. De
Gaulle's actions angered many other nations, but to the proud people of France
he was a symbol of their nation's greatness.
Government
France is a
parliamentary democracy with a strong national government. Its present
government, called the Fifth
Republic, has been in
effect since 1958. The First Republic was established in 1792. Between 1792 and
1958, the structure of the French government changed many times.
France's
national government has three branches.
They are (Dan
executive branch headed by a president and a prime minister, (2) a legislative
branch consisting of a Parliament, and (3) a judicial branch, or system of
courts. The French constitution provides each branch of government with certain
powers, but the branches' functions sometimes overlap.
National government. The president of France is elected to a
seven-year term by voters aged 18 or older. The president can serve an
unlimited number of terms. The president appoints the prime minister (also
called premier). The prime minister chooses the other ministers who make up
the Council of Ministers (cabinet). The president is considered the head of state and the prime minister is head of
the government. The
president manages the nation's foreign affairs. The prime minister directs
the day-to-day operations of the government.
France's
Parliament consists of two houses, the National Assembly and the Senate. The
National Assembly consists of 577 deputies, elected by the voters for five- year terms,
unless an election is called earlier. The president has the power to dissolve
the National Assembly and call for new elections. The Senate has 319 members.
Senators are elected to nine-year terms by regional and city electoral
colleges. The National Assembly is more powerful than the Senate. For example,
if the two houses disagree on the text of a proposed law, the National
Assembly makes the final decision. In addition, the Council of Ministers must
have the support of a majority of members in the National Assembly. Without
such a majority, the ministers must resign and the president appoint a new
prime minister.
Local government. The basic unit of local government in France
is the commune. France has about 36,500 communes, which range
in size from small villages to large cities. Each commune is governed by a
mayor and a local council.
Mainland France
and the island of Corsica are divided into 96 metropolitan departments. Each department is administered by a locally elected council. Each also
has a commissioner (formerly a prefect), who is appointed by the national
government and who represents the government. Each department is part of one of
France's 22 regions. Each region has a regional council, elected by the people,
and a president elected by the council members. The
region of Corsica has a special status with more local independence.
France has nine
inhabited overseas possessions: Guadeloupe and Martinique, both in the West
Indies; Reunion and Mayotte, both in the Indian Ocean; New Caledonia, French
Polynesia, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands, all in the South Pacific Ocean;
French Guiana in South America; and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon in the North
Atlantic Ocean. These possessions are considered to be part of France. Their
people vote for the president of France and send representatives to both houses
of the French Parliament.
Politics. France has several political parties. The Socialist Party and the French
Communist Party hold liberal or radical views. In theory, both parties support
public ownership or control of most of the country's factories, machines, and
other basic means of production. In practice, however, the Socialists have
cooperated with private business since the 1930s. Both the Socialists and the
Communists support strong, government-financed social security and medical
benefits. The chief conservative political parties in France are the Union for
French Democracy (UDF) and the Rally for the Republic (RPR).
The UDF has
called for removing government regulations that restrict individuals and
companies from operating freely in the French economy. The RPR supports the
policies of former French President Charles de Gaulle. It favours a strong
national government and an aggressive foreign policy. The National Front an extreme
conservative political party, opposes immigration and favours the death
penalty.
Courts are in the major cities of each department.
Appeals from civil and criminal courts may be taken to Courts of Appeal. The Courts of Assizes hear cases involving murder and other
serious crimes. The decisions of the Courts of Appeal and Assizes are generally
final. But the Court of Cassation, the highest court of France, may review them.
It can return cases to the lower courts for new trials. A minister of justice
controls appointments and promotions of judges. Judges are appointed for life.
Armed forces. Men aged 18 to 35 must serve one year of active duty in the French armed
forces. About 550,000 men and women serve in the army, navy, and air force. The
French government spends about 20 per cent of its national budget on the
military.
People
Among the people
of France, there are notable regional differences in language and traditions.
As a result, many people in France have a strong sense of regional identity.
In the regions of Corsica and Brittany, some people have organized to work for
independence from France. However, most people in the various regions of
France feel comfortable having both a regional identity and a national
"French" identity.
Population. France has a population of about 56 million. About a sixth of the French
people live in the Paris metropolitan area, one of the largest metropolitan
areas in the world. France has 36 cities with populations of over 100,000. Five
of the cities have more than 300,000 people. In order of size, they are Paris,
Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, and Nice. See the articles on French cities listed
in the Related articles at the end of this article.
About 7 per cent
of France s population consists of foreign residents. The largest foreign
groups are people from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Portugal, Spain,
Turkey, and Indochina. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of refugees from
former French colonies in Africa and Indochina have moved to France. The status
of these immigrants is a controversial issue in the country. For example,
Algerian immigrants represent a large work force that the country has not yet
absorbed. Algerian workers are often the first to be laid off during periods
of slow economic activity. Because they send most of their earnings home, many
of them live in poor neighbourhoods. Some immigrants from Morocco, Portugal,
Tunisia, and Turkey are in similar situations. On the other hand, many
Vietnamese refugees have become more fully integrated into French society.
Ancestry. In ancient times, peoples known as Cauls lived
in what is now France (see Gaul). The Gauls were a Celtic people related to the
Welsh and the Irish. Roman, Germanic, and then Norse invaders came from the
south, east, and north. The Romans brought peace to the warring Gallic tribes,
and Roman law became the basis of modern French law. The name of France came
from Germanic conquerors called Franks. Many people of northeastern France have
Germanic ancestors. Some people from Normandy trace their ancestry back to the
Norse people who settled there.
Language. By about the 1500's, the language that is now
called French was spoken only in the area around Paris. The rest of the people living in what
is now France spoke Basque, Breton, Dutch, or German, or dialects related to
modern French, such as Walloon, Picard, or Provencal. The building of the
modern French nation is closely tied to the standardization and increased use
of 'I the local dialect of Paris, beginning in the 1500s. For a 3 detailed
discussion of the French language, including its development, see French language.
On the island of
Corsica, the majority of the population speak a dialect similar to Italian. A
group of people living along the Pyrenees Mountains speak Basque. The region of
Brittany has a significant number of people I who speak Breton. Along the
border with Belgium, many people speak the Flemish dialect of Dutch. The
religion of Alsace has many German-speaking people. In all of these regions,
however, French is taught in the schools and the number of people who
speak the regional tongue has dwindled from one generation to the next. In
Corsica, Brittany, and the Pyrenees, people have formed groups to promote the
use of the local language.
Way of life
City life. Almost three-quarters of the French people
live in cities and towns of at least 2,000 people. The Paris metropolitan area
has about 9 million people. In the larger cities, most people live in
apartments. Many Parisians live in old apartment buildings. In general, the
older a building is, the more prestigious it is. Many French city dwellers
tolerate buildings with old plumbing and appliances so that they may enjoy
antique fireplaces and other features of the architecture.
Strict zoning
regulations help protect and enhance the centre of many French cities. Such
regulations may prohibit traffic on certain city streets or limit high-rise
construction in the centre of a city. The regulations are designed to ensure a
high quality of life for urban residents. Such urban problems as overcrowding
and high crime rates are more likely to occur in the outskirts of cities or
in nearby suburbs.
While city
living is generally pleasant, it is also expensive. Many poor city residents
live outside the city centres in run-down apartments or in housing complexes
built by the government. Many middle-class people cannot afford to live in
Paris, and instead live in a suburb as a second choice. Public transport
systems carry people from the suburbs to a variety of jobs and recreational and
cultural activities in the city.
Rural life. Only about a quarter of the French people live
in rural areas. Flowever, France traditionally has been an agricultural
society. The French people are thus more familiar with—and more respectful
of—such rural activities as farming and hunting than are people in many
urbanized countries.
Most rural
residents enjoy the same comforts and conveniences as city dwellers. Most of
them live in single-family houses in villages or on farms. They often own cars
and television sets and have such modern appliances as refrigerators and
washing machines.
Farmers and
their families make up much of the rural population of France. Most farmers own
their land.
Some rent all or
part of their land. A few French farmers are wealthy. But many farmers require
other sources of income to support their families. A spouse or another family
member may hold a job as a factory worker, office worker, or teacher. In
poorer areas such as Brittany, some farmers earn barely enough to support themselves.
One problem for
rural France is that most of its farms are too small to compete with the farms
of many other western European countries. For this reason, French farms cannot
support all those born and raised on them. Since 1959, the rural population of
France has dropped by almost half.
Food and drink. The French consider cooking an art. French haute cuisine (gourmet cooking) has set a standard accepted in many parts of the world
since the 1700's. French chefs have created many delicious sauces and
appetizers. French appetizers include escargots
(snails) in garlic butter sauce, scallops and mushrooms in a creamy wine sauce,
and puff pastries filled with chicken in cream sauce. Sausages and pites
(chopped meat cooked with spices) also serve as appetizers. Goose liver pate
with black mushroomlike truffles is considered a special delicacy. French
cooks sometimes put tasty fillings of cheese, vegetables, shrimp, ham, or
bacon into omelettes, crepes (thin, rolled pancakes), and quiches (custard
baked in a pastry shell). These dishes can be served as appetizers or as light
meals.
A typical French
main meal has several courses. It starts with an appetizer or onion or potato
soup. Popular main courses include steaks, chops, and roast chicken, served with
French fried potatoes. A green salad often follows the main course, then cheese
or fresh fruit. Crusty French bread accompanies most courses. A very special
meal might add a light fish course before the main course and a dessert after
the cheese course. Desserts include fancy pastries, fruit tarts, and crepes
filled with whipped cream or cooked fruit.
Such hearty
French specialities as bouillabaisse and cassoulet make
a full meal and need few extras. Bouillabaisse is a chunky fish soup with six
or more kinds of fish and shellfish. Cassoulet is a casserole of beans, sausage,
poultry, and pork.
The French eat
light breakfasts. A typical breakfast consists of such soft rolls as croissants and brioches, served with butter and jam, plus coffee.
Some French
people drink wine at lunch and dinner, sometimes different wines with different
courses. Beer, cider, or mineral water may substitute for wine. Coffee is
served at breakfast, and after other meals.
Recreation. The greatest national sporting event in France
is the Tour de France, a bicycle race. Every summer, more than a hundred
professional cyclists race around almost the entire country. They ride daily
for nearly a month, and finish in Paris. Thousands of spectators line the
route and cheer them along.
France's most
popular team sport is football. Almost every area and region in France has its
own football team. The French also enjoy such sports as boules (a
form of bowls), fishing, ice skating, rugby, skiing, swimming, and tennis.
All French
workers are entitled to receive five weeks' paid holiday every year. In July
and August, cars filled with holiday-makers crowd the main roads leading south
to the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. To accommodate holiday-makers,
there are thousands of special camps and inexpensive resorts that organize activities
for children and adults. Many French people have second homes in the country.
Holiday festivals in many southern cities feature music, theatre, parades, and
folk dancing.
Throughout the
year, many city dwellers take daily walks through public parks. They may stop
at one of the pavement cafes that dot many city boulevards. Many French people
also enjoy watching television and listening to the radio. Television
programmes made in the United States have become especially popular.
Holidays. Most French holidays and festivals are closely
connected with the Roman Catholic Church. Many cities celebrate Shrove Tuesday,
the last day before Lent, with a merry festival called Carnavat The
Car- naval celebration in Nice includes a colourful parade, and attracts many
tourists. Most villages honour their local patron saints with a festival in
July.
At Noel
IChristmas), French families hold reunions and the children receive gifts (see
Christmas |ln France]). The people also exchange gifts on Le Jour de I'An (New Year's Day). At Paques (Easter), the children receive coloured
sugar eggs and chocolate chickens.
The French
national holiday is Bastille Day, July 14. It marks the capture of the
Bastille, a fortified prison, by the people of Paris in 1789, during the French
Revolution. A large military parade is held in Paris on Bastille pay. At
night, the people watch fireworks and sometimes dance in the streets until
dawn. The French also celebrate Labour Day on May 1, and Armistice Day on
November 11.
Religion. About 75 per cent of the French people are
Roman Catholics. About 3 per cent are Muslims, and about 2 per cent are Protestants.
About 1 per cent are Jews. France has more Jews than any other European
country. From 1801 to 1905, the French government recognized Roman Catholicism
as the religion of the majority of the people. Bishops and priests were state
officials, and were paid by the government. This church- state connection,
established by Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, was broken by French law in 1905.
Education.
French children between the ages of 6 and 16 must go to school. About 85 per
cent of children attend state schools. The others attend private schools, most
of which are run by the Roman Catholic Church.
Children from
the ages of 2 to 6 may attend free nursery schools. Reading is taught during
the last year of these schools. Children from the ages of 6 to 11 attend
primary schools. Formerly, boys and girls went to separate schools. But since
the 1970's, they have attended school together. After five years of primary
school, children enter a college. A college is a four-year school.
After college,
students enter either a vocational secondary school or a general secondary
school. Both kinds of secondary schools are called lycees.
Vocational secondary schools offer job training in business, crafts, farming,
and industry. General secondary schools provide a three-year course that
prepares students to enter university. The last year of such schools is a
period of specialized study in one of five areas. These areas are philosophy,
experimental sciences, mathematics, mathematics and technology, and economics
and social sciences. A baccalaureat examination completes this programme. This
examination is so difficult that about a third of the students fail to pass it.
France has about
75 universities. Each university selects its own courses and teaching methods.
Students have a voice in university administration. The government provides
financial support for students.
France also has
schools of higher education called Crandes
Ecoles (Great
Schools). They prepare students for high-ranking careers in the civil and
military services, commerce, education, industry, and other fields.
Museums and libraries. France has many excellent museums. The best known, the Louvre in Paris,
is one of the largest art museums in the world (see Louvre). Many old castles and palaces are national
historical museums. They include the palace at Versailles, built by King Louis
XIV (see Versailles). The Orsay Museum in Paris, located in a
beautifully restored former railway station, exhibits paintings from the 1800's
and 1900's—including many impressionist works. The Georges Pompidou National
Centre of Art and Culture in Paris includes a museum of modern art, a major
public reference library, and a museum of industrial design. The Museum of Man
has important scientific exhibits.
There are public
libraries in all large French cities. France's national library, the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, is one of the largest libraries in Western
Europe (see Bibliotheque
Nationale). Other important
libraries include the Mazarine Library of the Institute of France, the
country's major learned society. The University of Paris also has fine
libraries.
Arts
Since the Middle
Ages, French artists, composers, architects, and writers have been among the
cultural leaders of Europe. During many periods of history, French styles in
painting, music, drama, and other art forms served as models for other Western
countries. This section discusses the major art movements in France. For more
information, see French literature, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and
Classical music with their lists of Related articles.
The Middle Ages.
The greatest
works of medieval French art were magnificent Gothic cathedrals built from
about 1150 to 1300. The finest examples include the Cathedral of Notre Dame in
Paris and cathedrals in the cities of Amiens, Chartres, Reims, and Rouen. Much
of the finest French sculpture of the time was created as decoration for the
Gothic cathedrals.
Poetry was the
most important literary form among medieval French writers. Musician-poets
called trouba- dors wrote love songs in the Provencal dialect of
southern France. Poets called trouveres carried this poetry to northern France. Other
medieval poets wrote epic poems and long fictional works called romances.
The Renaissance was an important cultural period that reached
its height during the 1400's and 1500's. Franqois Rabelais was the most
important French fiction writer of the French Renaissance. Flis satirical Cargantua and Pantagruel (1532-1564) is a masterpiece of Western literature. Seven French poets
called the Pleiade wanted to create a new kind of French poetry based on
ancient Greek and Roman models. Pierre de Ronsard and Joachim du Bellay were
the group's major poets. Michel de Montaigne was the last great writer of this
period. Fie created the personal essay as a literary form.
The finest
French Renaissance architecture appeared as magnificent castles called chateaux. The
best examples include those at Fontainebleau, Chambord, and Azay-le-Rideau.
All were built in the early 1500rs.
Baroque and
rococo art developed in
France during the 1 600s and 1700's. Baroque art was large in scale
and dramatic.
Perhaps the greatest monument to baroque art in France is the spectacular
palace at Versailles (begun about 1661).
The major French
baroque composers were Jean Baptiste Lully and Jean Philippe Rameau, both known
fc their operas. Francois Couperin was an important composer of music for a
keyboard instrument called the harpsichord.
Rococo art was
smaller in scale and more delicate than that of the baroque style. The leading
rococo artisi were three painters—Franqois Boucher, Jean Honore Fragonard, and
Antoine Watteau.
French classical
art spanned the
1600's and 170ffs; well. It stressed order, balance, and harmony, and placed
heavy emphasis on the role of the intellect in an alysing human behaviour.
Frangois de Malherbe was th first and greatest classical poet. His clear,
rational, and sober poems became the basic style for classical verse. In prose,
the leaders were two philosophers, Rene Des cartes and Blaise Pascal.
The greatest
expression of French classical literature was in drama. The major figures were
Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Moliere. Corneille and Racine wrote
tragedies. Moliere ranks as the greatest writer of comedy in French drama.
In painting,
classical ideals were best represented by Claude. His landscapes illustrate the
classical admiratio for balance, harmony, and order.
The Age of Reason, also called the Enlightenment,
was a period of
intellectual achievement in the 1600's and 1700's dominated by philosophical
literature. Writers of this period emphasized reason and observation; the best
methods of learning truth. The crucial figures i this movement were Voltaire,
Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot.
Romanticism began in the
late 1700's and flourishet until the mid-1800s. It
was partly a reaction against the attitudes of classicism and the Age of
Reason. For exam pie, romantic art and literature stressed emotions and the
imagination rather than self-discipline and reason.
Jean Jacques
Rousseau was a major personality in romanticism even though he was also a
leader of the Enlightenment. The greatest romantic writer was the novelist,
poet, and playwright Victor Hugo. Honore de Balzac, Stendhal, and George Sand
were also outstanding romantic novelists, though their work was more realistic
than that of the typical romantic novelist.
Romantic
painting was colourful and dramatic. It is best represented in the painting of
Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix. Auguste Rodin is recognized as the
greatest romantic sculptor, though he worked later in the 1800s than most other
romantic artists.
Hector Berlioz
was the greatest French romantic composer. He gained fame for his large-scale
orchestral works. Georges Bizet wrote the romantic Carmen
(1875), probably the most popular opera ever written.
Realism and
naturalism were movements
of the middle and late 1800's that tried to portray life accurately and
objectively. Gustave Flaubert was the major representative of realism, notably
for his novel Madame Bovary (18571. Guy de Maupassant gained recognition
for his realistic short stories. Naturalism, an extreme form of realism, was
led by novelist Emile Zola.
Impressionism was a movement of the late 1800's and early
1900's centred on French painting. The impressionists tried to capture the
immediate impression of an object or event. The leading impressionist painters
included Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and
Pierre Renoir. A movement called postimpressionism developed out of impressionism.
The key French
postimpressionists were Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Henri
de Toulouse- Lautrec. The movement produced two great composers, Claude Debussy
and Maurice Ravel.
The 1900's. Paul Claudel, Andre Gide, Marcel Proust, and
Paul Valery were the leading French writers of the early 1900s. Claudel wrote
works that reflect his deep Roman Catholic faith. Gide and Proust were major
novelists. Valery wrote classical poetry.
Philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert
Camus wrote important drama and essays in the mid-1900's. Major French writers
of the late 1900's include Alain Robbe-Grillet, Claude Simon, and Marguerite
Duras.
Such painters as Georges Braque, Pablo
Picasso (who was born in Spain), Georges Rouault, and Fernand Leger helped
shape modern art. Sculptors Aristide Maillol, jean Arp, and Antoine Pevsner
were also important. The Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier had a great
influence on architecture with his International Style.
Composers Pierre Boulez and Olivier
Messiaen were leaders in experimental music. Boulez became known for his work
in electronic music.
The land
France has wide differences in geography.
The northern and western regions consist mainly of flat or rolling plains.
Hills and mountains rise in the eastern, central, and southern parts of France.
France is divided into 10 main land regions. They are (1) the Brittany-Normandy
Hills, (21 the Northern France Plains, (3) the Northeastern Plateaus, (4) the
Rhine Valley, (5) the Aquitanian Lowlands, (6) the Central Highlands, (7) the
French Alps and Jura Mountains, (81 the Pyrenees Mountains, (9) the Mediterranean
Lowlands and Rhone-Saone Valley, and (101 Corsica.
The Brittany-Normandy Hills have low, rounded hills and rolling plains. This region consists of
ancient rock covered by poor soils, with some fertile areas along the coast.
Apple orchards, dairy farms, and grasslands crisscross the land. In some
areas, thick hedges separate the fields. Many bays indent the rugged coast and
have important fishing harbours.
The Northern France Plains have highly fertile soils and productive industries. The plains are
flat or rolling, and are broken up by forest-covered hills and plateaus. This
heavily populated region includes Paris. The Paris
Basin, also called the Ile-de-France, is a
large, circular area drained by the Seine and other major rivers. East i Paris,
a series of rocky ridges resembles the upturned edge of a huge saucer. Coal is
mined near the Belgian border.
The Northeastern Plateaus share the Ardennes Mountains with Belgium. This wooded region become a
little more rugged to the southeast, in the Vosges Mountains. It has great deposits of iron ore, and produces iron
and steel. Farmers rear livestock and grow variety of crops on the lower slopes and in the valleys. Foresters
operate in the area.
The Rhine Valley has steep slopes and a flat valley floor. Trees and vines cover the slopes,
and rich farmland lies along the Rhine River. This river, which forms part of
France's boundary with Germany, is the main ir land waterway in Europe.
Important roads and railway follow its course.
The Aquitanian Lowlands are drained by the Garonne River and the streams that flow into it.
Sandy beaches lie along the coast. Inland, the region has pirn forests, rolling
plains, and sand dunes. Its many vineyards supply grapes for France's important
wine industry. Oil and natural gas fields are located near Landes, forested
area about 100 kilometres south of the major port of Bordeaux.
The Central Highlands, or Massif Central, is thinly populated. The soils in the region
are poor, except in some valleys, where rye and other crops are grown. C tie
and sheep graze on the lower grasslands, and fore: cover the higher slopes. The
Loire River, about 1,050 kilometres long, rises in the Cevennes Mountains. The
Loire is the longest river in France. See Loire River.
The French Alps and Jura Mountains border on Italy and Switzerland. Snow-capped Mont Blanc, the higher
point in France, rises 4,807 metres. Many tourists visit nearby Chamonix and other
ski resorts in the mountains.
Mountain streams provide much hydroelectric
power. See Alps.
The Pyrenees Mountains extend along France's bor der with Spain. Many peaks in this range rise
more tha 3,000 metres. The rugged mountains have poor soils and are thinly
populated. See F’yrenees.
The Mediterranean Lowlands and Rhone-Saone
Vi ley region has productive farming areas, and
irrigation is used widely. Fruit, vegetables, and grapes for wine are important
products. Marseille, on the Mediterra nean Sea, is the leading seaport of
France. The coast also includes the Riviera, a famous resort area. See Rhone River; Riviera.
Corsica is a Mediterranean island about 160 kilometres southeast of mainland
France. It has hills and mountains similar to those of the Central Highlands.
The island has generally poor soils and a steep, rocky coastline. Crops are
grown in the valleys, and sheep graze in the mountains. See Corsica.
Climate
The climate varies widely among the
various regior of France. The differences in climate are closely relate to the
distance of the land from the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea. Westerly
winds that blow in from the Atlantic strongly influence the climate of western
France. The coastal regions there have a rainy climate with cool winters and
mild summers.
To the east, away from the Atlantic, the
climate changes sharply between seasons. These inland regions have hot summers
and cold winters, with medium rain-fall throughout the year.
The mountainous regions receive the most precipitation
(rain, melted snow, and other forms of moisture), most of it in summer. Heavy
winter snows fall in the Alps and Jura Mountains, and huge glaciers are fount
the Alps.
Along the Mediterranean Sea, the lowlands
have hot, dry summers and mild winters with some rainfall. Swift, cold north
winds called mistrals sometimes blow over southern France and cause crop
damage. The Alps shield the sunny Riviera from the cold north winds during
much of the year.
Economy
France is a prosperous nation and its
people have a high standard of living. The prosperity has resulted largely from
sweeping economic changes that have been made since the 194ffs. Before World
War II, the French economy was based mainly on small farms and businesses.
After the war ended in 1945, the French government worked to modernize the
economy. New methods of production and trade were developed through a series
of national plans. These improvements have brought ever-increasing production.
Most French businesses are privately
owned. The government has owned all or part of some businesses, including
banks, steel companies, and Renault—the largest French car manufacturer.
Generally, when the Socialists have controlled the government, they have
worked to increase government ownership of business. When Conservatives have
been in control, they have sought to decrease government ownership.
In 1993, Conservatives gained control of
the French Parliament. A law was passed that allowed the sale of most of the
government-owned businesses to private owners. The exceptions included the
defence, utility, and transportation and communication industries. The sale of
government-owned businesses began in late 1993. The process was expected to
continue over several years.
Natural resources play an important part in France's prosperity. Fertile soils are the
country's most important natural resource. More than 90 per cent of France's
total land area is fertile. The richest farmlands lie in the north and
northeast, where wheat and sugar beet are the chief crops. The rainier
northwest consists mainly of grasslands, used for grazing cattle and sheep,
and orchards. Many of the drier areas of southern France have good soils for
growing grapes. Soils are generally poor in the Central Highlands and on
Corsica.
France has major deposits of iron ore and bauxite
(aluminium ore). There are also deposits of coal, petroleum, natural gas,
and potash. France has large areas of forests.
Service industries are those economic activities that produce services, not goods. About 60
per cent of the workers are employed by service industries. Service industries
are especially important to the Paris area.
Community, government, and personal
services form the most important type of service industry. This industry
employs about a third of all workers. It includes such economic activities as
education and health care, government and the military, and data processing.
Trade, hotels, and restaurants form the
second most important type of service industry in terms of employment. Paris
is a major world centre for the wholesale trade of cars and chemicals. Marseille,
France's main seaport, is the centre of the country's foreign trade. Lyon is a
leading city in the wholesale trade of textiles. Retail trade, hotels, and
restaurants are greatly aided by the large numbers of tourists that visit
France.
Other service industries include finance,
insurance, and property; transportation and communication; and utilities.
Transportation and communication are discussed later in this section.
Manufacturing. France ranks as one of the world's leading manufacturing nations. The
Paris area is the country's chief manufacturing centre, but there are factories
in cities and towns throughout the country.
France is the fourth largest producer of
cars in the world, after Japan, the United States, and Germany. French cars
include Renaults, Peugeots, and Citroens. Car plants are located in the Paris
Basin and near Lyon, Rennes, and Douai. France also makes railway equipment
and has the world's fastest trains.
France is a major manufacturer of
sophisticated military and commercial aeroplanes. Toulouse is the centre of
aircraft production. France has a successful space programme, and has launched
rockets and communications satellites. The country also produces aerospace
equipment, electronic defence systems, and many kinds of weapons. France has a
fast-growing commercial electronics industry that produces computers, radios,
television sets, and telephone equipment.
The chemical industry produces a variety
of products, from industrial chemicals to medicines and cosmetics. French plants
make high-quality glass and tyres.
The French iron and steel industry uses
imported iron ore as well as ore mined in France. The aluminium industry uses
bauxite taken from French mines. Local and imported wood goes into the
production of furniture, timber, and pulp and paper. The famous French perfume
industry, based in Paris, uses flowers that are grown in southeastern France.
France is a major producer of industrial
machinery, and also ranks as a leader in designing new machines. French firms
perform engineering services and also construct industrial and transportation
projects in many countries. France also produces machine tools and robotic
machines that perform repeated tasks in factories.
Cotton and silk textiles have long been
important French products. French plants also produce nylon and other
artificial fibres. The Lyon area, long a centre for manufacturing silk, also
has artificial-fibre factories. Paris, the fashion capital of the world,
produces much of the country's clothing.
Food processing employs many French
people. Famous French foods include breads, meats, fruit preserves, and
especially wines and cheeses. France ranks aS the world's second
largest wine-producing country, after Italy. The wines are aged in deep cellars
or caves, prance produces butter and about 400 kinds of cheeses, Including
Brie, Camembert, and Roquefort. France also is among the world's leading
producers of sugar.
Agriculture. France is Western Europe's largest agricultural producer and one of the
world's leading export's of farm products. Almost all French farms have electricity,
and most have modern farm machinery. French (arms average 28 hectares in size.
About two-thirds of french farm income comes from meat and dairy animals.
About a fourth of the land consists of grassland used for grazing. Beef cattle
are the chief meat animals, and lambs and sheep are also important. Much of the
milk produced on dairy farms is used in making butter and cheese. French
farmers have always raised some poultry and pigs, and specialized, large-scale
production of these animals is expanding rapidly.
Crops grow on more than a third of
France's land.
Large farms in the Paris Basin and the
north grow most of the wheat, France s leading single crop. Most grapes used in
making wine are grown in southern France. Crapes for high-quality wines come
from several regions, including Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and
the Loire Valley. The Mediterranean region produces grapes used for cheaper
wines. Each region produces grapes that have their own special flavour. Grapes
from southwestern France are used in brandy.
Apple orchards dot many areas of northern
France, especially Normandy. Potatoes, sugar beet, and such livestock-feed
crops as barley, maize, oats, and rapeseed are major crops. Other important
French crops include beans, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, flowers, peas,
peaches, pears, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes
Forestry. Forests cover about a quarter of France. Heavily forested areas include
the Northeastern Plateaus, the Central Highlands, the southwest coastal areas,
and the slopes of the Alps, Juras, Pyrenees, and Vosges. Many forests have been
planted in the Landes area of southwestern France for use by the pulp and paper
industry. Cork oaks, pine trees, and olives grow along the dry Mediterranean
coast and on Corsica. Forest fires are common in these regions. Other trees of
France include ashes, beeches, and cypresses.
Mining. Iron ore is France's most important mineral deposit. Most of it comes
from Lorraine, and is used in the region's steel industry. Deposits of bauxite,
from which aluminium is made, are found in southeastern France. Bauxite was
named after the town of Les Baux in the producing area. Alsace has considerable
reserves of potash, a substance used in making fertilizers. Discoveries of
natural gas at Lacq, in southwestern France, have attracted many industries.
French mines also yield gypsum, salt, sulphur, tungsten, and uranium.
Fishing. French commercial fishing brings in a yearly catch of about 680,000
metric tons. Fishing crews work off the French coasts, or sail to the waters of
Iceland and Newfoundland, Canada. Many fleets operate from Brittany and
Normandy. Seafood taken includes cod, crabs, lobsters, monkfish, mussels,
oysters, pollock, sardines, scallops, tuna, and whiting.
Energy sources. Nuclear power plants provide more than half of France's electricity.
France is a world leader in nuclear energy technology and in the production of
nuclear fuels. Most of the rest of France's electric power is generated by
coal-burning plants or by hydroelectric power. The Alps and the jura Mountains
have many hydroelectric plants.
In 1966, the French government began
operating the world's first tidal power plant. It uses the tides in the mouth
of the Ranee River in Brittany. These tides are among the highest in the world,
and may reach a height of 13 metres. A solar power plant operates in the Pyrenees.
Foreign trade of France, as measured by exports ranks fifth in the world after the
United States, German Japan, and the United Kingdom (UK). The value of France's
imports is slightly higher than the value of its exports. France's major
imports are petroleum products Its major exports include chemical products,
machine™ electrical equipment, and cars. France belongs to the European Union,
also called the European Common Market (see European Union). About half of
France's trade is with European Union countries, mainly Germany. France's
major trading partners outside the European Union include Japan, Switzerland,
and the United States.
Transportation. Since the 1700's, France has had more road mileage in relation to its
size than any other European country. Today, it has a fine road system, including
many multilane motorways. Most French households own at least one car. Two of
the world's longest road tunnels link France and Italy. One, 13.0 kilometres
long, cuts through Frejus Peak. The other, 11.7 kilometres long, cuts through
Mont Blanc. In 1994, a tunnel beneath the English Channel was opened. The
tunnel links France and the UK by rail (see Channel Tunnel).
The French railway system, owned and
operated by the government, provides excellent passenger and freight services.
The rail network forms a cobweb pattern, with Paris as the hub. A railway
tunnel through Frejus Peak links France with Italy. In 1981, a high-speed
electric train began operating between Paris and Lyon. Called the TGV (train
a grande vitesse, or high-speed train), it reaches speeds of up to about
270 kilometres per hour. Today, it also links Paris to several cities in
Switzerland. In 1989, a faster TGV began operation between Paris and other
cities in France. A top speed of 300 kilometres per hour makes it the world's
fastest passenger train.
Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, both
near Paris, rank among the world's busiest airports. Other major airports
include Marseille, Nice, and Lyon. Air France, an airline jointly owned by the
French government and private investors, serves about 75 countries. Another airline,
Air Inter, provides a service among the large cities of France. Air Inter is
fully owned by the government.
Ships and barges operate on navigable
rivers and cabals throughout France. These rivers include the Rhine, Rhone,
and Seine. Northern and eastern France have ^ell-developed canal systems.
Oceangoing ships dock at many fine French seaports. The country's
busiest seaports are Marseille, Le Havre, and Dunkerque.
Communication. France has about 85 daily newspapers, representing a wide range of
political opinions.
The largest newspaper, Ouest-France
of Rennes, prints about 45 different editions, each with local news. Other
major daily newspapers include Le Figaro, France-Soir, le Monde, Liberation,
and Le Parisien Libere of Paris; Sud-Ouest of Bordeaux; La Voix
du Nord of Lille; Le Progres of Lyon; Le Provengal of
Marseille; and Le Dauphine Libere of Grenoble. Major weekly news magazines
include L Express and Le Nouvel Observateur.
France has several television and radio
networks, most of which are operated by independent government agencies. The
broadcasting system's income is largely provided by annual taxes on radios and
television sets. Almost all French households possess at least one radio and
most own a television set.
A government agency supervises France's
film industry. The agency's activities include giving financial aid to
producers, especially of experimental films and films of serious dramatic
value. The annual Cannes Film Festival, In Cannes, is the world's largest
international film event. There are about 4,700 cinemas throughout the country.
History
Early days. In ancient times, tribes of Celts and other peoples lived in what is now
France. The Romans called the region Gallia (Gaul). Roman armies began
to invade Caul in about 200 B.C. By 121 B.C, Rome controlled the Gallic land
along the Mediterranean Sea and in the Rhone Valley. Julius Caesar conquered
the entire region between 58 and 51 B.C. The people, called Cauls, soon
adopted Roman ways of life. They used the Latin language of the invaders. Gaul
prospered under Roman rule for hundreds of years, in spite of barbarian invasions
during the A.D. 200's and 300's. See Celts; Gaul.
Victory of the Franks. The border defences of the West Roman Empire began to crumble in the
A.D. 400's. Germanic tribes from the east, including Burgundians, Franks, and
Visigoths, crossed the Rhine River and entered Gaul. They killed many Gauls
and drove others west into what is now Brittany. Clovis, the king of the Salian
Franks, defeated the Roman governor of Gaul in 486 at Soissons.
Clovis then defeated other Germanic tribes in Gaul, and extended his kingdom.
He founded the Merovingian dynasty (a series of rulers from the same
family), and adopted Christianity. See Clovis I; Franks; Merovingian.
The rise of manorialism and feudalism. From the 600's to the 1000s, during the chaotic years of the early
Middle Ages, manors covered much of France. Manors were large estates governed
by owners called landlords or lords, who offered military
protection to peasants called serfs. Manorialism was a system of
organizing agricultural labour. See Manorialism; Serf; Middle Ages.
A political and military system called
feudalism began to appear in the 700's. A feudal lord gave his subjects land in
return for military and other services. Both the lord and his subjects, called vassals,
were aristocrats.
The land granted by a lord was called a fief.
Some small fiefs supported only one vassal. Other fiefs were quite large, such
as the province of Normandy. Manorialism and feudalism thrived until the 1100’s.
See Feudalism.
The Carolingian dynasty. By the mid-600's, the Merovingian kings had become weak rulers,
interested mainly in personal pleasures. Pepin of Herstal, the chief royal
adviser, gradually took over most of the royal powers. His son, Charles Martel,
extended the family's power. He received the title of Martel (the
Hammer) after defeating an invading Arab army in 732. The battle began near
Tours and ended near Poitiers. Charles Martel became king of the Franks
in all but title. See Charles Martel.
Charles Martel's son, Pepin the Short,
overthrew the last Merovingian ruler and became king of the Franks in 751. He
founded the Carolingian dynasty, and enlarged the Frankish kingdom. Pepin also
helped develop the political power of the pope by giving Pope Stephen II a large
gift of land north of Rome. See Papal States; Pepin the Short.
Pepin's son, Charlemagne, was one of the
mightiest conquerors of all time. After Charlemagne became king of the Franks,
he went on more than 50 military campaigns and expanded his kingdom far beyond
the borders of what is now France. He also extended the pope's lands. In 800,
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans. For the story of
Charlemagne and a map of his empire, see Charlemagne.
Charlemagne died in 814, and his three
grandsons later fought among themselves for control of his huge empire. They
divided it into three kingdoms in 843. In the Treaty of Verdun, one grandson,
Charles the Bald, received most of what is now France. The second kingdom
consisted of much that is now Germany. The third kingdom lay between the other
two. It consisted of a strip of land extending from the North Sea to central
Italy. The middle kingdom north of Italy was divided between the other two in
870. See Treaty of Verdun.
For many years,
the Capetian kings controlled only their royal domain
(land), between Paris and Orleans.
The great feudal
nobles ruled their own domains almost independently. The dukes of Normandy were
the most powerful of these nobles. Normandy became the most unified and best
administered feudal state in Europe. In 1066, the Norman
Duke William, later called William the Conqueror, invaded England and became
king. See Norman Conquest; William (I, the Conqueror)
Growth of royal power. The Capetian kings gradually added more
territory to their personal lands, and became stronger than any of their
rivals. In addition, every Capetian king for over 300 years had a son to succeed
him on the throne. As a result, the nobles' power to select kings died out. The
nobles were further weakened because many of them left France between 1100 and
1300 on crusades to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims. See Crusades.
Philip II,
called Philip Augustus, was the first great Capetian king. After he came to
the throne in 1180, he more than doubled the royal domain, and tightened his
control over the nobles. Philip built up a large body of government officials,
many of them from the middle classes in the towns. He also developed Paris as a
permanent, expanding capital. See Philip (II) of France.
The handsome Philip IV, called Philip the Fair, rebelled against the
pope's authority. He taxed church officials, and arrested a bishop and even
Pope Boniface VIII. Philip won public approval for his actions in the first Estates-General,
a body of Frenchmen that he called together in 1302. This group was the
ancestor of the French Parliament. In 1305, through Philip's influence, a
French archbishop was elected pope and became Pope Clement V. In 1309, Clement
moved the pope's court from Rome to Avignon, where it remained until 1377. See
Philip (IV); Pope (The troubles of the papacy).
Social conditions in Capetian France. By the 1100's, an economic revival in Europe
had put money back into use. Towns, which had lost their importance under
manorialism and feudalism, sprang up near main trade routes. At first, towns
were self-governing. Merchants and craftworkers settled in the towns and
formed organizations called guilds. Guilds played an important role in town
government (see Guilds). As royal government grew, towns became judicial and
administrative centres, as well as manufacturing and trading centres.
Although many
people moved to the towns in search of jobs, much of the population stayed in
the countryside. Agricultural methods were too primitive to support more than
a very small nonagricultural population. Thus, people were still needed on
farms to produce food. In both towns and the country, life expectancy was
short. Many children died before reaching the age of live.
A period of wars. The last king of the Capetian dynasty,
Charles IV, died in 1328 without a male heir. A cousin succeeded him as Philip
VI and started the Valois dynasty. King Edward III of England, a nephew of the
last Capetian king, also claimed the French throne. In 1337, Edward landed an
army in Normandy. This invasion started a series of wars between France and
England known as the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). The English won most of
the battles. But the French, after their victory at Orleans under Joan of Arc,
drove the English out of most of France. See Hundred Years' War; Joan of Arc,
Saint; Valois.
Louis XI laid
the foundations for absolute rule by French kings. During the Hundred Years'
War, the kings had lost much of their power to the French nobles.
Louis regained
this power. His greatest rival was Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Charles
died in battle in 1477 while trying to conquer the city of Nancy, and Louis
seized most of his vast lands. See Louis (XI).
Francis I
invaded northern Italy, and captured Milan in 1515. In a later Italian
campaign, Francis was defeated by Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. French
wars against the Holy Roman Empire continued into the reign of Henry II. The
Empire and England were allies. In 1558, this alliance gave Henry an excuse to
seize the port city of Calais, England's last possession in France. See Francis
(I) of France; Henry (II) of France.
Religious wars.
During the early 1500's, a religious movement called the Reformation developed
Protestantism in Europe. Many French people became Protestants. They followed
the teachings of John Calvin, and were called Huguenots. After 1540, the government persecuted the Huguenots severely, but they
grew in number and political strength. In the late 1500's, French Roman
Catholics and the Huguenots fought a series of civil wars that lasted over 30
years. In 1572, thousands of Huguenots were killed during the Massacre of
Saint Bartholomew's Day. See Calvin, John; Huguenots.
Henry III died
in 1589 without a male heir. He was followed by Henry of Navarre, who became
Henry IV and started the Bourbon dynasty. But Roman Catholic forces prevented
him from entering Paris because he was the leader of the Huguenots. In 1593,
Henry became a Roman Catholic to achieve peace. He entered the capital the next
year. In 1598, Henry signed the Edict of Nantes, which granted limited freedom
of worship to the Huguenots. See Bourbon; Henry (III and IV) of France.
The age of
absolutism. The power of the kings and their ministers
(high government officials) grew steadily from the 1500's to the 1700's. France
became strong, largely through the efforts of these ministers. The first
important minister was Maximilien de Bethune, Duke of Sully, who served Henry
IV. Sully promoted agriculture and such public works as roads and canals. He
reduced the taille, the chief tax on the common people. The actual
ruler behind Louis XIII was his prime minister, Ar- mand Jean du Plessis,
Cardinal Richelieu. Richelieu increased royal power more than any other
individual. See Richelieu, Cardinal.
Louis XIV was
the outstanding example of the absolute French king. He is said to have
boasted: "I am the State." After his prime minister died in 1661,
Louis declared that he would be his own prime minister. In 1685, Louis
cancelled the Edict of Nantes and began to persecute the Huguenots savagely.
About 200,000 Huguenots fled France, which weakened the country's economy.
Louis' minister of finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert, promoted a strong economy.
But the construction of Louis' magnificent palace at Versailles and a series of
major wars drained France's finances. Louis tried to rule supreme in Europe.
He was stopped by military alliances that included England, Spain, the Holy
Roman Empire, and other countries. See Grand Alliance; Louis XIV; Succession
wars (The war of the Spanish succession).
The gathering storm. By the 1700's, a government bureaucracy had
developed to manage a large standing royal army, as well as to collect taxes.
Royal courts upheld law and order. Lawyers and jurists bought their offices
from the king at very high prices. The king allowed those who bought the
highest judicial offices to call themselves nobles, and he granted them tax
exemptions.
This burdensome
system worked well enough to allow remarkable economic and population growth in
the 1700's. But the population growth exceeded agriculture's production
capacities, and food shortages and famines became common. Such growth also
strained the guild system that governed the activities of merchants and
craftworkers in the towns.
Burdened by the
needs of the military and unable to tax nobles or church lands, the government
was forced to borrow heavily, in 1786, the government proposed a new land tax
in order to avoid bankruptcy. Many urban lawyers, merchants, clerks, and
craftworkers, as well as some aristocrats, opposed any new taxes. The French
Revolution was born out of this crisis.
The French Revolution. To win support for new taxes, King Louis XVI
called a meeting of the Estates- General. The Estates-General was made up of
representatives from the three estates, or classes—the clergy, the nobility, and the
commoners. It opened on May 5,1789, at Versailles, near Paris. In June 1789,
members of the third estate—the commoners—declared themselves a National
Assembly, with full power to write a new constitution for France. The third
estate had as many representatives as the other two estates combined.
At first, Louis
XVI delayed taking action and began gathering troops around Paris to break up
the Assembly. However, many French people organized an armed resistance
movement in Paris. On July 14, 1789, a huge crowd of Parisians captured the
royal fortress called the Bastille. Louis XVI was forced to give in. By
September 1791, the Assembly had drafted a new constitution that made France a
constitutional, or limited, monarchy, with a one-house legislature.
The new
government did not last long. In April 1792 France went to
war against Austria and Prussia. These countries wished to restore the king to
his former position. In the summer of 1792, as foreign armies marched on
Paris, revolutionaries imprisoned Louis XVI and his family and overthrew the
monarchy. A National Convention, chosen through an election open to almost all
adult French males, opened on Sept. 21,1792, and declared France a republic.
Civil and
foreign wars pushed the new republican government to extreme and violent
measures. Radical leaders such as Maximilien Robespierre gained power. They
said that terror was necessary to preserve liberty. Thus, while the revolution
survived under radical leadership, it also sentenced many "enemies of the
republic" to death. Thousands of people were executed. In time, the radicals
began to struggle for power among themselves. Robespierre was condemned by his
enemies and executed. His death marked the end of the period called the Reign
of Terror. See Robespierre.
In 1795, a new
constitution was adopted that formed a government called the Directory. The
Directory, a five-man board, governed France from 1795 to 1799, during the last
half of the French Revolution. For more details on the causes, violence, and
reforms of the French Revolution, see French Revolution.
Napoleon. During the French Revolution, a young officer
named Napoleon Bonaparte rose through the ranks of the army. He was named a
general in 1793, and his power grew rapidly. In 1799, Napoleon overthrew the
revolutionary French government and seized control of France. Napoleon was an
excellent administrator. He created a strong, efficient central government and
revised and organized French law. He was also a military genius with great
ambition. By 1812, Napoleon's forces had conquered most of western and central
Europe. But maintaining control over this vast empire eventually overextended
French power, and Napoleon was forced to give up his throne in 1814. He
returned to rule France again for about three months in 1815 before his final
defeat at Waterloo. For the story of Napoleon's life and a map of his empire,
see Napoleon I.
The revolutions of 1830 and 1848. The Bourbon dynasty returned to power after
Napoleon's downfall. Charles X, who became king in 1824, tried to reestablish
the total power of the earlier French kings. He was overthrown in the July
Revolution of 1830. See Charles (X) of France; July Revolution; Louis (XVIII).
The
revolutionaries placed Louis Philippe on the throne. He belonged to the Orleans
branch of the Bourbon family. France was peaceful and prosperous during Louis
Philippe's reign. But the poorer classes became dissatisfied because only the
wealthy could vote or hold public office. The February Revolution of 1848 overthrew
the government and established the Second Republic. All Frenchmen received the
right to vote. See Louis Philippe; Revolution of 1848.
The voters
elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon, to a four-year term as
president in 1848. He seized greater power illegally in 1851, and declared
himself president for 10 years. In 1852, he estabished the Second Empire and
declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. See Napoleon III.
The Franco-Prussian War. During the 1860's, France became alarmed over
the growing strength of Prussia, France feared that a united Germany under
Prussian leadership would upset Europe's balance of power.
After a series
of disputes, France declared war on Prussia in 1870. Prussia defeated France
the next year. In the peace treaty following the war, France was forced to give
almost all of Alsace and part of Lorraine to the new German Empire. See
Franco-Prussian War.
The Third Republic. After Prussian victories in 1870, the French
revolted against Napoleon III. They established a provisional (temporary) republic, which became known as the Third Republic, and in
1871 elected a National Assembly. In 1875, the Assembly voted to continue the
republic, and wrote a new constitution.
French strength
and prosperity grew until World War I began in 1914. French explorers and soldiers won a
vast colonial empire in Africa and Asia. Only Great Britain had a larger
overseas empire. France strengthened its army, and formed a military alliance
with Russia in 1894 and the Entente Cordiale (cordial understanding) with Great Britain
in 1904. French industries expanded steadily, especially after 1895.
By the 1890rs,
most French people were reconciled to the Third Republic, but few were deeply
committed to it. An incident known as the Dreyfus affair finally forced the
nation to take sides on this issue. On Oct. 15, 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish
French army officer, was arrested on suspicion of spying for Germany. In December,
a military court found him guilty. Evidence of his innocence slowly trickled
out and eventually attracted much attention. Many people began to rally to
Dreyfus' side. They included Socialists representing the French working class,
moderate republicans, and other people with no political background.
These people
believed that the French army had acted arbitrarily in convicting Dreyfus and
feared that the republic was endangered. They made Dreyfus a symbol of civil
liberties and republican virtues and worked to get him a new trial. Opponents
of republican government and army supporters came together and denounced
Dreyfus and his supporters as antipatriotic.
A fight followed
that resulted in a strengthening of support for the republic. In 1906,
France's highest court reviewed the Dreyfus case and declared Dreyfus
innocent. See Dreyfus, Alfred.
World War I. During the early 1900s, France and Germany
had disagreements over colonial territories, and each country feared an attack
by the other. In 1907, France established a diplomatic agreement called the
Triple Entente with Great Britain and Russia. The French prepared for war. Soon
after the start of World War I (1914-1918), Germany invaded France. The Germans
hoped to defeat France quickly. But by late 1914, the French army had halted
the German advance. For 3½ years, the opposing forces fought from trenches that
stretched across northeastern France and Belgium.
The worst
fighting faced by the French army during the war took place around the city of
Verdun in 1916. In February, the German army launched a major attack to take
Verdun. For five months, intense fighting involved hundreds of thousands of
troops. At first, the Germans made rapid progress. But they were slowly rolled
back. In July, the Germans halted their unsuccessful attack.
The Battle of
Verdun became a symbol of France's will to resist. But the battle had also
drained the country. From the middle of 1917, France's allies began handling
most of the war's major battles. The war produced enormously high casualties,
partly as a result of the destructive powers of new weapons such as the machine
gun and poison gas. Millions of French servicemen were killed or wounded. For
more on the story of France in the war, see World War I.
Between the World Wars. In the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919,
France recovered Alsace and the German part of Lorraine from Germany. France
and other Allied nations also were awarded reparations (payments for war damages) from Germany. Germany fell behind in making
these payments. As a result,
French and
Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr Valley of Germany in 1923. After Germany
agreed to keep up the payments, the troops were withdrawn in 1925. See Alsace-Lorraine;
Ruhr (History); Versailles, Treaty of.
The French did
much to reestablish good relations with Germany. France joined other Allied
nations and Germany in the Rhineland Security Pact of 1925. This agreement in
part guaranteed the security of the French-German border. France reduced
Germany's reparations, and dropped various controls over Germany set up by the
Treaty of Versailles. Suggestions by Aristide Briand, the French foreign
minister, led to the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928 (see Kellogg-Briand
Peace Pact). It was signed by France, Germany, and 13 other countries. But in
1929, France began building the Maginot Line as a fortified defence against Germany.
During the
1930's, the worldwide economic depression and the rise of fascist leader Adolf
Hitler in Germany caused serious political unrest in France. In 1936, at a
time of widespread strikes, a government called the Popular Front came to power
in France. It made many promises to striking workers and tried to establish a
strong position against fascism. But in 1938, the government began to give in
to the demands of Nazi Germany. As part of this policy of appeasement, France signed the Munich Agreement, which forced Czechoslovakia to give
territory to Germany (see Munich Agreement).
World War II began when Germany invaded Poland on Sept.
1,1939. Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. On
May 10,1940, the Germans attacked Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
They invaded France through Belgium on May 12, passing northwest of the Maginot
Line. The Germans launched a major attack to the south on June 5, and entered
Paris on June 14. On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany. The
Germans occupied the northern two-thirds of France, and southern France
remained under French control. Southern France was governed at Vichy by Marshal
Henri Philippe Petain, who largely cooperated with the Germans. See Petain,
Henri Philippe.
After France
fell, General Charles de Gaulle fled to London. He invited all French patriots
to join a movement called Free
France, and continue
fighting the Germans. This resistance movement spread throughout France. Some
groups of French people called Maquis hid in hilly areas and fought the Germans.
After Allied troops landed in French North Africa in November 1942,
The Fourth Republic. In October 1945, the French people voted to have the
National Assembly write a new constitution creating the Fourth Republic. In
this election, French women voted for the first time. De Gaulle resigned as
president in January 1946, over disagreements with the Assembly. The new
constitution, much like that of
the Third Republic, went into effect in October 1946. De Gaulle opposed it
because it did not provide strong executive powers.
France received
considerable aid from the United States, and rebuilt its cities and industries,
which had been badly damaged during the war. But political troubles at home and
colonial revolts overseas slowed the country's economic recovery. France played
an important part in the Cold War between the Communist cot tries and the
Western countries (see Cold War). The Communist Party was one of the largest in
France after the war, and it controlled the chief trade unions. Communist-led
strikes in 1947 and 1948 crippled production across the country. But in 1949,
France became a char member of the anti-Communist North Atlantic Treaty
ganization (NATO).
The first revolt
by a French colony began in Indochina in 1946. Indochina was eventually divided
into Cambodia, Laos, and North and South Vietnam. The French withdrew from
Indochina in 1954 after heavy losses.' Indochina
(French Indochina).
Later in 1954,
revolution broke out in the French territory of Algeria. To prevent revolutions
in Morocco and Tunisia, France made them independent in 1956. Other French
colonies in Africa received independence later. But France refused to give up
Algeria, the home of a most a million French settlers. France gradually built
its army in Algeria to about 500,000 men, and the war continued throughout the
1950's. See Algeria (The Algerian Revolution).
In spite of the
costly colonial wars, France's economic grew rapidly. By the late 1950's, it
had broken all French production records. The boom developed with U.S. and a
series of national economic plans begun in 19 French businessmen and government
officials were terminated to prove that France's greatness had not disappeared.
Between 1947 and 1958, France helped form several economic organizations that
were important steps toward a European confederation. For discus; of these
organizations, see Europe, Council of; European Union.
The Fifth Republic. By 1958, large numbers of French people thought
it was useless to continue fighting in Algeria. But the idea of giving up
Algeria angered many French army leaders and settlers in the colony. They
rebelled in May 1958 and threatened to overthrow the French government by force
unless it continue fighting. In a compromise solution, de Gaulle was called back
to power as prime minister, with emergency powers for six months. His
government prepared a new institution, which the voters approved on Sept. 28,
1058.
This
constitution, which established the Fifth Republic gave the president greater
power than ever before sharply reduced the power of Parliament. In December the
Electoral College elected de Gaulle to a seven- term as president.
France under de Gaulle. De Gaulle's government continued the war in
Algeria, hoping the Algerian would agree to a compromise settlement that provided
some French control. By 1961, however, the government realized that only
Algerian independence would end the rebellion. Peace talks began in 1961 and ended with a cease
fire in March 1962. At de Gaulle's urging, French voters approved Algerian
independence in April. Algeria became independent on July 3, 1962, and most French
settlers there returned to France.
Algerian
independence set off a wave of bombings and murders in France and
Algeria by the Secret Army Organization
(OAS). This group, which included many
army officers, accused de Gaulle of betraying France by ending the war. The OAS
tried several times to kill de Gaulle. Its leaders were eventually captured and
sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
After the
Algerian crisis, some French politicians tried to weaken de Gaulle's strong
rule. They wanted to reestablish the former power of Parliament and reduce
that of the president. But de Gaulle made the presidency even stronger. Fie
declared that the president should have nationwide support and be elected by
the people, not by the Electoral College. In 1962, the voters approved a
constitutional amendment that provided for such elections.
De Gaulle was
reelected to a second seven-year term in 1965. French foreign policy became his
main interest. De Gaulle declared that the French were "a race
created for brilliant deeds," but that they could not achieve greatness
with their "destiny in the hands of foreigners." He hoped to make
France the leader of an alliance of Western European countries. This alliance
would be free of U.S. or Soviet influence. Instead of relying on American
protection through NATO, de Gaulle developed an independent French
nuclear-weapons programme. In 1966, de Gaulle removed all French troops from
NATO. Fie also declared that all NATO military bases and troops had to be
removed from France by April 1967.
France withdrew from NATO militarily, but it remained a member politically.
In 1957, France
and other Western European nations formed the European Community, also called
the European Common Market. De Gaulle believed France could work within this
economic organization to become stronger and more influential in Western
Europe. In 1963, he prevented Great Britain from joining the Common Market. He
considered Britain a rival for leadership in Western Europe. He also believed
Britain's ties with the United States would give America too much influence on
Europe's economy.
In the late
1960's, many French people became dissatisfied with de Gaulle's government.
This dissatisfaction led to a severe national crisis in May 1968. Students
staged demonstrations in Paris, some of which erupted into violent clashes with
the police. Demonstrations, many accompanied by violence, spread throughout
France, and millions of workers joined in by going on strike. The country was
paralysed for more than two weeks, and many people expected the overthrow of de
Gaulle's government and possible civil war. But de Gaulle managed to bring the
situation under control by the end of May. He called a general election in
June, and his supporters won more than 70 per cent of the seats in Parliament.
However, de Gaulle's reputation as a leader had been seriously damaged by what
the French called the "events of May." In April 1969, de Gaulle asked
for minor constitutional reforms and said he would resign if the voters did not
approve them. The French people voted against the reforms, and de Gaulle
resigned.
France after de Gaulle. Georges Pompidou was elected president in
June 1969. He had been de Gaulle's prime minister, and he promised to continue
de Gaulle's policies. But Pompidou changed de Gaulle's foreign pol icy by
cooperating more closely with the United States. He also improved relations
with Great Britain. In 1971, Pompidou and British Prime Minister Edward Heath
agreed on Britain's entry into the Common Market.
At home,
Pompidou's government faced economic problems. The country's industrial growth
began to slow down, unemployment increased, and inflation rose to a high level.
Part of the economic trouble resulted from the worldwide oil crisis in 1973.
Oil-producing countries raised the price of oil sharply, and France was
seriously affected because it imports most of its petroleum.
Pompidou died in
April 1974. The Gaullist Party, which had supported de Gaulle and Pompidou,
split into a number of separate groups in the presidential election that
followed in May. These groups supported various candidates. As a result, the
Gaullist Party was weakened. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, head of the Independent
Republican Party, was elected president.
The Gaullists
and a group of parties that supported Giscard won a majority of the seats in
French parliamentary elections held in 1978. Those parties formed a coalition
government. The leftist Socialist and Communist parties were their main
opponents.
The loss of most
of its colonial empire has relieved France of the cost of governing and
developing the colonies. However, France still gives economic, technical, and
military aid to many of its former colonies.
Recent developments. Politically, France moved sharply to the left
in 1981. The voters elected Francois Mitterrand of the Socialist Party as
president. In addition, the Socialists won a majority of the seats in parliamentary
elections held in 1981. The elections gave France its first leftist government
since 1958. Moderates and conservatives had controlled all the governments
since then. Under the moderates and conservatives, the government owned some
French businesses. The new Socialist leaders greatly increased government owner
ship of businesses.
From the time of
Napoleon I, France's departments were administered by prefects—officials
appointed by, and responsible to, the national government. But the socialist government
gave locally elected councils responsibility for the departments. In 1982, the
government changed the title prefect to commissioner.
The 1981
elections resulted in a sharp decline in the number of parliamentary seats held
by Communists, the Communists had supported Mitterrand in the presidential
race. He appointed Communists to four minor posts in the 44-member cabinet,
marking the first Communist participation in the cabinet since 1947. In 1984
the Communists resigned after disagreements with the government over economic
policies.
The Socialists
lost their parliamentary majority in the 1986 elections. Conservatives gained
control of parliament. Mitterrand remained president, but he named Jacques
Chirac, a conservative, as prime minister. Chirac gained much influence in the
government. In the 1981 elections, Mitterrand waged a successful campaign
against Chirac and won a second term as president. Shortly after his election,
Mitterrand dissolved the National Assembly. In new legislative elections, the
Socialists and their allies won a slight majority. As a result, in 1988,
Mitterrand appointed Michel Rocard, a Socialist to replace Jacques Chirac as
prime minister. Rocard's government followed social and economic policies quite
similar to those favoured by moderates and conservatives. Rocard resigned in
1991 and was replaced the former European affairs minister, Edith Cresson. She became
France's first woman prime minister. However, she was an unpopular choice, and
she resigned in 1992. She was succeeded by Pierre Beregovoy.
The general
election held in March 1993 resulted in an overwhelming victory for the
conservatives. The Gaullist RPR party and the centre-right Union for French
Democracy (UDFI together took 484 seats in the 577-seat French parliament.
Socialist representation was reduced to 70 seats. Former finance minister
Edouard Balladu Gaullist, succeeded Beregovoy as prime minister. Mitterrand's
term of office ended in 1995, and RPR candidate Jacques Chirac was elected
president. Chirac appointed Alain Juppe, of the RPR, prime minister.
Like all modern
countries, France has economic and social problems that remain unsolved. Large
number immigrants from Africa and southern Europe live in crowded city slums
and in large apartment blocks or the outskirts of cities. Elderly people on
fixed income and farmers whose farms are too small to modernize barely manage
to make ends meet in times of inflation. Unemployment is a major problem. Young
people suffered from unemployment more than any other group.
Despite its
economic problems, however, France’s overall standard of living is higher today
than ever before. Most French people own such material goods as cars, refrigerators,
telephones, and washing machines. Social security laws give workers some
protection against unemployment, illness, and old age.
France ranks among the world leaders in
total industrial production and in the export of agricultural products. Nuclear
power plants are being built to relieve France from dependence on imported
fuels. The army has been modernized, and France has its own nuclear weapons.
Outlines:
Government: National
government, local government, politics, courts, and armed forces.
People: Population, ancestry, and
language.
Way of life: City
life, rural life, food and drink, recreation, holidays, religion, education,
museum and libraries.
Arts: The Middle Ages, The
Renaissance, Baroque and rococo art, French classical art, The age of reason,
Romanticism, Realism and neutralism, Impressionism, and The 1900’s
The land
Climate
Economy: Natural resources, service
industries, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, mining, fishing, energy
sources, foreign trade, transportation, and communication.
History.
Questions
What major changes in French government
were made by Charles de Gaulle?
How did France get its name?
What is the principal religion of France?
How did the Romans influence French ways
of life?
What is France's chief crop? What is
France's chief mineral deposit?
Who seized control after the French Revolution?
What are French secondary schools called?
What led to De Gaulle's return to power in
1958?
What is France's cultural and economic
centre?
How does France rank in foreign trade?
French Revolution
Destruction of the Symbols of the Monarchy,
Place de la Concorde, August JO, 1793, an oil painting on canvas by Pierre-Antoine Demachy; Musee Carnavalet,
Paris.
Hatred of the monarchy in France increased because of King Louis XVI's efforts to end the
revolution. Louis was executed on Jan. 21, 1793, and the revolution became
more extreme. About seven months later, a crowd in Paris burned a crown and a
throne that had belonged to the king.
The Death of Marat i1793), an oil painting on canvas by Jacques Louis David; The Royal
Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium.
The death of
Marat spurred on the Reign of Terror. Charlotte Corday, a Girondist
sympathizer, fatally stabbed the Jacobin leader while he took a bath.
French Revolution brought about great changes in the society and government of France. The
revolution, which lasted from 1789 to 1799, also had far-reaching effects on
the rest of Europe. It introduced democratic ideals to France but did not make
the nation a democracy. However, it ended supreme rule by French kings and
strengthened the middle class. After the revolution began, no European kings,
nobles, or other privileged groups could ever again take their powers for
granted or ignore the ideals of liberty and equality.
The revolution began with a government
financial crisis but quickly became a movement of reform and violent change.
In one of the early events, a crowd in Paris captured the Bastille, a royal
fortress and prison, which had become a symbol of oppression. A series of
elected legislatures then took control of the government. King Louis XVI and
his wife, Marie Antoinette, were executed. Thousands of others met the same
fate in a period called the Reign of Terror. The revolution ended when Napoleon
Bonaparte, a French general, took over the government.
Background. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution
in France. These conditions included much dissatisfaction among the lower and
middle classes, interest in new ideas about government, and financial problems
caused by the costs of wars.
Legal divisions among social groups that
had existed for hundreds of years created much discontent. According to the
law, French society consisted of three groups called estates.
Members of the clergy made up the first estate, nobles the second, and the rest
of the people the third. The peasants, who earned very little, formed the
largest group in the third estate. The third estate also included the working
people of the cities and a large and prosperous middle class made up chiefly of
merchants, lawyers, and government officials.
The third estate resented certain
advantages of the first two estates. The clergy and nobles did not have to pay
most taxes. The third estate had to provide almost all the country's tax
revenue. Many members of the middle class were also troubled by their social
status. They were among the most economically important people in French
society but were not recognized as such because they belonged to the third
estate.
The new ideas about government challenged
France's absplute monarchy. Under this system, the king had almost
unlimited authority. Fie governed by divine right— that is, the
monarch's right to rule was thought to come from God. There were checks on the
king, but these came mainly from a few groups of aristocrats in the par-
lements (high courts). During the 1700s, French writers called philosophes
and philosophers from other countries raised new ideas about freedom. Some of
these
thinkers, including Jean Jacques Rousseau,
suggested that the right to govern came from the people.
The financial crisis developed because
France had gone deeply into debt to finance fighting in the Seven Years' War
(1756-1763) and the American Revolution (1775-1783). By 1788, the government
was almost bankrupt. The Parlement of Paris insisted that King Louis XVI could
borrow more money or raise taxes only by calling a meeting of the
Estates-Ceneral. This body, also called States-Ceneral, was made up of
representatives of the three estates, and had last met in 1614. Unwillingly,
the king called the meeting.
The revolution begins. The States-General opened on May 5,1789, at Versailles, near Paris. Most
members of the first two estates wanted each of the three estates to take up
matters and vote on them separately by estate. The third estate had as many
representatives as the other two estates combined. It insisted that all the estates
be merged into one national assembly and that each representative have one
vote. The third estate also wanted the States-General to write a constitution.
The king and the first two estates refused
the demands of the third estate. In June 1789, the representatives of the
third estate declared themselves the National Assembly of France. They
gathered at a tennis court and pledged not to disband until they had written a
constitution. This vow became known as the Oath of the Tennis Court. Louis XVI
then allowed the three estates to join together as the National Assembly. But
he began to gather troops around Paris to break up the Assembly.
Meanwhile, the masses of France also took
action. On July 14,1789, a huge crowd of Parisians rushed to the Bastille. They
believed they would find arms and ammunition there for use in defending
themselves against the king's army. The people captured the Bastille and began
to tear it down. At the same time, leaders in Paris formed a revolutionary city
government. Massive peasant uprisings against nobles also broke out in the
countryside. A few nobles decided to flee France, and many more followed
during the next five years. These people
were called emigres because
they emigrated. The uprisings in town and countryside saved the National Assembly
from being disbanded by the king.
The National Assembly. In August 1789, the Assembly adopted the Decrees of August 4 and the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The decrees abolished
some feudal dues that the peasants owed their landlords, the tax advantages of
the clergy and nobles, and regional privileges. The declaration guaranteed
the same basic rights to all citizens, including "liberty, property,
security, and resistance to oppression," as well as representative
government.
The Assembly later drafted a constitution
that made France a limited monarchy with a one-house legislature. France was
divided into 83 regions called departments, each with elected councils for
local government. But the right to vote and hold public office was limited to
citizens who paid a certain amount in taxes.
The Assembly seized the property of the
Roman Catholic Church. The church lands amounted to about a tenth of the
country's land. Much of the church land was sold to rich peasants and members
of the middle class. Money from the land sales was used to pay some of the
nation's huge debt. The Assembly then reorganized the Catholic Church in
France, required the election of priests and bishops by the voters, and closed
the Church's monasteries and convents. Complete religious tolerance was
extended to Protestants and Jews. The Assembly also reformed the court system
by requiring the election of judges. By September 1791, the National Assembly
believed that the revolution was over. It disbanded at the end of the month to
make way for the newly elected Legislative Assembly.
The Legislative Assembly. The new Assembly, made up mainly of representatives of the middle class,
opened on Oct. 1,1791. It soon faced several challenges. The government's
stability depended on cooperation between the king and the legislature. But
Louis XVI remained opposed to the revolution. He asked other rulers for help
in stopping it, and plotted with aristocrats and emigres to overthrow the new
government. In addition, public opinion became bitterly divided. The revolution's
religious policy angered many Catholics. Other people demanded stronger
measures against opponents of the revolution.
The new government also faced a foreign
threat. In April 1792, it went to war against Austria and Prussia. These
countries wished to restore the powers of the king and emigres. The foreign
armies defeated French forces in the early fighting and invaded France. Louis
XVI and his supporters clearly hoped for the victory of the invaders. As a
result, angry revolutionaries in Paris and other areas demanded that the king
be dethroned.
In August 1792, the people of Paris
imprisoned Louis XV! and his family. Louis's removal ended the constitutional
monarchy. The Assembly then called fora National Convention to be elected on
the basis of universal adult male suffrage, and for a new constitution.
Meanwhile, French armies suffered more
military defeats. Parisians feared that the invading armies would soon reach
the city. Parisians also feared an uprising by the large number of people in
the city's prisons. In the first week of September, small numbers of Parisians
took the law into their own hands and executed more than 1,000 prisoners. These
executions, called the September Massacres, turned many people in France and
Europe against the revolution. A victory by the French Army at Valmy on
September 20 helped end the crisis.
The National Convention. The king's removal led to a new stage in the revolution. The first stage
had been a liberal middle-class reform movement based on a constitutional
monarchy. The second stage was organized around principles of democracy. The
National Convention, chosen through an election open to nearly all adult
French males, opened on Sept. 21,1792, and declared France a republic. The
republic's official slogan was "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."
Louis XVI was placed on trial for
betraying the country. The National Convention found him guilty of treason,
and a slim majority voted for the death penalty. The king was beheaded on the
guillotine on Jan. 21,1793.
The revolution gradually grew more
radical—that is, more open to extreme and violent change. Radical leaders came
into prominence. In the Convention, they were known as the Mountain because
they sat on the high benches at the rear of the hall. Leaders of the Mountain
were Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Jacques Danton, and Jean Paul Marat. Their
bitter opponents were known as the Gironde because several came from a
department of that name. The majority of the deputies in the Convention was
known as the Plain. The Mountain dominated a powerful political club called
the Jacobin Club.
Growing disputes between the Mountain and
the Gironde led to a struggle for power, and the Mountain won. In June 1793,
the Convention expelled and arrested the leading Girondists. In turn, the
Girondists' supporters rebelled against the Convention. Charlotte Corday, a
Girondist sympathizer, assassinated Jean Paul Marat in July 1793. In time, the
Convention's forces defeated the Girondists' supporters. The Jacobin leaders
created a new citizens' army to fight rebellion in France and a war against
other European countries. Compulsory military service provided the troops, and
rapid promotion of talented soldiers provided the leadership for this strong
army.
Terror and equality. The Jacobin government was both dictatorial and democratic. It was
dictatorial because it suspended civil rights and political freedom during the
emergency. The Convention's Committee of Public Safety took over actual rule of
France, controlling local governments, the armed forces, and other institutions.
The committee governed during the most
terrible period of the revolution. Its leaders included Robespierre, Lazare
Carnot, and Bertrand Barere. The Convention declared a policy of terror
against rebels, supporters of the king or the Gironde, and anyone else who
publicly disagreed with official policy.
In time, hundreds of thousands of suspects
filled the nation's jails. Courts handed down about 18,000 death sentences in
what was called the Reign of Terror. Paris became accustomed to the rattle of
two-wheeled carts called tumbrels as they carried people to the
guillotine. Victims of this period included Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis
XVI.
The Jacobins, however, also followed
democratic principles and extended the benefits of the revolution beyond the
middle class. Shopkeepers, peasants, and other workers actively participated in
political life for the first time. The Convention authorized public assistance
for the poor, free primary education for boys and girls, price controls to
protect consumers from rapid inflation, and taxes based on income. It also
called for the abolition of slavery in France's colonies. Most of these
reforms, however, were never fully carried out because of later changes in the
government.
The revolution ends. In time, the radicals began to struggle for power among themselves.
Robespierre succeeded in having Danton and other former leaders executed.
Many people in France wished to end the Reign of Terror, the Jacobin
dictatorship, and the democratic revolution. Robespierre's enemies in the
Convention finally attacked him as a tyrant on July 27 (9 Thermidor by the new
French calendar), 1794. He was executed the next day. The Reign of Terror ended
after Robespierre's death. Conservatives gained control of the Convention and
drove the Jacobins from power. Most of the democratic reforms of the past two
years were quickly abolished in what became known as the Thermidorian Reaction.
The Convention, which had adopted a
democratic constitution in 1793, replaced that document with a new one in 1795.
The government formed under this constitution was called the Directory,
referring to the five-man executive directory that governed along with a two-
house legislature. France was still a republic, but once again only citizens
who paid a certain amount in taxes could vote.
Meanwhile, France was winning victories on
the battlefield. French armies had pushed back the invaders and crossed into
Belgium, Germany, and Italy.
The Directory began meeting in October
1795. But it was troubled by war, economic problems, and opposition from
supporters of monarchy and former Jacobins. In October 1799, a number of
political leaders plotted to overthrow the Directory. They needed military
support and turned to Napoleon Bonaparte, a French general who had become a
hero in a military campaign in Italy in 1796 and 1797. Bonaparte seized control
of the government on Nov. 9 (18 Brumaire in the revolutionary calendar),
1799, ending the revolution.
The French Revolution brought France into
opposition with much of Europe. The monarchs who ruled the other countries
feared the spread of democratic ideals. The revolution left the French people
in extreme disagreement about the best form of government for their country.
By 1799, most were probably weary of political conflict altogether. But the
revolution created the long- lasting foundations for a unified state, a strong
central government, and a free society dominated by the middle class and the
landowners.
Related articles:
Biographies
Corday, Charlotte
Danton, Georges Jacques
Du Barry, Madame
Lafayette, Marquis de
Louis (XVI)
Marat, Jean Paul
Marie Antoinette
Mirabeau, Comte de
Napoleon I
Robespierre
Roland de la Platiere, M. J.
Sieyes, Emmanuel Joseph
Talleyrand
Background and causes
Bastille
Divine right of kings
Estates-General
Rights of Man, Declaration of the
Rousseau, Jean J.
Versailles
The revolution
Emigres
Girondiss
Guillotine
Jacobins
Marseillaise
Other related articles
Clothing (The 1700's)
Swiss guard
Tricolor
Tuileries
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