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Although there are archaeological remains that date
back to the beginning of human presence in the
Paleolithic era (100,000 years), France's origin as
a country can be traced back to 1200 BC. C., year in
which the occupation of the territory between the
English channel and the Alps and the Atlantic ocean
and the Rhine river by the Gauls began (people of
Celtic origin), that was baptized of Gaul. In 121
a. The Romans initiated the conquest of Gaul, being
concluded between 58 and 50 a. By the emperor Julius
Caesar.
With the decline of the Roman Empire, Gaul began to
be occupied in the 5th century by the Germanic
peoples, of which the Salaries, who around the 6th
century, dominated most of Gaul, stand
out. Charlemagne assumed the regency of Gaul in the
8th century, initiating a series of conquests that
extended his dominance towards the east and south,
and when Charlemagne attributed his name to the
empire he had built (Rome, 25 December of the year
800), this was the greatest European power of the
time, a status that contributed to the excellent
relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which
is due to the support and effort that Charlemagne
gave to create a papal state (774).
With the death of Charlemagne (814), the empire was
divided into kingdoms, the westernmost being named Francia
Occidentalis, a territory that in 1328 included
most of France today, except Flanders, Brittany,
Burgundy and Aquitaine . This year, with King Philip
VI, the Valois dynasty began, which consolidated
itself as a royal family during and after the
Hundred Years War (1337-1453) between France and
England, a country that lost its French possessions
except the port city of Calais, in northeastern
France; at the end of the 15th century, with the
conquest of Brittany and Burgundy, French territory
approached its current configuration.
The 16th century was marked by countless civil wars
of a religious nature, provoked by the expansion of
Protestantism, and only with the accession to the
throne of Henry IV of Burgundy (a Protestant who
would eventually convert to Christianity) in 1589
was it possible to put an end to the conflict. With
internal instability resolved, France quickly became
a strong European and overseas power during the 17th
century, thanks to royal advisers such as Cardinals
Richelieu and Mazarino.
This situation allowed the monarchy to harden,
especially with the reign of Louis XIV, self-styled
Rei-Sol, who was responsible for the institution of
the absolutist monarchy. However, popular discontent
in the face of the serious economic crisis (caused
by successive overseas military defeats) and the
excessive privileges of the clergy and nobility led,
in 1789, the representatives of the people in the
Courts called by Louis XVI to proclaim the
constitution of the Assembly National, the first
step towards constitutional monarchy. However, Louis
XVI was not willing to collaborate with this
political reform, provoking a violent reaction on
the part of the population, whose climax was
registered with the seizure of the Bastille on July
14, 1789. However, the weakness of successive
governments paved the way for Napoleon, first as
consul (1799-1804), then as emperor (1804-14). The
failure of his expansionist ambitions provoked his
overthrow and restored the monarchy, which remained
in force until the French defeat in the
Franco-German War in 1871 (from 1848 to 1852 the
Second Republic was reestablished under the
presidency of Luís Napoleão Bonaparte, who was
became emperor of France in 1852).
After the strengthening of the Third Republic
through the 1879 elections, France did not find
stability until 1899, with the rise to power of a
coalition between the Radical Party and the Moderate
Party, allowing for a period of economic and social
development that would be interrupted with World War
I, which won. This victory, achieved with enormous
human and material sacrifices, nevertheless brought
many dividends through compensation paid by
Germany. And it would be these damages to be the
basis for Germany's resurgence as a threatening
power, thanks to the growing nationalism in German
society. In 1939 World War II began and in 1940
Germany invaded France, removing President Albert
Lebrun and instituting the Vichy collaborationist
regime under the leadership of Philippe Pétain.
In the 1950s, two scenarios stand out: the country's
rapid economic development, whose growth rate
simultaneously equaled that recorded by Germany and
exceeded the European average; and the proliferation
of independence movements in the different French
colonies, many of which led to situations of open
war between France and those movements. This last
situation would be the basis of the internal
political instability verified at the end of the
50's, due to the action, namely, of the Algerian
extremist groups. This instability allowed the
political reappearance of Charles de Gaulle, who,
under his halo as a great hero of the Second World
War, assumed himself before the French as the only
one capable of putting an end to the current
situation, which favored the acceptance of his
concepts about the executive functioning of the
country,
When in 1962, after the end of the colonial wars,
party leaders began planning to restore the National
Assembly to the powers granted in 1959, Charles de
Gaulle decided to carry out his own constitutional
review, which included the election by universal
suffrage of the president of the República, which
was approved in a referendum held on November 28,
1962, followed by the reelection of Charles de
Gaulle in 1965, in which he had as opponent François
Mitterrand. However, despite political and financial
consolidation, both internally and externally, in
May 1968 Charles de Gaulle was confronted with
serious social disturbances, in a first phase, of
student origin, developing for trade union
movements, which disturbed the whole of France and,
finally, led to the dissolution of the National
Assembly by Gaulle's decision. The consequent early
elections gave the Gaullists a huge victory.
However, de Gaulle decided to put in a referendum a
series of constitutional amendments and, implicitly,
his prestige, ending up defeated and, consequently,
leaving office. In spite of everything, the
presidential system imposed by Charles de Gaulle has
remained since then. The Gaullists remained in power
with the election of Georges Pompidou, but in 1974
they lost in favor of the conservative candidate,
Giscard d'Estaing, elections from which the
socialist candidate, François Mitterrand, was also
defeated. This party leader would eventually win the
1981 elections, thanks to the reforms proposed to
the electorate: the nationalization of a large
sector of the economy (including private banks and
large industries), administrative decentralization
in favor of local and regional executives and the
increase in social benefits (pensions, reforms,
etc.), among others. These reforms were implemented
after the socialist victory for the National
Assembly (which had been dissolved by Mitterrand).
Although these measures were beneficial in the early
years, the international crisis prevented the
complete success of this reform program, undermining
the popularity of the socialists, which would lead
to Jacques Chirac's victory in the 1986 legislative
elections.
France then faced the possibility of a political
crisis stemming from the cohabitation between a
socialist president and a right-wing prime minister,
but this did not happen thanks to the executive
freedom that Mitterrand granted Chirac, opting for
absolute respect for the constitutional role granted
to the president. This strategy would give Miterrand
victory in the 1988 elections, in which he defeated
Jacques Chirac, whose popularity had declined in the
previous two years because of his policy of
reversing the socialist reforms of the beginning of
the decade.
Mitterrand's second term of office had as major
concern France's political and economic role within
the European Community, especially in view of the
strengthening of the EC planned for 1992. This
explains the policy of approximation carried out by
France to Germany, in what became known as
"Paris-Bonn Hub". The course of this mandate proved
to be painful for the French president, not only
because of the doubts raised about his possible
collaboration with the Vichy Government (1940-44),
but also because of his prolonged illness, which
would lead to his death early 1996.
A series of corruption scandals involving members of
the Socialist Government underpinned France's
political upheaval, culminating in Jacques Chirac's
victory in the 1995 presidential election.
In the French presidential elections of June 2002,
Jacques Chirac was elected with more than 80% of
votes, although Le Pen, a candidate from the extreme
right, had reached the second round. In the 2004
French regional elections, the left defeated Jacques
Chirac's center-right, although these elections did
not affect the composition of the French parliament
elected in 2002.
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