France Country History

YEAR

EVENT

BC 51	Julius Caesar completed the Roman conquest of Gaul.
AD 732	Frankish ruler Charles Martel halted the advance of Muslim armies in Europe, routing them between Tours and Poitiers.
800	Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans. After his death his kingdom was divided between France and the Holy Roman Empire.
1309-1377	Avignon served as the seat of the papal court.
1453	France defeated England in the Hundred Years' War.
1643-1715	Louis XIV ruled France. Absolute royal authority was consolidated during his reign.
1789-1799	The French Revolution overthrew the monarchy. France became involved in a series of wars with European powers that lasted until 1815.
1804	Napoleon I, who took power in 1799, declared the First Empire in Paris.
1814	Napoleon was defeated and the monarchy was restored. A year later Napoleon returned to power, but was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
1848	Revolution led to the declaration of the Second Republic.
1852	Napoleon III declared the Second Empire.
1870-1871	Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, ending the Second Empire. The Third Republic was founded.
1900	Paris hosted II Olympic Games.
1914-1918	France fought on the side of the Allies during World War I. Much of the war was fought on French soil.
1924	Paris hosted VIII Olympic Games; Chamonix hosted I Winter Olympics.
1940	Germany invaded France and occupied about two-thirds of the country during World War II (1939-1945). The unoccupied zone, Vichy France, came under the control of Marshal Henri Pétain, who largely collaborated with the Germans.
1946	After World War II, France adopted a new constitution and the Fourth Republic was founded.
1957	France was a founding member of the European Economic Community.
1958	Charles de Gaulle, who came out of retirement to address the crisis over the French war with Algeria, was elected president after a new constitution established the Fifth Republic.
1962	France granted independence to Algeria after a long and bloody civil war with the colony.
1968	Unrest by students set off a general strike throughout France, which helped bring about de Gaulle's resignation the following year. Grenoble hosted X Winter Olympics.
1981	The Socialist Party, led by François Mitterrand, came to power in the general elections. Mitterrand was re-elected to another seven-year term as president in 1988.
1992	Albertville hosted XVI Winter Olympics.
1993	The Socialist government was beset by corruption scandals, and was defeated in the general elections by a rightist coalition; Edouard Balladur became prime minister.
1994	The rail tunnel under the English Channel was completed, linking France and Britain.
1995	François Mitterrand retired as president after two terms in office, and was succeeded by Rally for the Republic party leader Jacques Chirac. The French government provoked widespread opposition for its resumption of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific.
1996	Sales of French beef plummeted following revelations that BSE-infected cattle had been exported to France.
1997	The Socialist Party, in alliance with the Communist and Green parties, won a crushing victory in the parliamentary elections, ushering in a period of cohabitation with the right-wing president, Jacques Chirac. Lionel Jospin, the leader of the Socialist Party, became prime minister.
1998	Host nation for the tournament, France won football's World Cup.
1999	France became a founder member of the single European currency, the Euro.
2001	Corsica Bill on future autonomy of the island was passed.
2002	On January 1, France adopted Euro notes and coins. The established pattern of French politics was shaken in a presidential election that saw the far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen beat Socialist Lionel Jospin to the second round run-off against Jacques Chirac of the RPR. Chirac won the run-off and appointed Jean-Pierre Raffarin as prime minister. Raffarin confirmed in office after June's parliamentary elections.
2004	Alain Juppé, former prime minister, convicted of corruption.
2005	Voters rejected the proposed EU constitution in May's referendum. In a series of suspected arson incidents, dozens of immigrants were killed in Paris hostels and apartment blocks. Later in the year there was rioting in disavantaged districts of Paris and the unrest spread to other major cities.
2007	Right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential election. His UMP party won June's general election but lost ground to the Socialists. François Fillon was reappointed prime minister.