| 51 BC |
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. |
| 1914-1918 |
France fought on the side
of the Allies during World War I. Much of the war was fought on French
soil. |
| 1940 |
Germany invaded France
and occupied about two-thirds of the country during World War II
(1939-1945). The unoccupied zone 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. |
| 1981 |
The Socialist party, led
by François Mitterrand, came to power in the general elections.
Mitterrand was reelected to a second seven-year term as president in
1988. |
| 1994 |
The tunnel under the
English Channel was completed, linking France and Great Britain. |
| 1995 |
Jacques Chirac, founder
and leader of the Rassemblement pour la République (Rally for the
Republic) party, was elected the new president of France, replacing the
retiring François Mitterrand. |
General Knowledge :: HISTORICAL EVENTS BY COUNTRY :: FRANCE