The history of France has been divided into a series of historical articles navigable through the list to the right. The chronological and governmental regimes in France. The history of other cultural topics such as French art and literature can be found on their own pages. For information on the modern country, see the France article. For other information, go to Portal:France.
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric FranceThe Neanderthals, a member of the homo genus, began to occupy Europe from about 200,000 BC, but seem to have died out by about 30,000 years ago, presumably out-competed by the modern humans during a period of cold weather. The earliest modern humans — Homo sapiens — entered Europe (including France) around 50,000 years ago (the Upper Palaeolithic). The caves paintings of Lascaux and Gargas (Gargas in the Hautes-Pyrénées) as well as the Carnac stones are remains of the local prehistoric activity.
Gaul
Main article: GaulCovering large parts of modern day France, Belgium, northwest Germany and northern Italy, Gaul was inhabited by many Celtic and Belgae tribes whom the Romans referred to as Gauls and who spoke the Gaulish language between the Seine and the Garonne.On the lower Garonne the people spoke Aquitanian, an archaic language related to Basque. The Celts founded cities such as Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris) and Burdigala (Bordeaux) while the Aquitanians founded Tolosa (Toulouse).
Long before any Roman settlements, Greek navigators settled in what would become Provence. The Phoceans founded important cities such as Massalia (Marseille) and Nikaia (Nice), bringing them in to conflict with the neighboring Celts and Ligurians. The Phoceans were great navigators such as Pytheas who was born in Marseille. The Celts themselves often fought with Aquitanians and Germans, and a Gaulish war band led by Brennus invaded Rome circa 393 or 388 BC following the Battle of the Allia. However Gaulish tactics would not evolve and the Romans would learn to counter them, the Gauls would from then be defeated in battles such as Sentinum and Telamon. In the 3rd century B.C., the Belgae conquered the surrounding territories of the Somme in northern Gaul after a battle supposedly against the Armoricani near Ribemont-sur-Ancre, where a sanctuary was found.
When Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca fought the Romans, he recruited several Gaulish mercenaries which fought on his side at Cannae. It was this Gaulish participation that caused Provence to be annexed in 122 BC by the Roman Republic. Later, the Consul of Gaul—Julius Caesar—conquered all of Gaul. Despite Gaulish opposition led by Vercingetorix, the Overking of the Warriors, Gauls succumbed to the Roman onslaught; the Gauls had some success at first at Gergovia, but were ultimately defeated at Alesia. The Romans founded cities such as Lugdunum (Lyon) and Narbonensis (Narbonne).
Roman Gaul
Main article: Roman GaulGaul was divided into several different provinces. The Romans displaced populations to prevent local identities from becoming a threat to the Roman control. Thus, many Celts were displaced in Aquitania or were enslaved and moved out of Gaul. There was a strong cultural evolution in Gaul under the Roman Empire, the most obvious one being the replacement of the Gaulish language by Vulgar Latin. It has been argued the similarities between the Gaulish and Latin languages favoured the transition. Gaul remained under Roman control for centuries and Celtic culture was then replaced by Gallo-Roman culture.
Gauls became better integrated with the Empire with the passage of time. For instance Marcus Antonius Primus, an important general of the Roman Empire, and Emperor Claudius were both born in Gaul, as were general Gnaeus Julius Agricola and emperor Caracalla; Antoninus Pius also came from a Gaulish family. In the decade following Valerian’s capture by the Persians in 260 Postumus established a short-lived Gallic Empire, which included the Iberian Peninsula and Britannia in addition to Gaul itself. Germanic tribes, the Franks and the Alamanni, entered Gaul at this time. The Gallic Empire ended with Emperor Aurelian's victory at Chalons in 274.
A migration of Celts appeared in the 4th century in Armorica. They were led by the legendary king Conan Meriadoc and came from Britain. They spoke the now extinct British language which evolved into the Breton, Cornish, and Welsh languages.
In 418 the Aquitanian province was given to the Goths in exchange for their support against the Vandals. Those Goths had previously sacked Rome in 410 and established a capital in Toulouse. The Roman Empire had difficulty responding to all the barbarian raids, and Flavius Aëtius had to use these tribes against each other in order to maintain some Roman control. He first used Huns against Burgundians and these mercenaries destroyed Worms, killed king Gunther, and pushed the Burgundians westward. The Burgundians were resettled by Aëtius near Lugdunum in 443. The Huns, united by Attila became a greater threat, and Aëtius used the Visigoths against the Huns. The conflict climaxed in 451 at the Battle of Chalons, in which the Romans and Goths defeated Attila.
The Roman Empire was on the verge of collapsing. Aquitania was definitely abandoned to the Visigoths, who would soon conquer a significant part of southern Gaul as well as most of the Iberian Peninsula. The Burgundians claimed their own kingdom, and northern Gaul was practically abandoned to the Franks. Aside of the Germanic peoples the Vascones entered Wasconia from the Pyrenees and the Bretons formed three kingdoms in Armorica: Domnonia, Cornouaille and Broërec.
Frankish kingdoms (486–987)
Main article: Frankish EmpireIn 486, Clovis I, leader of the Salian Franks, defeated Syagrius at Soissons and subsequently united most of northern and central Gaul under his rule. Clovis then recorded a succession of victories against other Germanic tribes such as the Alamanni at Tolbiac. In 496, he adopted Christianity. This gave him greater legitimacy and power over his Christian subjects and granted him clerical support against the Visigoths. He defeated Alaric II at Vouillé in 507 and annexed Aquitaine, and thus Toulouse, into his Frankish kingdom. The Goths retired to Toledo in what would become Spain. Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian Dynasty but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land purely as a private possession and divided it among heirs, so four kingdoms emerged: Paris, Orleans, Soissons, and Rheims. When the majordome of Austrasia Pepin of Herstal defeat- his Neustrian counterpart at Tertry the Merovingian dynasty eventually lost effective power to their successive mayors of the palace (majordomes). The of Herstal was to become the Carolingian dynasty. By this time Muslims invaders had conquered Hispania and were threatening the Frankish kingdoms. Duke Odo the Great defeated a major invading force at Toulouse in 721 but failed to repel a raiding party in 732. The mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, defeated that raiding party at the Battle of Tours (actually the battle between Tours and Poitiers) and earned respect and power within the Frankish Kingdom. The assumption of the crown in 751 by Pippin the Short (son of Charles Martel) established the Carolingian dynasty as Kings of the Franks.
The new rulers' power reached its fullest extent under Pippin's son Charlemagne. In 771 Charlemagne reunited the Frankish domains after a further period of division, subsequently conquering the Lombards under Desiderius in what is now northern Italy (774), incorporating Bavaria (788) into his realm, defeating the Avars of the Danubian plain (796), advancing the frontier with Islamic Spain as far south as Barcelona (801), and subjugating Lower Saxony (804) after prolonged campaigning.
In recognition of his successes and his political support for the Papacy, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans, or Roman Emperor in the West, by Pope Leo III in 800. Charlemagne's son Louis I (emperor 814–840) kept the empire united; however, this Carolingian Empire would not survive Louis I's death. Two of his sons — Charles the Bald and Louis the German — swore allegiance to each other against their brother — Lothair I — in the Oaths of Strasbourg, and the empire was divided among Louis's three sons (Treaty of Verdun, 843). After a last brief reunification (884–887), the imperial title ceased to be held in the western realm which was to form the basis of the future French kingdom. The eastern realm, which would become Germany, elected the Saxon dynasty of Henry the Fowler.
Under the Carolingians, the kingdom was ravaged by Viking raiders. In this struggle some important figures such as Count Odo of Paris and his brother King Robert rose to fame and became kings. This emerging dynasty
History of France from 1787 to 1833
The text of this print is in French. This print is a reproduction of a fascinating antique print created circa 1833. It maps the chronology of French history from 1787 to 1833.
Text / The Complete Military History of France
***Please note that the Web designer is not American and blaming the Web designer for America's history is illogical. Though you may critisize this oversimplified French history ...
Histoire
Learn about the history of France from pre-historic times until the Hundred Years' War.
Category:History of France - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subcategories. This category has the following 30 subcategories, out of 30 total. [+]
History of France - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of France has been divided into a series of historical articles navigable through the list to the right. The chronological and governmental regimes in France.
History of FRANCE
History of FRANCE including Cave-dwellers, Neolithic villages, Arrival of the Celts, Marseilles and the Romans, Caesar's years in Gaul, The Gallic War, Roman Gaul
History of FRANCE
History of FRANCE including De Gaulle's moment, Sections missing ... De Gaulle's moment: AD 1958: Charles de Gaulle, the war hero, waiting in retirement for his country's call ...
Category:Military history of France - Wikimedia Commons
Media in category "Military history of France" The following 195 files are in this category, out of 349 total.
France: From Antiquity through 1065 - EuroDocs
Great Archaeological Sites of France; Including virtual visits to the Cave of Lascaux ... of relevance to French national and regional history -- available either by search engine ...
History of France by Charlotte Mary Yonge - Project Gutenberg
Download the free ebook: History of France by Charlotte Mary Yonge