L'HISTOIRE DE FRANCE EN 38 MINUTES

Summary

L'histoire de la France, de ses origines préhistoriques jusqu'à la fin du XXe siècle, est un tumultueux mélange de migrations, de cultures, de conflits et de transformations politiques. Des tribus gauloises à l'Empire romain, en passant par la fondation de la Gaule française, les invasions germaniques, le règne des rois mérovingiens et carolingiens, jusqu'à la révolution française et l'ère napoléonienne, chaque époque a laissé son empreinte. La France moderne, marquée par les deux guerres mondiales, la décolonisation et l'intégration européenne, continue d'évoluer, confrontée aux défis de la mondialisation et de l'environnement. Un parcours riche et complexe qui reflète la diversité et la résilience du peuple français.

Takeaways

• 🗺️ La France actuelle a une histoire et une préhistoire riches, avec de nombreux peuples, tribus et cultures ayant vécu sur son territoire avant d'être appelée France.
• 👥 L'homme moderne (Homo sapiens) a évolué en Afrique de l'Est et a migré vers l'Europe, y supplantant d'autres espèces humaines telles que les Néandertaliens.
• 🌾 L'agriculture a permis aux populations de s'établir et de créer des villages, ce qui a conduit à la formation de civilisations complexes comme les Sumeriens et les Celtes.
• 🏛️ La conquête romaine a intégré la Gaule au sein de l'Empire romain, apportant avec elle la culture et la langue romaines.
• 📜 Le christianisme, qui s'est développé en Judée, a gagné en popularité et est devenu la religion officielle de l'Empire romain.
• 🛡️ Les tribus germaniques, notamment les Francs, ont continué à influencer la région après la chute de l'Empire romain, aboutissant à la fondation du Royaume des Francs.
• 🏰 La période carolingienne a vu la création de l'Empire carolingien sous Charlemagne, qui a étendu son influence à travers l'Europe.
• 🗡️ Les guerres de religion et la Révolution française ont marqué la fin de l'Ancien Régime et ont conduit à l'établissement d'une monarchie constitutionnelle, puis à la République.
• 🌍 L'expansion coloniale et la colonisation ont été des aspects importants de l'histoire de la France, avec des conflits et des rébellions dans les colonies.
• 🛰️ Le XXe siècle a été marqué par les deux guerres mondiales, la décolonisation, et l'émergence de la France comme une puissance économique et politique dans le contexte de la guerre froide et de l'intégration européenne.

Q & A

Quelle est la période la plus ancienne mentionnée dans l'histoire de la France ?

La période la plus ancienne mentionnée est l'apparition du genre Homo en Afrique de l'Est, il y a environ 2,5 millions d'années.

Qui étaient les premiers habitants de la région qui est devenue la France ?

Les premiers habitants étaient des groupes de l'espèce humaine de Neanderthal, adaptés au climat froid des glaciations, et des Sapiens, qui étaient nos ancêtres directs.

Comment les Gaulois ont-ils contribué à l'histoire de la France ?

Les Gaulois, un peuple celte, ont étendu leur territoire et ont eu des conflits avec les Ligurians et les Massaliots. Ils ont été progressivement intégrés à la culture romaine après la conquête de Jules César.

Qui a fondé la colonie de Massalia ?

Les Grecs de la cité-État de Phocée ont fondé la colonie de Massalia, qui est devenue Marseille.

Qu'est-ce qui a conduit à la fin de l'Empire romain en Gaule ?

La division de l'Empire en trois provinces, les révoltes et l'invasion des peuples germaniques ont contribué à la fin de l'Empire romain en Gaule.

Quel est le rôle de l'Empereur Constantin dans l'histoire du christianisme ?

L'Empereur Constantin a légalisé le christianisme en 312 après J.-C. et s'est converti à cette religion, ce qui a contribué à sa diffusion au sein de l'élite et de l'Empire romain.

Quelle est l'importance de la bataille des Champs Catalauniens ?

La bataille des Champs Catalauniens a vu l'alliance des peuples germaniques repousser l'attaque des Huns menée par Attila, ce qui a permis aux germains de s'installer définitivement sur les terres romaines.

Qui a unifié le royaume des Francs et converti au christianisme nicéen ?

Le roi Clovis, également connu sous le nom de Hlodovic, a unifié le royaume des Francs et s'est converti au christianisme nicéen, obtenant ainsi le soutien de l'Empire romain d'Orient.

Quelle est la signification de la bataille de Poitiers ?

La bataille de Poitiers a vu Charles Martel, le maire du palais d'Austrasie, repousser les Sarrasins, ce qui a renforcé la position des Francs face à l'Islam et a contribué à l'idéalisation de sa lignée par l'Église.

Quelles sont les causes de la chute de l'Empire carolingien ?

La chute de l'Empire carolingien est due à la guerre entre les rois, l'invasion simultanée de trois peuples étrangers et l'affaiblissement du pouvoir royal par les seigneurs des principautés.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Histoire de la France et de son territoire

Ce paragraphe aborde l'histoire et la préhistoire du territoire actuellement occupé par la France, soulignant que ce territoire n'a pas toujours été appelé France et a été habité par différentes cultures et peuples. Il commence par l'apparition de l'homme en Afrique de l'Est il y a 2,5 millions d'années et suit l'évolution des différentes espèces humaines, y compris les Néandertaliens et les Sapiens. Il décrit également l'agriculture naissante, la création des premières villes et l'évolution des sociétés humaines, notamment la civilisation sumérienne et l'invention de l'écriture. Le paragraphe se termine avec l'arrivée des Grecs en Méditerranée et l'établissement de Massalia (Marseille).

05:01

🛡️ Gaulois, Romains et début de l'Empire Romain

Le paragraphe détaille l'histoire de la Gaule, des tribus celtes et de leur conflit avec les Liguriens et les Massaliotes. Il décrit la conquête de la Gaule par Jules César, la défaite de l'alliance celte à Alesia et la transformation de la Gaule en une province romaine. Il mentionne également l'assimilation des Celtes et Liguriens à la culture romaine, l'adoption du latin et la fusion des dieux celtiques avec ceux de Rome. Le paragraphe se termine par l'introduction du christianisme en Gaule et la légalisation de cette religion par l'empereur Constantin.

10:01

🏰 Naissance du Moyen Âge et les invasions

Ce paragraphe explique la chute de l'Empire romain d'Occident, les invasions des peuples barbares et la création de royaumes germaniques au sein de l'Empire. Il décrit l'invasion des Huns, la formation de royaumes comme ceux des Francs, des Wisigoths et des Bourguignons, ainsi que la bataille des Champs Catalauniques. Il mentionne également l'établissement de la dynastie mérovingienne et la conversion de Clovis au christianisme, ce qui a permis au royaume franc de conquérir d'autres territoires germaniques.

15:03

🏰 Les Carolingiens et la chute de l'Empire Carolingien

Le paragraphe relate la fondation de la dynastie carolingienne par Charlemagne, son couronnement comme empereur et la division de l'Empire après sa mort. Il décrit les raisons de la chute de l'Empire carolingien, notamment les guerres entre les rois, les invasions des Vikings, des Magyars et des Saracens, et l'émergence du système féodal. Il mentionne également la création du Duché de Normandie par les descendants de Rollon et l'élection de Hugues Capet, marquant le début de la dynastie capétienne.

20:03

🛡️ Les guerres de religion et la Renaissance

Ce paragraphe aborde les guerres de religion en France, la persécution des Protestants (Huguenots) et les massacres qui ont suivi, y compris la Saint-Barthélemy. Il décrit la conversion de Henri IV au catholicisme et la promulgation de l'Édit de Nantes, qui garantit la liberté de religion aux Huguenots. Il mentionne également l'influence du cardinal Richelieu et de Mazarin, la répression de la Fronde, et l'émergence du mouvement philosophique et intellectuel de l'Éclaircissement, qui a remis en question l'autorité de l'Église et de l'absolutisme monarchique.

25:04

🏰 L'Absolutisme de Louis XIV et la Révolution française

Le paragraphe détaille la consolidation de l'absolutisme par Louis XIV, l'édification du palais de Versailles et les guerres contre les autres puissances européennes. Il décrit la fin de la Guerre de Cent Ans, l'expansion de la France et l'influence de la Renaissance en France. Il mentionne également les réformes de Louis XIV, la révocation de l'Édit de Nantes et la persécution des Huguenots. Le paragraphe se termine par la Révolution française, la prise de la Bastille, la proclamation de la République et l'exécution de Louis XVI.

30:04

🏰 Napoléon et les guerres napoléoniennes

Ce paragraphe relate la montée de Napoléon Bonaparte, sa proclamation comme empereur et ses conquêtes en Europe. Il décrit la défaite de l'armée napoléonienne à Moscou, la chute de Napoléon et son exil. Il mentionne également la Restauration bourbonienne, la Révolution de Juillet, la Seconde République et la Seconde Empire sous Napoléon III. Le paragraphe se termine par la guerre de 1870, la Commune de Paris et la fin de l'Empire.

35:07

🌍 Deuxième Guerre mondiale et l'après-guerre

Le paragraphe décrit la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'occupation de la France par les nazis, la collaboration de Vichy, la Résistance et la Libération. Il mentionne les conséquences de la guerre, les réformes sociales et économiques, l'établissement du quatrième et cinquième république, ainsi que les mouvements de décolonisation. Il conclut par les événements post-guerre, tels que la guerre d'Algérie, l'indépendance des colonies et l'intégration de la France dans l'Union européenne.

Keywords

💡Histoire de France

Ce terme fait référence à l'ensemble des événements qui ont marqué la nation française depuis ses origines jusqu'à nos jours. Dans le cadre de cette vidéo, l'histoire de France est racontée de manière chronologique, abordant des périodes clés comme la préhistoire, l'Antiquité, le Moyen Âge, la Renaissance, la Révolution française, l'Empire napoléonien, les deux guerres mondiales et l'époque contemporaine.

💡Gaules

Les Gaules étaient un ensemble de territoires occupés par des tribus celtiques en Europe occidentale avant la Romanisation. Elles sont souvent considérées comme les ancêtres des Français dans la mythologie nationale.

💡Rome

La République romaine, puis l'Empire romain, ont eu une influence profonde et durable sur la région qui est devenue la France. La Romanisation a apporté des changements significatifs en matière de culture, de langue et d'architecture.

💡Moyen Âge

La période médiévale couvre plusieurs siècles et est caractérisée par la formation des royaumes féodaux, la christianisation de la population et l'émergence de la culture courtoise.

💡Révolution française

Un événement historique majeur qui a eu lieu à la fin du 18e siècle, marquant la fin de l'Ancien Régime et l'établissement de la République française. Elle a entraîné des changements radicaux dans la structure sociale et politique du pays.

💡Napoléon Bonaparte

Un leader politique et militaire français qui a établi l'Empire napoléonien et a influencé profondément la France et l'Europe. Sa législation, notamment le Code civil, a laissé une empreinte durable sur le droit français.

💡Première et Seconde Guerres mondiales

Deux conflits mondiaux qui ont eu des conséquences dévastatrices sur la France, notamment en termes de pertes humaines et de dégâts matériels. Ces guerres ont également entraîné des changements politiques et sociaux significatifs.

💡Décolonisation

Le processus par lequel les pays coloniaux ont acquis leur indépendance des puissances coloniales. Pour la France, cela a signifié la perte de plusieurs colonies, notamment en Afrique et en Asie.

💡Quatrième et Cinquième République

Les deux dernières formes de gouvernement de la France, la Quatrième République a été courte et a été remplacée par la Cinquième République, qui est encore en vigueur aujourd'hui. La Cinquième République a été instaurée par Charles de Gaulle et a apporté des changements significatifs à la structure politique de la France.

💡Union européenne

Un ensemble de pays européens qui ont décidé de coopérer étroitement dans divers domaines, y compris l'économie, la politique étrangère et la sécurité. La France est l'un des fondateurs et des membres clés de l'UE.

💡Globalisation

Le processus par lequel les échanges économiques, culturels et technologiques deviennent mondiaux, rapprochant les pays et facilitant la diffusion des idées et des produits. Cela a eu un impact considérable sur la France et le monde entier.

💡Écologie et environnement

Les études et les actions concernant la relation entre les êtres humains et leur environnement naturel. L'écologie devient de plus en plus importante dans le contexte mondial actuel, avec des préoccupations croissantes sur le changement climatique et la durabilité.

Highlights

The history of France begins with the pre-history of the territory, not always called France.

Homo genus appeared in Eastern Africa 2.5 million years ago.

Neanderthals and Sapiens coexisted in Europe.

Agriculture led to the creation of the first villages and the spread of civilization.

The Celts mastered iron and expanded their territory.

Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, leading to Romanization of the region.

Christianity spread across the Roman Empire and became the official religion.

Germanic tribes, including the Franks, played a significant role in the fall of the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne was crowned Emperor, marking the peak of the Carolingian Empire.

The Hundred Years' War between France and England shaped the political landscape.

The French Revolution led to the end of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic.

Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power, established the First Empire, and conquered much of Europe.

The Industrial Revolution brought significant changes to French society and economy.

World War I and II had profound impacts on France, including the loss and recovery of Alsace-Lorraine.

The post-war period saw the rise of the Fifth Republic and the beginning of decolonization.

The European Union was established, further integrating European nations, including France.

Globalization and the Internet have had a significant impact on French society and economy.

France faces ecological challenges and is part of the global effort to find solutions.

Transcripts

Hi Everyone, today I will tell you the whole History of France

But first, let’s clarify things

What I will tell you is actually the History and pre-History

of the territory where France is currently located

Because, wait for it…

this territory has not always been called France

and a lot of different people, tribes and cultures have lived there before that

So please get at ease, subscribe and clic on the bell

because, in order to understand everything

I’ll take you back to the origins of humanity

in Eastern Africa, 2.5 millions years ago

Let’s go!

2.5 millions years ago

the Homo genus, aka humans

appeared in Eastern Africa

Several human species evolve

and about 500,000 years later

some groups of these men and women

migrate toward Northern Africa, Asia and then Europe

Each of them adapt to their environment

and evolve into new species

Which also migrate and evolve

That’s how 100 000 years ago,

the region of Europe hosts the human species of Neanderthal

whose body is rather chunky and mussled

and adapted to the cold weather of ice ages

While Africa hosts the human species of Sapiens

who simply is… us

Sapiens also starts to migrate out of Africa

spreads in Eurasia

and for yet unkown reasons

and supplants other human species

such as Neanderthal

who partly mixes up with Sapiens

before disappearing around 35 000 years ago.

Thanks to its cognitive abilities

Sapiens creates beliefs (probably animism), myths and art

And approximately 10 000 years ago, the last ice age

ends toward a warmer weather

and people living in particularly good living area in the Middle East

progressively give up their nomadic hunter-gatherer way of life

and start to cultivate earth and to settle down in fixed places

Agriculture enables them to produce more and thus, to feed more people

which leads to a demographic explosion

along with the creation of the first village

and this new way of life spreads across the West

and particularly towards Europe.

Human societies become more and more complex

growing from tribes to civilizations

such as the Sumerians who are among the first people to invent Writing

and then to spread the use of bronze to the West

and in the West, other peoples develop

such as the etruscans, iberians, proto-basques also called Aquitains and ligurians.

And in 600 BC, Greeks from the rich city-state of Phocea

sail across the Mediterranean Sea

and found on Ligurian territory the colony of Massalia, future Marseille

which establishes its own new colonies

such as Nice, Antibes etc.

Meanwhile, further North, peoples manage to master iron

and take advantage of it to improve their tools and weapons

which enable them to spread their territory.

These peoples are called the Celts.

Some trade developed

but of course, the collision of all these peoples

also led to conflicts

Firstly, among the many Celtic tribes

but also between the Ligurians and the Massaliots,

and between other southern people

such as the Etruscans and the Republic of Rome

which was looted by the Sennon Celtic tribe in around 390 BC

But Rome got over it, conquered many territories,

and became the biggest regional power

after its victory against Carthage and Greece

But when its ally Massalia was threatened again

by Ligurians and Salyan celts

Rome helped push them back

and took advantage of the situation to conquer, with the support of Aedui celts,

the South of what they called the Transalpine Gaul

But in 58 BC, the new Governor of the Transalpine Gaul

was Julius Ceasar

And when his allies, the Aedui Celts

asked for his help to push back the Helvetii tribe out of their land

he seized this opportunity to conquer the whole of Gaul

of course with the help of allied Celtic tribes

Tribes from the North and the isle Britain resisted

but all the other tribes were conquered within 6 years

The last Celtic alliance led by the Arverni Vercingetorix

was defeated in Alesia in 52 BC

and Gaul became a Roman protectorate

After his victory, Ceasar took the power in Rome

but was killed in 44 BC

After a few years, his adoptive son Octavius took command

and established the Roman empire

He divided the territory conquered by Ceasar into 3 provinces

Aquitania, Lugdunensis and Belgica

And Lugdunum, future Lyon, became the capital of the 3 Gauls

while Narbonne was already appointed capital of Gallia Narbonensis.

There was some revolting done

but on the whole, the Celts from the cities as well as

the Ligurians, the Iberians and the Aquitans

progressively melted into the Roman culture

Aqueducts, amphitheatres and thermal baths were built

The elite adopted the Latin writing

The Celtic gods were mixed with the Roman gods and the Imperial cult

In a nutshell, they became Gallo-Romans

Meanwhile, in Judaea, some man called Jesus

started a new religious movement which stood out from Judaism

and later took the name of Christianity

The promise of eternal life after death

and less strict rituals than Judaism

enabled this movement to spread into Greco-Roman cities

and reach Gaul 200 years later

Since the Christians were believing in one only god

and were rejecting the Greco-Roman gods and the Imperial cult

they were persecuted by the Romans

But the movement went on spreading

to such an extent that in 312 After Christ,

the Roman emperor Constantin legalized Christianism

and then converted to it

Cristianism spread across the elite

and, around the end of the century,

it became the Roman Empire’s official religion

But as it gained more members

more clashes regarding this or that interpretation of its Holy Books arose

That’s how the Arianism movement came to be

It’s named after the theologian Arius

who considered that Jesus was not born divine

but that he acquired his divinity after being resurrected.

This movement spread so much that bishops had to gather in a council

to debate the issue: this is the Council of Nicea

They ended up declaring Arianism heretic.

It means they condemn this movement

But it did not prevent this movement from spreading among the Roman elite

and among Germanic tribes

So, who are these Germanic tribes?

You need to know that, for roughly a century,

these tribes coming from Scandinavian territories

had been alternating between collaboration and conflict with the Roman Empire

Some of these tribes had already been Romanized

by integrating the Roman army in exchange for land

they were the Roman empire federated tribes

such as the Salian Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Goths

And this romanization which enabled Arianism to spread into some of these tribes

mixing into their close-to Nordic mythology

In 370 AD, the Huns arrived in Europe from Central Asia

and pushed the Germanic peoples beyond the Roman Empire borders

First, the Goths, then in 406, some Western tribes

which then alternated between conquests and alliances with the Romans

in exchange for land to settle

This led to the creation of federated Germanic kingdoms

inside the Roman empire

such as the Franks, the Visigoths and the Burgundians kingdoms

In the meantime, Roman soldiers had left Britannia and Armorica

to fight some of these Germanic tribes in Gaul

leaving the door open for the Picts, the Scotts, the Angles and the Saxons

to push the Britons down to Armorica

This area progressively became independent

and gradually took the name of its new inhabitants: Britain

And when the Huns, led by Attila, attacked Gaul

all these tribes formed an alliance to push them back

at the battle of the Catalaunian Fields

The alliance won, the Huns fled East

and the Germanic peoples settled down on Roman territory

for good

While in the kingdom of Burgundy

the relations between the Arian Burgundians and the Nicene christians Gallo-Romans were good

the Visigothic kingdom imposed Arianism

during the reign of King Euric

But further North, king Clovis, Hlodovic in German

unified the Frankish kingdom

conquiered what was left of the Roman empire

and converted into Nicene christianity

In doing so, he earned the support of the Eastern Roman Empire

because he became one of the only Nicene christian leaders of the West

and he also earned the support of Nicene christian Gallo-Romans

who were settled on Visigothic, Burgundian and Alamanni territories

And these supports enabled the Frankish kingdom to conquer its rival Germanic territories

marking the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty

But the Frankish kingdom struggled to maintain unity

Indeed, when a Merovingian king died

all his sons split up the Frankish territory

which led to the independence of Aquitaine

and ended up dividing what was left in 3 territories

Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy

each of them managed by what was called a Mayor of the Palace

These guys gained more and more power until 687

when Austrasia’s Mayor of the Palace, Pepin of Herstal

defeated the king troops

And although he let the king remain on the throne

he was in reality the one in charge.

His son Charles, later called Charles Martel, succeeded him in 720

But before talking about Charles Martel

let’s see what was then happening in the Middle East.

At the beginning of the 7th century, the prophet Muhammad

managed to unify the different Arab peoples around Islam

and when he died in 632

Muslim Arab peoples started a holy war

in order to spread Islam around the world

The new Umayyad dynasty spread to the West

taking the Moor Berbers on board with them

and arrived at the door of Frankish territories in 719

where they became known as Saracens

The Duke of Aquitaine drove them away in 721 in Toulouse

but lost Nîmes, Carcassonne and then some other territories

so he ended up asking help from Charles

who, after battling for 7 years, including near Poitiers and in Avignon

managed to drive them out

On the way, he brought Burgundy and Provence to heel

as some chiefs there had formed alliances with the Umayyads.

Later on, the battles of Charles Martel would be magnified by the Church

in order to legitimize his lineage.

Because His son, Pepin the Short

was crowned king of the Franks by the Pope in 751

thereby starting the Carolingian dynasty

He also conquered Septimania and Aquitaine.

His successor, Charles the Great

later called Charlemagne

conquered Lombardy and several Germanic territories

that he christianized by force

which earned him to be crowned Emperor by the Pope in 800

King Louis the Pious succeeded him, but when he died in 842

his 3 sons started a war with one another

, which divided the Empire in 3

West Francia, Middle Francia and East Francia

also called Germany

3 reasons led to the fall of the Carolingian empire:

Firstly, the war between the three kings left them weakened.

Secondly, at the same moment, 3 foreign peoples invaded simultaneously the territory

the Vikings coming from the North, the Magyars from the East

and the Saracens from the South

Thirdly, the kings progressively saw their power being taken away

by lords from the numerous principalities

this is called the feudal system

And autonomous duchies and counties

started building castles

made from wood at first and then from stone

to defend themselves against invasions

In 911, the Carolingians lost East Francia for good

and in the same year, the king of West Francia

gave territories to the Viking chief Rollon

in exchange for his help to fight other Viking tribes

Sidenote, Rollon’s descendants

later created the powerful Duchy of Normandy

Normandy meaning “North men’s land”

that is Vikings

And one of them, William the Conqueror, became king of England in 1066

But let’s go back to the 10th century.

The king of West Francia’s influence was now limited to a narrow stretch land

and his role was more symbolic than anything else

Bishops and great lords from the different duchies and counties

were the ones holding the power and they were electing kings

regardless of whether they descended from a Carolingian bloodline or not

In 987, Hugues Capet, from the Robertian family line

was elected king

he was a good fit for the lords because he came from a powerful family

which had recently been weakened, making him more easy to control

Moreover, he had strong support from the Church.

And although this Robertian family would only keep a narrow territory during the next two centuries

they would still manage to keep the Royal title in their line

This was the beginning of the Capetian dynasty

During the Capetian period, divergences of interpretation in the Gospels kept arising,

particularly regarding the Filioque

which, in 1054, led to the division of Christianity

between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church

But this did not stop the Christians to maintain the tradition of going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem

with the permission of the Islamic Arabic caliphates ruling the region

But in 1071, the Turkish Seljuq empire

empire invaded the Eastern Roman empire

as well as the Holy land

preventing Christians from going on pilgrimage to Christ’s sepulcher

In 1095, the Eastern Roman empire and the Pope called the Western countries to the rescue

and… ordinary people like farmers,

responded to the call and left for a Holy war

killing Jews and plundering cities on their way

This was the First Crusade

But when they arrived on Seljuq territories

they got totally crushed because... they simply were not soldiers

So, it was now the turn of the great lords armies’ to embark on this Holy War

and after a great deal of plundering and a little bit of cannibalism

they managed to take over Jerusalem

by taking advantage of the rivalry between the different Seljuq city states

And while they were there, some lords decided to keep these territories for themselves

that they name the Crusader States

forgetting to give them back to their ally, the Easter Roman empire

The Order of the Knights Templar was then created in 1129

to protect the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem

And the Knight Templars certainly had a lot of work

because … Over the 2 following centuries

there would be no less than 7 crusades

each of them ending up a big failure

crusaders often came back empty-handed

and sometimes they attack their Orthodox allies rather than the Muslims

In 1151, after the 2nd crusade

Queen Alienor of Aquitaine dumped her husband the king of France Louis VII

and remarried with Henry Plantagenet

who was duke of Normandy and count of Anjou

Their combined territories made a big chunk of land

and when Plantagenet inherited the throne of England in 1154

all of these territories became English

Being squeezed between England and the autonomous counties and duchies

did not please the new king Philippe Auguste

So he decided to conquer these territories

extending the royal estate of Francia

For the first time in 300 years

the king became the largest land-owner in the kingdom…

But Philippe Auguste was not the only one wanting to extend his influence

So did the Pope. He was already a major influence in Western countries

but not in the county of Toulouse, which was very independent

and where a minority of the elite belonged to several divergent Christian movements,

wrongly amalgamated under the name of Cathars

In 1209, the Pope called for a new crusade to exterminate them

which ended up in 1229

with the creation of a tribunal specialized in the judgment of heretics

the Inquisition

The new king Louis IX took advantage of this crusade to put the county of Toulouse under royal control.

All along the 13th century

the royal estate of Francia expanded its territory

centralized the power in Paris

and progressively spread the royal currency and the Francien language among the elite

But one duchy stayed under English rule: Guyenne

In order to seal a peace treaty between the 2 countries

the king of France, Philippe the Fair, gave his daughter in marriage to the king of England, Edward II

These two had a son called Edward III

who later became King of England

Then, Philippe the Fair’s third son, called Charles IV, became king of France

but when he died in 1328, he had no heir… except Edward III

However, giving him the power meant submitting France to England

and this… was a big no no for the French royal family

Thus, the throne was handed to Charles IV’s cousin, named Philippe VI

In the beginning, Edward III accepted it

but when Philippe VI took over Guyenne

he decided to claim the throne of France as pay back

which set off the Hundred Years’ War in 1337

For almost 30 years, the French army got its ass kicked by the English

who had a great fleet and extremely efficient longbows.

But the soldiers were not the only ones to die

In 1348, the Black Plague killed 1/3 of the European population

In 5 years, 25 million people died

Plus the deaths due to war-caused starvation

As well as peasant revolts against nobles,

plunderer soldiers and royal taxes

All of it created a climate of terror.

There was a small respite during the reign of Charles V

but his heir and son Charles VI became mad and unfit to rule

Thus, two camps fought for the crown

The Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI

supported by the Armagnac family

And the Duke of Burgundy, cousin and advisor to Charles VI

After many battles, assassinations and acts of violence from both camps

giving England way to invade the North of France

Charles VII, the heir to the throne, son to Charles VI

allied with the Armagnacs against the Burgundians

In response, the Burgundians allied with the English

and made Charles VI the Mad

sign a treaty which disinherited his own son to the benefit of the king of England.

The English attacked the Armagnacs in the city of Orleans in 1428

while, in the meantime, a woman called Joan of Arc

was claiming that God had directed her to free France

and put Charles VII on the throne

She convinced him to send her to Orleans

where she galvanized the French soldiers

who finally managed to defeat the English

The way was now open towards the city of Reims

where Charles VII can be crowned King

then Joan of Arc rode towards Paris

but was captured by the Burgundians and sent to the English

She was burnt alive in Rouen in 1431

For his part, Charles VII signed a peace treaty with the Burgundians

granting them independence

This put an end to the civil war

and allowed him to drive the English out of France in 1453

and to take back Guyenne

This was the end of the Hundred Years’ War, which actually lasted 116 years

Then, France expanded more and more

by annexing the adjacent counties and duchies

In Brittany, Louis IX married Anne of Brittany

in order to progressively integrate the duchy into France

Then, kings Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis the 1st started a war with Spain

for the domination of Burgundy and the Italian states

leading to many battles, including the battle of Marignan

But after the unplanned discovery of the American continent in 1492

and the conquest of the Amerindians territories

, the Spanish Habsburg dynasty collected a vast amount of wealth and power

And when the Habsburg Charles the Fifth acceded to the throne

he inherited a huge empire, through former alliances and marriages in his family

To compete with him

Francis the 1st allied with the powerful Ottoman empire of the sultan Süleyman the Magnificent

who also wanted to expand in Europe

He also sent Jacques Cartier colonize North America

hoping to find as much wealth there as his Spanish competitor did

But he didn’t find gold and winters there were very harsh

so France lost interest in this region

until the increasing profitability of the fur trade with Natives

brang back interest in these lands from 1597

Marking the resumption of the colonization of New France

In France, Francis the 1st

strengthened the royal power

against other lords

and imported in France the principles of the Italian renaissance

A litterary Renaissance, as the French language spread throughout the country

and an artistic Renaissance as medieval castles underwent a wave of renovations

in the Italian style first, and then in a style specific to France.

But in the meantime, in the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations

a priest known by the name Martin Luther was denouncing the quirks of the Catholic Church

particularly the indulgence system

which consisted in reducing the time spent in purgatory after death in exchange of giving money to the Church

Many German princes rallied his cause

They would later called the Protestants

This movement divided into several branches and spread to France

where the Protestants were known as Huguenots

which led to the division of France between Huguenots and Catholics

They slaughtered each other all along the 16th Century

The most famous massacre is the Saint Barthelemy massacre of 1572

These massacres resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths on both sides

They are called the French Wars of Religion

But in 1588, the legitimate heir of the throne, Henry of Navarre

future Henry IV of France

But was himself a Huguenot

He ended up converting to Catholicism

In order to secure the support of the Catholic community

which led him to the throne

But he still promulgated the Edict of Nantes in 1598

which granted freedom of religion and equal rights to the Huguenots

In 1610, Henry IV of France was assassinated

and when his successor Louis XIII was old enough to reign

he placed his trust in one advisor alone

the prime minister cardinal Richelieu

who very much wanted to strengthen the royal authority

He forbade Huguenot strongholds

which threatened to become a counter-power in France

He strongly raised the taxes

to finance a war against the Habsburgs

leading to uprisings within the population

And he reduced the nobles’ privileges

which made him lose their support

This policy went on under the regency of Anne of Austria and her prime minister Mazarin

which led the noble parliamentarians and princes to rise up

and attempt a coup to take over the throne

These events are called The Fronde

But Mazarin violently repressed the coup

formed an alliance with England

and won the war against Spain in 1659

At that moment, Louis XIV was old enough to assume power

He decided to reign without a prime minister

and to develop absolute monarchy at its highest level

First, he claimed to be the representative of God on Earth

he was now in charge of electing bishops

and he revoked the Edict of Nantes

which led to a massive exodus of the protestant population

Secondly, he made the aristocracy and provincial governors

live in court, in his new Versailles palace

in order to better control them

Finally, he unified the army under his command

as it was previously controlled by several nobles

and he enlarged it a lot

This enabled him to fight all along his reign

against other European powers

for the domination of Europe, and the world

Scientific progress and the rise of the stock market

enabled private business companies

from England, the United Provinces and France

to settle in many different countries

in order to trade

and if possible, conquer them

During the 17th century

France set up trade posts

in the Indian Ocean, in Africa

and conquered the West indies, fighting what was left of the local Karib peoples

and then implemented under Louis XIV the triangular trade

through the slave trade

In a nutshell, they shipped European products to Africa

and traded them for slaves with the Africans

These slaves were sent as workforce in the West indies plantations

where they were traded for colonial production

which was then shipped back to Europe and sold there

These first colonies gave a worldwide dimension to European conflicts

which now involved their colonies in war negotiations

First, New France

A territory Louis XIV had to partly give away to England

after the Spanish succession war

Louis XV then had to give them the rest of it after the Seven Years’ War

along with control over the East of India

which established England as the world’s greatest power

And finally, from 1775, the United States of America

that France helped during their independence war against England

which increased the French debt a lot

In the meantime, a new philosophical and intellectual movement

appeared in England and in the United Provinces

and spread through France during the reign of Louis XV

the Enlightenment

This was a revolution in the way people thought

carried by Marivaux, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot or Montesquieu

For the first time, an intellectual power rose

outside of monarchist and religious institutions

People talked about human rights, challenged the authority of the Church

and questioned absolutism

The Enlightenment pushed the nobility and bourgeoisie

to demand more involvement in power

as in parallel, tensions grew within the rest of the population

because of bad harvests

As for Louis XVI, he worried more about the debt that France had racked up

His plan to reduce it was to tax the nobles for the first time

which of course made them turn on him.

To solve this crisis, Louis XVI call in 1789

for a large consultation with deputies

from the clergy, the nobility and the Third Estate

composed of the bourgeoisie and the common people

this assembly was called the Estates General

But the Third Estate

felt under-represented in these Estates General

as it carried the voices of 96% of the population

So, they seized their chance

On June 20th 1789, they gathered in the Salle du jeu de Paume

to write the Constitution, and they created the National Assembly

the legislative was now distinct from the executive

On July 14th, the Bastille prison was taken by the people

This was the French revolution

Revolutionaries put an end to noble privileges

proclaimed all men are born free and equal in rights

implemented a constitutional monarchy in 1791

and abolished slavery in 1794

after the Santo Domingo (future Haiti) rebellion

But meanwhile, their policy became more and more intolerant

against opponents to the revolution

who were jailed or deported

and against the Catholic clergy

which led to strong tensions all around France

Nobles fled to other kingdoms

and asked them to intervene

Thus, two camps appeared among the revolutionaries:

The moderates (Girondists) represented by Lafayette and Barnave

who wanted to put an end to the revolution and strengthen the French constitutional monarchy

by declaring war to foreign monarchies

And the radicals (Montagnards), represented by Danton and Robespierre

who wanted to go on with the revolution until the republic was proclaimed

and keep eliminating counter-revolutionaries inside the country

Both camps ended up agreeing to go to war against Austria and Prussia

and then proclaimed the Republic on September 21st 1792

They guillotined Louis XVI in 1793

which created a coalition of foreign monarchies against France

300,000 additional French people had to go to war

This was the last straw for many French regions

that had already been violently affected by the anti-religious measures,so they rose against the revolutionary government

And in the North-West

the rebellion evolved into an ultra-violent civil war in Vendée

between revolted and revolutionaries

which killed around 150,000 people

Meanwhile, Robespierre, supported by the Parisian sans-culotte revolutionaries

ordered the arrest of moderate members of parliament, took over power

and put under the guillotine everyone suspected to be a counter-revolutionary

including Danton, his former ally

everyone was a suspect, it was Terror everywhere in France

Robespierre was overthrown in 1794

and centrist revolutionaries

called the Thermidorian republicans took power

and put an end to the Terror

In order to rule, they created an executive council known as the Directory composed of 5 people

In the meantime, the revolutionary army was winning a lot of battles

and established some Republics in the conquered territories

And a general known as Bonaparte

stood out in Italy and Egypt

and grew in popularity

He took advantage of the directory‘s political instability

to come back to France, instigated a coup in 1799

and became Consul for life

Napoleon straightened the country

created the Bank of France, the civil code

brought back the Estate and the Catholic Church together

and restored slavery in the colonies

Then, in 1804, England demanded that France

release Holland and Switzerland

and Napoleon used this threat of a new war

to make the French people plebiscite him as emperor

England put an embargo on French ships

The English fleet was too powerful for Napoleon to fight directly

so he decided to economically suffocate England

and to do so, he had to dominate the whole of Europe

Within 8 years, he managed to conquer a great part of Europe

all the way to the gates of Russia

defeating every coalition in their attempts to stop him

But when the Napoleonian army arrived in Moscow

the Muscovites fled their city and burnt it

With no shelter nor food, the Napoleon troops froze to death

After that distaster

Napoleon was defeated many times

and finally, France was invaded by the coalition

Napoleon was exiled but came back in power for 100 days in 1815

but was badly defeated in Waterloo by the English

He was exiled, for good this time, on the island of Saint-Helen

The coalition set up a new constitutional monarchy in France

France with Louis XVIII, Louis XVI’s brother

this was the Bourbon Restoration

Then, his ultra-royalist brother Charles X succeeded after him

He censored the printing press, favored the rich

and gave political power to the Church

which led to three days of revolution in July 1830

This revolution put Louis Philippe I on the throne

He repeated the same kind of mistakes

and was overthrown by a 3rd revolution in 1848

This time, the Republicans managed to proclaim the 2nd republic

and while everybody was waiting for the presidential election

the provisional government implemented

The freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly

The abolition of slavery

The restriction of working time to 10 hours a day

And finally, the universal manhood suffrage

which enabled the election for a 4 years term

of the 1st President of the Republic : Louis Napoleon Bonaparte

none other than the nephew of Napoleon I, who was supported by common people

But 3 years later, after a coup

accepted in a plebiscite by citizens

he proclaimed himself Emperor as Napoleon III

and implemented an authoritarian policy

which repressed uprisings, restrained freedoms

and as such, created a stable political and economic context

which enabled the relaunch of colonization

already started by Louis XVIII and Charles X

particularly with the violent conquest of Algiers in 1830

It intensified during the Empire

with the conquest of territories in Africa, the Middle-East,

Asia, and in the Pacific Ocean

- And secondly, this stability enabled an ambitious program to rebuild Paris entirely

along with the Baron Haussmann

and to reduce the industrial gap

with England by building the railway system

funded by new investment banks

With the industrialization, two new social classes appeared

the business and industrial bourgeoisie

and the working class beset by misery

for whom Napoleon III unpenalized strikes in 1864

This political regime was deeply established in the countryside

but questioned by the middle class

and a new revolution was about to unfold

To avoid it, Napoleon III accepted to give more power to the parliament

And in 1870, he takes advantage of a Prussian provocation

and of the time's patriotic mood

to declare war to Prussia and its North German Confederation

This way, he was looking to assert his power

in a war he believed easy to win

But before long, France was suffering numerous defeats

Napoleon III was taken prisoner

and the Prussian and German coalition was headed to Paris

On the one side, the Parisian working class

and the far-left wing

wanted to take advantage of Napoleon III being imprisoned

to proclaim the Republic

and to fight this war to push back the coalition

On the other side, the Republican deputies were hesitant

yes, they wanted the Republic

but through official elections in order to assert their legitimacy in the entire country

and not only in Paris

And if they wanted to run elections, they needed the peace

But under popular pressure

the Republican deputies proclaimed the Republic

and the state of war on September 4th 1870

Thus, the Prussian and German coalition besieged Paris

The civil Parisians as well as the National Guard defended the city

while some Republicans deputies

tried to negotiate peace in secret

and turned against them the Parisians

A peace agreement was finally signed on January 28th 1871

followed by the election of a royalist national assembly

and a national vote from which Thiers was elected Chief of the Republic

But the Parisians did not agree with this, and in March 1871

when Thiers tried to seize their canons

the Parisians and the National Guard rose up

and created the revolutionary government of the Paris Commune

a movement which spread to Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse

The Parisian communards fought a war

against the French Republic government, which took refuge in Versailles

A very large number of them were executed on Thiers’ orders

This massacre put an end to the Paris Commune

and left a deep scar on the French working movement

Meanwhile, Prussia imposed very hard conditions for peace

France had to pay a compensation of 5 billions French francs

And lost the regions of Alsace and Moselle

Following this defeat, the founders of the 3rd Republic’s values

became deeply rooted in a strong patriotism

and an intense belief in the Republic and in progress

And they spread these values through their reforms

Spreading of the Republican values such as

The Marseillaise as the national anthem, Marianne, Bastille Day as a national bank holiday

Development of freedom

Education became free, secular and mandatory

But not all of it was good

As for History Schoolchildren were taught a unified version of the history of France

presenting the Gauls as the French common ancestors

France’s regional history to the benefit of the history of the royal domain

and presenting the Republic as the ultimate achievement of progress

And finally, the 3rd Republic went on with colonization

presented as a duty to bring civilization

as well as Christianism to colonized people

In 1881, the 3rd Republic implemented the “Native code”.

It declared colonized people as subjects of France

and denied them citizenship

And England, France and other European countries shared Africa among one another

designing artificial borders which divided African peoples

while in Asia, France went on with the conquest of Indochina

In France, the 2nd industrial revolution

brought progress in electricity and the automobile

And now that the Republic was stable

new socialist movements appeared

and some of them asked for a fairer tax which would adapt to the people’s income

And while the left wing and the right wing split deeper and deeper

the Dreyfus case starting in 1894 intensified this gap

in an anti-Jewish hatred background

Which left its mark on France for several generations

And we arrive in the year 1914

You need to know that since the 1870 Franco-Prussian war

European countries had been forming alliances

with other countries in order to get stronger

And when a Serbian man from Bosnia

killed the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Franz Ferdinand

All this system of alliance activated

which led to World War 1

Well, why was this war worldwide?

First, because colonized countries were massively requisitioned

And moreover, all along this war

new countries integrated one alliance or the other

In France, the war against Germany quickly became a trench warfare

which killed more than 1.7 million people

And when everything ended in 1918

the war and Bolshevik revolution in Russia

caused the fall of 4 empires

and reshaped the European map

Regarding France, the country recovered Alsace and Lorraine

and made Germany pay a steep price in war compensations

which is humiliated

Following the financial crisis of 1929

a dangerous rise of nationalism in Italy, Germany and France

pushed the 3 French left-wing parties

to merge forces and create the Popular Front

which won the 1936 election

and gave a lot of new rights to the working class

Meanwhile in Germany, Hitler won the elections in 1932

and implemented a totalitarian regime

based on

The project to create a new man and a strong nation with the Aryan model

An expansionist policy

And of course scapegoats: the Jews and other minorities

Germany invaded Austria in 1938

then Czechoslovakia in 1939

But England and France were not ready for war so they did not react

But when Poland was invaded in 1939

they ended up declaring war to Germany

It’s World War 2

France secured the Maginot Line

but on May 10th 1940, the Germans swiftly attacked France

and had it sign an armistice

They divided France into two areas

an occupied zone under German control

and an unoccupied zone where French political leader Marshall Pétain

settled down in Vichy from where he collaborated with Germany

causing, among other things, the deportation of 76,000 Jews

In the meantime, French General Charles de Gaulle fled to England

from where he organized the French resistance

both in the country with Jean Moulin

and outside of France by progressively rallying French colonies

with the help of England

In 1944, a big part of Eastern Europe was freed by the U.S.S.R

which then occupied these countries, according to the Yalta Agreements

In France, the Normandy and Provence landings

led to the Liberation of the entire country on May 8th, 1945

Japan was still at war

but surrendered when the USA launched two nuclear bombs on the country

The war toll was 18 million militaries dead

and 45 million civilians

partly caused by the extermination camps

But the end of the war did not put an end to the massacres

First in France, where the Liberation triggered an anti-collaboration wave

causing the execution of 9,000 people

But also for the Algerians

for whom the armistice on May 8th

was the opportunity to demonstrate against colonization

and for their independence

in return for their strong involvement in the liberation of France

But France violently repressed these demonstrations

killing thousands, maybe even tens of thousands

This event was a sign that a big wave of decolonization was coming

How come?

Firstly, because in 1941

Roosevelt and Churchill promulgated the Atlantic Charter

after the German invasions

stating that every country has the right

to choose the type of government they want to live in

Add to this a weakened Europe

the creation of the United Nations Organization

which supported decolonization

and the Cold War between the USA and the USSR

which both supported different colonized countries

And BOOM !, colonized countries started rebelling

In 1946, Communists Vietmings fought for their independence

and won the war against France in 1954

The same year, uprisings in Algeria

led to a brutal war with France

The country gained its independence in 1962

1962 and many Algerians who had been enrolled in the French army, the Harkis

were compelled, to avoid being killed

to take refuge in France, which neglected them

The Algerian war even caused the fall of the 4th Republic

and opened the door to negotiations

with all the other colonized countries

Some of them chose to remain French

and others progressively got their independence

although France still maintains a strong

monetary, financial and economical control in these regions

But let’s go back to post-war France

In 1944, Women obtained the right to vote for the first time

The National Committee for Resistance

nationalized the energy, insurance and banks

and created the Social Security system

French people made a lot of babies

And in the Cold War context, France signed a military treaty with the USA

integrating NATO

and receiving in exchange, like many other European countries

financial assistance from the US: the Marshall plan

Charles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958

set up the 5th Republic

and took his distance with the USA

He resigned from presidency after the referendum following the student demonstrations of May 68

European countries gathered

into a European Economic Community

which became the European Union in 1992

Trade between countries increased

leading to trade globalization

which spread into many sectors such as culture, science or information

thanks to the Internet

And the impact of globalization and the increase of worldwide consumption

caused numerous drifts

which started to throw the Earth ecosystem off-balance

What solutions will humanity find

concerning this worldwide ecological issue?

History will tell

That’s it for the History of France, I hope you liked it

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