England Timeline

 

1. Origins

21,500 BC
Prehistoric populations, cave art and stone monuments.
1200 BC
Settlement by the Gauls (related to the Celts).
59-52 BC
Conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar and the beginning of Gallo-Roman civilization.
500 AD
Barbarian invasions and the end of Pax Romana following the fall of Rome.
600 AD
Settlement by the Franks, the barbarian tribe from which France derives its name.

2. Establishment of a State and Nation

768 AD
Charlemagne, named Emperor of the Western world, attempts to recreate the Roman Empire.
987 AD
Hughes Capet founds the Capetian dynasty, which will last until 1328. The monarchy asserts its new power over feudal lords.
11th-13th centuries
Middle Ages: flourishing of Romanesque and Gothic art. Crusades.
14th-15th centuries
French-English rivalry culminates in the Hundred Years War triggering a new wave of nationalism. France is also plagued by the Black Death and famines.

3. Absolute Monarchy and the Enlightenment

15th-16th centuries
The Renaissance.
1539
French replaces Latin as the official language.
1562-1589
Religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.
1598
Edit of Nantes grants freedom of conscience and worship.
1610-1715
Reign of Louis XIII followed by the Absolute Monarchy of Louis XIV resulting in royal authority and hegemony; increased spread of French culture.
18th century
Economic and demographic growth. Age of Enlightenment. Absolutism questioned. French participate in the American Revolution (see page 28).
1789
French Revolution; Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. End of the monarchy.

4. Political Experiments

1804-1815
Napoleon is named Emperor; he reorganizes the French administration and legal system, establishing the Napoleonic Code.
1815
Restoration of the Monarchy.
1830-1848
Revolution. July Monarchy. Industrialization.
1848
Revolution. Second Republic. Slavery abolished.
1852-1870
Second Empire under Napoleon III. Prosperity and growth. Colonial conquests.
1870-1871
Loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.
1875
Third Republic.

5. Republican France

1880-1910
Secular education, freedom to assemble, separation of church and state (1905). Colonial expansion.
1894-1906
France is split over the Affaire Dreyfus: A Jewish army captain is wrongly accused of treason, but found innocent a few years later.
1914-1918
World War I (1,350,000 killed). The U.S enters the war in 1917. Alsace-Lorraine restored to France. Peace Treaty of Versailles (1919).
1936-1938
Rise of the Popular Front. Social developments include agreements on work conditions and paid vacations.
1939-1945
World War II (700,000 killed). Germany occupies France. Collaboration of the Vichy regime. General de Gaulle in London calls on the French to resist. Resistance.
1944-1945
Normandy and Provence landings. Liberation of France.
1946-1958
Fourth Republic is marked by economic reconstruction and end of colonization. Political instability. Beginning of the European construction. Sharp demographic increase.



6. Fifth Republic

1958
De Gaulle returns to power and founds the Fifth Republic, adopted by referendum.
1962
End of Algerian War, begun in 1954.
1969-1974
Georges Pompidou elected President of the Republic. European construction strengthened.
1974-1981
ValÈry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the Republic. Oil crisis followed by recession.
1981
Socialist candidate FranÁois Mitterrand is elected President of the Republic with a left-wing majority in the National Assembly; Abolition of the death penalty. Decentralization laws. Nationalization of large coorporations.
1986
Legislative elections; the Left loses out to conservative parties. Jacques Chirac, a conservative, is appointed Prime Minister. First cohabitation. Re-privatization.
1988
FranÁois Mitterrand is re-elected President of the Republic. The Left wins a majority in legislative elections.
1992
The French ratify the Maastricht Treaty on European Union by referendum.
1993
March 29, victory of the Right in legislative elections: second cohabitation government. Privatization program resumes.
1995
May 7, Jacques Chirac of the neo-Gaullist RPR party is elected President of the Republic. Alain JuppÈ is appointed Prime Minister.
1997
June 3, Lionel Jospin is named Prime Minister after Jacques Chirac has dissolved the National Assembly.
October 1997: Signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.