France: timeline and key events

Battle of Alesia

Caesar crushes Vercingetorix's revolt. Gaul becomes Roman.

Clovis becomes King of the Franks

Clovis I unifies Frankish tribes and founds the Kingdom of the Franks.

Baptism of Clovis

Clovis I, King of the Franks, converts to Catholic Christianity. France becomes the "eldest daughter of the Church".

Battle of Tours (Poitiers)

Charles Martel halts Arab expansion in the West. A decisive victory that preserves Christian Europe.

Coronation of Charlemagne

The King of the Franks is crowned Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III in Rome.

Hugues Capet, first Capetian king

Hugues Capet founds the Capetian dynasty that will reign over France for 800 years.

Start of the Hundred Years' War

Conflict between France and England over the French throne succession.

Joan of Arc liberates Orléans

Joan of Arc lifts the siege of Orléans, a decisive turning point in the Hundred Years' War.

End of the Hundred Years' War

French victory at Castillon. The English lose their last territories in France. The Hundred Years' War ends.

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

Thousands of Protestants (Huguenots) are massacred across France on the orders of Charles IX and Catherine de' Medici.

Edict of Nantes

Henry IV grants freedom of worship to Protestants, ending the Wars of Religion.

Louis XIV's personal reign begins

After Mazarin's death, Louis XIV governs alone. The beginning of royal absolutism and French cultural hegemony in Europe.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

Louis XIV suppresses the freedom of worship of Protestants. Hundreds of thousands of Huguenots go into exile in Europe.

Storming of the Bastille

The crowd storms the fortress-prison on July 14. Symbol of the fall of the Ancien Régime and start of the French Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

The National Assembly adopts on August 26 the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a founding text of modern democracies.

Proclamation of the First Republic

The National Convention abolishes the monarchy and proclaims the French Republic on September 21, 1792.

Execution of Louis XVI

King Louis XVI is guillotined on January 21 at the Place de la Révolution in Paris. An irreversible break with the Ancien Régime.

Napoleon crowned Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris.

Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon is definitively defeated by the allied armies. End of the First Empire.

Abolition of slavery and Second Republic

The provisional government of the Second Republic definitively abolishes slavery in all French colonies on April 27.

Ferry Laws — secular and free education

Jules Ferry makes public primary education free and compulsory, and expels religious congregations from schools.

Construction of the Eiffel Tower

Gustave Eiffel erects the tower for the World Exhibition. Symbol of Paris.

Dreyfus Affair

Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, is wrongfully convicted of espionage. The affair divides France until his rehabilitation in 1906.

Separation of Church and State

The law of December 9 establishes secularism: the state neither recognizes nor funds any religion. A founding principle of the French Republic.

Entry into World War I

France enters the war after the German ultimatum of August 3. Start of four years of conflict that killed 1.4 million French soldiers.

Battle of Verdun

Ten months of fierce fighting (February-December 1916). Symbol of French sacrifice: 300,000 dead on both sides.

Armistice of November 11

At 11 a.m. on November 11, fighting ceases on the Western Front. End of World War I: 1.4 million French dead.

Appeal of June 18

General de Gaulle launches from London his call to resistance against the Nazi occupier.

Armistice and Vichy regime

France signs the armistice with Nazi Germany on June 22. Marshal Pétain establishes the collaborationist French State.

D-Day Normandy landings

The Allies land in Normandy on June 6. Decisive turning point of World War II.

Liberation of Paris

French troops (General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division) and the FFI liberate Paris on August 25. De Gaulle walks down the Champs-Élysées.

Women's right to vote

French women vote for the first time in the municipal elections of April 29, 1945, 25 years after American women.

Fifth Republic

De Gaulle founds the Fifth Republic. The new Constitution strengthens executive power.

Évian Accords

The Évian Accords end the Algerian War and recognize Algerian independence. End of 132 years of French presence.

May 1968

Student revolt and general strikes shake French society.

FIFA World Cup victory

France beats Brazil 3-0 in the final (Zidane brace, Petit goal) and wins its first World Cup title at the Stade de France.

Paris Olympic Games

Paris hosts the Olympic Games for the third time (after 1900 and 1924). The opening ceremony on the Seine brings together 10,000 athletes.