A brief history of France. Brief history of France The ancient capital of France

At first they simply wandered peacefully through these lands with their herds of domestic animals. In 1200-900 BC. Celts began to settle mainly in the east of modern France.

At the end of the 8th century BC, after they mastered iron processing, stratification began in the Celtic tribes. Luxury items found during excavations show just how wealthy the Celtic aristocracy was. These items were made in different parts of the Mediterranean, including Egypt. Trade was already well developed in that era.

To strengthen their trading influence, the Phocian Greeks founded the city of Massalia (modern Marseille).

In the 6th century BC, during the La Tène culture in the history of France, the Celts began to rapidly conquer and develop new lands. They now had a plow with an iron coulter, which made it possible to cultivate the hard soil of central and northern modern France.

At the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The Celts were greatly supplanted by the Belgian tribes, but at the same time, in the history of France, the Celtic civilization was experiencing its greatest flowering. Money appears, fortified cities arise, between which there is an active circulation of money. In the 3rd century BC. e. The Celtic tribe of Parisians settled on an island in the Seine River. It was from this name of the tribe that the name of the capital of France, Paris, came. A tour to Paris will allow you to visit this Ile de la Cité - the place where the first inhabitants of Paris - the Parisian Celts - settled.

In the 2nd century BC. Europe was dominated by the Celtic tribe Averni. At the same time, the Romans increased their influence in the south of France. It is to Rome that the residents of Massalia (Marseille) are increasingly turning to Rome for protection. The next step on the part of the Romans was the conquest of the lands of what is now France. At this stage of its history, France was called Gaul.

The Romans called the Celts Gauls. Between Gauls and the Romans constantly flared up military conflicts. Proverb " Geese saved Rome"appeared after the Gauls attacked this city in the 4th century BC.

According to legend, the Gauls, approaching Rome, scattered the Roman army. Some of the Romans fortified themselves on the Capitoline Hill. At night, the Gauls began their assault in complete silence. And no one would have noticed them if not for the geese, which made a lot of noise.

For a long time, the Romans had difficulty resisting the attacks of the Gauls, spreading their influence further and further into their territory.

In the 1st century BC. viceroy in Gaul was sent Julius Caesar. The main headquarters of Julius Caesar was on the Ile de la Cité, on the site where Paris later grew up. The Romans named their settlement Lutetia. A trip to Paris necessarily involves a visit to this island, from which the history of Paris originates.

Julius Caesar began actions to finally pacify the Gauls. The struggle continued for eight years. Caesar tried to win over the population of Gaul to his side. A third of its inhabitants received the right of Roman allies or simply free citizens. Duties under Caesar were also quite mild.

It was in Gaul that Julius Caesar gained popularity among the legionnaires, which allowed him to enter the struggle for dominion over Rome. With the words “The die is cast,” he crosses the Rubicon River, leading the troops to Rome. For a long time, Gaul found itself under the rule of the Romans.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Gaul was ruled by a Roman governor who declared himself an independent ruler.

In the 5th century, people settled on the left bank of the Rhine francs. Initially, the Franks were not a single people; they were divided into Salic and Ripuarian Franks. These two large branches were, in turn, subdivided into smaller “kingdoms”, ruled by their own “kings, who in essence were only military leaders.

The first royal dynasty in the Frankish state is considered Merovingians (late 5th century – 751). The dynasty received this name from the name of the semi-legendary founder of the clan - Merovea.

The most famous representative of the first dynasty in French history was Clovis (about 481 - 511). Having inherited his father's rather small possessions in 481, he began active military operations against Gaul. In 486, at the Battle of Soissons, Clovis defeated the troops of the last Roman governor of central Gaul and significantly expanded his possessions. This is how the rich region of Roman Gaul with Paris fell into the hands of the Franks.

Clovis did Paris the capital of his greatly expanded state. He settled on the island of Cité, in the palace of the Roman governor. Although tours to Paris include a visit to this place, almost nothing from the time of Clovis has survived to this day. Clovis later annexed the south of the country to these territories. The Franks also conquered many Germanic tribes east of the Rhine.

The most important event of Clovis's reign was his baptism. Under Clovis, in his possessions, the Franks adopted the Christian religion. This was an important stage in the history of France. Originated under Clovis Frankish state lasted about four centuries and became the immediate predecessor of the future France. In the V-VI centuries. all of Gaul became part of the vast Frankish monarchy.

The second dynasty in French history was Carolingians. They ruled the Frankish state from 751 of the year. The first king of this dynasty was Pepin the Short. He bequeathed a huge state to his sons - Charles and Carloman. After the death of the latter, the entire Frankish state was in the hands of King Charles. His main goal was to create a strong Christian state, which, in addition to the Franks, would also include pagans.

He was a prominent figure in history of France. Almost every year he organized military campaigns. The scope of the conquests was so great that the territory of the Frankish state doubled.

At this time, the Roman region was under the rule of Constantinople, and the popes were the governors of the Byzantine emperor. They turned to the Frankish ruler for help, and Charles supported them. He defeated the Lombard king, who threatened the Roman region. Having accepted the title of Lombard king, Charles began to introduce the Frankish system in Italy and united Gaul and Italy into one state. IN 800 was crowned in Rome by Pope Leo III with the imperial crown.

Charlemagne saw the support of royal power in the Catholic Church - he awarded its representatives with high positions, various privileges, and encouraged the forced Christianization of the population of the conquered lands.

Karl's extensive activities in the field of education were devoted to the task of Christian education. He issued a decree establishing schools in monasteries and tried to introduce compulsory education for the children of free people. He invited the most enlightened people of Europe to the highest government and church positions. The interest in theology and Latin literature that blossomed at the court of Charlemagne gives historians the right to call his era Carolingian Revival.

The restoration and construction of roads and bridges, the settlement of abandoned lands and the development of new ones, the construction of palaces and churches, the introduction of rational agricultural methods - all these are the merits of Charlemagne. It was after his name that the dynasty was called the Carolingians. The capital of the Carolingians was the city Aachen. Although the Carolingians moved the capital of their state from Paris, a monument to Charlemagne can now be seen on the Ile de la Cité in Paris. It is located on the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in the park named after him. A holiday in Paris will allow you to see the monument to this man, who left a bright mark on the history of France.

Charlemagne died in Aachen on January 28 814 of the year. His body was transferred to the Aachen Cathedral, which he built, and placed in a gilded copper sarcophagus.

The empire created by Charlemagne disintegrated within the next century. By Treaty of Verdun 843 it was divided into three states, two of which - West Frankish and East Frankish - became the predecessors of modern France and Germany. But the union of state and church he accomplished largely predetermined the character of European society for centuries to come. Charlemagne's educational and ecclesiastical reforms remained important for a long time.

The image of Charles after his death became legendary. Numerous tales and legends about him resulted in a cycle of novels about Charlemagne. According to the Latin form of the name Charles - Carolus - the rulers of individual states began to be called "kings".

Under Charlemagne's successors, a tendency towards the collapse of the state immediately appeared. Son and successor Charles Louis I the Pious (814–840) did not possess the qualities of his father and could not cope with the heavy burden of governing the empire.

After the death of Louis, his three sons began to struggle for power. Eldest son - Lothair- was recognized by the emperor and received Italy. Second brother - Louis the German- ruled the Eastern Franks, and the third, Karl Baldy, – Western francs. The younger brothers disputed the imperial crown with Lothair, and in the end the three brothers signed the Treaty of Verdun in 843.

Lothair retained his imperial title and received lands stretching from Rome through Alsace and Lorraine to the mouth of the Rhine. Louis took possession of the East Frankish Kingdom, and Charles took possession of the West Frankish Kingdom. Since then, these three territories have developed independently, becoming the predecessors of France, Germany and Italy. A new stage has begun in the history of France: never again in the Middle Ages did it unite with Germany. Both of these countries were ruled by different royal dynasties and became political and military rivals.

The most serious danger was in the late 8th – early 10th centuries. were raids Vikings from Scandinavia. Sailing their long, maneuverable ships along the northern and western coasts of France, the Vikings plundered the inhabitants of the coast, and then began to seize and populate the lands in northern France. In 885–886 the Viking army besieged Paris, and only thanks to the heroic defenders who were led Count Odo and Bishop Gozlin of Paris, the Vikings were driven back from the city walls. Charles the Bald, a king from the Carolingian dynasty, was unable to provide assistance and lost his throne. The new king in 887 became a count Odo of Paris.

The Viking leader Rollo managed to gain a foothold between the Somme River and Brittany, and the king Karl Simple from the Carolingian dynasty was forced to recognize his rights to these lands, subject to recognition of the supreme royal authority. The area became known as the Duchy of Normandy, and the Vikings who settled here quickly adopted Frankish culture and language.

The troubled period between 887 and 987 in the political history of France was marked by the struggle between the Carolingian dynasty and the family of Count Odo. In 987, large feudal magnates gave preference to the Odo family and elected them king Hugo Capeta, Count of Paris. The dynasty began to be called by his nickname Capetians. It was third royal dynasty in French history.

By this time, France was greatly fragmented. The counties of Flanders, Toulouse, Champagne, Anjou, and smaller counties were quite strong. Tours, Blois, Chartres and Meaux. In fact, independent lands were the duchies of Aquitaine, Burgundy, Normandy and Brittany. The only thing that distinguished the Capetian rulers from other rulers was that they were the legally elected kings of France. They ruled only their ancestral lands in Ile-de-France, stretching from Paris to Orleans. But even here in Ile-de-France, they could not control their vassals.

Only during the 30-year reign Louis VI the Tolstoy (1108–1137) managed to curb rebellious vassals and strengthen royal power.

After this, Louis took up management affairs. He appointed only loyal and capable officials, who were called provosts. The provosts carried out the royal will and were always under the supervision of the king, who constantly traveled around the country.

The critical stage in the history of France and the Capetian dynasty falls on the years 1137–1214. Also in 1066 Duke of Normandy Wilgelm the conqueror defeated the army of the Anglo-Saxon king Harold and annexed his rich kingdom to his duchy. He became king of England and at the same time had possessions on the mainland in France. During the reign Louis VII (1137–1180) English kings captured almost half of France. The English king Henry created a vast feudal state that almost surrounded Ile-de-France.

If Louis VII had been replaced on the throne by another equally indecisive king, disaster could have befallen France.

But Louis's heir was his son Philip II Augustus (1180–1223), one of the greatest kings in the history of medieval France. He began a decisive struggle against Henry II, inciting a rebellion against the English king and encouraging his internecine struggle with his sons who ruled the lands on the mainland. Thus, Philip was able to prevent attacks on his power. Gradually he deprived the successors of Henry II of all possessions in France, with the exception of Gascony.

Thus, Philip II Augustus established French hegemony in Western Europe for the next century. In Paris, this king is building the Louvre. Then it was just a castle-fortress. For almost all of us, a trip to Paris includes a visit to the Louvre.

Philip's most progressive innovation was the appointment of officials to administer the newly formed judicial districts in the annexed territories. These new officials, paid from the royal treasury, faithfully carried out the king's instructions and helped to unify the newly conquered territories. Philip himself stimulated the development of cities in France, giving them broad rights of self-government.

Philip cared a lot about the decoration and safety of cities. He strengthened the city walls, surrounding them with moats. The king paved roads and paved streets with cobblestones, often doing this at his own expense. Philippe contributed to the founding and development of the University of Paris, attracting renowned professors with awards and benefits. Under this king, the construction of Notre Dame Cathedral continued, a visit to which is included in almost every trip to Paris. A holiday in Paris usually involves a visit to the Louvre, the construction of which began under Philip Augustus.

During the reign of Philip's son Louis VIII (1223–1226) The county of Toulouse was annexed to the kingdom. France now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. His son succeeded him Louis IX (1226–1270), who was later named Saint Louis. He was able to resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and treaties, while displaying a sense of ethics and tolerance unprecedented in the medieval era. As a result, during the long reign of Louis IX, France was almost always at peace.

To the board Philip III (1270–1285) the attempt to expand the kingdom ended unsuccessfully. Philip's significant achievement in the history of France was the agreement on the marriage of his son to the heiress of the County of Champagne, which guaranteed the annexation of these lands to the royal possessions.

Philip IV the Handsome.

Philip IV the Fair (1285–1314) played a significant role in the history of France, in the transformation of France into a modern state. Philip laid the foundations for an absolute monarchy.

To weaken the power of large feudal lords, he used the norms of Roman law as opposed to church and common law, which in one way or another limited the omnipotence of the crown by biblical commandments or tradition. It was under Philip that the highest authorities - Paris Parliament, Supreme Court and Court of Audit (Treasury)- from more or less regular meetings of the highest nobility turned into permanent institutions, in which they served mainly legists - experts in Roman law, who came from among small knights or wealthy townspeople.

Guarding the interests of his country, Philip IV the Fair expanded the territory of the kingdom.

Philip the Fair pursued a decisive policy to limit the power of the popes over France. The popes sought to free the church from state power and give it a special supranational and supranational status, and Philip IV demanded that all subjects of the kingdom be subject to a single royal court.

The popes also sought the opportunity for the church not to pay taxes to secular authorities. Philip IV believed that all classes, including the clergy, should help their country.

In the fight against such a powerful force as the papacy, Philip decided to rely on the nation and convened in April 1302 the first in the history of France, the Estates General - a legislative meeting of representatives of the three classes of the country: the clergy, the nobility and the third estate, which supported the king’s position in relation to the papacy . A fierce struggle began between Philip and Pope Boniface VIII. And in this struggle, Philip IV the Handsome won.

In 1305, the Frenchman Bertrand de Gault was elevated to the papal throne, taking the name Clement V. This Pope was obedient to Philip in everything. In 1308, at the request of Philip, Clement V moved the papal throne from Rome to Avignon. This is how it began " Avignon Captivity of the Popes" when the Roman high priests turned into French court bishops. Now Philip felt strong enough to destroy the ancient knightly order of the Templars, a very strong and influential religious organization. Philip decided to appropriate the wealth of the order and thus eliminate the debts of the monarchy. He brought imaginary charges against the Templars of heresy, unnatural vices, money-grubbing and alliance with Muslims. During falsified trials, brutal torture and persecution that lasted for seven years, the Templars were completely ruined, and their property went to the crown.

Philip IV the Handsome did a lot for France. But his subjects did not like him. The violence against the Pope aroused the indignation of all Christians; large feudal lords could not forgive him for the restrictions on their rights, in particular, the right to mint their own coins, as well as the preference shown by the king to rootless officials. The tax-paying class was outraged by the king's financial policies. Even people close to the king were afraid of the cold, rational cruelty of this man, this unusually beautiful and surprisingly impassive man. With all this, his marriage to Jeanne of Navarre was happy. His wife brought him the kingdom of Navarre and the county of Champagne as a dowry. They had four children, all three sons successively became kings of France: Louis X the Grumpy (1314-1316), Philip V the Long (1316-1322), Charles IV (1322-1328). Daughter Isabel was married to Edward II, King of England from 1307 to 1327.

Philip IV the Fair left behind a centralized state. After Philip's death, the nobles demanded the return of traditional feudal rights. Although the protests of the feudal lords were suppressed, they contributed to the weakening of the Capetian dynasty. All three sons of Philip the Fair had no direct heirs; after the death of Charles IV, the crown passed to his closest male relative, cousin Philippe Valois– to the founder Valois dynasty – fourth royal dynasty in French history.

Philip VI of Valois (1328–1350) went to the most powerful state in Europe. Almost all of France recognized him as a ruler, popes obeyed him in Avignon.

Just a few years have passed and the situation has changed.

England sought to regain vast territories in France that had previously belonged to it. King of England Edward III (1327–1377) laid claim to the French throne as the maternal grandson of Philip IV the Fair. But the French feudal lords did not want to see an Englishman as their ruler, even if he was the grandson of Philip the Fair. Then Edward III changed his coat of arms, on which delicate French lilies appeared next to the grinning English leopard. This meant that Edward was now subordinate not only to England, but also to France, for which he would now fight.

Edward invaded France with an army, small in number, but including many skilled archers. In 1337, the British launched a victorious offensive in northern France. This was the beginning Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). In the battle of Crecy V 1346 Edward completely defeated the French.

This victory allowed the British to take an important strategic point - fortress-port of Calais, breaking the eleven-month heroic resistance of its defenders.

In the early 50s, the British launched an offensive from the sea into southwestern France. Without much difficulty they captured Guillenne and Gascony. To these areas Edward III appointed his son Prince Edward, named after the color of his armor, as viceroy Black Prince. The English army, led by the Black Prince, inflicted a brutal defeat on the French in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers. New French king John the Good (1350–1364) was captured and released for a huge ransom.

France was devastated by troops and gangs of mercenary bandits, and a plague epidemic began in 1348–1350. The discontent of the people resulted in uprisings that shook the already devastated country for several years. The largest uprising was Jacquerie in 1358. It was brutally suppressed, as was the uprising of the Parisians, led by the merchant foreman Etienne Marcel.

John the Good was succeeded on the throne by his son Charles V (1364–1380), which turned the tide of the war and recaptured almost all of the lost possessions, except for a small area around Calais.

For 35 years after the death of Charles V, both sides - both French and English - were too weak to conduct major military operations. The next king Charles VI (1380–1422), was insane for most of his life. Taking advantage of the weakness of royal power, the English king Henry V in 1415 inflicted a crushing defeat on the French army Battle of Agincourt, and then began to conquer northern France. Duke of Burgundy, having become a virtually independent ruler on his lands, entered into an alliance with the British. With the help of the Burgundians, the English king Henry V achieved great success and in 1420 forced France to sign a difficult and shameful peace in the city of Troyes. According to this treaty, the country lost its independence and became part of the united Anglo-French kingdom. But not at once. According to the terms of the treaty, Henry V was supposed to marry the daughter of the French king Catherine and after the death of Charles VI become king of France. However, in 1422, death overtook both Henry V and Charles VI, and the one-year-old son of Henry V and Catherine, Henry VI, was proclaimed king of France.

In 1422 the British held most of France north of the Loire River. They launched attacks on fortified cities that defended the southern lands that still belonged to the son of Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles.

IN 1428 British troops besieged Orleans. It was a very strategically important fortress. The capture of Orleans opened the road to the south of France. An army led by Joan of Arc. Word spread about the girl being guided by God.

Orleans, besieged by the British for six months now, was in a difficult situation. The blockade ring tightened. The townspeople were eager to fight, but the local military garrison showed complete indifference.

in spring 1429 army led Joan of Arc, managed to expel the British, and the siege of the city was lifted. Amazingly, besieged for 200 days, Olean was liberated 9 days after the arrival of Joan of Arc, nicknamed Maid of Orleans.

Peasants, artisans, and impoverished knights flocked from all over the country to the banner of the Maid of Orleans. Having liberated the fortresses on the Loire, Jeanne insisted that the Dauphin Charles go to Reims, where French kings had been crowned for centuries. After the ceremonial coronation Charles VII became the sole legitimate ruler of France. During the celebrations, the king wanted to reward Jeanne for the first time. She didn’t want anything for herself, she just asked Karl to exempt the peasants of her native land from taxes. village of Domremy in Lorraine. None of the subsequent rulers of France dared to take away this privilege from the inhabitants of Domremy.

IN 1430 year Joan of Arc was captured. In May 1431, nineteen-year-old Jeanne was burned at the stake in the central square of Rouen. The burning site is still marked with a white cross on the stones of the square.

Over the next 20 years, the French army liberated almost the entire country from the British, and in 1453 After the capture of Bordeaux, only the port of Calais remained under English rule. Ended Hundred Years' War, and France regained its former greatness. In the second half of the 15th century, once again in its history, France became the most powerful state in Western Europe.

This is what France got Louis XI (1461–1483). This king despised knightly ideals, even feudal traditions irritated him. He continued the fight against powerful feudal lords. In this struggle, he relied on the strength of cities and the help of their most prosperous inhabitants, attracted to public service. Through years of intrigue and diplomacy, he undermined the power of the Dukes of Burgundy, his most serious rivals in the struggle for political dominance. Louis XI managed to annex Burgundy, Franche-Comté and Artois.

At the same time, Louis XI began the transformation of the French army. Cities were freed from military service, and vassals were allowed to buy their way out of military service. The bulk of the infantry were Swiss. The number of troops exceeded 50 thousand. In the early 80s of the 15th century, Provence (with an important trading center on the Mediterranean Sea - Marseille) and Maine were annexed to France. Of the large lands, only Brittany remained unconquered.

Louis XI took a significant step towards an absolute monarchy. Under him, the Estates General met only once and lost real significance. The prerequisites were created for the rise of the economy and culture of France, and the foundations were laid for relatively peaceful development in the following decades.

In 1483, a 13-year-old prince took the throne. Charles VIII (1483-1498).

From his father Louis XI, Charles VIII inherited a country in which order was restored, and the royal treasury was significantly replenished.

At this time, the male line of the ruling house of Brittany ceased; by marrying Duchess Anne of Brittany, Charles VIII included the previously independent Brittany into France.

Charles VIII organized a triumphal campaign in Italy and reached Naples, declaring it his possession. He was unable to hold Naples, but this expedition provided an opportunity to get acquainted with the wealth and culture of Renaissance Italy.

Louis XII (1498–1515) also led the French nobles on an Italian campaign, this time laying claim to Milan and Naples. It was Louis XII who introduced the royal loan, which played a fatal role in the history of France 300 years later. And before, French kings borrowed money. But the royal loan meant the introduction of a regular banking procedure in which the loan was guaranteed by tax revenues from Paris. The royal loan system provided investment opportunities for wealthy citizens of France and even bankers in Geneva and northern Italy. It was now possible to have money without resorting to excessive taxation and without recourse to the Estates General.

Louis XII was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law, the Count of Angoulême, who became king Francis I (1515–1547).

Francis was the embodiment of the new spirit of the Renaissance in French history. He was one of the main political figures in Europe for more than a quarter of a century. During his reign, the country enjoyed peace and achieved prosperity.

His reign began with a lightning-fast invasion of Northern Italy, culminating in the victorious battle of Marignano; in 1516, Francis I concluded a special agreement with the pope (the so-called Bologna Concordat), according to which the king began to partially manage the property of the French church. Francis's attempt to proclaim himself emperor in 1519 ended in failure. And in 1525 he undertook a second campaign in Italy, which ended in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Pavia. Francis himself was then captured. Having paid a huge ransom, he returned to France and continued to rule the country, abandoning grandiose foreign policy plans.

Civil wars in France. Henry II (1547-1559), succeeding his father on the throne, must have seemed a strange anachronism in Renaissance France. He recaptured Calais from the British and established control over dioceses such as Metz, Toul and Verdun, which had previously belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. This king had a long-term love affair with the court beauty Diana de Poitiers. In 1559 he died while fighting in a tournament with one of the nobles.

Henry's wife Catherine de' Medici, who came from a family of famous Italian bankers, played a decisive role in French politics for a quarter of a century after the death of the king. At the same time, her three sons officially ruled, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III.

The first one is painful Francis II, was engaged to Mary Stuart (Scottish). A year after taking the throne, Francis died and his ten-year-old brother Charles IX took the throne. This boy king was completely under the influence of his mother.

At this time, the power of the French monarchy suddenly began to shake. Francis I began a policy of persecuting non-Protestants. But Calvinism continued to spread widely throughout France. French Calvinists were called Huguenots. The policy of persecution of the Huguenots, which became more severe under Charles, ceased to justify itself. The Huguenots were predominantly townspeople and nobles, often rich and influential.

The country split into two opposing camps.

All the contradictions and conflicts in the country - and the disobedience of the local feudal nobility to the king, and the dissatisfaction of the townspeople with the heavy exactions of royal officials, and the protests of the peasants against taxes and church land ownership, and the desire for independence of the bourgeoisie - all this took on the usual religious slogans of that time led to the beginning Huguenot wars. At the same time, the struggle for power and influence in the country intensified between two side branches of the old Capetian dynasty - Gizami(Catholics) and Bourbons(Huguenots).

The Guise family, ardent defenders of the Catholic faith, was opposed by moderate Catholics like Montmorency and Huguenots like Condé and Coligny. The struggle was punctuated by periods of truces and agreements, under which the Huguenots were given limited rights to be in certain areas and create their own fortifications.

The condition of the third agreement between Catholics and Huguenots was the marriage of the king's sister Margaritas With Henry of Bourbon, the young king of Navarre and the main leader of the Huguenots. Many Huguenot nobles came to the wedding of Henry of Bourbon and Margaret in August 1572. On the night of the feast of St. Bartholomew (August 24) Charles IX organized a terrible massacre of his opponents. Catholics dedicated to the case marked in advance the houses where their future victims were located. It is characteristic that among the killers there were mainly foreign mercenaries. After the first alarm, a terrible massacre began. Many were killed right in their beds. The killings spread to other cities. Henry of Navarre managed to escape, but thousands of his companions were killed

Charles IX died two years later and was succeeded by his childless brother. Henry III. There were other contenders for the royal throne. The greatest chances were with Henry of Navarre, but being the leader of the Huguenots, he did not suit the majority of the country's population. Catholics sought to place their leader on the throne Henry of Guise. Fearing for his power, Henry III treacherously killed both Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. This act caused general indignation. Henry III went over to the camp of his other rival, Henry of Navarre, but was soon killed by a fanatical Catholic monk.

Although Henry of Navarre was now the only contender for the throne, in order to become king, he had to convert to Catholicism. Only after this did he return to Paris and was crowned at Chartres. 1594 year. He became the first king Bourbon dynasty - the fifth royal dynasty in French history.

Henry IV's great merit was his acceptance into 1598 year Edict of Nantes- the law on religious tolerance. Catholicism remained the dominant religion, but the Huguenots were officially recognized as a minority with the right to work and self-defense in some areas and cities. This edict stopped the devastation of the country and the flight of the Huguenot French to England and the Netherlands. The Edict of Nantes was drawn up very cunningly: if the balance of power between Catholics and Huguenots changed, it could be revised (which Richelieu later took advantage of).

During the reign Henry IV (1594-1610) order was restored in the country and prosperity was achieved. The king supports major officials, judges, lawyers, and financiers. He allows these people to buy positions for themselves and pass them on to their sons. A powerful apparatus of power is in the hands of the king, allowing him to rule without regard to the whims and whims of the nobles. Henry also attracted large merchants to himself; he strongly supported the development of large-scale production and trade, and founded French colonies in overseas lands. Henry IV was the first of the French kings to begin to be guided in his policy by the national interests of France, and not just by the class interests of the French nobility.

In 1610, the country plunged into deep mourning when it learned that its king had been murdered by the Jesuit monk François Ravaillac. His death threw France back into a state close to the anarchy of the regency, as the young Louis XIII (1610-1643) was only nine years old.

The central political figure in the history of France at this time was his mother, the Queen. Maria Medici, who then enlisted the support of the Bishop of Luzon, Armand Jean du Plessis (who is better known to us as Cardinal Richelieu). IN 1 624 Richelieu became the king's mentor and representative and actually ruled France until the end of his life in 1642 . The beginning of the triumph of absolutism is associated with the name of Richelieu. In Richelieu, the French crown found not only an outstanding statesman, but also one of the prominent theorists of absolute monarchy. In his " Political testament“Richelieu named two main goals that he set for himself when he came to power: “ My first goal was the greatness of the king, my second goal was the power of the kingdom" The first minister of Louis XIII directed all his activities towards the implementation of this program. Its main milestones were the attack on the political rights of the Huguenots, who, according to Richelieu, shared power and state with the king. Richelieu considered his task to be the liquidation of the Huguenot state, the deprivation of power of rebellious governors and the strengthening of the institution of general governors-intendants.

Military operations against the Huguenots lasted from 1621 to 1629. In 1628, the Huguenot stronghold of the seaport of La Rochelle was besieged. The fall of La Rochelle and the loss of self-government privileges by the cities weakened the resistance of the Huguenots, and in 1629 they capitulated. Adopted in 1629 " Edict of Grace"confirmed the main text of the Edict of Nantes concerning the right to freely practice Calvinism. All articles that related to the political rights of the Huguenots were repealed. The Huguenots lost their fortresses and the right to maintain their garrisons.

Richelieu began strengthening the state apparatus of the absolute monarchy. The main event in solving this problem was the final approval of the institution of quartermasters.

Locally, the king's policies were hampered by governors and provincial states. Acting as representatives of both royal and local authorities, governors became virtually independent rulers. The quartermasters became the instrument for changing this order. They became plenipotentiary representatives of royal power on the ground. At first, the mission of the quartermasters was temporary, then gradually it became permanent. All the threads of the provincial administration are concentrated in the hands of the intendants. Only the army remains outside their competence.

The First Minister speeds up the economic development of the state. From 1629 to 1642, 22 trading companies were formed in France. The beginning of French colonial policy dates back to the reign of Richelieu.

In foreign policy, Richelieu consistently defended the national interests of France. Beginning in 1635, France, under his leadership, participated in the Thirty Years' War. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 contributed to France gaining a leading role in international relations in Western Europe.

But 1648 was not the end of the war for France. Spain refused to sign peace with the French monarch. The Franco-Spanish War lasted until 1659 and ended with the victory of France, which received Roussillon and the province of Artois under the Iberian Peace. Thus, the long-standing border dispute between France and Spain was resolved.

Richelieu died in 1642, and a year later Louis XIII died.

To the heir to the throne Louis XIV (1643-1715) I was only five years old at the time. The Queen Mother assumed guardianship duties Anne of Austria. State control was concentrated in her hands and the hands of the Italian Richelieu’s protege Cardinal Mazarin. Mazarin was an active conductor of the king's policies until his death in 1661. He continued Richelieu's foreign policy until the successful conclusion of the Westphalian (1648) and Pyrenees (1659) peace treaties. He was able to solve the problem of preserving the monarchy, especially during the uprisings of the nobility, known as Fronde (1648–1653). The name Fronde comes from the French word for sling. Throwing from a sling in a figurative sense means acting in defiance of authority. In the turbulent events of the Fronde, anti-feudal actions of the masses and part of the bourgeoisie, the conflict of the judicial aristocracy with absolutism, and opposition to the feudal nobility were contradictorily intertwined. Having coped with these movements, absolutism emerged stronger from the political crisis of the Fronde period.

Louis XIV.

After the death of Mazarin, Louis XIV (1643-1715), who had reached the age of 23 by that time, took control of the state into his own hands. Drawing on for 54 years " century of Louis XIV“This is both the apogee of French absolutism and the beginning of its decline. The king plunged headlong into state affairs. He skillfully selected active and intelligent associates for himself. Among them are the Minister of Finance Jean Baptiste Colbert, the Minister of War the Marquis de Louvois, the Minister of Defense Fortifications Sebastian de Vauban and such brilliant generals as the Viscount de Turenne and the Prince of Condé.

Louis formed a large and well-trained army, which, thanks to Vauban, had the best fortresses. A clear hierarchy of ranks, a uniform military uniform, and quartermaster service were introduced in the army. Matchlock muskets were replaced by a hammer-operated gun with a bayonet. All this increased the discipline and combat effectiveness of the army. An instrument of foreign policy, the army, along with the police created at that time, was widely used as an instrument of “internal order.”

With the help of this army, Louis pursued his strategic line during four wars. The most difficult was the last war - the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) - a desperate attempt to confront all of Europe. An attempt to win the Spanish crown for his grandson ended with the invasion of enemy troops on French soil, the impoverishment of the people and the depletion of the treasury. The country lost all previous conquests. Only a split among the enemy forces and a few very recent victories saved France from complete defeat. At the end of his life, Louis was accused of being “too fond of war.” Thirty-two war years out of Louis's 54-year reign were a heavy burden for France.

The economic life of the country followed a policy of mercantilism. It was especially actively pursued by Colbert, Minister of Finance in 1665-1683. A major organizer and tireless administrator, he tried to put into practice the mercantilist doctrine of the “active balance of trade.” Colbert sought to minimize the import of foreign goods and increase the export of French goods, thus increasing the amount of taxable monetary wealth in the country. Absolutism introduced protectionist duties, subsidized the creation of large manufactories, and granted them various privileges (“royal manufactories”). The production of luxury goods (for example, tapestries, i.e., carpet-pictures at the famous royal Gobelins manufactory), weapons, equipment, and uniforms for the army and navy was especially encouraged.

For active overseas and colonial trade, monopoly trading companies were created with the participation of the state - East India, West India, Levantine, and the construction of the fleet was subsidized.

In North America, the vast territory of the Mississippi basin, called Louisiana, became the possession of France along with Canada. The importance of the French West Indies Islands (Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, Martinique) increased, where plantations of sugar cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and coffee, based on the labor of black slaves, began to be created. France took possession of a number of trading posts in India.

Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which established religious tolerance. The prisons and galleys were filled with Huguenots. The Protestant areas were hit by dragonnades (dragoon quarters in the houses of the Huguenots, during which the dragoons were allowed “necessary outrages”). As a result, tens of thousands of Protestants fled the country, among them many skilled artisans and wealthy merchants.

The king chose the place of his residence Versailles, where a grandiose palace and park ensemble was created. Louis sought to make Versailles the cultural center of all Europe. The monarchy sought to lead the development of the sciences and arts and use them to maintain the prestige of absolutism. Under him, an opera house, an Academy of Sciences, an Academy of Painting, an Academy of Architecture, an Academy of Music were created, and an observatory was founded. Pensions were paid to scientists and artists.

Under him, absolutism in the history of France reached its apogee. " The state is me».

By the end of the reign of Louis XIV, France was devastated by grueling wars, the goals of which exceeded the capabilities of France, the costs of maintaining a huge army at that time (300-500 thousand people at the beginning of the 18th century versus 30 thousand in the middle of the 17th century), and heavy taxes. Agricultural production fell, industrial production and trade activity decreased. The population of France has decreased significantly.

All these results of the “century of Louis XIV” indicated that French absolutism had exhausted its historical progressive possibilities. The feudal-absolutist system entered a stage of disintegration and decline.

Decline of the monarchy.

In 1715, Louis XIV, already decrepit and old, died.

His five-year-old great-grandson became heir to the French throne Louis XV (1715-1774). While he was a child, the country was ruled by a self-appointed regent, the ambitious Duke of Orleans.

Louis XV tried to imitate his brilliant predecessor, but in almost every respect the reign of Louis XV was a pathetic parody of the reign of the “Sun King”.

The army nurtured by Louvois and Vauban was led by aristocratic officers who sought their posts for the sake of a court career. This had a negative impact on the morale of the troops, although Louis XV himself paid great attention to the army. French troops fought in Spain and took part in two major campaigns against Prussia: the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763).

The royal administration controlled the trade sphere and did not take into account its own interests in this sphere. After the humiliating Peace of Paris (1763), France was forced to give up most of its colonies and renounce its claims to India and Canada. But even then, the port cities of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Nantes and Le Havre continued to prosper and enrich themselves.

Louis XV said: “ After me - even a flood" He was little concerned about the situation in the country. Louis devoted his time to hunting and his favorites, allowing the latter to interfere in the affairs of the country.

After the death of Louis XV in 1774, the French crown went to his grandson, twenty-year-old Louis XVI. At this time in French history, the need for reform was obvious to many.

Louis XVI appointed Turgot as Comptroller General of Finance. An extraordinary statesman and prominent economic theorist, Turgot tried to implement a program of bourgeois reforms. In 1774-1776. he abolished the regulation of the grain trade, abolished the guild corporations, freed the peasants from the state road corvee and replaced it with a cash land tax that fell on all classes. Turgot harbored plans for new reforms, including the abolition of feudal dues for ransom. But under the pressure of reactionary forces, Turgot was dismissed and his reforms were canceled. Reform “from above” within the framework of absolutism was impossible to solve the pressing problems of the further development of the country.

In 1787-1789 a commercial and industrial crisis unfolded. Its emergence was facilitated by the agreement concluded by French absolutism with England in 1786, which opened the French market to cheaper English products. Decline and stagnation of production engulfed cities and industrial rural areas. The national debt rose from 1.5 billion livres in 1774 to 4.5 billion in 1788. The monarchy found itself on the verge of financial bankruptcy. Bankers refused new loans.

Life in the kingdom seemed peaceful and calm. In search of a way out, the government again turned to attempts at reform, in particular to Turgot’s plans to impose part of the taxes on the privileged classes. A draft of an estate-less direct land tax was developed. Hoping to gain the support of the privileged classes themselves, the monarchy convened a meeting in 1787 notables" - eminent representatives of the classes chosen by the king. However, the notables categorically refused to approve the proposed reforms. They demanded to convene Estates General, which have not met since 1614. At the same time, they wanted to preserve the traditional order of voting in the states, which made it possible to carry out decisions that were beneficial to them. The privileged elite hoped to occupy a dominant position in the Estates General and achieve a limitation of royal power in their own interests.

But these calculations did not come true. The slogan of convening the Estates General was taken up by wide circles of the third estate, led by the bourgeoisie, which came up with its own political program.

The convening of the Estates General was scheduled for the spring of 1789. The number of deputies of the third estate doubled, but the important question of the voting procedure remained open.

The deputies of the third estate, feeling popular support and pushed by it, went on the offensive. They rejected the class principle of representation and on June 17 declared themselves National Assembly, i.e. plenipotentiary representative of the entire nation. On June 20, having gathered in the large ballroom (the regular meeting room was closed and guarded by soldiers by order of the king), the deputies of the national assembly vowed not to disperse until a constitution was drawn up.

In response to this, on June 23, Louis XVI announced the abolition of the decisions of the Third Estate. However, the deputies of the third estate refused to obey the king's order. They were joined by some of the deputies of the nobility and clergy. The king was forced to order the remaining deputies of the privileged classes to join the National Assembly. On July 9, 1789, the Assembly proclaimed itself Constituent Assembly.

Court circles and Louis XVI himself decided to put a stop to the beginning revolution by force. Troops were brought to Paris.

Wary of the entry of troops, the Parisians understood that the dispersal of the National Assembly was being prepared. On July 13, the alarm sounded and the city was engulfed in uprising. By the morning of July 14, the city was in the hands of the rebels. The culmination and final act of the uprising was the assault and storming of the Bastille– a powerful eight-tower fortress with high 30-meter walls. Since the time of Louis XIV, it served as a political prison and became a symbol of arbitrariness and despotism.

The storming of the Bastille was the beginning of the history of France French Revolution and her first victory.

The onslaught of peasant uprisings prompted the Constituent Assembly to solve the agrarian problem - the main socio-economic issue of the French Revolution. The decrees of August 4-11 abolished church tithes, the right of seigneurial hunting on peasant lands, etc. free of charge. The main “real” duties associated with land are qualifications, shampars, etc. were declared the property of the lords and subject to redemption. The Assembly promised to establish the terms of the buyout later.

On August 26, the Assembly adopted “ Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" - introduction to the future constitution. The influence of this document on the minds of his contemporaries was extremely great. The 17 articles of the Declaration in succinct formulas proclaimed the ideas of the Enlightenment as the principles of the revolution. " People are born and remain free and equal in rights", read her first article. " Natural and inalienable“Security and resistance to oppression were also recognized as human rights. The Declaration proclaimed the equality of all before the law and the right to occupy any position, freedom of speech and press, and religious tolerance.

Immediately after the storming of the Bastille, the emigration of counter-revolutionary aristocrats began. Louis XVI, having declared his accession to the revolution, in fact refused to approve the Declaration of Rights and did not approve the decrees of August 4-11. He declared: " I will never agree to rob my clergy and my nobility».

Military units loyal to the king were gathered at Versailles. The masses of Paris grew alarmed about the fate of the revolution. The ongoing economic crisis, food shortages, and high prices increased the discontent of Parisians. On October 5, about 20 thousand city residents moved to Versailles, the residence of the royal family and the National Assembly. Parisians from the working classes played an active role - about 6 thousand women who took part in the campaign were the first to march to Versailles.

The Parisian National Guard followed the people, carrying away their commander, Marshal Lafayette. At Versailles, people broke into the palace, pushed back the royal guards, demanded bread and the king's move to the capital.

On October 6, yielding to popular demand, the royal family moved from Versailles to Paris, where it was under the supervision of the revolutionary capital. The National Assembly also settled in Paris. Louis XVI was forced to unconditionally approve the Declaration of Rights, authorizing the decrees of August 4-11, 1789.

Having strengthened its position, the Constituent Assembly energetically continued the bourgeois reorganization of the country. Following the principle of civil equality, the Assembly abolished class privileges, abolished the institution of hereditary nobility, noble titles and coats of arms. By asserting freedom of enterprise, it destroyed state regulation and the guild system. The abolition of internal customs and the 1786 trade agreement with England contributed to the formation of a national market and its protection from foreign competition.

By decree of November 2, 1789, the Constituent Assembly confiscated church property. Declared national property, they were put on sale to cover the national debt.

In September 1791, the Constituent Assembly completed the drafting of a constitution that established a bourgeois constitutional monarchy in France. Legislative power was vested in a unicameral Legislative Assembly, executive - to the hereditary monarch and the ministers appointed by him. The king could temporarily reject laws approved by the Assembly, having the right of a “suspending veto”. France was divided into 83 departments, power in which was exercised by elected councils and directories, in cities and villages - by elected municipalities. The new unified judicial system was based on the election of judges and the participation of juries.

The election system introduced by the Assembly was by qualification and two-stage. “Passive” citizens who did not meet the qualification conditions were not given political rights. Only “active” citizens - men over 25 years of age, paying a direct tax of at least 1.5-3 livres - had the right to vote and were members of the National Guard created in cities and villages. Their number was slightly more than half of adult men.

At this time, the importance of political clubs was great - in fact, they played the role of political parties that had not yet arisen in France. Created in 1789, the Jacobin Club, who met in the hall of the former monastery of St. James. It united supporters of the revolution of different orientations (including Mirabeau, And Robespierre), but in the early years it was dominated by the influence of moderate monarchist constitutionalists.

Was more democratic Cordeliers Club. “Passive” citizens, women, were allowed into it. Supporters of universal suffrage had a great influence in it Danton, Desmoulins, Marat, Hebert.

On the night of 21 June 1791 years, the royal family secretly left Paris and moved to the eastern border. Relying on the army stationed here, on detachments of emigrants and the support of Austria, Louis hoped to disperse the National Assembly and restore his unlimited power. Identified on the way and detained in the town of Varennes, the fugitives were returned to Paris under the protection of the National Guard and the alarm of many thousands of armed peasants.

Now the democratic movement took on a republican character: the monarchical illusions of the people were dispelled. The center of the republican movement in Paris was the Cordeliers Club. However, moderate monarchist constitutionalists strongly opposed these demands. " It's time to end the revolution now, - one of their leaders said in the Assembly Barnav, - she has reached her extreme limit».

On July 17, 1791, the National Guard, using the “martial law” law, opened fire on unarmed demonstrators who, at the call of the Cordeliers, had gathered on the Champ de Mars to accept the Republican petition. 50 of them were killed and several hundred were wounded.

Political divisions in the former Third Estate also caused a split in the Jacobin Club. More radical bourgeois figures remained in the club who wanted to continue the revolution together with the people. It emerged from moderate liberal monarchists, supporters of Lafayette and Barnave, who wanted to end the revolution and strengthen the constitutional monarchy. They founded their own club in the building of the former Feuillant monastery.

In September 1791, the Assembly approved the final text of the constitution adopted by Louis XVI. Having exhausted its functions, the Constituent Assembly dispersed. It was replaced by a Legislative Assembly elected on the basis of a qualification system, the first meeting of which took place on October 1, 1791.

The right wing of the meeting consisted of Feuillants, the left consisted mainly of members of the Jacobin Club. Among the Jacobins then the deputies from the department prevailed Gironde. Hence the name of this political group - Girondins.

On the basis of hostility to the revolution, the contradictions between France's neighbors in the east - Austria and Prussia - seemed to be smoothed out. On August 27, 1791, the Austrian Emperor Leopold II and the Prussian King Frederick William II signed a declaration at the Saxon Pillnitz Castle, in which they declared their readiness to provide military assistance to Louis XVI and called on other European monarchs to do the same. On February 7, 1792, Austria and Prussia entered into a military alliance against France. The threat of foreign intervention loomed over France.

In France itself, from the end of 1791, the question of war became one of the main ones. Louis XVI and his court wanted war - they counted on intervention and the fall of the revolution as a result of the military defeat of France. The Girondins sought war - they hoped that the war would consolidate the decisive victory of the bourgeoisie over the nobility and at the same time push back the social problems posed by the popular movement. Mistakenly assessing the strength of France and the situation in European countries, the Girondins hoped for an easy victory and that the people would rise up against their “tyrants” when French troops appeared.

Robespierre, supported by some of the Jacobins, including Marat, spoke out against the militant agitation of the Girondins. Realizing the inevitability of war with the European monarchies, he considered it reckless to hasten its start. Robespierre also disputed the assertion Brisso about an immediate uprising in countries where French troops will enter; " Nobody likes armed missionaries ».

The majority of Feuillants were also against the war, fearing that in any case the war would overthrow the regime of constitutional monarchy they had created.

The influence of the war supporters prevailed. On April 20, France declared war on Austria. The start of the war was unsuccessful for France. The old army was disorganized, half of the officers emigrated, and the soldiers did not trust their commanders. The volunteers who joined the troops were poorly armed and untrained. On July 6, Prussia entered the war. The invasion of enemy troops into French territory was inexorably approaching, the enemies of the revolution were expecting it, and the royal court became their center. Queen Marie Antoinette, who was the sister of the Austrian Emperor, forwarded French military plans to the Austrians.

Danger looms over France. The revolutionary people were seized with patriotic enthusiasm. Volunteer battalions were hastily formed. In Paris, 15 thousand people signed up within a week. Detachments of federates arrived from the provinces, despite the king's veto. These days, for the first time, the Marseillaise- a patriotic song of the revolution, written back in April Rouget de Lisle m and brought to Paris by a battalion of Marseille federates.

In Paris, preparations began for an uprising with the goal of removing Louis XVI from power and developing a new constitution. On the night of August 10, 1792, the alarm sounded over Paris - the uprising began. The commissioners elected by the Parisians gathered at the town hall. They formed the Paris Commune, which took power in the capital. The rebels took possession of the royal palace of the Tuileries. The Assembly deprived Louis XVI of the throne, the Commune, with its power, imprisoned the royal family in the Temple Castle.

The political privileges of the upper bourgeoisie, enshrined in the constitution of 1791, also fell. All men over 21 years of age who were not in personal service were allowed to participate in the elections to the Convention. Lafayette and many other Feuillant leaders fled abroad. The Girondins became the leading force in the Assembly and in the new government.

On September 20, the National Convention began its work; On September 21, he adopted a decree abolishing royal power; On September 22, France was declared a republic. Its constitution was to be drafted by the Convention. However, from the very first steps of his activity, a fierce political struggle broke out within him.

On the upper benches of the Convention sat the deputies who made up its left wing. They were called the Mountain or Montagnards (from the French montagne - mountain). The most prominent leaders of the Mountain were Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Saint-Just. Most Montagnards were members of the Jacobin Club. Many Jacobins adhered to egalitarian ideas and strove for a democratic republic.

The right wing of the Convention was formed by Girondist deputies. The Girondins opposed the further deepening of the revolution.

The approximately 500 deputies who made up the center of the Convention were not part of any grouping; they were called the “plain” or “swamp”. During the first months of the Convention, the Plain strongly supported the Gironde.

By the end of 1792, the question of the fate of the king was at the center of the political struggle. Brought to trial by the Convention, Louis XVI was found “guilty” of treason, relations with emigrants and foreign courts, and malicious intent against the freedom of the nation and the general security of the state. January 21, 1793 year he was guillotined.

In the spring of 1793, the revolution entered a period of new acute crisis. In March, a peasant revolt broke out in northwestern France, reaching unprecedented strength in the Vendée. The royalists took control of the uprising. The Vendée rebellion, which raised tens of thousands of peasants, caused bloody excesses and became an open wound of the republic for several years.

In the spring of 1793, the country's military situation deteriorated sharply. After the execution of Louis XVI, France found itself at war not only with Austria and Prussia, but also with Holland, Spain, Portugal, the German and Italian states.

The danger that again loomed over the republic required the mobilization of all the forces of the people, for which the Gironde was incapable.

May 31 – June 2 An uprising broke out in Paris. Forced to submit to the rebellious people, the Convention decided to arrest Brissot, Vergniaud and other leaders of the Gironde. (total 31 people). They came to political leadership in the republic Jacobins.

On June 24, 1793, the Convention adopted a new constitution for France. It provided for a republic with a unicameral Legislative Assembly, direct elections and universal suffrage for men over 21, and proclaimed democratic rights and freedoms. Article 119 declared non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations to be a principle of French foreign policy. Later, on February 4, 1794, the Convention adopted a decree abolishing slavery in the colonies.

The leading wing of the ruling Jacobin party were the Robespierrists. Their ideal was a republic of small and medium-sized producers, in which state-supported strict morality moderates "private interest" and prevents extremes of wealth inequality.

In the autumn-winter of 1793, a movement of moderates took shape among the Jacobins. The leader of this movement was Georges-Jacques Danton, and its talented publicist was Camille Desmoulins. One of the most prominent Montagnards, tribune of the first years of the revolution, Danton considered it natural to increase wealth and freely enjoy its benefits; his fortune increased 10 times during the revolution.

On the opposite flank were the “extreme” revolutionaries - Chaumette, Hébert and others. They sought further equalizing measures, confiscation and division of property of the enemies of the revolution.

The struggle between the currents became more and more fierce. In March 1794, Hébert and his closest associates appeared before a revolutionary tribunal and were guillotined. Soon their fate was shared by the ardent defender of the poor, the prosecutor of the Commune Chaumette.

At the beginning of April, a blow fell on the leaders of the moderates - Danton, Desmoulins and several of their like-minded people. They all died on the guillotine.

The Robespierrists saw that the position of Jacobin power was weakening, but could not put forward a program that could gain broad public support.

In May-June 1794, the Robespierrists tried to unite the people around a civil religion in the spirit of Rousseau. At the insistence of Robespierre, the Convention established the “cult of the Supreme Being,” which included veneration of republican virtues, justice, equality, freedom, and love of the fatherland. The bourgeoisie did not need the new cult; the masses remained indifferent to it.

Trying to strengthen their positions, the Robespierrists passed a law on toughening terror on June 10. This multiplied the number of dissatisfied people and accelerated the formation of a conspiracy in the Convention to overthrow Robespierre and his supporters. On July 28 (10 Thermidor), outlawed Robespierre, Saint-Just and their associates (22 people in total) were guillotined. On 11-12 Thermidor their fate was shared by 83 more people, most of them members of the Commune. Jacobin dictatorship fell.

In August 1795, the Thermidorian Convention adopted a new French constitution to replace the Jacobin one, which was never implemented. While maintaining the republic, the new constitution introduced a bicameral legislative body ( Council of Five Hundred And Council of Elders of 250 members are at least 40 years old), two-stage elections, age and property qualifications. Executive power was vested in a five-member Directory elected by the Legislative Corps. The Constitution confirmed the confiscation of emigrant possessions and guaranteed the property of buyers of foreign property.

Four years Directory mode in the history of France were a time of socio-economic and political instability. France was going through a difficult period of adaptation to new conditions (in the long term, deeply favorable for its progress). The war, the English blockade and the decline of the maritime colonial trade that flourished until 1789, and the acute financial crisis complicated this process.

The owners wanted stability and order, strong power that would protect them both from the revolutionary uprisings of the people and from the claims of supporters of the Bourbon restoration and the old order.

The most suitable person to carry out a military coup turned out to be Napoleon Bonaparte. Influential financiers provided him with money.

The coup happened 18th Brumaire(November 9, 1799). Power passed to three temporary consuls, virtually headed by Bonaparte. The coup of the 18th Brumaire in the history of France opened the way for a regime of personal power - military dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Consulate (1799-1804)

Already in December 1799 a new one was adopted French constitution. Formally, France remained a republic with a very complex branched power structure. The executive power, the rights and powers of which were significantly expanded, was vested in three consuls. The first consul - and this was Napoleon Bonaparte - was elected for 10 years. He concentrated virtually all executive power in his hands. The second and third consuls had the right of advisory vote. For the first time, consuls were identified by name in the text of the constitution.

All men who had reached the age of 21 enjoyed the right to vote, but they did not choose deputies, but candidates for deputies. From among them, the government selected members of the local administration and higher legislative bodies. Legislative power was distributed among several bodies - the State Council, the Tribunate, the Legislative Corps - and made dependent on the executive power. All bills, having passed these levels, went to the Senate, whose members were approved by Napoleon himself, and then went to the first consul for signature.

The government also took the legislative initiative. In addition, the constitution gave the first consul the right to introduce bills directly to the Senate, bypassing the legislative bodies. All ministers were subordinate directly to Napoleon.

In fact, this was the regime of Napoleon’s personal power, but it was possible to impose a dictatorship only by preserving the main gains of the revolutionary years: the destruction of feudal relations, the redistribution of land property and a change in its nature.

The new constitution in French history was approved by plebiscite (popular vote). The results of the plebiscite were predetermined. The voting took place publicly, in front of representatives of the new government; many then already voted not for the constitution, but for Napoleon, who gained considerable popularity.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 -1821)- an outstanding statesman and military figure of the time when the bourgeoisie was still a young, rising class and sought to consolidate its gains. He was a man with an unyielding will and an extraordinary mind. Under Napoleon, a whole galaxy of talented military leaders emerged ( Murat, Lannes, Davout,Her and many others).

A new plebiscite in 1802 secured the post of first consul for life to Napoleon Bonaparte. He was given the right to appoint a successor, dissolve the Legislative Corps, and personally approve peace treaties.

The strengthening of the power of Napoleon Bonaparte was facilitated by continuous, successful wars for France. In 1802, Napoleon's birthday was declared a national holiday, and from 1803 his image appeared on coins.

First Empire (1804-1814)

The power of the first consul increasingly took on the character of a one-man dictatorship. The logical result was the proclamation of Napoleon Bonaparte in May 1804 Emperor of France under the name Napoleon I. He was solemnly crowned by the Pope himself.

In 1807, the Tribunate, the only body where there was opposition to the Bonapartist regime, was abolished. A magnificent court was created, court titles were restored, and the title of marshal of the empire was introduced. The atmosphere, morals, and life of the French court imitated the old pre-revolutionary royal court. The address “citizen” disappeared from everyday life, but the words “sovereign” and “your imperial majesty” appeared.

In 1802, a law was issued on amnesty for emigrant nobles. The old aristocracy, returning from emigration, gradually strengthened its position. More than half of the prefects appointed in Napoleonic times belonged to the old nobility by origin.

Along with this, the French emperor, trying to strengthen his regime, created a new elite; it received noble titles from him and owed everything to him.

From 1808 to 1814, 3,600 titles of nobility were granted; Lands were distributed both in France and abroad - land ownership was an indicator of wealth and social status.

However, the revival of titles did not mean a return to the old feudal structure of society. Class privileges were not restored; Napoleon's legislation consolidated legal equality.

Napoleon made all his brothers kings in the countries of Europe conquered by France. In 1805 he declared himself king of Italy. At the height of his power in 1810, Napoleon I, due to the childlessness of Empress Josephine, began searching for a new wife in one of the reigning houses of feudal Europe. He was denied marriage to the Russian princess.

But the Austrian court agreed to the marriage of Napoleon I with the Austrian princess Marie-Louise. With this marriage, Napoleon hoped to enter the family of “legitimate” monarchs of Europe and establish his own dynasty.

Napoleon sought to solve the most acute internal political problem since the beginning of the revolution - the relationship between the bourgeois state and the church. In 1801, a concordat was concluded with Pope Pius VII. Catholicism was declared the religion of the majority of the French. The separation of church and state was destroyed, the state again obliged to provide maintenance for clergy and restore religious holidays.

The Pope, in turn, recognized the sold church lands as the property of the new owners and agreed that the highest church officials should be appointed by the government. The Church introduced a special prayer for the health of the consul and then the emperor. Thus, the church became the support of the Bonapartist regime.

During the years of the Consulate and the Empire in the history of France, the democratic gains of the revolution were mostly eliminated. Elections and plebiscites were formal in nature, and declarations of political freedom became convenient demagogy to cover up the despotic nature of government.

At the time Napoleon came to power, the financial situation of the country was extremely difficult: the treasury was empty, civil servants had not received salaries for a long time. Streamlining finances has become one of the government's top priorities. By increasing indirect taxes, the government managed to stabilize the financial system. Direct taxes (on capital) were reduced, which was in the interests of the big bourgeoisie.

Successful wars and protectionist policies boosted exports. Napoleon imposed trade terms favorable to France on European states. As a result of the victorious march of the French army, all European markets were open to French goods. Protectionist customs policy protected French entrepreneurs from competition from English goods.

In general, the time of the Consulate and the Empire was favorable for the industrial development of France.

The regime established in France under Napoleon Bonaparte was called " Bonapartism" Napoleon's dictatorship was a special form of bourgeois state, in which the bourgeoisie itself was excluded from direct participation in political power. Maneuvering between various social forces and relying on a powerful apparatus of government, Napoleon's power gained a certain independence in relation to social classes.

In an effort to unite the majority of the nation around the regime, to present himself as a spokesman for national interests, Napoleon adopted the idea of ​​national unity, born of the French Revolution. However, this was no longer a defense of the principles of national sovereignty, but propaganda of the national exclusivity of the French, the hegemony of France in the international arena. Therefore, in the field of foreign policy, Bonapartism is characterized by pronounced nationalism. The years of the Consulate and the First Empire were marked by almost continuous bloody wars waged by Napoleonic France with the states of Europe. In the conquered countries and vassal states of France, Napoleon pursued a policy that was aimed at turning them into a market for French goods and a source of raw materials for French industry. Napoleon repeatedly said: “ My principle is France first" In the dependent states, in the interests of the French bourgeoisie, economic development was slowed down by imposing unfavorable trade deals and establishing monopoly prices for French goods. Huge indemnities were siphoned out of these states.

Already by 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte had formed a huge empire, reminiscent of the times of Charlemagne. In 1806, Austria and Prussia were defeated. At the end of October 1806, Napoleon entered Berlin. Here, on November 21, 1806, he signed a decree on the continental blockade, which played a big role in the fate of European countries.

According to the decree, trade with the British Isles was strictly prohibited throughout the French Empire and its dependent countries. Violation of this decree and smuggling of English goods were punishable by severe repressions, including the death penalty. With this blockade, France sought to crush the economic potential of England and bring it to its knees.

However, Napoleon did not achieve his goal - the economic destruction of England. Although the English economy experienced difficulties during these years, they were not catastrophic: England owned extensive colonies, had well-established contacts with the American continent and, despite all the prohibitions, made extensive use of smuggled trade in English goods in Europe.

The blockade was difficult for the economies of European countries. French industry could not replace the cheaper and higher quality goods of English enterprises. The break with England gave rise to economic crises in European countries, which led to restrictions on the sale of French goods in them. The blockade to a certain extent contributed to the growth of French industry, but very soon it became clear that French industry could not do without English industrial products and raw materials.

The blockade paralyzed the life of such large port cities of France as Marseille, Le Havre, Nantes, and Toulon for a long time. In 1810, a system of licenses was introduced for the right to limited trade in English goods, but the cost of these licenses was high. Napoleon used the blockade as a means of protecting the developing French economy and as a source of revenue for the treasury.

At the end of the first decade of the 19th century, the crisis of the First Empire in France began. Its manifestations were periodic economic downturns and the growing fatigue of broad sections of the population from continuous wars. In 1810-1811, an acute economic crisis began in France. The negative consequences of the continental blockade were felt: there was a shortage of raw materials and industrial products, and the cost of production was rising. The bourgeoisie moved into opposition to the Bonapartist regime. The final blow to Napoleonic France was dealt by the military defeats of 1812-1814.

On October 16-19, 1813, a decisive battle took place near Leipzig between Napoleon's army and the united army of the allied states of Europe. The battle of Leipzig was called the Battle of the Nations. Napoleon's army was defeated.

On March 31, 1814, the Allied army entered Paris. Napoleon abdicated the throne in favor of his son. However, the Senate, under pressure from European powers, decided to once again elevate the Bourbon dynasty - the Count of Provence, brother of the executed Louis XVI - to the French throne. Napoleon was exiled for life to the island of Elba.

On May 30, 1814, a peace treaty was signed in Paris: France was deprived of all territorial acquisitions and returned to the borders of 1792. The agreement provided for the convening of an international congress in Vienna to finally resolve all issues related to the collapse of the Napoleonic empire.

10 months of Bourbon rule was enough for pro-Napoleonic sentiment to revive again. Louis XVIII published a constitutional charter in May 1814. By " Charters of 1814“The king’s power was limited by a parliament consisting of two chambers. The upper house was appointed by the king, and the lower house was elected based on a high property qualification.

This ensured power for large landowners, nobles, and partly the upper strata of the bourgeoisie. However, the old French aristocracy and clergy demanded from the government the complete restoration of feudal rights and privileges and the return of land holdings.

The threat of the restoration of feudal orders and the dismissal of more than 20 thousand Napoleonic officers and officials caused an explosion of discontent with the Bourbons.

Napoleon took advantage of this situation. He also took into account the fact that negotiations at the Congress of Vienna progressed with difficulty: acute disagreements emerged between the recent allies in the fight against Napoleonic France.

On March 1, 1815, with a thousand guards, Napoleon landed in the south of France and launched a victorious campaign against Paris. All along the way, French military units went over to his side. On March 20 he entered Paris. The Empire was restored. However, Napoleon could not resist the enormous forces of England, Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The Allies had a huge superiority of forces, and on June 18, 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo (near Brussels), Napoleon's army was finally defeated. Napoleon abdicated the throne, surrendered to the British and was soon exiled to the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, where he died in 1821.

The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's army Battle of Waterloo led to the second restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France. Louis XVIII was returned to the throne. According to the Peace of Paris of 1815, France had to pay an indemnity of 700 million francs and maintain occupation troops (they were withdrawn in 1818 after the payment of the indemnity).

Restoration was marked by a political reaction in the country. Thousands of emigrant nobles who returned with the Bourbons demanded reprisals against political figures from the times of the revolution and the Napoleonic regime, and the restoration of their feudal rights and privileges.

“White terror” unfolded in the country, and it took especially cruel forms in the south, where royalist gangs killed and persecuted people known as Jacobins and liberals.

However, a complete return to the past was no longer possible. The Restoration regime did not encroach on those changes in the distribution of land property that occurred as a result of the Great French Revolution and were consolidated during the years of the First Empire. At the same time, the titles (but not class privileges) of the old nobility were restored, which to a large extent managed to preserve their land ownership. Lands confiscated by the revolution, but not sold in 1815, were returned to the emigrant nobles. The titles of nobility issued under Napoleon I were also recognized.

From the beginning of the 1820s, the influence on state policy of the most reactionary part of the nobility and clergy, who did not want to adapt to the conditions of post-revolutionary France and were thinking about the most complete return to the old order, increased. In 1820, the heir to the throne, the Duke of Berry, was killed by the artisan Louvel. This event was used by the reaction to attack constitutional principles. Censorship was restored, education was placed under the control of the Catholic Church.

Louis XVIII died in 1824. Under the name Charles X his brother, Count d'Artois, ascended the throne. He was called the king of emigrants. Charles X began to pursue an openly pro-noble policy and thereby completely upset the balance that had developed in the first years of the Restoration between the top of the bourgeoisie and the nobility in favor of the latter.

In 1825, a law was passed on monetary compensation to emigrant nobles for the lands they lost during the revolution (25 thousand people, mainly representatives of the old nobility, received compensation in the amount of 1 billion francs). At the same time, a “blasphemy law” was issued, which provided for severe punishment for actions against religion and the church, including the death penalty by quartering and wheeling.

In August 1829, a personal friend of the king, one of the inspirers of the “White Terror” of 1815-1817, became the head of government. Polignac. Polignac's ministry was one of the most reactionary in all the years of the Restoration regime. All its members belonged to ultra-royalists. The very fact of the formation of such a ministry caused indignation in the country. The Chamber of Deputies demanded the resignation of the ministry. In response, the king interrupted the meeting of the chamber.

Public discontent was intensified by the industrial depression that followed the economic crisis of 1826 and the high cost of bread.

In such a situation, Charles X decided to carry out a coup d'etat. On July 25, 1830, the king signed ordinances (decrees), which were a direct violation of the Charter of 1814. The Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, and the right to vote was henceforth granted only to large landowners. The ordinances abolished freedom of the press by introducing a system of prior permission for periodicals.

The Restoration regime clearly sought to restore the absolutist system in the country. In the face of such a danger, the bourgeoisie had to decide to fight.

July bourgeois revolution of 1830. "Three glorious days."

On July 26, 1830, the orders of Charles X were published in newspapers. Paris responded to them with violent demonstrations. The very next day, an armed uprising began in Paris: the streets of the city were covered with barricades. Almost every tenth resident of Paris participated in the battles. Part of the government forces went over to the side of the rebels. On July 29, the royal Tuileries Palace was taken in battle. The revolution has won. Charles X fled to England.

Power passed into the hands of the Provisional Government, created by deputies of the liberal bourgeoisie; it was headed by the leaders of the liberals - banker Laffite And General Lafayette. The big bourgeoisie did not want and was afraid of the republic; it advocated the preservation of the monarchy, led by the Orleans dynasty, traditionally close to bourgeois circles. July 31 Louis Philippe d'Orléans was declared governor of the kingdom, and on August 7 - king of France.

The July Revolution finally resolved the dispute: which social class should have political dominance in France - the nobility or the bourgeoisie - in favor of the latter. A bourgeois monarchy was established in the country; It was no coincidence that the new king Louis Philippe, the largest forest owner and financier, was called the “bourgeois king.”

Unlike the constitution of 1814, which was declared as a grant of royal power, the new constitution is “ Charter of 1830“- was declared an inalienable property of the people. The King, the new charter declared, ruled not by divine right, but by invitation of the French people; from now on, he could not repeal or suspend laws, and lost the right of legislative initiative, being the head of the executive branch. Members of the House of Peers had to be elected, just like members of the Lower House.

The “Charter of 1830” proclaimed freedom of the press and assembly. Age and property qualifications were lowered. Under Louis Philippe, the financial bourgeoisie and big bankers dominated. The financial aristocracy received high positions in the state apparatus. It enjoyed huge government subsidies, various benefits and privileges that were provided to railway and commercial companies. All this increased the budget deficit, which became a chronic phenomenon under the July Monarchy. Its consequence was a steady increase in public debt.

Both were in the interests of the financial bourgeoisie: government loans, which the government used to cover the deficit, were given at high interest rates and were a sure source of its enrichment. The growth of public debt increased the political influence of the financial aristocracy and the government's dependence on it.

The July Monarchy resumed the conquest of Algeria, which had begun under Charles X. The population of Algeria put up stubborn resistance; many “Algerian” generals of the French army, including Cavaignac, became famous for their cruelties in this war.

In 1847, Algeria was conquered and became one of the largest colonies of France.

In the same 1847, a cyclical economic crisis broke out in France, which caused a sharp decline in production, a shock to the entire monetary system and an acute financial crisis (the gold reserves of the French Bank fell from 320 million francs in 1845 to 42 million at the beginning of 1848), a huge increase government deficit, a wide wave of bankruptcies. The banquet campaign launched by the opposition covered the entire country: in September-October 1847, about 70 banquets were held with 17 thousand participants.

The country was on the eve of a revolution - the third in a row since the end of the 18th century.

On December 28, the legislative session of parliament opened. It took place in an extremely stormy atmosphere. Domestic and foreign policies were subject to sharp criticism from opposition leaders. However, their demands were rejected, and the next banquet of supporters of electoral reform, scheduled for February 22, 1848, was prohibited.

Nevertheless, thousands of Parisians took to the streets and squares of the city on February 22, which became rallying points for a government-banned demonstration. Clashes with the police began, the first barricades appeared, and their number quickly increased. On February 24, all of Paris was covered with barricades, all important strategic points were in the hands of the rebels. Louis Philippe abdicated the throne in favor of his young grandson, the Count of Paris, and fled to England. The Tuileries Palace was captured by the rebels, the royal throne was dragged to the Place de la Bastille and burned.

An attempt was made to preserve the monarchy by establishing the regency of the Duchess of Orleans, mother of the Count of Paris. The Chamber of Deputies defended the regency rights of the Duchess of Orleans. However, these plans were thwarted by the rebels. They burst into the meeting room of the Chamber of Deputies shouting: “No regency, no king! Long live the republic!” Deputies were forced to agree to the election of a Provisional Government. The February Revolution was victorious.

The de facto head of the Provisional Government was a moderate liberal, a famous French romantic poet. A. Lamartine, who took over the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Workers were included in the Provisional Government as ministers without portfolio Alexander Albert, member of secret republican societies, and popular petty-bourgeois socialist Louis Blanc. The provisional government was of a coalition nature.

February 25, 1848 The Provisional Government proclaimed France a republic. A few days later, a decree was issued introducing universal suffrage for men over 21 years of age.

On May 4, the Constituent Assembly opened. On November 4, 1948, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of the Second Republic. Legislative power belonged to a unicameral Legislative Assembly, elected for 3 years on the basis of universal suffrage for men over 21 years of age. The executive branch was represented by the president, who was elected not by parliament, but by popular vote for 4 years (without the right of re-election) and was endowed with enormous power: he formed the government, appointed and removed officials, and led the armed forces of the state. The President was independent of the Legislative Assembly, but could not dissolve it and cancel the decisions taken by the assembly.

Presidential elections were scheduled for December 10, 1848. The nephew of Napoleon I won - Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. He had already tried to seize power in the country twice before.

Louis Napoleon waged a frank struggle to move from the presidential chair to the imperial throne. On December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon carried out a coup d'etat. The Legislative Assembly was dissolved and a state of siege was introduced in Paris. All power in the country was transferred to the hands of the president, who was elected for 10 years. As a result of the coup d'etat of 1851, a Bonapartist dictatorship was established in France. A year after the usurpation of power by Louis Napoleon, on December 2, 1852, he was proclaimed emperor under the name Napoleon III.

The time of empire is a chain of wars, aggressions, conquests and colonial expeditions of French troops in Africa and Europe, Asia, America, Oceania in order to establish French hegemony in Europe and strengthen its colonial power. Military operations continued in Algeria. The Algerian question played an increasingly important role in the life of France. In 1853, New Caledonia became a colony. Since 1854, military expansion was carried out in Senegal. French troops, together with English ones, fought in China. France actively participated in the “opening” of Japan to foreign capital in 1858. In 1858, the French invasion of South Vietnam began. The French company began construction of the Suez Canal in 1859 (opened in 1869).

Franco-Prussian War.

The ruling court circles of Napoleon III decided to raise the prestige of the dynasty through a victorious war with Prussia. Under the auspices of Prussia, the unification of the German states successfully took place. A powerful militaristic state grew up on the eastern borders of France - the North German Union, whose ruling circles openly sought to seize the rich and strategically important regions of France - Alsace and Lorraine.

Napoleon III decided to prevent the final creation of a unified German state by war with Prussia. Chancellor of the North German Union O. Bismarck was intensively preparing for the final stage of German reunification. The saber-rattling in Paris only made it easier for Bismarck to implement his plan to create a unified German empire through war with France. Unlike France, where Bonapartist military leaders made a lot of noise but cared little about the combat effectiveness of the army, in Berlin they secretly but purposefully prepared for war, rearmed the army and carefully developed strategic plans for upcoming military operations.

On July 19, 1870, France declared war on Prussia. Napoleon III, when starting the war, miscalculated his forces. “We are ready, we are absolutely ready,” the French Minister of War assured the members of the Legislative Corps. It was bragging. Disorder and confusion reigned everywhere. The army had no general leadership, there was no definite plan for waging war. Not only soldiers, but also officers needed the bare necessities. The officers were given 60 francs each to purchase revolvers from merchants. There were not even maps of the theater of operations on French territory, since it was assumed that the war would be fought on Prussian territory.

From the very first days of the war, Prussia's overwhelming superiority was revealed. She was ahead of the French in mobilizing troops and concentrating them near the border. The Prussians had an almost double numerical superiority. Their command persistently carried out the previously developed war plan.

The Prussians almost immediately cut the French army into two parts: one part, under the command of Marshal Bazaine, retreated to the Metz fortress and was besieged there, the other, under the command of Marshal MacMahon and the emperor himself, was thrown back to Sedan under the onslaught of a large Prussian army. Near Sedan, near the Belgian border, on September 2, 1870, a battle took place that decided the outcome of the war. The Prussian army defeated the French. Three thousand French fell in the battle of Sedan. McMahon's 80,000-strong army and Napoleon III himself were captured.

The news of the emperor's capture shook Paris. On September 4, crowds of people filled the streets of the capital. At their request, France was proclaimed a republic. Power passed to the Provisional Government of National Defense, which represented a wide bloc of political forces opposing the empire - from monarchists to radical republicans. In response, Prussia made openly aggressive demands.

The Republicans who came to power considered it dishonorable to accept Prussian conditions. After all, the republic, even during the revolution of the late 18th century, had earned a reputation as a patriotic regime, and the republicans were afraid that the republic would be suspected of betraying national interests. But the scale of the losses suffered by France in this war left no hope for an early victory. On September 16, Prussian troops appeared in the vicinity of Paris. Within a short time they occupied the entire north-east of France. For some time, France remained defenseless against the enemy. The government's efforts to restore military potential did not bear fruit until the end of 1870, when the Army of the Loire was formed south of Paris.

In a similar situation, the revolutionaries of 1792 called for a nationwide war of liberation in France. But fear of the threat of the national liberation war escalating into a civil war kept the government from such a step. It came to the conclusion that peace was inevitable on the terms proposed by Prussia, but waited for a favorable moment for this, and in the meantime imitated national defense.

As soon as news of the government's new attempt to enter into peace negotiations became known, an uprising broke out in Paris. On October 31, 1870, National Guard soldiers arrested and held the ministers hostage for several hours until they were rescued by troops loyal to the government.

Now the government was more concerned with how to calm the restless Parisians than with national defense. The uprising of October 31 thwarted the truce plan prepared by Adolphe Thiers. French troops tried unsuccessfully to break the blockade of Paris. By the beginning of 1871, the position of the besieged capital seemed hopeless. The government decided that it was impossible to delay the conclusion of peace any longer.

On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles of the French kings, the Prussian King William I was proclaimed German Emperor, and on January 28 an armistice was signed between France and a united Germany. Under its terms, the forts of Paris and army weapons stocks were transferred to the Germans. Peace was finally signed in Frankfurt on May 10, 1873. According to its terms, France ceded Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, and also had to pay 5 billion francs in indemnity.

The Parisians were extremely indignant at the terms of the peace, but despite the seriousness of the disagreements with the government, no one in Paris thought about an uprising, much less prepared it. The uprising was provoked by the actions of the authorities. After the blockade was lifted, payments to National Guard soldiers were stopped. In a city whose economy has not yet recovered from the consequences of the blockade, thousands of residents were left without a livelihood. The pride of the inhabitants of Paris was also hurt by the decision of the National Assembly to choose Versailles as its seat.

Paris Commune

On March 18, 1871, on government orders, troops attempted to capture National Guard artillery. The soldiers were stopped by the residents and retreated without a fight. But the guards captured Generals Leconte and Thomas, who commanded the government troops, and shot them on the same day.

Thiers ordered the evacuation of government offices to Versailles.

On March 26, elections were held for the Paris Commune (as the city government of Paris was traditionally called). Of the 85 members of the Commune Council, the majority were workers or their recognized representatives.

The Commune declared its intention to carry out profound reforms in many areas.

First of all, they took a number of measures to alleviate the situation of low-income residents of Paris. But many global plans could not be realized. The main concern of the Commune at that moment was war. At the beginning of April, clashes began between the federates, as the fighters of the armed detachments of the Commune called themselves, and the Versailles troops. The forces were obviously unequal.

The opponents seemed to compete in cruelty and outrages. The streets of Paris were filled with blood. There was unprecedented vandalism shown by the Communards during street battles. In Paris, they deliberately set fire to the city hall, the Palace of Justice, the Tuileries Palace, the Ministry of Finance, and Thiers' house. Countless cultural and artistic treasures were destroyed in the fire. The arsonists also attempted to destroy the treasures of the Louvre.

The “Bloody Week” of May 21-28 ended the short history of the Commune. On May 28, the last barricade on Rampono Street fell. The Paris Commune lasted only 72 days. Very few communards managed to escape the subsequent massacre by leaving France. Among the Communard emigrants was a French worker, poet, and author of the proletarian anthem “The Internationale” - Eugene Potier.

A troubled time began in the history of France, when three dynasties laid claim to the French throne: Bourbons, Orleans, Bonapartes. Although September 4, 1870 of the year As a result of a popular uprising, a republic was proclaimed in France; in the National Assembly, the majority belonged to monarchists, the minority was made up of republicans, among whom there were several movements. There was a “republic without republicans” in the country.

However, the plan to restore the monarchy in France failed. The bulk of the French population was for the establishment of a republic. The question of defining the political system of France was not resolved for a long time. Only in 1875 In 2010, the National Assembly, by a majority of one vote, adopted an amendment to the basic law recognizing France as a republic. But even after this, France was on the verge of a monarchical coup several times.

May 24, 1873 an ardent monarchist was elected president of the republic McMahon, on whose name three monarchist parties that hated each other agreed when they were looking for a successor to Thieroux. Under the patronage of the president, monarchist intrigues were carried out to restore the monarchy.

In November 1873, McMahon's powers were extended for seven years. IN 1875 MacMahon was a strong opponent of the republican constitution, which, nevertheless, was adopted by the National Assembly.

The Constitution of the Third Republic was a compromise between monarchists and republicans. Forced to recognize the republic, the monarchists tried to give it a conservative, undemocratic character. Legislative power was transferred to parliament, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Senate was elected for 9 years and renewed after three years by one third. The age limit for senators was 40 years. The Chamber of Deputies was elected for 4 years only by men who had reached the age of 21 and had lived in the community for at least 6 months. Women, military personnel, youth, and seasonal workers did not receive voting rights.

Executive power was vested in the president, elected by the National Assembly for a 7-year term. He was given the right to declare war, make peace, as well as the right of legislative initiative and appointment to senior civil and military positions. Thus, the power of the president was great.

The first parliamentary elections held on the basis of the new constitution brought victory to the Republicans. IN 1879 year McMahon is forced to resign. Moderate Republicans came to power. The new president was elected Jules Grevy, and the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Leon Gambetta.

Jules Grévy was the first president of France, who was a staunch republican and actively opposed the restoration of the monarchy.

The removal of Marshal MacMahon was greeted in the country with a sense of relief. With the election of Jules Grévy, the conviction took root that the republic had entered a period of smooth, calm and fruitful development. Indeed, the years of Grevy's rule were marked by colossal successes in strengthening the republic. December 28th 1885 he was again elected president Third Republic. The second period of Jules Grevy's presidency turned out to be very short. At the end 1887 he was forced to resign as President of the Republic under the influence of public indignation caused by revelations about the reprehensible actions of Grevy's son-in-law, Deputy Wilson, who was trading in the highest state award - the Legion of Honor. Grevy was not personally compromised.

From 1887 to 1894 was the president of France Sadi Carnot.

The seven years of Carnot's presidency occupied a prominent place in the history of the Third Republic. This was a period of consolidation of the republican system. His ultimate failure Boulanger and Boulangism (1888-89) made the republic even more popular in the eyes of the population. The strength of the republic was not at all shaken even by such unfavorable events as "Panamanian scandals" (1892-93) and sudden manifestations anarchism (1893).

During the presidencies of Grevy and Carnot, the majority in the Chamber of Deputies belonged to moderate Republicans. On their initiative, France actively seized new colonies. IN 1881 a French protectorate was established over Tunisia, V 1885 The right of France to Annam and Tonkin was secured. In 1894, the war for Madagascar began. After two years of bloody war, the island became a French colony. At the same time, France was leading the conquest of West and Central Africa. At the end of the 19th century, France's possessions in Africa were 17 times larger than the size of the metropolis itself. France became the second (after England) colonial power in the world.

Colonial wars required large amounts of money, and taxes increased. The authority of the moderate Republicans, who expressed the interests only of the big financial and industrial bourgeoisie, was falling.

This led to the strengthening of the radical left wing in the ranks of the Republican Party, led by Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929).

Georges Clemenceau - the son of a doctor, the owner of a small estate, Clemenceau's father and he himself opposed the Second Empire and were persecuted. During the Paris Commune, Georges Clemenceau served as one of the Paris mayors and tried to be a mediator between the Commune and Versailles. Having become the leader of the radicals, Clemenceau sharply criticized the domestic and foreign policies of moderate Republicans and sought their resignation, receiving the nickname “overthrower of ministers.”

In 1881, the radicals broke away from the Republicans and formed an independent party. They demanded the democratization of the government system, the separation of church and state, the introduction of a progressive income tax, and social reforms. In the parliamentary elections of 1881, the radicals already acted independently and won 46 seats. However, the majority in the Chamber of Deputies remained with moderate Republicans.

The political positions of monarchists, clerics, and moderate republicans increasingly converged on a common anti-democratic platform. This was clearly evident in connection with the so-called Dreyfus affair, around which a sharp political struggle unfolded.

The Dreyfus affair.

In 1884, it was discovered that secret military documents had been sold to the German military attaché in Paris. This could only be done by one of the officers of the General Staff. Suspicion fell on the captain Alfred Dreyfus, Jewish by nationality. Despite the fact that no serious evidence of his guilt was established, Dreyfus was arrested and court-martialed. Anti-Semitic sentiments were strong among French officers, mostly from noble families who were educated in Catholic educational institutions. The Dreyfus affair was the impetus for an explosion of anti-Semitism in the country.

The military command did everything possible to support the charge of espionage against Dreyfus, he was found guilty and sentenced to life hard labor.

The movement that unfolded in France to reconsider the Dreyfus case was not limited to the defense of an innocent officer, it turned into a struggle of the forces of democracy against reaction. The Dreyfus affair excited wide circles of the population and attracted the attention of the press. Among the supporters of the review of the verdict were the writers Emile Zola, Anatole France, Octave Mirabeau and others. Zola published an open letter entitled “I Accuse”, addressed to President Faure, an opponent of the review of the Dreyfus affair. The famous writer accused him of trying to save a real criminal by falsifying evidence. Zola was brought to justice for his speech, and only emigration to England saved him from imprisonment.

Zola's letter excited the whole of France; it was read and discussed everywhere. The country split into two camps: Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards.

It was clear to the most far-sighted politicians that it was necessary to end the Dreyfus affair as soon as possible - France was on the brink of civil war. The verdict in the Dreyfus case was revised, he was not acquitted, but then the president pardoned him. The government in this way tried to hide the truth: the innocence of Dreyfus and the name of the real spy - Esterhazy. It was not until 1906 that Dreyfus was pardoned.

At the turn of the century.

The French people could not forget the national humiliation experienced in connection with the defeat of France in the war with Prussia. The country was struggling to heal the wounds caused by the war. The original French lands of Alsace and Lorraine were included in German territory. France was in dire need of an ally for a future war with Germany. Russia could become such an ally, which, in turn, did not want to remain isolated in the face of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy), which had a clearly anti-Russian orientation. IN 1892 In 1893, a military convention was signed between France and Russia, and a military alliance was concluded in 1893.

From 1895 to 1899 was the President of the Third Republic Felix Faure.

He introduced almost royal court etiquette into the Elysee Palace, unusual until then in France, and demanded its strict observance; he considered himself unworthy to appear at various celebrations next to the prime minister or presidents of the chambers, everywhere trying to emphasize his special importance as head of state.

These features began to appear especially sharply after Emperor Nicholas II and the Empress visited Paris in 1896. This visit was the result of the rapprochement between France and Russia, which the governments before and under Faure had worked on; he himself was an active supporter of rapprochement. In 1897, the Russian imperial couple paid a second visit.

Industrialization proceeded more slowly in France than in Germany, the USA, and England. If in terms of concentration of production France lagged significantly behind other capitalist countries, then in terms of concentration of banks it was ahead of others and took first place.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a general shift to the left in the mood of the French. This was clearly evident during the parliamentary elections in 1902, when the left parties - socialists and radicals - received the majority of votes. After the elections, the radicals became the masters of the country. The radical government of Combe (1902-1905) launched an attack on the Catholic Church. The government ordered the closure of schools run by priests. The clergy resisted fiercely. Several thousand schools of religious orders turned into fortresses. The unrest was especially strong in Brittany. But “Papa Comba,” as the new prime minister was called, stubbornly pursued his line. Things came to a break in diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Friction increased with the top army leadership, dissatisfied with the government's attempts to carry out army reform. At the end of 1904, information leaked to the press that the government was maintaining a secret file on senior army officials. A loud scandal broke out, as a result of which the Combe government was forced to resign.

In 1904, France entered into an agreement with England. Creation of the Anglo-French Alliance - Entente– was an event of international significance.

In December 1905, the cabinet of the right-wing radical Rouvier, which replaced Combe's cabinet, passed a law on the separation of church and state. At the same time, the property of the church was not confiscated, and the clergy received the right to state pensions.

By the middle of the first decade of the 20th century, France ranked first in Europe in terms of the number of strikers. The miners' strike in the spring of 1906 caused great resonance. It was caused by one of the largest mining disasters in French history, which killed 1,200 miners. There is a threat of traditional labor conflicts escalating into street clashes.

This was taken advantage of by the radical party, which sought to present itself as the wisest political force, capable of simultaneously carrying out the necessary reforms and ready to show cruelty in order to preserve civil peace.

At the parliamentary elections in 1906, the radical party became even stronger. Georges Clemenceau (1906-1909) became the head of the Council of Ministers. A bright, extraordinary figure, he initially sought to emphasize that it was his government that would begin to truly carry out the work of reforming society. It turned out to be much easier to declare this idea than to implement it. True, one of the first steps of the new government was the re-establishment of the Ministry of Labor, the leadership of which was entrusted to the “independent socialist” Viviani. This, however, did not solve the problem of stabilizing labor relations. Acute labor conflicts periodically flared up throughout the country, more than once escalating into open clashes with the forces of law and order. Unable to cope with the task of normalizing the social situation, Clemenceau resigned in 1909.

The new government was headed by the “independent socialist A. Briand.” He passed a law on workers' and peasants' pensions from the age of 65, but this did not strengthen the position of his government.

There was a certain instability in the political life of France: none of the parties represented in parliament could carry out their political line alone. Hence the constant search for allies, the formation of various party combinations, which disintegrated at the first test of strength. This situation continued until 1913, when he won the presidential election Raymond Poincaré, who went to success under the slogan of creating a “great and strong France.” He quite obviously sought to shift the center of political struggle from social problems towards foreign policy ones and thus consolidate society.

World War I.

IN 191 In 3 years he was elected President of France Raymond Poincaré. Preparing for war became the main task of the new president. France wanted in this war to return Alsace and Lorraine, taken from it by Germany in 1871, and to seize the Saar basin. The last months before the outbreak of the First World War were filled with acute internal political struggle, and only France’s entry into the war removed the question of what course it should take from the agenda.

The First World War began on July 28, 1914. France entered the war on August 3. The German command planned to defeat France as soon as possible, and only then concentrate on the fight against Russia. German troops launched massive offensives in the West. In the so-called “border battle,” they broke through the front and began an offensive deep into France. In September 1914, a grandiose Battle of the Marne, on the outcome of which the fate of the entire campaign on the Western Front depended. In fierce battles, the Germans were stopped and then driven back from Paris. The plan for the lightning defeat of the French army failed. The war on the Western Front became protracted.

In February 1916 The German command launched the largest-scale offensive operation, trying to capture the strategically important French Verdun fortress. However, despite colossal efforts and huge losses, German troops were never able to take Verdun. The Anglo-French command tried to take advantage of the current situation and launched a major offensive in the summer of 1916. operation in the Somme River area, where they first tried to seize the initiative from the Germans.

However, in April 1917, when the United States entered the war on the side of the Entente, the situation became more favorable for Germany's opponents. The inclusion of the United States in the military efforts of the Entente guaranteed its troops a reliable advantage in terms of logistics. Realizing that time was working against them, the Germans made several desperate attempts in March-July 1918 to achieve a turning point in military operations on the Western Front. At the cost of huge losses, which completely depleted the German army, it managed to approach Paris to a distance of about 70 km.

On July 18, 1918, the Allies launched a powerful counteroffensive. November 11, 1918 Germany capitulated. The peace treaty was signed at the Palace of Versailles June 28, 1919. Under the terms of the treaty, France received Alsace, Lorraine, Saar coalfield.

Interwar period.

France was at the height of its power. She completely defeated her mortal enemy, she had no serious opponents on the continent, and in those days hardly anyone could have imagined that a little more than two decades later the Third Republic would collapse like a house of cards. What happened, why did France not only fail to consolidate its very real success, but ultimately suffered the largest national catastrophe in the history of France?

Yes, France achieved victory in the war, but this success cost the French people dearly. Every fifth resident of the country (8.5 million people) was mobilized into the army, 1 million 300 thousand French died, 2.8 million people were injured, of which 600 thousand remained disabled.

A third of France, where the fighting took place, was seriously destroyed, and it was there that the main industrial potential of the country was concentrated. The franc depreciated 5 times, and France itself owed the United States a huge amount - more than 4 billion dollars.

There were fierce debates in society between a wide range of leftist forces and the nationalists in power, led by Prime Minister Clemenceau, about how and at what cost to solve numerous internal problems. Socialists believed that it was necessary to move towards building a more just society, only in this case all the sacrifices that were made on the altar of victory would be justified. To do this, it is necessary to more evenly distribute the hardships of the recovery period, alleviate the situation of the poor, and take key sectors of the economy under state control so that they work for the whole society, and not for the enrichment of a narrow clan of the financial oligarchy.

Nationalists of all different colors were united by a common idea - Germany must pay for everything! The implementation of this goal does not require reforms, which will inevitably split society, but its consolidation around the idea of ​​a strong France.

In January 1922, the government was headed by Raymond Poincaré, who had already established himself as a fierce opponent of Germany before the war. Poincaré said that the main task of the current moment is to collect reparations from Germany in full. However, it was impossible to implement this slogan in practice. Poincaré himself became convinced of this a few months later. Then, after some hesitation, he decided to occupy the Ruhr region, which was done in January 1923.

However, the consequences of this step turned out to be completely different than Pkankare expected. There was no money coming from Germany - they had already gotten used to it, but now coal had stopped coming in, which hit French industry hard. Inflation has increased. Under pressure from the USA and England, France was forced to withdraw its troops from Germany. The failure of this adventure caused a regrouping of political forces in France.

The parliamentary elections in May 1924 brought success to the Left Bloc. The leader of the radicals became the head of government E. Herriot. First of all, he dramatically changed the country's foreign policy. France established diplomatic relations with the USSR and began to establish contacts with the country in a variety of areas. But the implementation of the internal political program of the Left Bloc caused active resistance from conservative forces. An attempt to introduce a progressive income tax failed, which jeopardized the government's entire financial policy. France's largest banks also entered into confrontation with the prime minister. In the most radical party he had many opponents. As a result, on April 10, 1925, the Senate condemned the government's financial policies. Herriot resigned.

This was followed by a period of government leapfrog - five governments changed in a year. In such conditions, carrying out the Left Bloc program turned out to be impossible. In the summer of 1926, the Left Bloc collapsed.

The new “government of national unity,” which included both representatives of right-wing parties and radicals, was headed by Raymond Poincaré.

Poincare proclaimed the fight against inflation as his main task.

Government spending was noticeably reduced by reducing the bureaucracy, new taxes were introduced and at the same time large benefits were provided to entrepreneurs. From 1926 to 1929 France had a deficit-free budget. Poincaré's government managed to bring down inflation, stabilize the franc, and stop the rise in the cost of living. The social activities of the state intensified, benefits were introduced for the unemployed (1926), old-age pensions, as well as benefits for illness, disability, and pregnancy (1928). It is not surprising that the prestige of Poincaré and the parties supporting him grew.

In such a situation, the next parliamentary elections took place in 1928. As one would expect, right-wing parties won the majority of seats in the new parliament. The successes of the right were largely based on Poincaré's personal prestige, but in the summer of 1929 he became seriously ill and was forced to leave his post and politics altogether.

The Third Republic was again in serious trouble: from 1929 to 1932. 8 governments have changed. All were dominated by right-wing parties, which had new leaders - A. Tardieu and P. Laval. However, none of these governments could stop the French economy from sliding downhill.

In this situation, France approached the next parliamentary elections in May 1932, which were won by the newly reconstituted Left Bloc. The government was headed by E. Herriot. He immediately faced a set of problems generated by the global economic crisis. The budget deficit increased every day, and the government faced an increasingly pressing question: where to get the money? Herriot was against the plans advocated by the communists and socialists to nationalize a number of industries and introduce additional taxes on large capital. In December 1932, the Chamber of Deputies withdrew his proposal to continue paying off war debts. The Herriot government fell, and ministerial leapfrog began again, from which France was not only seriously tired, but also seriously suffering.

The position of those political forces in the country that believed that democratic institutions had exhausted their capabilities and should be discarded began to strengthen. In France, these thoughts were propagated by a number of pro-fascist organizations, the largest of which were Action Française and Combat Crosses. The influence of these organizations among the masses grew rapidly; they had many adherents in the ruling elite, in the army, and the police. As the crisis worsened, they louder and more decisively declared the incapacity of the Third Republic and their readiness to take power.

By the end of January 1932, fascist organizations achieved the resignation of the government of K. Shotan. However, the government was headed by the radical socialist E. Daladier, hated by the right. One of his first steps was the removal from his post of police prefect Chiappa, known for his sympathies towards the fascists.

The latter's patience has come to an end. On February 6, 1934, more than 40 thousand fascist activists stormed the Bourbon Palace, where parliament was sitting, intending to disperse it. Clashes with the police began, during which 17 people were killed and more than 2 thousand were injured. They were unable to capture the palace, but the government they disliked fell. Daladier was replaced by the right-wing radical G. Doumergue. There was a serious shift in forces in favor of the right. The threat of the establishment of a fascist regime really loomed over the country.

All this forced the anti-fascist forces, forgetting about their differences, to fight against the fascisation of the country. In July 1935 arose Popular Front, which included communists, socialists, radicals, trade unions and a number of anti-fascist organizations of the French intelligentsia. The effectiveness of the new association was tested by the parliamentary elections held in the spring of 1936 - Popular Front candidates received 57% of all votes. The formation of the government was entrusted to the leader of the parliamentary faction of socialists L. Blum. Under his chairmanship, negotiations began between representatives of trade unions and the General Confederation of Employers. Under the terms of the agreements reached, wages increased by an average of 7-15%, collective agreements became mandatory for all enterprises where trade unions demanded it, and, finally, the government undertook to introduce a number of laws on social protection of workers to parliament.

In the summer of 1936, parliament with unprecedented speed adopted 133 laws that implemented the main provisions of the Popular Front. Among the most important are the law banning the activities of fascist leagues, as well as a series of socio-economic legislation: on a 40-hour work week, on paid holidays, on raising the minimum wage, on the organization of public works, on deferment of payments on debt obligations for small entrepreneurs and their preferential lending, the creation of a National Grain Bureau for the purchase of grain from peasants at fixed prices.

In 1937, tax reform was carried out and additional loans were allocated for the development of science, education, and culture. The French Bank was placed under state control, the National Society of Railways with mixed capital was created, in which 51% of the shares belonged to the state, and, finally, a number of military factories were nationalized.

These measures significantly increased the state budget deficit. Large entrepreneurs sabotaged the payment of taxes and transferred capital abroad. The total amount of capital withdrawn from the French economy was, according to some estimates, 60 billion francs.

The law prohibited only paramilitary, but not political organizations of a fascist persuasion. Supporters of the fascist idea immediately took advantage of this. “Combat Crosses” was renamed the French Social Party, “Patriotic Youth” became known as the Republican National and Social Party, etc.

Taking advantage of democratic freedoms, the pro-fascist press launched a campaign of persecution against the Socialist Interior Minister Salangro, who was driven to suicide.

In the summer of 1937, Blum presented to parliament a “financial recovery plan” that included increasing indirect taxes, taxes on corporate income and introducing government controls over foreign exchange transactions abroad.

After the Senate rejected this plan, Blum decided to resign.

The right managed to establish in the public consciousness the idea that the deterioration of the situation in the country is directly related to the “irresponsible social experiments” of the Popular Front. The right claimed that the Popular Front was preparing for the "Bolshevisation" of France. Only a sharp turn to the right, a reorientation toward Germany, could save the country from this, the right argued. Right-wing leader P. Laval said: “Better Hitler than the Popular Front.” This slogan was adopted in 1938 by most of the political establishment of the Third Republic. In the end, this was her undoing.

In the fall of 1938, the Daladier government, together with England, sanctioned the Munich Agreement, which handed Czechoslovakia over to Nazi Germany. Anti-communist sentiments outweighed even the traditional fear of Germany in the eyes of a significant part of French society. In essence, the Munich Agreement opened the way to the outbreak of a new world war.

One of the first victims of this war was the Third Republic itself. June 14, 1940 German troops entered Paris. Today we can safely say: the path of the German army to Paris began in Munich. The Third Republic paid a terrible price for the short-sighted policies of its leaders.

The epiphany came too late. Hitler had already completed preparations for delivering a decisive blow on the Western Front. On May 10, 1940, the Germans, bypassing the defensive Maginot Line built along the Franco-German border, invaded Belgium and Holland, and from there into Northern France. On the very first day of the offensive, German aviation bombed the most important airfields on the territory of these countries. The main forces of French aviation were destroyed. In the Dunkirk area, a 400,000-strong Anglo-French group was surrounded. Only with great difficulty and huge losses was it possible to evacuate its remnants to England. The Germans, meanwhile, were rapidly advancing towards Paris. On June 10, the government fled from Paris to Bordeaux. Paris, declared an “open city,” was occupied by the Germans on June 14 without a fight. A few days later the government was headed Marshal Pétain, who immediately turned to Germany asking for peace.

Only individual representatives of the bourgeoisie and senior officers opposed the capitulatory policy of the government. Among them was General Charles de Gaulle, who at that time was conducting negotiations in London on military cooperation with England. In response to his radio address to French soldiers stationed outside the metropolis, many patriots united in the Free France movement to fight for the national revival of their homeland.

June 22, 1940 in the Compiègne forest The act of surrender of France was signed. In order to humiliate France, the Nazis forced its representatives to sign this act in the same carriage in which Marshal Foch dictated the terms of the truce to the German delegation in November 1918. The Third Republic fell.

According to the terms of the armistice, Germany occupied 2/3 of France, including Paris. The southern part of France formally remained independent. The small town of Vichy was chosen as the seat of government for Pétain, who began to cooperate closely with Germany.

The question arises: why did Hitler decide to at least formally retain part of France’s sovereignty? Behind this lay a completely pragmatic calculation.

Firstly, in this way he avoided raising the question of the fate of the French colonial empire and the French navy. In the event of the complete liquidation of French independence, the Germans would hardly have been able to prevent the sailors from leaving for England and would certainly not have been able to prevent the transition of the huge French colonial empire and the troops stationed there to British control.

And so the French Marshal Pétain categorically forbade the fleet and colonial troops to leave their bases.

In addition, the presence of a formally independent France hampered the development Resistance movements, which in the conditions of Hitler’s preparations for jumping across the English Channel was very relevant for him.

Petain was proclaimed the sole head of the French state. The French authorities pledged to supply Germany with raw materials, food and labor. The economy of the entire country was brought under German control. The French armed forces were subject to disarmament and demobilization. The Nazis got a huge amount of weapons and military materials.

Hitler later ordered the occupation of southern France after the French colonial army at its core defected to the Allied side, against Pétain's orders.

The Resistance movement developed in France. On August 19, 1944, French patriots rebelled in Paris. When Allied troops approached Paris on August 25, most of the city had already been liberated.

Four years of occupation, aerial bombing and military action caused great damage to France. The economic situation of the country was extremely difficult. The government was headed by General Charles de Gaulle, whom most French people considered a national hero. One of the most important demands of the majority of the French was to punish the traitorous collaborators. Laval was shot, but Petain's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and many lower-ranking traitors escaped retribution.

In October 1945, elections were held to the Constituent Assembly, which was to develop a new constitution. They brought victory to the left forces: the PCF (French Communist Party) received the largest number of votes, and the SFIO (French Socialist Party) was slightly behind it.

The government was headed again de Gaulle, his deputy became Maurice Thorez. The communists also received the portfolios of ministers of economy, industrial production, armaments and labor. On the initiative of communist ministers in 1944-1945. Power plants, gas plants, coal mines, aviation and insurance companies, the largest banks, and Renault automobile plants were nationalized. The owners of these factories received large financial rewards, with the exception of Louis Renault, who collaborated with the Nazis, who committed suicide. But while Paris was starving, three-quarters of the population was malnourished.

A sharp struggle unfolded in the Constituent Assembly over the nature of the future political system. De Gaulle insisted on concentrating power in the hands of the president of the republic and reducing the prerogatives of parliament; bourgeois parties advocated a simple restoration of the 1875 constitution; The communists believed that the new republic should be truly democratic, with a full-power parliament expressing the will of the people.

Convinced that with the existing composition of the Constituent Assembly the adoption of its constitutional draft was impossible, de Gaulle resigned in January 1946. A new three-party government was formed.

After a tense struggle (the first draft of the constitution was rejected in a referendum), the Constituent Assembly developed a second draft, which was approved by popular vote, and the constitution came into force at the end of 1946. France was declared a “single and indivisible secular democratic and social republic” in which sovereignty belonged to the people.

The preamble contained a number of progressive provisions on the equality of women, on the right of persons persecuted in their homeland for activities in defense of freedom to political asylum in France, on the right of all citizens to obtain work and material security in old age. The Constitution proclaimed the obligation not to wage wars of conquest and not to use force against the freedom of any people, declared the need for nationalization of key industries, economic planning, and participation of workers in the management of enterprises.

Legislative power belonged to parliament, consisting of two chambers - the National Assembly and the Council of the Republic. The right to approve the budget, declare war, make peace, express confidence or distrust in the government was granted to the National Assembly, and the Council of the Republic could only delay the entry into force of the law.

The President of the Republic was elected for 7 years by both chambers. The president appoints one of the leaders of the party with the largest number of seats in parliament as head of government. The composition and program of the government are approved by the National Assembly.

The Constitution declared the transformation of the French colonial empire into the French Union and proclaimed the equality of all its constituent territories.

The Constitution of the Fourth Republic was progressive; its adoption meant the victory of democratic forces. However, later many of the freedoms and obligations proclaimed in it turned out to be unfulfilled or were violated.

IN 1946 year began war in indochina, which lasted almost eight years. The French rightly called the Vietnam War a “dirty war.” A peace movement developed, which took on a particularly wide scale in France. Workers refused to load weapons to be sent to Vietnam; 14 million French people signed the Stockholm Appeal demanding a ban on atomic weapons.

IN 1949 France entered NATO.

In May 1954 France suffered a crushing defeat in Vietnam: The French garrison, surrounded in the Dien Bien Phu area, capitulated. 6 thousand soldiers and officers surrendered. On July 20, 1954, agreements were signed to restore peace in Indochina. The “Dirty War,” on which France spent an astronomical amount of 3,000 billion francs, losing several tens of thousands of lives, has ended. France also pledged to withdraw troops from Laos and Cambodia.

On November 1, 1954, France began a new colonial war - this time against Algeria. The Algerians repeatedly appealed to the French government with a request to grant Algeria at least autonomy, but were invariably refused under the pretext that Algeria was allegedly not a colony, but an organic part of France, its “overseas departments,” and therefore could not lay claim to autonomy. Since peaceful methods did not yield results, the Algerians took up arms.

The uprising grew and soon spread throughout the country; the French government was unable to suppress it. The violent rallies and demonstrations that unfolded in Algeria spread to Corsica, and the metropolis was under the threat of civil war or a military coup. June 1, 1958 the National Assembly elected Charles de Gaulle head of government and granted him emergency powers.

De Gaulle began with what he failed to achieve in 1946 - the proclamation of a constitution that corresponded to his political views. The President of the Republic gained enormous power by reducing the prerogatives of Parliament. Thus, the president determines the main directions of the country’s domestic and foreign policy, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appoints all senior positions, starting with the prime minister, can dissolve the National Assembly early and delay the entry into force of laws adopted by parliament. In emergency circumstances, the president has the right to take full power into his hands.

Parliament still consists of two chambers - the National Assembly, elected by universal suffrage, and the Senate, which replaced the Council of the Republic. The role of the National Assembly has decreased significantly: the agenda of its sessions is set by the government, their duration has been reduced, and when discussing the budget, deputies cannot make proposals that would reduce revenues or increase state expenditures.

Expressing no confidence in the government by the National Assembly is complicated by a number of restrictions. The deputy mandate is incompatible with responsible positions in the government, state apparatus, trade unions and other national organizations.

In a referendum held on September 28, 1958, this constitution was adopted. The Fourth Republic was replaced by the Fifth. The majority of referendum participants voted not for the constitution, which many did not even read, but for de Gaulle, hoping that he would be able to restore the greatness of France, end the war in Algeria, government leapfrog, financial crisis, dependence on the United States and parliamentary intrigues.

After members of Parliament and a special electoral college elected President in December 1958 Fifth Republic General de Gaulle, the process of constituting the Fifth Republic was completed.

Pro-fascist elements hoped that de Gaulle would ban the Communist Party, establish a totalitarian regime and, by unleashing the military power of France on the Algerian rebels, achieve their pacification based on the slogan: “Algeria was and will always be French!”

However, possessing the qualities of a large-scale political figure and taking into account the current balance of power, the president chose a different political course and, in particular, did not ban the Communist Party. De Gaulle hoped that he would be able to win over all the French to his side.

The Algerian policy of the Fifth Republic went through several stages. At first, the new government tried to achieve a solution to the Algerian problem from a position of strength, but soon became convinced that these attempts were leading nowhere. The Algerian resistance is only intensifying, French troops are suffering defeat after defeat, the campaign for Algerian independence is expanding in the metropolis, and in the international arena, a broad movement of solidarity with the struggle of the Algerian people entails the isolation of France. Since the continuation of the war could only lead to the complete loss of Algeria, and with it the oil, the French monopolies began to advocate the search for an acceptable compromise. A reflection of this turn was de Gaulle’s recognition of Algeria’s right to self-determination, which gave rise to a number of speeches and terrorist acts by ultra-colonialists.

And yet, on March 18, 1962, an agreement was signed in the city of Evian to grant independence to Algeria. In order to avoid new wars, the French government had to grant independence to a number of states in Equatorial and West Africa.

In the fall of 1962, de Gaulle submitted to a referendum a proposal to change the procedure for electing the president of the republic. According to this bill, the president would henceforth be elected not by the electoral college, but by popular vote. The reform was aimed at further understanding the authority of the President of the Republic and eliminating the last remnants of his dependence on parliament, whose deputies had until then participated in his election.

Many parties that previously supported him spoke out against de Gaulle's proposal. The National Assembly expressed no confidence in the government, which was headed by one of the president's closest associates, Georges Pompidou. In response, de Gaulle dissolved the meeting and called new elections, threatening to resign if his project was rejected.

The referendum supported the president's proposal. After the elections, supporters of General de Gaulle retained the majority in the National Assembly. The government was again headed by Georges Pompidou.

In December 1965, elections were held for the President of the Republic, who was elected by universal suffrage for the first time. The left forces managed to agree on the nomination of a common candidate. He became the leader of a small left-bourgeois party, Francois Mitterrand, a participant in the Resistance movement, one of the few non-communists who opposed the regime of personal power. In the second round of voting, 75-year-old General de Gaulle was re-elected president of the republic for the next seven years with a majority of 55% of the votes; 45% of voters voted for Mitterrand.

In the field of foreign policy, General de Gaulle sought to ensure the increasing role of France in the modern world, its transformation into an independent great power capable of withstanding the competition of other powers in world markets. To do this, de Gaulle considered it necessary, first of all, to free himself from American tutelage and unite continental Western Europe under French hegemony, opposing it to the United States.

At first, he relied on cooperation between France and Germany within the European Economic Community (EEC, “Common Market”), hoping that in exchange for political support from France, West Germany would agree to give her a leading role in this organization. This perspective was the basis for the rapprochement between France and Germany, which began in 1958 and became known as the Bonn-Paris “axis.”

Soon, however, it became obvious that Germany was not going to cede first place to France in the EEC and preferred not to spoil relations with the United States, considering their support more significant than that of France. The contradictions between the countries intensified. Thus, Germany advocated the admission of England to the EEC, and de Gaulle vetoed this decision, calling England “the Trojan horse of the United States” (January 1963). There were other contradictions that led to the gradual weakening of the Bonn-Paris axis. The Franco-German “friendship,” as de Gaulle put it, “withered like a rose,” and he began to look for other ways to strengthen France’s foreign policy positions. These new paths were expressed in rapprochement with the countries of Eastern Europe, primarily with the Soviet Union, and in support of the course towards détente, which de Gaulle had previously disapproved of.

In February 1966, de Gaulle decided to withdraw France from the military organization of the North Atlantic bloc. This meant the withdrawal of French troops from NATO command, the evacuation from French territory of all foreign troops, NATO headquarters, warehouses, air bases, etc., and the refusal to finance NATO military activities. By April 1, 1967, all these measures had been implemented, despite protests and pressure from the United States, France remained only a member of the political union.

Controversies had been brewing in the internal life of the country for many years, which resulted in May-June 1968 in one of the most massive popular movements in the entire history of the country.

The first to speak were students who demanded a radical restructuring of the higher education system. The fact is that during the 50-60s there was a rapid growth in the number of students, but higher education was unprepared for such growth. There were not enough teachers, classrooms, dormitories, libraries, allocations for higher education were meager, only a fifth of students received scholarships, so about half of university students were forced to work.

The teaching system has hardly changed since the 19th century - often professors read not what life and the level of science required, but what they knew.

On May 3, 1968, the police, called by the rector of the Sorbonne, dispersed the student meeting and arrested a large group of its participants. In response, the students went on strike. On May 7, a mass demonstration demanding the immediate release of those arrested, the removal of police from the university and the resumption of classes was attacked by large police forces - on that day, more than 800 people were injured and about 500 were arrested. The Sorbonne was closed, and in protest, students began to build barricades in the Latin Quarter. On May 11, there was a new clash with the police. Students barricaded themselves in the university building.

The massacre of students caused outrage throughout the country. On May 13, a general strike began in solidarity with the student movement. From that day on, although student unrest continued for a long time, the initiative of the movement passed into the hands of the workers. The one-day strike grew into a long strike that lasted almost four weeks and spread throughout the country. Solidarity with the students was only a pretext for action by workers who had long-standing and much more serious claims against the regime. Engineers, technicians, and office workers joined the strike movement; Radio and television workers, employees of some ministries, department store clerks, communications workers, and bank officials went on strike. The total number of strikers reached 10 million.

As a result, by mid-June, the strikers achieved satisfaction of almost all of their demands: the minimum wage was doubled, the working week was shortened, benefits and pensions were increased, collective agreements with entrepreneurs were revised in the interests of workers, the rights of trade unions in enterprises were recognized, student self-government was introduced in higher educational institutions, etc.

Contrary to the hopes of the government and businessmen, the concessions of 1968 did not lead to the fading of the class struggle. From May 1968 to March 1969, the cost of living increased by 6%, which significantly devalued the gains of working people. In this regard, workers continued to fight for lower taxes, higher wages, and the introduction of a sliding wage scale, providing for its automatic increase as prices rise. On March 11, 1969, a massive general strike took place, and anti-government demonstrations took place in Paris and other cities.

In this situation, Chal de Gaulle scheduled a referendum on April 27 on two bills - on the reform of the administrative structure of France and the reorganization of the Senate. The government had the opportunity to put them into effect without a referendum, through a parliamentary majority obedient to its will, but de Gaulle decided to test the strength of his power, threatening that in the event of a negative outcome of the referendum he would resign.

As a result, 52.4% of referendum participants spoke out against the bills. On the same day, General Charles de Gaulle resigned, no longer took any part in political life, and died on November 9, 1970 at the age of 80.

General de Gaulle was undoubtedly an outstanding political figure and had many services to France. He played a major role in the fight against fascism during the Second World War, contributed to the revival of France in the early post-war years, and after his second rise to power in 1958, he achieved strengthening of the country's independence and increasing its international prestige.

But over the years, the number of French people supporting him steadily fell, and de Gaulle could not come to terms with this. He understood that the results of the April 1969 referendum were a direct consequence of the May-June events of 1968, and he had the courage to resign from the post of President of the French Republic, which he had the right to remain until December 1972.

Elections for a new president were scheduled for July 1. During the second round he won Georges Pompidou, candidate from the government coalition parties.

The new president of the republic basically maintained de Gaulle's course. Foreign policy has hardly changed. Pompidou rejected US attempts to return France to NATO and actively opposed many aspects of American policy. However, Pompidou withdrew his objections to England's admission to the Common Market.

In April 1974, the President of the Republic, Georges Pompidou, suddenly died, and early presidential elections were held in May. The leader of the government party Federation of Independent Republicans won the second round. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. This was the first president of the Fifth Republic who was not a Gaullist, but since the majority in the National Assembly belonged to the Gaullists, he had to appoint a representative of this party as Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.

Among the reforms of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing are: lowering the voting age to 18 years, decentralizing the management of radio and television, increasing pensions for the elderly, and facilitating divorce procedures.

In relation to the United States, the president persistently emphasized that France is a reliable ally of the United States. France stopped opposing the prospect of political unification of Western Europe and agreed to participate in the 1978 European Parliament elections, giving it supranational prerogatives. For the sake of rapprochement with Germany, it was decided to abandon the celebration of Victory Day over Nazi Germany, which caused violent public protests. However, this decision did not ease the Franco-German contradictions.

The founder of France is considered to be King Clovis, who ruled it since 481. He belonged to the Merovingian dynasty, named after the mythical king Merovian, who, according to legend, was the grandson of Clovis. King Clovis went down in history as a wise ruler and a brave warrior, as well as the first ruler of France to convert to Christianity. He accepted the Christian faith in 496 in Reims, and since then all French monarchs have been crowned in this city. He and his wife Clotilde were devotees of Saint Genevieve, patroness of Paris. It was in his honor that seventeen rulers of France were named after Louis (Louis).

After Clovis's death, his country was divided up by his four sons, but they and their descendants were incapable rulers, and the Merovingian dynasty began to gradually fade away. Because they spent all their time in the palace, tired of entertainment, they were called lazy kings. The last ruler of the Merovingian dynasty was King Childeric III. He was succeeded on the throne by the first monarch of the Carolingian dynasty, Pepin, nicknamed the Short, given to him because of his short stature, to put it mildly. Dumas wrote a short story of the same name about him (Le chronique du roi Pepin).

Pepin the Short (714-748) ruled France between the years 751-768. He was a majordom - one of the king's advisers since 741, and, like other majordoms, had enormous power at court. Pepin proved himself to be a skilled warrior and an intelligent, talented politician. He strongly supported the Catholic Church, and in the end received the full support of the Pope, who, under pain of excommunication, forbade the election of a king from any other clan.



The name of the dynasty itself came from Pepin's son, Charles (Charles), known by the nickname "The Great". Dumas also wrote a short story about him called “Charlemagne” (Les Hommes de fer Charlemagne). Thanks to numerous campaigns of conquest, he greatly expanded the borders of his kingdom, which included almost the entire territory of modern Western Europe. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned with the imperial crown in Rome by Pope Leo III. His eldest son, Louis I, nicknamed "The Pious", became his heir. Thus, the tradition according to which the kingdom is divided equally among all heirs was abolished, and from now on only the eldest son succeeded his father.

A war of succession broke out between the grandchildren of Charlemagne; this war greatly weakened the empire, and ultimately led to its collapse. The last king of this dynasty was Louis V. After his death in 987, a new king was elected by the nobility - Hugh, nicknamed "Capet", and this nickname gave the name to the entire Capetian dynasty.

After the death of Louis V, Abbot Hugh became king, nicknamed "Capet" due to the fact that he wore the robe of a secular priest, which was called "capa". Under the Capetians, feudal relations began to take shape in France - the feudal lords, or lords, pledged to protect their vassals, and the vassals swore allegiance to the feudal lords and sponsored their idle lifestyle.

Under the Capetians, for the first time in history, religious wars acquired an unprecedented scale. The First Crusade began in 1095. The bravest and strongest nobles from all over Europe headed to Jerusalem to liberate the Holy Sepulcher from Muslims after ordinary townspeople were defeated by the Turks. Jerusalem was taken on July 15, 1099 at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Until 1328, France was ruled by the direct heirs of Hugh Capet, after which the last monarch who was a direct descendant of King Hugh, Charles (Charles) IV, nicknamed “The Handsome,” was succeeded by Philip VI, who belonged to the Valois branch, which also belonged to the Capetian dynasty. The Valois dynasty would rule France until 1589, when Henry (Henri) IV of the Capetian dynasty of the Bourbon branch ascended the throne. The Capetian dynasty ended its rule of France forever in 1848, when the last monarch of the Orléans branch of the Bourbons, King Louis Philippe, nicknamed Louis Philippois, was expelled.

In the three decades between the death of Louis XI (1483) and the accession to the throne of Francis I (1515), France left the Middle Ages. It was the 13-year-old prince, who ascended the throne in 1483 under the name Charles VIII, who was destined to initiate the changes that changed the face of the French monarchy under Francis I. From his father Louis XI, the most hated of the rulers of France, Charles inherited the country, in which was restored to order, and the royal treasury was significantly replenished. The reign of Charles VIII was marked by two important events. By marrying Duchess Anne of Brittany, he incorporated the previously independent province of Brittany into France. In addition, he led a triumphal campaign in Italy and reached Naples, declaring it his possession.



Charles died in 1498, leaving the throne to the Duke of Orleans. Having ascended the throne under the name of Louis XII (1498–1515), the new king gained fame thanks to two acts. Firstly, he also led the French nobles on an Italian campaign, this time laying claim to Milan and Naples. Secondly, it was Louis who introduced the royal loan, which played such a fatal role 300 years later. The introduction of the Royal Loan allowed the monarchy to withdraw money without resorting to excessive taxation or recourse to the Estates General. Since the cities became the largest source of taxes, of which Paris was undoubtedly the largest and richest, this new banking system proved to be a profitable source of royal revenue.

Louis' heir was his lively cousin and son-in-law, the Count of Angoulême. He inherited a rich and peaceful country, as well as a new banking system that could provide large sums of money that seemed inexhaustible. Nothing could have been better suited to the passions and abilities of Francis I.

Francis I (1515–1547) was the embodiment of the new spirit of the Renaissance. His reign began with a lightning invasion of Northern Italy. His second trip to Italy, undertaken ten years later, ended unsuccessfully. Nevertheless, Francis remained one of the main political figures in Europe for more than a quarter of a century. His biggest rivals were King Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

During these years, Italian humanism had a transformative influence on French art, architecture, literature, science, social mores, and even Christian doctrine. The influence of the new culture could be seen in the appearance of the royal castles, especially in the Loire Valley. Now these were not so much fortresses as palaces. With the advent of printing, incentives appeared for the development of the French literary language.

Henry II, who succeeded his father on the throne in 1547, must have seemed a strange anachronism in Renaissance France. His life ended unexpectedly: in 1559, while fighting at a tournament with one of the nobles, he fell, pierced by a spear. Having undertaken several lightning-fast, well-planned operations, Henry II recaptured Calais from the British and established control over dioceses such as Metz, Toul and Verdun, previously belonging to the Holy Roman Empire. Henry's wife was Catherine de' Medici, a representative of a family of famous Italian bankers. After the king's untimely death, Catherine played a decisive role in French politics for a quarter of a century, although her three sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, officially ruled. The first of these, the sickly Francis II, was under the influence of the powerful Duke of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. They were uncles of Queen Mary Stuart (of Scotland), to whom Francis II was engaged as a child. A year after ascending the throne, Francis died, and the throne was taken by his ten-year-old brother Charles IX, who was entirely under the influence of his mother.

While Catherine succeeded in guiding the child king, the power of the French monarchy suddenly began to falter. The policy of persecution of Protestants, begun by Francis I and intensified under Charles, ceased to justify itself. Calvinism spread widely throughout France. Huguenots (as the French Calvinists were called) were predominantly townspeople and nobles, often rich and influential.

The decline in the king's authority and the disruption of public order were only a partial consequence of the religious schism. Deprived of the opportunity to wage wars abroad and not constrained by the prohibitions of a strong monarch, the nobles sought to disobey the weakening monarchy and encroached on the rights of the king. With the ensuing unrest, it was already difficult to resolve religious disputes, and the country split into two opposing camps. The Guise family took the position of defenders of the Catholic faith. Their rivals were moderate Catholics, like Montmorency, and Huguenots, like Condé and Coligny. In 1562, open confrontation between the parties began, interspersed with periods of truces and agreements, according to which the Huguenots were given a limited right to be in certain areas and create their own fortifications.

During the formal preparations for the third agreement, which included the marriage of the king's sister Margaret to Henry of Bourbon, the young king of Navarre and the main leader of the Huguenots, Charles IX organized a terrible massacre of his opponents on the eve of St. Bartholomew on the night of August 23-24, 1572. Henry of Navarre managed to escape, but thousands of his associates were killed. Charles IX died two years later and was succeeded by his brother Henry III. Henry of Navarre had the greatest chances for the throne, however, being the leader of the Huguenots, he did not suit the majority of the country's population. Catholic leaders formed a “league” against him, intending to place their leader Henry of Guise on the throne. Unable to withstand the confrontation, Henry III treacherously killed both Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. Even in those troubled times, this act caused general indignation. Henry III quickly moved to the camp of his other rival, Henry of Navarre, where he was soon killed by a fanatical Catholic monk.

Left out of work at the end of the wars abroad in 1559 and seeing the helplessness of the sons of Francis I, the nobles became emotional about religious strife. Catherine de Medici opposed general anarchy, at times supporting different sides, but more often trying to restore the authority of royal power through negotiations and religious neutrality. However, all her attempts were unsuccessful. When she died in 1589 (her third son died the same year), the country was on the brink of destruction.

Although Henry of Navarre now had military superiority and received the support of a group of moderate Catholics, he returned to Paris only after renouncing the Protestant faith and was crowned at Chartres in 1594. The end of the religious wars was completed by the Edict of Nantes in 1598. Huguenots were officially recognized as a minority entitled to the right to labor and self-defense in some areas and cities.

During the reign of Henry IV and his famous minister, Duke Sully, order was restored in the country and prosperity was achieved. In 1610, the country was plunged into deep mourning when it learned that its king had been killed by some madman while preparing for a military campaign in the Rhineland. Although his death kept the country from prematurely becoming involved in the Thirty Years' War, it threw France back into a state of near regency anarchy, as the young Louis XIII was only nine years old. The central political figure at this time was his mother Queen Marie de' Medici, who then enlisted the support of the Bishop of Luzon, Armand Jean du Plessis (aka Duke, Cardinal Richelieu), who in 1624 became the king's mentor and representative and effectively ruled France until the end of his life in 1642 .



Richelieu's reputation as one of France's greatest statesmen rests on his consistent, far-sighted and skillful foreign policy and his ruthless suppression of unruly nobles. Richelieu took from the Huguenots their fortresses, such as La Rochelle, which withstood a siege for 14 months. He was also a patron of the arts and sciences and founded the French Academy.

Richelieu managed to force respect for royal authority through the services of royal agents, or intendants, but he was nevertheless able to significantly undermine the independence of the nobles. And yet, even after his death in 1642, the succession of the king, who died a year later, passed surprisingly calmly, although the heir to the throne, Louis XIV, was then only five years old. Queen Mother Anne of Austria assumed guardianship duties. Richelieu's protege, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin, was an active pursuer of the king's policy until his death in 1661. Mazarin continued Richelieu's foreign policy until the successful conclusion of the Westphalian (1648) and Pyrenees (1659) peace treaties, but was unable to do anything more significant for France than preserving the monarchy , especially during the uprisings of the nobility known as the Fronde (1648–1653). The primary goal of the nobles during the Fronde was to extract benefits from the royal treasury, and not to overthrow the monarchy.

After the death of Mazarin, Louis XIV, who had reached the age of 23 by that time, took direct control over state affairs into his own hands. In the struggle for power, Louis was helped by outstanding personalities: Jean Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance (1665–1683), Marquis de Louvois, Minister of War (1666–1691), Sebastien de Vauban, Minister of Defense Fortifications, and such brilliant generals as the Viscount de Turenne and the Prince of Condé.

When Colbert managed to raise enough funds, Louis formed a large and well-trained army, which, thanks to Vauban, had the best fortresses. With the help of this army, led by Turenne, Condé and other capable commanders, Louis pursued his strategic line during four wars.

At the end of his life, Louis was accused of being “too fond of war.” His last desperate struggle with all of Europe (the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714) ended with the invasion of enemy troops on French soil, the impoverishment of the people and the depletion of the treasury. The country lost all previous conquests. Only a split among the enemy forces and a few very recent victories saved France from complete defeat.

In 1715, the decrepit old king died. The heir to the French throne was a child, the five-year-old great-grandson of Louis XV, and during this period the country was ruled by a self-appointed regent, the ambitious Duke of Orleans. The most notorious scandal of the Regency era was the failure of John Law's Mississippi Project (1720), an unprecedented speculative scam supported by the Regent in an attempt to fill the treasury.

The reign of Louis XV was in many respects a pathetic parody of the reign of his predecessor. The royal administration continued to sell the rights to collect taxes, but this mechanism lost its effectiveness as the entire tax collection system became corrupt. The army nurtured by Louvois and Vauban became demoralized under the leadership of aristocratic officers who sought appointment to military posts only for the sake of a court career. Nevertheless, Louis XV paid great attention to the army. French troops first fought in Spain and then participated in two major campaigns against Prussia: the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763).

The events of the Seven Years' War led to the loss of almost all colonies, loss of international prestige and an acute social crisis, which gave rise to the French Revolution in 1789. The country freed itself from all feudal remnants, but by the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon seized power in the state.

Since 1804, France became an empire, it strengthened the bourgeois system and achieved the highest greatness in the history of France. The Patriotic War of the Russian people in 1812 predetermined the collapse of the Napoleonic empire and returned the country to a secondary position in world politics. A series of bourgeois revolutions (1830, 1848) contributed to the revival of the empire in 1852. France once again turned out to be a world leader, and only the strengthening of Germany once again relegated this state to secondary roles. In 1870, a bourgeois-democratic form of government was established in the country. The desire to resurrect lost greatness drew France into the First World War against Germany. Success in it helped strengthen the country's authority and was further consolidated during the victory over Nazi Germany.




Today, this amazing country is rightfully considered one of the most advanced and respected on the planet.

The history of France was in the center of world attention during August 1997, when the life of Princess Diana tragically ended when she crashed in a car in Paris. And in July 1998, the French football team won a world victory in a match with the Brazilian national team (3:0).

In October 2001, Concorde flights were resumed, having been temporarily grounded since July 2000 following a major crash in which 113 people were killed.

In early 2003, France re-entered the world stage, this time insisting on vetoing any UN Security Council decision on war with Iraq. The US government took this rather coolly and to this day relations between France and the US remain tense.

France is the largest country located in Western Europe. The full name of the state is the fifth French Republic.

Land borders are shared with 8 states, two of which are practically invisible on the map (Andorra and Monaco). The country is separated from England by the English Channel.

The main territory of France is 547,030 km2, in addition to which it includes the island of Corsica and territories with an area of ​​more than 125,000 km2.

The capital of the state is Paris, famous for its Eiffel Tower, built by designer Gustave Eiffel for a competition in 1889.

The main territory is divided into 22 regions, formerly called provinces, each of which is divided into departments and has its own capital. Each region is famous for its traditions and has its own history.

France is divided by 4 major rivers: the Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhone.

1. When looking at the map, the shape of the main territory of the state resembles a five-pointed star.
2. From Paris you can get to London in 2 hours 15 minutes. To make such a quick trip you just need to board a train that passes under the English Channel through a tunnel connecting the two states.
3. The Eiffel Tower is one of the symbols of France. There are other symbols, the Gali rooster, the national anthem - La Marseillaise.

A little bit of French history

The First French Republic was established in 1792 to replace the monarchical system, which was undermined by the revolution of 1789. During the period 1792 – 1958, five republican forms of government changed.

In 1958, the fourth French Republic was replaced by the fifth, based on an updated constitution, which is still in force. The main differences are the expansion of the rights of the president of the republic by reducing the rights of parliament.

Sights and resorts of France

France is divided into regions, each of which has its own characteristics: some are famous for traditional winemaking, others for resorts, and historical events.

Viticulture in France has flourished for many hundreds of years. The heyday of viticulture occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. The areas in which winemaking predominates over other types of production are as follows: Bordeaux vineyards stretch along the Garonne River, the former Champagne region is located at the top of France, Burgundy wines are produced in Burgundy, located in the Rhone River valley. Famous champagne wines decorate exquisite tables of festive feasts in all countries of the world.

1. Champagne wines take their name from the Champagne region. It is illegal to call wines not produced in this region of France champagne, since the name is patented.
2. In 2004, France ranked second in wine exports.

In addition to river valleys in which various grape varieties grow, France also has famous mountains. The southeast of France is a favorite place for skiers and snowboarders. The snow-white Alps attract millions of visitors, and Mont Blanc, reaching a height of 4810 meters, is the highest point in Europe after Elbrus.

The town of Chamonix, located at the foot of the Alps, is the most famous and oldest resort. For more than two hundred years, numerous tourists and sportsmen continue to try the slopes of the nearby mountains.

In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held here. The resort territory borders on Italy and Switzerland.

In the south of France in the summer you can always relax and swim in the Mediterranean Sea; the Cote d'Azur of France will not leave you indifferent.

France map

The man who founded France is considered to be King Clovis, who held power since four hundred and eighty-one. He was from the Merovingian dynasty, which was named after the mythical ruler Merovian. According to legends, Clovis was the grandson of Merovey. King Clovis became famous for his military campaigns, and was also known as the first French ruler to convert to Christianity. He accepted the new faith in the city of Reims in the year four hundred and ninety-six. Since then, it was in Reims that all the monarchs of France began to be crowned. Together with his wife Clotilde, Clovis was a devotee of Saint Genevieve, who is considered the patroness of Paris. In honor of this ruler, seventeen French kings would later be named after Louis (or Louis).

After Clovis died, the country was divided among his four sons, but neither they nor their descendants became capable rulers. Their dynasty began to slowly fade away. The Merovingian dynasty even received the nickname “lazy kings”, since most of the time these rulers did not leave the palace. Childeric III became the last king from this dynasty. He was replaced by the first representative from the Carolingian dynasty, Pepin, nicknamed Short because of his small stature. It was about him that Dumas wrote his short story entitled “Le chronique du roi Pepin”.

Pepin the Short was the ruler of France from the mid-eighth century, for seventeen years. Prior to this, for ten years he held the position of mayor - the king's adviser, who is endowed with enormous power at the royal court. Pepin was not only a brilliant politician, but also a very skilled warrior and strategist. Thanks to his constant support of the Catholic Church, he managed to gain the favor of the Pope, who eventually forbade the French to choose their kings from other dynasties on pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church.

The name of the Carolingian dynasty came from Charles, nicknamed the Great, who was the son of Pepin the Short. Over time, Dumas will write his famous short story “Les Hommes de fer Charlemagne” about him. Charlemagne was a remarkable commander - during his reign, the territories of France were significantly expanded due to constant military campaigns, and the state occupied almost the entire territory of modern Western Europe. In the year eight hundred in Rome, Charlemagne was crowned with the imperial crown by the Pope himself.

Charlemagne's heir was his eldest son, Louis I, who received the nickname "The Pious". From that moment on, the tradition according to which the state was divided into parts among all the heirs was abolished, and the throne was inherited by the eldest son of the king.

Charlemagne's grandchildren fought bitter wars for the crown, which weakened the empire and ultimately led to its collapse. The last of the Carolingian dynasty to ascend the throne was Louis V. After his death, power passed to Abbot Hugh, who was nicknamed "Capet" due to the fact that he often appeared in a cape, the robe of a secular priest, even as king. During the reign of the Capetian dynasty in France, feudal relations - lords and feudal lords protected their vassals, and they, in turn, swore allegiance to their masters and paid them tribute.

During the reign of the Capetians, for the first time in history, religious wars acquired unprecedented proportions. In one thousand ninety-five, the first Crusade begins. A huge number of brave and strong nobles from all over Europe go to distant Jerusalem in order to free a relic called the Holy Sepulcher from Muslims. On the fifteenth of July one thousand ninety-nine the city fell. The direct heirs of the first king from the Capetian dynasty, Hugo Capet, ruled until one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight, in which power from the last representative of this dynasty, Charles (Charles) the Fair, passed to the representative of the Valois dynasty - Philip VI.

The Valois dynasty, which is also a sister dynasty to the Capetians, ruled France until the end of the sixteenth century, when Henry (Henri) IV, representing the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty, ascended the throne. This dynasty would remain in power until the mid-nineteenth century, when the last representative of the Orléans branch of the Bourbons, Louis Philippe, was expelled from France.

During the reign of Francis I, at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, France would leave the Middle Ages. At this time, the appearance of the country will change in many ways. He became famous for two of his deeds. Firstly, like his father, Francis I made a military campaign into Italian territory, laying claim to Naples and Milan. Ten years later, he will make a campaign against Italian lands again, but it will end in failure. And, secondly, he introduced a royal loan, which three centuries later would play a fatal role in the life of the country. Francis I was called the true embodiment of the era - the new spirit of the Renaissance. This French king remained for a quarter of a century one of the main characters in the political arena of Europe. His main rivals at that time were Charles V, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire, and King Henry VIII of England.

At that most interesting time, thanks to the influence of Italian humanism, French literature, art, and architecture began to develop in a new way. Science, the morals of society and even, famous for its foundations, the Christian faith. The influence of this new culture for the French is clearly visible in the Loire Valley, in the new appearance of royal castles and other buildings. Now they became not so much well-fortified castles, but rather luxurious and beautiful palaces. During these years, book printing appeared on French territory, which contributed to the development of the French literary language.

Henry II, who came to power after the death of his father in the forty-seventh year of the sixteenth century, seemed at that time a strange anachronism against the background of the Renaissance. He headed the state for twelve years and died during one of the tournaments, in a duel with a nobleman. Being a good military leader, Henry II made several daring and lightning attacks against England, as a result of which the lands of Calais were recaptured from the British, and control was established over Verdun, Toul and Metz, which had previously been subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire. Henry's wife was the famous beauty Catherine de' Medici, a representative of one of the most famous Italian banking dynasties. After the death of the king, it was Catherine who became the main character in the political arena of France, despite the fact that the state was officially ruled by her sons - Henry III, Charles IX and Francis II.

The sickly Francis II, who ascended the throne after the death of his father, was strongly influenced by the Duke of Guise, as well as his brother, who held the post of cardinal. They were related to Queen Mary Stuart (of Scotland), to whom the French king was engaged in his childhood. But a year after coming to power, Francis II died of illness.

His ten-year-old brother, Charles IX, who was entirely controlled by his mother at that time, ascended the throne. During the reign of the child king, who depended on the decisions of Queen Catherine, the power of the monarchs in France suddenly wavered. This is partly due not only to the lack of firm royal authority, but also to the complicating situation in the country as a whole. The policy of persecuting Protestants, begun several decades ago, at this time ceased to justify itself. Calvinism became widespread throughout the country. The French Calvinists, who called themselves Huguenots, were predominantly citizens and nobles, often rich and influential. A sharp decline in the authority of the royal power and numerous violations of public order were among the consequences of such a religious split for France at that time.

Since the nobles were deprived of the opportunity to wage wars abroad, taking advantage of the absence of a strong monarch, they began to encroach on the rights of the king and even try to get out of the power of the French crown. The unrest that began in the country led to a split in France into two camps - the Guise family became defenders of the Catholic faith, and several opponents opposed it. These are moderate Catholics, for example, Montmorency, and Huguenots, such as Coligny and Condé. In the sixty-second year, open struggle began between the opposing camps, occasionally stopping due to truces and agreements, according to which the Huguenots could stay in certain territories of the country and create their fortifications there.

On the night of the twenty-third to twenty-fourth of August one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, on the eve of St. Bartholomew's Day, Charles IX carried out a real massacre of his opponents. Since this event occurred during the preparation for the signing of another peace agreement, none of the victims expected such an insidious act on the part of the royal family. Henry of Navarre only miraculously escaped the fate of thousands of his companions who died that night.

Charles IX died two years later, and his younger brother, Henry III, ascended the throne. At that moment, Henry of Navarre had the greatest chance of seizing the throne, but since he was the leader of the Huguenots, his candidacy would not suit most of the country's population. Against his supporters, Catholics founded a “league”, the purpose of which was to try to seize the throne by Heinrich Guise, who led the Catholics. Unable to resist the “league,” Henry III treacherously kills not only Guise, but also the Cardinal of Lorraine, who was the brother and closest ally of the leader of the Catholics. Even for that bloody time in history, this was an unforgivable act, which was the reason for general indignation. Henry III had to ask for asylum from another of his rivals, Henry of Navarre, in whose camp the king was killed by a Catholic monk, an ardent supporter of Catholicism.

The nobles reacted very emotionally to such religious strife in France. Catherine de Medici did not support the anarchy that had engulfed the country, periodically taking the side of one of the warring camps, but, in general, the queen sought to restore the authority of the royal family through negotiations and maintaining neutrality in the religious conflict. But her numerous attempts were never successful. After the death of Catherine in one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine, the country was on the verge of destruction. The same year, Catherine de' Medici's third son, Henry III, also died.

Despite the military superiority of Henry of Navarre, who also had the support of moderate Catholics, he occupied Paris only after renouncing his Protestant faith. He was crowned in the tent in one thousand five hundred and ninety-four. Six years later, the signing of the Edict of Nantes put an end to the religious wars, and the Huguenots were officially recognized by France as a minority with the right to work and protection from their enemies in some regions and cities of the country.

After Henry IV came to power, assisted by the famous minister, the Duke of Sully, order was restored in France and a new period of prosperity for the country began. In the tenth year of the seventeenth century, during preparations for a new military campaign in the Rhineland, Henry IV was killed by an unknown fanatic. The whole country was plunged into deep mourning, but thanks to the death of the king, France delayed its entry into the Thirty Years' War for some time.

With Louis XIII barely nine years old and no other clear contenders for the throne, France was once again engulfed in anarchy. One of the central political figures of that time was the mother of the heir, Queen Marie de' Medici, who was later supported by the Bishop of Luzon, Duke Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as Cardinal Richelieu. He was not only a mentor for the young king, but also represented his interests and, in fact, ruled the state until his death in the sixty-second year of the seventeenth century.

Cardinal Richelieu is rightfully considered one of the greatest statesmen in the history of France. He was a consistent, far-sighted and very skillful politician who ruthlessly suppressed the rebellious nobles. It was he who took almost all of their fortresses from the Huguenots, including La Rochelle, the siege of which lasted fourteen months. The cardinal is also known as a patron of the arts and sciences, who founded the famous French Academy. He managed to force the entire population to respect royal power. This became possible largely thanks to the intendants - royal agents who represented a truly large network. At the same time, Richelieu managed to very significantly undermine the power of noble families.

A year after his death, Louis XIV ascended the throne, despite the fact that the newly-crowned king had only recently turned five years old. The guardian functions under the new ruler were performed by his mother, Queen Anne of Austria. She was helped and assisted in every possible way by Cardinal Richelieu's protege, the new French Cardinal Mazarin, who continued to pursue foreign and domestic policy in the same direction as his predecessor.

In the mid-seventeenth century, Mazarin signed the Westphalian and Pyrenees peace treaties, which were very successful for France, which was, in fact, the peak of his political career. At the same time, the country was experiencing an uprising of the nobility, which went down in history as the Fronde and lasted for five years. The main goal of this uprising is not considered to be the overthrow of the French monarchy, but the devastation of the royal treasury of benefits, which was a very tasty morsel at that time.

After the death of Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV, who at that time was already twenty-three years old, began to govern the country independently. His comrades-in-arms were the greatest in French history, famous statesmen such as Jean Baptiste Colbert, who served as Minister of Finance, the Marquis de Louvois, who was Minister of War, Sebastien de Vauban, who was Minister of Defense fortifications, as well as the generals Prince of Condé and Viscount de Turenne.

After Jean Baptiste Colbert raised enough funds, the king created a large and well-trained army, which, thanks to the merits of Vauban, owned superbly fortified fortresses that were considered the best in the world at that time. Throughout four wars this army would glorify the French crown. By the end of his life, Louis XIV would repeatedly hear a large number of reproaches addressed to him precisely because this monarch “loved war too much.” His last, extremely unsuccessful military campaign against almost all of Europe, which was waged at the beginning of the eighteenth century for the right to possess the Spanish inheritance, led to the invasion of French territory by troops of other states. In a matter of years, the royal treasury was depleted and the French people were practically impoverished. The country was deprived of almost all its conquests during previous wars. Only a split in the camp of France's enemies and the last few victories of its army saved the country from complete defeat. In the fifteenth year of the eighteenth century, being a decrepit old man, the king died, and his heir was the five-year-old Louis XV, who was the great-grandson of Louis XIV.

The country began to be ruled by a self-appointed regent and not a very successful politician, the Duke of Orleans. His name in the history of France is known thanks to the Mississippi Project of John Law - an incredible speculative scam with the help of which the authorities during the Regency era tried to replenish the royal treasury. In general, many historians call the years of the reign of Louis XV a pathetic parody of the reign of his predecessor.

But, despite a number of difficulties for the country, Louis XV continued to pay great attention to the French army. His troops took part in the war against Spain and then in two major military campaigns against Prussia. The first was the struggle for the Austrian inheritance, and the second was the Seven Years' War.

The events of the Seven Years' War caused the loss of almost all French colonies, loss of prestige in the international arena and a deep social crisis. All this led to the Great French Revolution in the seventy-ninth year of the eighteenth century, which freed the country from a number of social relics.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Napoleon came to power in France. France becomes a state with a bourgeois system and a powerful army, thanks to which it achieved unprecedented greatness. But, as a result of the war against Russia, the Napoleonic empire suffered a number of defeats and took a secondary position on the world political arena.

By the mid-nineteenth century, several bourgeois revolutions would once again return France to its place among world leaders, but the strengthening of neighboring Germany would once again relegate the country to a secondary role. The desire to return the state to its former greatness will force France to participate in the two world wars of the last century, victory in which will significantly strengthen the country’s authority.



The weather in France is determined by several climate zones. In the west of the country, due to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, summers are rainy and cool, and winters are mild and wet.

In the central part of the country, summers are hotter, winters are colder, in Lorraine and Alsace the temperature often drops below zero, and in Strasbourg and Nancy there are severe frosts.

The Mediterranean climate of the south provides warm winters with above-zero temperatures and sultry summers, when the air warms up to +30 degrees and above. The velvet season on the Cote d'Azur is August and September, the sweltering heat of July has already receded, and the water in the sea is the warmest. Excursions will be more comfortable in April and May, or September-October.

The country's topography is predominantly flat; the Pyrenees mountains in the south of the country and the Alps in the southeast serve as the natural borders of France. Large navigable rivers flow through the country: Garonne, Loire, Seine. About a third of the country's territory is occupied by forests; oak, hazel, cork, and spruce grow in the north.

In the south, a Russian tourist will be pleased to see palm trees and tangerine plantations.

In the sea waters near the borders of France there are cod, herring, tuna, flounder, and mackerel.

The country's fauna is represented by wolves, bears, foxes, badgers, deer, hares, squirrels; snakes and mountain goats are found in the mountains. Birds - the familiar pigeon, pheasant, hawk, thrush, magpie, snipe.

Shopping

No one manages to return from France without shopping. Shopping in a country recognized as the birthplace of chic and elegance is a special pleasure. France is the center of fashion, winemaking, perfumery, cooking and cosmetics; here you want to buy everything at once.

But you should not make purchases in tourist centers. It makes more sense to visit large shopping malls or department stores.

Clothing stores with affordable prices - Naf Naf, Kookai, Cote a Cote, C&A, Morgan, shoes - Andre.

Excellent edible French gifts for loved ones and friends would be wine, cognac, gift sets of cheeses, and macaroons. Traditional souvenirs and purchases - images of the Eiffel Tower on magnets, key rings, decorative panels; berets and silk scarves; crystal products from Baccarat or glass from Brea.

Connoisseurs of fine aromas go to the town of Grasse, not far from Cannes, where the world-famous Fragonard perfume factory with a 400-year history is located, producing fragrant oils for perfumes. The factory hosts excursions during which those interested can purchase fine perfumes, fragrant soaps and other aromatic products.

Limoges, the capital of the Limousin province, is famous for its carpets and high-quality porcelain.

Sales held in France are popular when the original cost of goods is significantly reduced. Twice a year, usually on the second Wednesday of January and the last Wednesday of June, prices plummet by 40-70%. This feast for shopaholics lasts about 5 weeks. During the rest of the year, large sales are not allowed in France.

France allows non-residents to return up to 20.6% VAT (33% on luxury goods). Refund conditions: purchase of goods in the same store in the amount of 185 € to 300 €, depending on the store; registration when purchasing a border (inventory for export); leaving the EU within three months after purchase. On the day of departure from France, you must present the purchased goods and border at the customs point. You will receive the money when you return home via credit card transfer or check in the mail. This can also be done at the airport at an authorized bank or Tax Free for tourists kiosk.

In large cities, stores are open from 10.00 to 19.00. except Sunday. Provincial stores are usually closed on Monday. There is a lunch break here - from 12.00 to 14.00, or from 13.00 to 15.00.

Grocery stores and bakeries are open in the mornings on weekends and holidays.

Kitchen and food

The French are unsurpassed gourmets, their cuisine is one of the most refined and beloved in the whole world. A French chef is a priori considered a virtuoso of the culinary arts; he will always add something of his own to a standard recipe, playing with it in such a way that you will forever remember the taste and aroma of the dish.

Each region of France is famous for its distinctive dishes. Normandy cheese and Calvados brought this region worldwide fame. Brittany will offer the traveler pancakes made from buckwheat flour stuffed with cheese, meat or eggs; in Toulouse you will try beans baked in a pot; in the southwest of the country you will enjoy goose liver pate - foie gras. You will appreciate one of the traditional French dishes - fish and seaweed soup bouibesse - in Marseille. In Rouen, you will delight in Andouille sausages and roast duck. In Le Havre you can pay tribute to excellent biscuits, and in Honfleur - omelettes and snails in wine sauce. Despite regional differences, all second courses are always accompanied by a side dish of vegetables and root vegetables - artichokes, asparagus, lettuce, beans, eggplant, peppers, spinach. And, of course, every meal is accompanied by the famous delicious French sauces, of which there are up to 3,000 recipes.

An integral part of the local cuisine is various seafood - oysters, lobsters, lobsters. At oyster farms in the south of France, at a price of 8 € per dozen, you will be offered the most delicious, juicy and fresh shellfish, and so that you can appreciate their specific taste, they will be served with bread and butter, lemon and a certain type of white wine.

The calling card of France is cheese; there are more than 1,500 varieties of it. Hard and soft, cow, sheep, goat, aged and moldy - French cheese is always of the highest quality and with a delicious taste.

Popular are omelettes and cheese soufflés, which are prepared with various fillings and seasonings: herbs, ham, mushrooms.

An iconic dish of French cuisine is onion soup. It has nothing in common with boiled onions, as many imagine who have not tried this wonderful dish. This is a thick, aromatic soup in meat broth with croutons baked in cheese and aromatic seasonings.

The first course in France is traditionally a puree soup made from all kinds of vegetables.

For dessert, you will be offered open-faced fruit or berry cakes, the famous creme brulee - cream baked with a caramel crust, soufflé and, of course, the famous croissants.

In the southern regions, each meal is accompanied by a glass of table wine. In the north and in big cities, many people prefer beer. Popular strong drinks are Calvados, cognac, absinthe.

In many establishments, eating and drinking at the counter (au comptoir) is cheaper than at a table (a salle), you will understand this from the prices on the menu. Meals at outdoor tables are 20% more expensive than indoors.

Lunch in cafes and restaurants lasts from 12.00 to 15.00, dinner from 19.00 to 23.00. A set meal (menu of the day) in Chinese establishments costs 10€, in cafes from 19€, in restaurants 30€.

The food bill often states service compris, which means that the cost of service is already included. If there is no such inscription, then the waiter needs to be thanked with an amount of 5-10% of the bill.

Unfortunately, tourists are often shortchanged, so check your bill before paying.

Helpful information

To visit France, Russian citizens will need a Schengen visa.

The official currency of the country is the euro.

Capital banks are closed on weekends and holidays, and on weekdays they are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Banks in the province are open from Tuesday to Saturday. Exchange offices will serve you on any day except Sunday.

The amount of imported and exported currency is not limited, but amounts over €7,500 (or other monetary equivalent) must be declared. The most favorable exchange rate is at Bank de Franct and at points with a No commission sign.

If you have converted any currency into euros, then a reverse exchange is possible only for an amount of 800 €. For exchanging dollars into euros, a large commission is charged - from 8 to 15%.

It is allowed to import into the country 1 liter of strong alcohol, 2 liters of wine, no more than 200 cigarettes, 500 grams of coffee, 50 ml of perfume or 250 ml of eau de toilette, 2 kg of fish and 1 kg of meat. All food products must have an expiration date on them. If you are bringing medications with you, it is advisable to have a prescription. Personal jewelry weighing up to 500 grams is not indicated in the declaration, but if the weight of jewelry exceeds this norm, all jewelry must be declared.

It is prohibited to export items of cultural and historical value without special permission, pornographic publications, weapons, ammunition, and drugs. You cannot export endangered species of animals and plants.

Electricity in France is standard - 220 volts, European-style sockets.

Museums in France are closed on Mondays. The National Museums are closed on Tuesdays.

Time in France is 2 hours behind Moscow.

Accommodation

Like all Western European countries, France has adopted a five-star service rating system. In any, even the most modest hotel, you will be provided with a standard set of services and decent service. An average “three” will cost from 40 to 100 € per night, depending on the region and proximity to attractions.

Guesthouses are popular in the country, often found in rural areas or small towns. This is an ideal and inexpensive place for a family holiday.

Lovers of antiquity and exoticism can choose grand hotels located in former palaces and ancient castles. Exquisite interiors and food from the best French restaurants will make you feel like a real aristocrat.

Bed and breakfast hotels are ideal for budget-conscious travelers.

Students can stay in youth hotels or university dormitories, but a room here must be booked in advance.

Tourists traveling by car can stay in comfortable campsites, which are necessarily equipped with a shower, laundry, and some have a cafe, swimming pool and bicycle rental.

Connection

There are countless payphones in France, which you can use by purchasing a Telecarte card at the post office or any tobacco kiosk. Payphones that accept coins - point-phones - have also been preserved. If you need to call home, dial 00, then the country code (Russia code 7), the desired city code and the subscriber's phone number.

Emergency telephone numbers:

• Ambulance - 15
• Fire service - 18
• Pan-European Rescue Service - 112

You will receive any necessary information by calling reference number 12. Help desk in Russian - 01-40-07-01-65.

Wi-Fi points are everywhere - on the streets, in cafes, bars, post offices, and transport stations.

Transport

France has well-developed air and rail connections. High-speed trains, although not cheap, are very comfortable and save a lot of time. If you plan to travel by train a lot, purchase an InterRail pass, which gives you unlimited travel.

Local taxis have two tariffs - A (0.61 €/km) valid from 7 am to 7 pm from Monday to Saturday, tariff B (3 €/km) - at night and on weekends and holidays. There is a separate charge for boarding a taxi - 2.5 € and each piece of luggage - 1 €. Taxis can be found at special stands or ordered by phone.

Public transport is efficient, in particular buses and trams. The schedule is strictly observed, all equipment is modern and convenient.

Renting a car will cost from 50 € per day; the driver must be over 21 years old and have more than a year of driving experience. To register a rental, you will need an international license and a credit card on which a certain amount is blocked as a deposit, usually 300 €. The cheapest car rental companies are easyCar and Sixti.

Safety and rules of conduct

The rate of violent crime in France is relatively low, but theft of personal property is high. Be especially vigilant in places where there is a large concentration of pickpockets - at the airport, on public transport, in museums, in crowded places near attractions. It is recommended to leave large amounts of cash and valuables in the hotel safe. If you are traveling by car, do not put things on the front seat. It is dangerous to carry bags over your shoulder - they can be snatched by thieves riding high-speed motorcycles.

The sleeping areas are safe at all times, except for some, and are inhabited mainly by people from Africa and Arab countries.

It will be very useful to learn at least a few frequently used words in French before your trip. Most French people are sure that a decent foreigner should be able to communicate in their native dialect. There are often cases when local residents demonstratively do not understand English spoken to them.

There are always a lot of police on the streets. They will always come to the aid of a traveler suffering from an attack of topographical inferiority.

The country has introduced a strict ban on smoking in public places.

How to get there

There are several flights to Paris every day from Moscow, St. Petersburg and major Russian cities. Charles de Gaulle International Airport is located 25 kilometers from Paris; in 45 minutes and 30 € you can reach the French capital. A more economical way is by train or bus.

Traveling by train will be more expensive and will take two days. In addition, you will have to travel with a transfer in Germany or Belgium.

There are many inexpensive, up to 80 €, bus routes to France, but such a trip is not very comfortable, in addition, crossing the borders of Belarus, Poland and Germany can take a lot of time.