France, which has long bloomed with brilliant culture in Europe, is located in the western part of the European continent and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. It faces the UK across the sea to the north, and borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea to the west and south, respectively.
Around the 7th century BC, the Celts settled in this land and gradually dominated almost all regions of France, reaching their golden age. At this time, the Romans began to call them Gauls, and the region they dominated was called Gaul.
The Gauls, the direct ancestors of the French, were a warlike people with blonde hair, fair skin, and large physiques. In their heyday, the Gauls occupied a vast territory almost comparable to the Roman Empire, but ultimately, perhaps due to their scattered and quarrelsome nature, they failed to establish a unified state.
Gaul frequently waged wars with its neighbor, the Roman Empire. In 58 BC, Caesar, whose reputation grew in Rome, began his conquest of Gaul. After years of war, Caesar conquered Gaul, shedding the blood of a million Gauls.
From this point, Gaul began to be Romanized. Roman rule was both a great disaster and an opportunity for further development for the Gauls. Thus, after a difficult period of turmoil, Gaul entered a new phase of history.
During the Roman era, many cities developed around fortresses, and countless cities built during this period became famous cities in modern France.
From the late 2nd century, civil wars were frequent in the chaotic Roman Empire, and to make matters worse, Germanic tribes from the north invaded Rome. As Rome, trying to resolve this crisis, imposed enormous taxes on Gaul, in 260 AD, the Gallic general Postumus declared himself king and established the Gallic Empire.
However, it wasn't long before Rome regained control of Gaul. The endless rebellions of the Gauls thereafter became a significant factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Meanwhile, the Germanic tribes, constantly pushing through Rome's borders, were composed of numerous tribes such as the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Franks. In the 4th century, the migration of Germanic tribes reached its peak due to pressure from the Huns advancing from the east.
In the winter of 400 AD, Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine into Gaul, and the weakened Roman Empire helplessly watched their growth. Among the kingdoms established by Germanic tribes in Gaul, the one that later had the greatest influence on France was born at this time.
Clovis of the Franks, a Germanic tribe, conquered northern Gaul and established the Frankish Kingdom. This marked the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty. Clovis, who began expanding his territory southward, starting with the Frankish Kingdom, urgently prayed to God when the war situation became unfavorable.
His prayer was that if he was given a chance to recover, he would lead his army and convert to Christianity. Miraculously, confusion arose within the opposing side, and Clovis ultimately won the war. Afterwards, Clovis was baptized along with 3,000 soldiers and converted to Christianity.
Subsequently, as the Merovingian dynasty's rule weakened, real power shifted to the mayors of the palace who managed the royal household. It was then that Charles Martel, a mayor of the palace, repelled the invading Islamic forces in the Frankish Kingdom.
When Charles Martel died in 741, his son Pippin III and brother Carloman inherited the position of Mayor of the Palace of the Frankish Kingdom. In 746, after a decision between the brothers, Pippin overthrew Carloman and inaugurated the Carolingian dynasty by holding the first coronation ceremony in history performed by a Pope for a king.
Subsequently, King Pippin bequeathed the throne to his son, Charles. Over several decades of his reign, Charles waged approximately 50 wars, conquering central and western Europe and building a vast empire.
Charles helped the Roman Pope, who had escaped from prison to avoid his opponents, regain his position. In 800, when Charles visited Rome, the Pope, who had received great help from him, personally came out to the church to greet him.
At that time, the Pope would only go out to greet an emperor when he visited. Consequently, Charles was appointed Emperor of the Roman Empire by the Roman Pope and came to be known as Charlemagne. Thus, the Frankish Kingdom became known as the Carolingian Empire. His empire naturally continued the legacy of the ancient Roman Empire.
The Carolingian Empire, which had been flourishing, also split due to the infighting of Charlemagne's three grandsons after his death. Finally, with the signing of the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the history of the Carolingian Empire ended, and it was divided into three kingdoms: East Francia, West Francia, and Middle Francia.
At this time, East Francia later developed into Germany, and West Francia, inherited by Charles, soon changed its name to the Kingdom of France. From this point, French history in its true sense begins.
After Charles of West Francia passed away, three kings succeeded him over ten years, living ordinary lives and dying early. When Louis V died without an heir in 987, Hugh Capet was newly proclaimed king, and France entered the Capetian dynasty era.
Hugh Capet desired strong royal power, but it did not go as he wished, and the nobles in each province arbitrarily made their fiefs their own property and passed them down to their children.
In 1137, Louis VII focused on the economic and cultural development of France, and it was at this time that the famous Notre Dame Cathedral began construction.
In 1180, after his son Philip II ascended to the throne, he significantly enhanced royal authority by curbing the power of the nobles. He formed an alliance with Prince Richard of England and instigated him to fight against King Henry II of England. Thus, Philip II gained some territory by chance.
After Richard, known as the Lionheart of England, ascended the throne, Philip II then instigated John, Richard the Lionheart's brother, to fight his brother for the throne. John, who became King of England this way, later lost so much land in wars with France that he earned the nickname "Lackland."
In addition to his achievement of defeating England, Philip II also left the legacy of establishing Paris, a world-class city, as the capital. During this time, he renovated the appearance of Paris by repairing its city walls and roads.
When Charles IV died without an heir in 1328, the Capetian dynasty also came to an end. The most likely candidate to succeed to the throne was Edward III of England, Philip IV's grandson.
The French did not want this Englishman to rule them. Thus, the citizens supported Philip of Valois, who was born in France, as their king. Ultimately, he ascended to the throne as Philip VI, and the Valois dynasty began in 1328.
However, King Edward III of England did not simply stand by. When he claimed that he was the rightful heir and should inherit the French throne, a war broke out between England and France, who already harbored deep resentment towards each other. This was the Hundred Years' War, one of the most famous wars in medieval Europe.
England and France waged war for a full 100 years across a single sea. By 1348, the terrifying Black Death swept through Europe, and more people died from the plague than from the war.
King Philip VI also died of the Black Death, and with the population decline, both countries were hit, leading to a halt in the war for nearly 10 years. However, in 1355, an English invasion restarted the conflict.
The English army pressed on triumphantly into France, and the people of northern France suffered from the English army's killings and plunder. However, in the latter half of the war, a hero emerged to save a collapsing France: Joan of Arc, an ordinary country girl.
Joan of Arc continuously received divine revelations from the age of 13. The content of the revelations was that her mission was to lead France, defeat England, and make the Dauphin Charles king.
By the time Joan of Arc first realized her destiny, the Dauphin Charles had been pushed back to southern France by the English, and he had almost lost hope of recovering French territory.
In a desperate crisis where even the remaining southern regions were about to fall, Joan of Arc sought out a general near her hometown and explained her revelations. The general scoffed, but when her prophecies about the war came true, he finally arranged for her to meet the Dauphin Charles, thinking that Joan of Arc might indeed be France's hope.
Both Dauphin Charles and the nobles doubted Joan of Arc, but when Joan of Arc told Charles a secret that only he knew, the Dauphin finally believed that she was a messenger sent by God to save France.
In April 1429, Joan of Arc bravely led thousands of French soldiers to the battlefield. Under her command, France defeated the English army and achieved victory. Ultimately, Charles had his coronation and ascended as Charles VII, with Joan of Arc by his side, holding a flag in her hand.
As Joan of Arc's fame soared, the nobles' jealousy grew, and they secretly plotted to harm her. Sold to the English by the machinations of French nobles, Joan of Arc was eventually condemned as a witch and burned at the stake in 1431, before she was even twenty years old.
Thanks to Joan of Arc's sacrifice for her country, France achieved victory in the 100-year war in 1453. After the war ended, Joan of Arc was declared innocent by the king and has been revered by the French people for hundreds of years since.
Thus, in France, where royal power was strong, Francis I, possessing both bravery and romance, ascended to the throne. Having loved art since childhood, Francis I invited excellent artists to France and strongly supported them.
The most famous among them was Leonardo da Vinci, who left behind the work of Mona Lisa during his time in France. Francis I, who thus laid the foundation for the golden age of the French Renaissance, waged war to conquer Italy immediately after his ascension, and even briefly captured Milan.
With a deep understanding of architecture, he left behind several masterpieces, including Chambord Castle, the Louvre Palace, and Fontainebleau Palace.
From the 1520s, Calvinist ideas spread to France, giving rise to Protestants who were called Huguenots, meaning "confederates." As the existing Catholics clashed with the Protestant Huguenots, the French Wars of Religion erupted in 1562.
Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of worship to both sides, thus ending 30 years of religious conflict. However, he was eventually assassinated by a Catholic fanatic.
In 1643, Louis XIV ascended to the throne at the tender age of four. As an adult, Louis XIV ushered in the most splendid era in French history.
Louis XIV, famous for his declaration "I am the State," ruled for about 70 years, bringing about the golden age of French absolutism. To control the nobility, he built the Palace of Versailles over 28 years on the outskirts of Paris, requiring nobles to leave their estates and reside at Versailles.
This Palace of Versailles gained fame as the largest and most magnificent royal palace in Europe. Receiving numerous stipends here, the nobles gradually indulged in entertainment, growing increasingly distant from the people in the fiefdoms they managed. Louis XIV weakened the aristocratic power in this manner.
He tolerated nothing that threatened royal authority. In 1682, he declared the supremacy of royal power over the Pope and purged Protestants for religious unity. Thus, France was transformed into a purely Catholic nation.
He also waged several wars of conquest to dominate Europe. Due to these wars, the financial situation began to deteriorate severely, and after his death, France embarked on a decline.
When Louis XVI ascended to the throne, France was already mired in debt. While Queen Marie Antoinette's extravagance soared to the heavens and the reality avoiding Louis XVI remained confined to his workshop, the winds of revolution began to stir outside the opulent palace.
French people, exposed to new worldviews by Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau, broke free from the preconceived notion that the class system and absolute monarchy were natural, and opened their eyes to equality and liberty. Thus, in 1789, the French Revolution broke out, and the French, yearning for liberty and equality, stormed the Bastille Prison, a symbol of absolute power, achieving victory.
Consequently, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed, and in 1792, the National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared a republic based on the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. By the flames of this revolution, in 1793, Louis XVI was publicly executed by guillotine.
Subsequently, when the Jacobins, who had seized power, implemented the Reign of Terror, a reaction occurred, and France's chaos intensified due to repeated power struggles. However, history has a way of producing heroes. The person who emerged in this chaos was Napoleon.
In 1799, Napoleon, who had returned from his Egyptian campaign, dispatched troops to dissolve the legislature and swiftly seized power. Napoleon achieved excellent results in both civil war and diplomacy, stabilizing the country and gaining immense popularity.
In 1804, when he was crowned emperor, the Republic ended, and the Napoleonic Empire began. The empire he built is historically referred to as the First French Empire.
Napoleon subsequently gained worldwide fame by conquering neighboring countries, but after the failure of the Russian Campaign, he was exiled to an island. He then escaped from that island, reentered Paris, and returned as Emperor of France.
However, when the European nations united and defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's return to the throne ended in what is known as the Hundred Days. Subsequently, Louis XVIII ascended to the throne with the Bourbon Restoration, but he failed to gain the support of the people.
The people, having already experienced a new way of life, refused to return to the dark world of the past, and ultimately launched the July Revolution, taking control of Paris. In response, Charles X fled to the Palace of Versailles, and Louis-Philippe was proclaimed king, establishing the July Monarchy.
He ascended to the throne as a representative of democracy, but the monarchy itself was already out of sync with the times. With the outbreak of the February Revolution in 1848, the July Monarchy finally came to an end.
The provisional government proclaimed the establishment of the Second French Republic and elected Louis-Napoleon, Napoleon's nephew, as president through an election. However, Louis Napoleon, harboring ambitions, staged a coup d'état and then restored the monarchy through a national referendum.
In 1852, the Second French Empire was formally established, and Louis Napoleon ascended to the throne as Emperor Napoleon III.
Napoleon III wielded dictatorial power at will, passing a security law that allowed immediate imprisonment of anyone opposing the emperor and the government. As a result, the fear of white terror surged in France.
Napoleon III waged wars of conquest with various European nations, eventually turning neighboring countries into enemies. He provoked a war with Prussia, using it as a pretext to extend his political life, but was captured and surrendered.
In response, a provisional government established the French Third Republic. In the same year, Parisian citizens established the Paris Commune, a socialist autonomous government, but the Third Republic suppressed it.
Subsequently, internal divisions arose, with royalists and republicans clashing over monarchy versus republic. After many twists and turns, the republicans prevailed, making the republic the de facto political system of France.
Subsequently, capitalism developed greatly in France, and it expanded its colonies in Africa and Asia. Having won World War I in 1914, France, believing defense was paramount, constructed the Maginot Line along its border.
However, France, having surrendered to Germany in World War II, was divided into Vichy France and Free France, bringing an end to the Third Republic.
Vichy France collaborated with Germany, but Free France eventually reclaimed its territory and achieved victory. After World War II ended in 1945, a provisional government was formed, and in 1946, a new constitution was promulgated, establishing the Fourth Republic.
Subsequently, it fell into disarray due to issues such as colonial independence movements. Finally, in 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected president by popular vote, establishing the Fifth French Republic, which continues to this day.