LANG1035-France Today – DC Meyer – University of Hong Kong
History of France - A Chronology
Antiquity
1,200 BC –
500AD
Middle Ages
500 - 1500
Renaissance
16th century
Classical Age
17th century
Enlightenment
18th century
1,200 BC – 500 BC
600 BC
500 BC
390 BC
122 BC
52 BC
253-275 AD
406
476
481
496
732
751
768
800
843
885
911
987
1066
1095
1154
1229
1337
1420
1429
1429
1453
1477
1495
1515
1572
1594
1598
1610
1617
1624-1642
1636
1639-1699
1648
1652
1684
1685
1715
1728
1748
1751
1756
1762
1763
1774
First settlements of Celtic populations in Gaul
Foundation of Marseille by the Greeks
Massive arrival of Celtic populations in Gaul
The Gauls besiege Rome
First Roman colonies in Southern Gaul
The Gauls are defeated by the Romans. Foundation of Lutece
(Paris). Beginning of Pax Romana.
First wave of Barbarian invaders
Second wave of Barbarian invaders
End of Roman Empire
Clovis, King of the Franks, Merovingian Dynasty
Conversion of Clovis to Christianism
Charles Martel defeats Arab invasion in Poitiers
Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, Carolingian Dynasty
Charlemagne, King of the Franks
Charlemagne, Emperor of the Franks
Charles the Bald, King of Francia Occidentalis
Vikings besiege Paris
Creation of the Duché of Normandy
Hugh Capet, first Capetian King
William of Normandy, King of England
First Crusade
Henri II Plantagenet, King of England
Saint Louis, King of France
Beginning of the Anglo-French War
Treaty of Troyes, the French crown goes to England’s Henry II
Joan of Arc defeats the English at Orleans
Coronation of Charles VII
End of the Anglo-French War
Burgundy joins the French Crown
Beginning of the Italian Wars
Francis I, King of France
Massacre of the Protestants on St Barthelemy Day
Henri IV, King of France
Edict of Nantes
Henri IV assassination
Louis XIII, King of France
Richelieu, Chief Minister
Foundation of French Academy
Life of Jean Racine, playwright
Treaty of Westphalia
Louis XIV, King of France
The King Sun moves into Versailles palace
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Death of Louis XIV
Louis XV, King of France
Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws
Publication of the first volume of Diderot’s Encyclopaedia
Voltaire, Essay on Manners and Spirit of Nations
Rousseau, The Social Contract
Treaty of Paris: France concedes Canada and India to England
Louis XVI, King of France
LANG1035-France Today – DC Meyer – University of Hong Kong
Revolution
1789-1799
19th century
1789
1792-1795
1793
1793-1794
1795-1799
1799
1804
1805-1814
1814
1815
1815-1830
1824
1830
1830-1848
1848
1852-1870
1857
1870-1871
1870
1871
20th century
1882
1887
1900
1905
1914-1918
1919
1931-1935
1936
1939-1945
1940
1940-1944
1942
1944
1946-1948
1954
1957
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1969
1969-1974
1973
1974-1981
1981-1995
1995-2007
2007
Storming of the Bastille (July 14). Declaration of the Rights of Man
and the Citizen (Aug. 26)
National Convention. Proclamation of the Republic (Sept. 11, 1792)
Execution of Louis XVI (Jan. 21)
The Reign of Terror, Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety
The Directory, first bicameral legislature
Coup d’Etat of Bonaparte; Consulate
Napoléon I Bonaparte, Emperor. Civil Code. Bank of France
Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon defeated at Leipzig (1814) and
deported at Elba Island
Louis XVIII, King of France
The Hundred Days of Napoleon. Defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon is
exiled at St Helene.
The Restoration
Charles X, King of France
The Three Glorious Days
Monarchy of July – Louis Philippe, King of France
Second Republic
Second Empire - Napoleon III
Algeria becomes French colony
Franco-German War
Third Republic
Insurrection of la Commune of Paris (Feb.). Treaty of Francfort
(May): France surrenders eastern provinces Alsace and Lorraine
to the Germans
Decree Jules Ferry, free education for all
Protectorate of France over Indochina
France intervenes against the Boxers in China
Separation of the Church and the State
First World War
Treaty of Versailles; France recovers Alsace and Lorraine
Economic recession
Popular Front of Leon Blum
Second World War
Nazis occupy northern France
Petain, Chief of Vichy Government; de Gaulle leads Resistance
Southern France occupied by the Nazis
Allies land in Normandy (June); Liberation of Paris (August)
Fourth Republic
French defeated at Dien Bien Phû (Vietnam); Beginning of the
Algerian War
Creation of the European Economic Community
Fifth Republic. De Gaulle elected president
France’s first nuclear test
End of Algeria War
France establishes diplomatic ties with China
France withdraws from NATO integrated military command
Social unrest and student movement (May)
De Gaulle resigns
Georges Pompidou, president of the Republic
First oil crisis
Giscard d’Estaing, president of the Republic
François Mitterrand, president of the Republic
Jacques Chirac, president of the Republic
Nicolas Sarkozy elected president of the Republic