Early History Of France
The Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans established their colonies on the coast of Mediterranean Sea and its offshore islands, during the 1st millennium BC. The southern Gaul was annexed as the province of Gallia Narbonesis in the second century BC, while Julius Caesar managed to conquer the rest of the Gaul winning in the Gallic Wars from 58 - 51 BC, which led to the rise of an integrated culture between the Gauls and the Romans and thus, Gaul was gradually integrated into the Empire of Rome. |
However, Gaul suffered from barbarian raids and their migrations, which mainly included the Germanic Franks. Clovis I unified major parts of Gaul during his reign in the 5th century and that led to the dominance of the Franks for many years ahead that reached its peak under Charlemagne’s reign.
The medieval Kingdom of France came out of the western region of the Carolingian Empire, ruled by Charlemagne and gained importance under the rule of the House of Capet, a foundation of Hugh Capet in the year 987. After the last monarch died in 1337, it led to the Hundred Years Wars between the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, leading to former’s victory in the year 1453.
However, within a span of few centuries, France went through the phase of Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation and also recurring conflicts in religion and against other powers. The French Revolution in the 18th century threw out absolute monarchy and other such institutions, changing the course of France that became a Republic till Napoleon Bonaparte established it as the French Empire. After Napoleon’s defeat, France underwent many changes in its regime, going to back to monarchy before going republic and then as the Second Empire till the lasting Third French Republic came into existence in 1870.
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