There is no single starting date for "French" history. Some textbooks start with prehistory, others with the Roman conquest, others still with Clovis, Charlemagne or Hugh Capet (all mentioned below). While I usually begun with Hugh Capet in 987, I have started this list earlier to ensure broad coverage.
Reign of Louis XI 1461 - 1483
Louis expanded the borders of France, re-imposing control over Boulonnais, Picardy, and Burgundy, inheriting control of Maine and Provence and taking power in France-Comté and Artois. Politically he broke the control of his rival princes and began centralising the French state, helping transform it from a medieval institution to a modern one.Habsburg-Valois Wars in Italy 1494 - 1559
With royal control of France now largely secure, the Valois monarchy looked to Europe, engaging in a war with the rival Habsburg dynasty – the de facto royal house of the Holy Roman Empire – which took place in Italy, initially over French claims to the throne of Naples. Fought with mercenaries and providing an outlet for the nobles of France, the wars were concluded with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis.French Wars of Religion 1562 - 1598
A political struggle between noble houses exacerbated a growing sense of hostility between the French Protestants, called Huguenots, and Catholics. When men acting on the orders of the Duke of Guise massacred a Huguenot congregation in 1562 civil war erupted. Several wars were fought in quick succession, the fifth triggered by massacres of Huguenots in Paris and other towns on the eve of Saint Bartholomew's Day. The wars ended after the Edict of Nantes granted religious toleration to the Huguenots.Government of Richelieu 1624 - 1642
Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, is perhaps best known outside France as one of the "bad guys" in adaptations of The Three Musketeers. In real life he acted as chief minister of France, fighting and succeeding to increase the monarch’s power and break the military strength of the Huguenots and nobles. Although he didn’t innovate much, he proved himself a man of great ability.Mazarin and the Fronde 1648 - 1652
When Louis XIV succeeded to the throne in 1642 he was a minor, and the kingdom was governed by both a regent and a new Chief Minister: Cardinal Jules Mazarin. Opposition to the power that Mazarin wielded led to two rebellions: the Fronde of the Parliament and the Fronde of the Princes. Both were defeated and royal control strengthened. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis XIV took over full control of the kingdom.Adult Reign of Louis XIV 1661–1715
Louis was the apogee of French absolute monarchy, a vastly powerful king who, after a regency while he was a minor, ruled personally for 54 years. He re-ordered France around himself and his court, winning wars abroad and stimulating French culture to such an extent that the nobilities of other countries copied France. He has been criticised for allowing other powers in Europe to grow in strength and eclipse France, but he has also been called the high point of French monarchy. He was nicknamed "The Sun King" for the vitality and glory of his reign.A financial crisis prompted King Louis XVI to call an Estates General to pass new tax laws. Instead, the Estates General declared itself a National Assembly, suspended tax and seized French sovereignty. As France’s political and economic structures were reshaped, pressures from inside and outside France saw first the declaration of a republic and then government by Terror. A Directory of five men plus elected bodies took charge in 1795, before a coup brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power.
Napoleonic Wars 1802 - 1815
Napoleon took advantage of the opportunities offered by both the French Revolution and its revolutionary wars to rise to the top, seizing power in a coup, before declaring himself Emperor of France in 1804. The next decade saw a continuation of the warfare which had allowed Napoleon to rise, and at the start Napoleon was largely successful, expanding the borders and influence of France. However, after the invasion of Russia failed in 1812 France was pushed back, before Napoleon was defeated finally at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The monarchy was then restored.Second Republic and Second Empire 1848 - 1852, 1852 - 1870
An attempt to agitate for liberal reforms, coupled with growing dissatisfaction in the monarchy, led to an outbreak of demonstrations against the king in 1848. Faced with the choice of deploying troops or fleeing, he abdicated and fled. A republic was declared and Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, relative of Napoleon I, was elected president. Only four years later he was proclaimed emperor of a “Second Empire” in a further revolution. However, a humiliating loss in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, when Napoleon was captured, shattered confidence in the regime; a Third Republic was declared in a bloodless revolution in 1870.Paris Commune 1871
Parisians, angered by a Prussian siege of Paris, the terms of the peace treaty which ended the Franco-Prussian war and their treatment by the government (which tried to disarm the National Guard in Paris to stall trouble), rose in rebellion. They formed a council to lead them, called the Commune of Paris, and attempted reform. The government of France invaded the capital to restore order, prompting a short period of conflict. The Commune has been mythologized by socialists and revolutionaries ever since.
