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.
A period of rapid commercial, social and cultural development as (relative) peace and further industrial development wrought even greater changes upon society, bringing in mass consumerism. The name, which literally means "Beautiful Age", is largely a retrospective title given by the wealthier classes who benefitted most from the era.
World War 1 1914 - 1918
Refusing a demand from Germany in 1914 to declare neutrality during a Russo-German conflict, France mobilised troops. Germany declared war and invaded, but was stopped short of Paris by Anglo-French forces. A great swathe of French soil was turned into a trench system as the war bogged down, and only narrow gains were made until 1918, when Germany finally gave way and capitulated. Over a million Frenchmen died and over 4 million were wounded.World War 2 and Vichy France 1939 - 1945 / 1940 - 1944
France declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939; in May 1940 the Germans attacked France, skirting the Maginot Line and quickly defeating the country. Occupation followed, with the northern third controlled by Germany and the south under the collaborative Vichy regime headed by Marshal Pétain. In 1944, after Allied landings at D-Day, France was liberated, and Germany finally defeated in 1945. A Fourth Republic was then declared.Declaration of the Fifth Republic 1959
On January 8, 1959 the Fifth Republic came into being. Charles de Gaulle, hero of World War 2 and heavy critic of the Fourth Republic, was the chief driving force behind the new constitution which gave the presidency more powers compared to the National Assembly; de Gaulle became the first president of the new era. France remains under the government of the Fifth Republic.Riots of 1968
Discontent exploded in May 1968 as the latest in a series of rallies by radical students turned violent and was broken up by the Police. Violence spread, barricades went up and a commune was declared. Other students joined the movement, as did striking workers, and soon radicals in other cities followed. The movement lost ground as leaders became afraid of causing too extreme a rebellion, and the threat of military support, coupled with some employment concessions and de Gaulle’s decision to hold an election, helped bring events to a close. Gaullists dominated the election results, but France had been shocked at how quickly events had occurred.
