IMPORTANT DATES IN FRANCE
58-51 B.C... Julius Caesar conquered Gaul.
A.D. 486.... Clovis, a king of the Franks, defeated the Roman
governor of Gaul.
800......... Charlemagne became emperor of the Romans.
987......... Hugh Capet was crowned king of France.
1302........ Philip IV called together the first Estates-General,
the ancestor of the French Parliament.
1309-1377... The popes lived in Avignon.
1337-1453... France defeated England during the Hundred Years' War.
1598........ Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, which gave
limited religious freedom to Protestants.
1643-1715... Louis XIV ruled France, and consolidated the absolute
authority of the French king.
1789-1799... The French Revolution took place. It ended absolute
rule by French kings.
1792........ The First Republic was established.
1799........ Napoleon seized control of France.
1804........ Napoleon founded the First Empire.
1814........ Napoleon was exiled; Louis XVIII came to power.
1815........ Napoleon returned to power, but was defeated at
Waterloo. Louis XVIII regained the throne.
1848........ Revolutionists established the Second Republic.
1852........ Napoleon III founded the Second Empire.
1870-1871... Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War.
The Third Republic was begun.
1914-1918... France fought on the Allied side in World War I.
1939-1940... France fought on the Allied side in World War II until
defeated by Germany.
1940-1942... Germany occupied northern France.
1942-1944... The Germans occupied all France.
1946........ France adopted a new constitution, establishing the
Fourth Republic.
1946-1954... A revolution in French Indochina resulted in France's
giving up the colony.
1949........ France joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
1954........ Revolution broke out in the French territory of Algeria.
1957........ France joined the European Economic Community, which
led to the country's eventual membership in the
European Community and the European Union.
1958........ A new constitution was adopted, marking the beginning
of the Fifth Republic. Charles de Gaulle was elected president.
1962........ France granted independence to Algeria.
1966........ De Gaulle withdrew French troops from NATO.
1969........ De Gaulle resigned as president.
1994........ The Channel Tunnel between France and Britain opened.
1995........ France resumed participation in NATO's military wing.
