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The Story of

France

451 – 2021

Country in Western Europe and other continents (through its overseas territories in America, Africa and Oceania)

  1. Battle of the Maureaco Fields

    20 June 451

    The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on 20 June 451 AD, pitting a coalition led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I against the Huns and their vassals, commanded by their king, Attila. It proved to be one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army.

  2. Battle of Vouille

    507

    The Battle of Vouillé (from Latin Campus Vogladensis) was a battle in the Franco-Gothic War and was fought in the northern marches of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, near Poitiers (Gaul), around spring 507 between the Franks, commanded by Clovis, and the Visigoths, commanded by Alaric II. The Franks' victory resulted in their conquest of Gallia Aquitania and the death of Alaric II.

  3. Battle of Tours

    10 October 732

    The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs (Arabic: معركة بلاط الشهداء, romanized: Maʿrakat Balāṭ ash-Shuhadā'), was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul. It resulted in victory for the Frankish and Aquitanian forces, led by Charles Martel, over the invading Umayyad forces, led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, governor of al-Andalus.

  4. Albigensian Crusade

    1209–1229

    The Albigensian Crusade (French: Croisade des albigeois), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect.

  5. Battle of Crécy

    26 August 1346

    The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French. The English army had landed in the Cotentin Peninsula on 12 July.

  6. Battle of Poitiers

    19 September 1356

    The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19 September 1356, during the Hundred Years' War, between a French army commanded by King John II and an Anglo-Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince. It took place in western France, 5 miles (8 km) south of Poitiers, when approximately 14,000 to 16,000 French attacked a strong defensive position held by 6,000 Anglo-Gascons.

  7. Battle of Agincourt

    25 October 1415

    The Battle of Agincourt (; French: Azincourt [azɛ̃kuʁ]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France.

  8. Siege of Orléans

    21 October 1428 – 17 May 1429

    The siege of Orléans (12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) marked a turning point of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war, but was repulsed by French forces inspired by the arrival of Joan of Arc.

  9. Battle of Rocroi

    19 May 1643

    The Battle of Rocroi, fought on 19 May 1643, was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between a French army, led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later known as the Great Condé) and Spanish forces under General Francisco de Melo only five days after the accession of Louis XIV to the throne of France after his father's death. Rocroi shattered the myth of invincibility of the Spanish tercios, the pike and shot infantry units that had dominated European battlefields for the previous 120 years.

  10. Treaty of the Pyrenees

    7 November 1659

    The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed on 7 November 1659 and ended the Franco–Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were conducted and the treaty was signed on Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the Bidasoa River on the border between the two countries, which has remained a French-Spanish condominium ever since.

  11. Treaty of Paris (1763)

    10 February 1763

    The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, following Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years' War. The signing of the treaty formally ended the conflict between France and Great Britain over control of North America (the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in the United States), and marked the beginning of an era of British dominance outside Europe.

  12. Treaty of Paris (1783)

    3 September 1783

    The Treaty of Paris, signed by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States on September 3, 1783, officially ended the War of American Independence and recognized the Thirteen Colonies, which had been part of colonial British America, to be free, sovereign, and independent unified states. It forms one treaty out of many that are collectively named the "Peace of Paris".

  13. French Revolution

    14 July 1789 – 9 November 1799

    The French Revolution was a period resulting in the political and societal changes in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799. Many of the revolution's ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy, and its values remain central to modern French political discourse.

  14. Storming of the Bastille

    14 July 1789

    The Storming of the Bastille (French: Prise de la Bastille [pʁiz də la bastij]), also known as Fall of the Bastille, which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. After four hours of fighting and 94 deaths, the insurgents were able to enter the Bastille.

  15. Battle of Valmy

    20 September 1792

    The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battle took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris.

  16. Reign of Terror

    1790s – 28 July 1794

    The Reign of Terror (French: La Terreur, lit. 'The Terror') was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to the Federalist revolts, revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety. While terror was never formally instituted as a legal policy by the convention, it was more often employed as a concept.

  17. Treaty of Amiens

    27 March 1802

    The Treaty of Amiens (French: la paix d'Amiens, lit. 'the peace of Amiens') was a peace treaty signed between the French First Republic, Spain and Batavian Republic on one side and the United Kingdom on the other side in 1802. Signed on 27 March in the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) of Amiens by Joseph Bonaparte for France and Lord Cornwallis for Britain, the treaty ended the ongoing War of the Second Coalition and marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, which had begun in 1792.

  18. Treaty of Fontainebleau

    11 April 1814

    The Treaty of Fontainebleau was an agreement concluded in Fontainebleau, France, on 11 April 1814 between Napoleon and representatives of Austria, Russia and Prussia. The treaty was signed in Paris on 11 April by the plenipotentiaries of both sides and ratified by Napoleon on 13 April.

  19. Treaty of Paris

    30 May 1814

    The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 April between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies. The treaty set the borders for France under the House of Bourbon and restored territories to other nations.

  20. French Revolution of 1848

    25 February 1848 – 2 December 1848

    The French Revolution of 1848 (French: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (Révolution de février), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked the wave of revolutions of 1848.