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60 of 60 events · showing 21–40

The Story of

France

451 – 2021

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

  1. Treaty of Paris

    30 March 1856

    The Treaty of Paris of 1856, signed on 30 March 1856 at the Congress of Paris, brought an end to the Crimean War (1853–1856) between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty diminished Russian influence in the region.

  2. Franco-Prussian War

    19 July 1870 – 28 January 1871

    The Franco-Prussian War, occasionally known as the Franco-German War, and sometimes referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between France and the North German Confederation led by Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866.

  3. Battle of Sedan

    1 September 1870 – 2 September 1870

    The Battle of Sedan, also known as the First Battle of Sedan, was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies; however, fighting continued under a new French government.

  4. Treaty of Paris (1898)

    10 December 1898

    The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898, was signed by Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the official end of the Spanish–American War. Under it, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over the West Indies archipelagos and islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, the Western Pacific island of Guam in the Mariana Islands in Micronesia, and the Western Pacific archipelago of the Philippines in Southeast Asia to the United States.

  5. First Battle of the Marne

    8 September 1914 – 12 September 1914

    The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne (French: miracle de la Marne) was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies.

  6. Battle of Verdun

    21 February 1916 – 18 December 1916

    The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃]; German: Schlacht um Verdun [ʃlaxt ʔʊm ˈvɛɐ̯dœ̃]) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun.

  7. Battle of the Somme

    1 July 1916 – 17 November 1916

    The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme; German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the river Somme in France.

  8. Battle of Cambrai

    20 November 1917 – 8 December 1917

    The Battle of Cambrai (Battle of Cambrai, 1917, First Battle of Cambrai and Schlacht von Cambrai) was a British attack in the First World War, followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) since 1914. The town of Cambrai, in the département of Nord, in France, was an important supply centre for the German Siegfriedstellung (known to the British as the Hindenburg Line) and capture of the town and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would threaten the rear of the German line to the north.

  9. Spring Offensive

    21 March 1918 – 18 July 1918

    The German spring offensive, also known as Kaiserschlacht ("Emperor's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following the American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources.

  10. Hundred Days Offensive

    11 November 1918

    The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Imperial German Army back, undoing its gains from the German spring offensive (21 March – 18 July).

  11. Treaty of Versailles

    28 June 1919

    The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers.

  12. Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine

    27 November 1919

    The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (French: Traité de Neuilly-sur-Seine; Bulgarian: Ньойски договор, romanized: Noĭski dogovor) was a treaty between the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand, and Bulgaria, one of the defeated Central Powers in World War I, on the other. The treaty required Bulgaria to cede various territories.

  13. Treaty of Trianon

    4 June 1920

    The Treaty of Trianon (French: Traité de Trianon; Hungarian: Trianoni békediktátum; Italian: Trattato del Trianon; Romanian: Tratatul de la Trianon), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference. It was signed in the Grand Trianon at Versailles on 4 June 1920, and formally terminated World War I between most of the Allies of World War I and the Kingdom of Hungary.

  14. Treaty of Sèvres

    10 August 1920

    The Treaty of Sèvres (French: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Italy, as well as creating large occupation zones within the Ottoman Empire.

  15. Kellogg-Briand pact

    27 August 1928

    The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris (officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy) is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them". The pact was signed by Germany, France, and the United States on 27 August 1928, and by most other states soon after.

  16. Great Depression

    29 October 1929 – 1941

    The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was marked by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and business failures around the world.

  17. Phoney War

    3 September 1939 – 10 April 1940

    The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II, lasting from September 1939 to May 1940, during which there were virtually no major Allied military land operations on the Western Front. World War II began on 1 September 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland.

  18. Battle of Dunkirk

    26 May 1940 – 4 June 1940

    The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and other Allied forces to Britain from 26 May to 4 June 1940.

  19. Dunkirk evacuation

    4 June 1940

    In the Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, more than 338,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk in northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation began after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops (as well as smaller contingents of Dutch and Polish soldiers) were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.

  20. Armistice of 22 June 1940

    22 June 1940

    The Armistice of 22 June 1940 (French: Armistice du 22 juin 1940; German: Waffenstillstand vom 22. Juni), sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic.