Fre105--Handout 5
HISTORY Powerpoint presentation (shown in class)

To do: Short paper on an aspect, a period, a personality from French history through a film
see guidelines.

Historical films (suggestions)

Middle Ages

-Joan of Arc (documentary History Channel/   The Messenger: film)

- First knight/ King Arthur/ The Visitors/

-Sorceress

16^th c.

-Queen Margot (16th c, Henri IV and French religious wars)

17^th c

-Vatel (intrigue and food in Louis XIV’s time)

- Moliere

- Cyrano of Bergerac (19thc story about 17thc France Musketeers)

- The Brotherhood of Wolves
18^th c

-Ridicule : historical film about pre-revolution days in the France of Louis XVI.
-Horseman on the roof (18th c France-Italy and cholera epidemic)

19thc

-Colonel Chabert – Napoleonic time

-Count of Monte Cristo  (early 19thc , post Napoleonic times- Restoration)
-Les Misérables  (V Hugo) around the 1830’s revolution

-Camille Claudel (lover+ student of Rodin)

20^th c

-Séraphine (artist, early 20thc)

-Grand Illusions (WWI)

-Joyeux Noël (Xmas truce in WWI)

-Sugar Cane Alley (colonies; Martinique in the 1930’s)

-Indochina (the French in Vietnam) pre -1954

-Princess TamTam (w/Josephine Baker, about the French in northern Africa)

-Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources (1930-40’s)

-The last time I saw Paris (American expats in Paris 20’s-40’s)

-Good bye children : discusses the German occupation of France during the Second World War;

-Forbidden Games /Jeux interdits(WWII): A young French girl orphaned in a Nazi air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.

-Private Ryan (WWII)

-East/ West (Staline era, French person in Russia)
-Chocolat (France in the 50’s)

Documentaries

Joan of Arc (documentary History Channel/   Eleven Centuries of French Literature? History through literature

Historical Survey:
58 BC - 4thC AD
Roman conquest of Celtic Gaul. Gallo-Roman civilization.

5thC-987
Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties.
Sweeping invasions from the east. Hugh
Capet, elected King of France, founds the
Capetian dynasty.

11th-13th centuries
Development of agriculture and trade.
Emergence of towns. Royal power gains
ground over feudal lords. Economic and
cultural role of the great monastic orders.
Crusades.

14th-15th centuries
Epidemics (Black Death, 1397), famine and
civil wars. Rivalry between France and
England: Hundred Years' War, epic of Joan of
Arc (1425-1431). Territorial alliances and
reconstitution of the kingdom. Development of
agriculture, the population and trade. First
Italian wars and start of the Renaissance in
France.

16th century
The Renaissance and King François I.  The Reformation and Religious wars between
Catholics and Protestants in 2nd part of the century.  Reign of Henry IV
(1589-1610). Edict of Nantes grants freedom
of conscience and worship (1598).

1610-1715
Reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Royal
power at its peak; France dominates Europe,
French culture spreads. Start of large-scale
sea trade. Revokes the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Huguenots flee.

18th century
Reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Economic
and demographic growth. Age of Enlightenment. Absolute monarchy challenged.

1789-1799
French Revolution. Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (26 August 1789).
Abolition of the monarchy (1792). First Republic. Directory. Consulate.

1799-1815
Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, then Emperor of the French (1804).
Establishment of modern administrative institutions, codification of the law. European
wars lead to abdication of the Emperor.

1815-1848
Restoration and constitutional monarchy
(Louis XVIII, Charles X). Revolution of 1830.
Reign of Louis-Philippe. Economic prosperity.
Rapid development of industrialization. First railways. First colonies established.

1848-1852
Revolution. Second Republic. First laws on labour, the press and education.

1852-1870
Coup d'Etat by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I. Second Empire.
Political liberalization (1860). Period of strong growth and colonial expansion.

1870-1875
Franco-Prussian war resulting in the loss of Alsace and Lorraine and the fall of NapoleonIII. Paris Commune (1871).

http://www.library.northwestern.edu/spec/siege/
Third Republic.

1875-1914
Parliamentary power at its peak. Recognition of trade unions. Separation of church and state (1905).
Important scientific and technological inventions.

1914-1918
First World War. Allied victory. Alsace and Lorraine revert to France. Peace treaties.

1919-1939
Reconstruction. Paris attracts artists from all parts of the world. Great Depression. Popular
Front (1936), development of social legislation. Tension rises in Europe.

1939-1945
Second World War. Defeat and occupation.
General de Gaulle leads the Resistance from
London and Algiers. Allied victory (8 May 1945).

1946-1957
Fourth Republic. Reconstruction.
Demographic and economic growth.
Decolonization. Founding of the European
Communities (Treaty of Rome, 1957).

1958-1968
General de Gaulle returns to power.
Constitution of the Fifth Republic adopted by
referendum (28 September 1958).
Common Market becomes a reality (1959). Signature of Evian Agreements ends war in Algeria (18
March 1962). Constitutional amendment introduces election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage
(referendum of 28 October 1962). General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer sign Elysée
Treaty establishing a framework for Franco-German rapprochement (23 January1963). Economic growth. Social crisis (May
1968).

1969-1981
Georges Pompidou's presidency (1969-1974).
Economic development. Continued European construction (first attempt to coordinate currencies by setting up the "snake" on 10 April 1972, and expansion of the European Communities to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom on 1 January 1973). First oil shock (1973).
Presidency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981). Stages in European construction: European Council established
(December 1974), first Lomé Convention signed (28 February 1975), European Monetary System - EMS - set up (1 January
1979), accession of Greece (1 January 1981).
Right to vote at age 18 introduced. Abortion law promoted by Simone Veil is adopted (17 January 1975).
Second oil shock (1979). Rise of inflation and unemployment.

1981-1995
Presidency of François Mitterrand (elected 1981, reelected 1988). Death penalty abolished (1981).
Decentralization laws passed (1982). Rules governing radio and television stations are liberalized(1982).
European construction progresses:
Spain and Portugal join on 1 January 1986, the Single Act comes into effect on 1 July1987, the Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht) is ratified by referendum (20September 1992).

1986-1988
First cohabitation: The 1986 general election resulted in a parliamentary majority for the two main right-wing parties, RPR and UDF.

Jacques Chirac is appointed Prime Minister by President François Mitterrand.
This first cohabitation ended with François Mitterrand's re-election in 1988.

1993-1995
Second cohabitation: Edouard Balladur is appointed Prime Minister by François Mitterrand after the 1993 General Election.
This cohabitation ended with Jacques Chirac's election as President of the Republic in 1995.

May 7, 1995
Jacques Chirac is elected President of the
Republic. Alain Juppé is appointed Prime Minister.

May-June 1997
Dissolution of the National Assembly and General Elections resulting in a left-wing majority and thus the third cohabitation.
Lionel Jospin is appointed Prime Minister.

October 2, 1997
Signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.

January 1, 1999
Beginning of the introduction of the euro. The exchange rates for 11 European currencies are permanently fixed relative to each other and relative to the euro.

September 24, 2000
In a referendum, 73 percent of the French people voted in favor of shortening the presidential term from 7 to 5 years. The
5-year term will be effective after the presidential elections of 2002.

January 2, 2002
Euro bills and coins are introduced. The euro now is used for all transactions in the 12 participating European Union countries
(France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland).

February 17, 2002
French francs are no longer legal tender in France.

May 5, 2002
Jacques Chirac is re-elected President of the Republic and appoints Jean-Pierre Raffarin as Prime Minister. It is the end of the third cohabitation.

From: website Embassy of France in the United States - May 8, 2002