1763 As a result of the Treaty of Paris, France loses possession of New France (Quebec)
and of any effective power in India
1768 Following the Treaty of Versailles, Corsica becomes a part of France
1774 Accession to the throne of Louis XVI
1787 Edict of Toleration grants civil rights, including the right to practice their religion,
to Protestants (29 November)
1789 Estates-General formally summoned by Louis XVI (24 January)
Estates-General convenes at Versailles (5 May)
National Assembly proclaimed (17 June)
Storming of the Bastille (14 July)
Abolition of the feudal order and of feudal privileges (4 August)
Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (26 August)
1685 Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 July)
Fête de la Fédération (14 July)
532
Chronology
1791 Louis XVI and his family attempt to flee France and are captured at Varennes
(20 June)
Full citizenship granted to all French Jews (27 September)
1792 War declared on Austria (20 April)
Overthrow of the monarchy (10 August)
French victory at the battle of Valmy (20 September)
The legislative assembly known as the Convention comes into existence
(20 September)
Proclamation of the First Republic (22 September)
1793 Execution of Louis XVI (21 January)
Beginning of the anti-revolutionary revolt in the Vendée (March)
Creation of the Committee of Public Safety (6 April)
Ratification of the Constitution of the First Republic (24 June)
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat (13 July)
Execution of Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France (16 October)
Execution of the Girondins (31 October)
1794 Abolition of slavery in the French colonies (4 February)
Execution of Danton (5 April)
Festival of the Supreme Being (8 June)
Passing of the Law of 22 Prairial (10 June)
Fall and execution of Robespierre, known as Thermidor (27–8 July)
1795 Proclamation of the Constitution of the Year III (22 August)
Directory constituted (2 December), bringing the Convention to an end
1799 Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire
(9–10 November)
The Consulate comes into existence with Napoleon as First Consul
Proclamation of the Constitution of Year VIII (24 December)
1801 Concordat signed between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII (15 July)
1802 Re-introduction of slavery (20 May)
1803 France sells Louisiana to the United States of America, thereby losing her last
possessions in North America
Chronology
533
1804 Napoleon declared Emperor and First Empire established (18 May)
1805 Decisive French victory over Russia and Austria at the battle of Austerlitz
(2 December)
1806 Napoleon dissolves the Holy Roman Empire and creates the Confederation of the
Rhine (12 July)
1812 The invasion of Russia leads to the destruction of Napoleon’s Grande Armée
1814 Restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy with Louis XVIII as king following the
abdication of Napoleon (6 April)
1815 Napoleon returns from exile on the island of Elba (1 March)
Napoleon defeated at the Battle of Waterloo (18 June)
The Treaty of Paris reduces France to her territorial borders of 1790 (20 November)
1824 Accession of Charles X to the throne (16 September)
1830 Establishment of the July Monarchy with Louis-Philippe as king (26–29 July)
1840 Return of the ashes of Napoleon Bonaparte to France and their re-burial in the
chapel of the Invalides in Paris
1848 Proclamation of the Second Republic (26 February)
Definitive abolition of slavery in the French colonies (27 April)
Popular uprising known as the June Days (23–26 June)
Election of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as President of the Second Republic
(12 December)
1850 The Falloux law restores the influence of the Catholic Church in the educational
system (15 March)
1851 Coup d’état of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, dissolving the National Assembly
(2 December)
1852 Proclamation of the Second Empire (2 December)
1870 Franco-Prussian War (19 July–10 May 1871)
Proclamation of the Third Republic (19 September)
534
Chronology
1871 Paris Commune (18 March–28 May)
France signs the Treaty of Frankfurt, ceding the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to
Germany (10 May)
1877 Dissolution of parliament by President Patrice de MacMahon in a failed attempt to
secure the return of the monarchy (16 May)
1879 The Marseillaise is reinstated as France’s national anthem
1882 The so-called Jules Ferry laws of this and the previous year establish free, mandatory
and secular public education
1884 Trade unions are legalized
1889 Centenial celebration of the French Revolution, marked by the Exposition
Universelle in Paris and the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower (31 March)
1891 Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum calls upon Roman Catholics to ‘rally’ to
the Republic
1894 Assassination of President Sadi Carnot (24 June)
Arrest of Captain Alfred Dreyfus for treason (15 October)
1898 Publication of Émile Zola’s article ‘J’accuse’ (13 January)
1903 First staging of the Tour de France
1905 Law establishing the separation of Church and State (9 December)
1906 The innocence of Alfred Dreyfus is formally announced by the Court of Cassation
(12 July)
1914 Creation of the union sacrée government at the beginning of the First World War
(August)
1918 France regains possession of the territories of Alsace and Lorraine at the end of the
Great War, in which France suffers over 1.3 million military deaths
1920 Foundation of the French Communist Party (PCF) at the Congress of Tours
(25–30 December)
Chronology
535
1934 Antiparliamentary riots by far-right leagues in Paris (6 February)
1936 Election of the Popular Front Government led by socialist Léon Blum (3 May)
1940 Fall of France brings into existence the Vichy Government led by Marshal Philippe
Pétain
1944 Liberation of Paris (25 August)
Creation of the Provisional Government led by Charles de Gaulle
Suffrage extended to include women (21 April)
1946 Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the Provisional Government (20 January)
Proclamation of the Constitution of the Fourth Republic (13 October)
1954 French army defeated at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, heralding the departure of
France from Indo-China (March–May)
Beginning of the Algerian War (November)
1957 France signs the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community
(March 25)
1958 Proclamation of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (4 October)
Election of Charles de Gaulle as President (21 December)
1962 Algeria obtains independence from France (3 July)
1968 Wave of protests by students and workers (May)
1969 Resignation of Charles de Gaulle as President (28 April)
1974 Following the death of Georges Pompidou,
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing is elected
President (27 May)
1975 Abortion is legalized with the passing of the law proposed by Minister of Health
Simone Veil (17 January)
1981 Election of socialist François Mitterrand as President and victory of the left in
parliamentary elections.
1988 François Mitterrand re-elected as President (8 May)
536
Chronology
1995 Election of Jacques Chirac as President
1998 France’s national team wins football’s World Cup in the Stade de France (12 July)
2004 Law passed banning the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in French state-
controlled primary and secondary schools (15 March)
2005 In a referendum the French electorate votes against ratification of the Constitution
of the European Union (29 May)
2007 Election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President
Index
Absolutism, 66–74, 106
Babeuf, François-Noël (Gracchus), 391–2, 394,
Académie des Sciences, 13
397–8, 414
Académie des Sciences morales et politiques, 19
Bacon, Francis, 148, 151, 307, 328–9, 330, 347
Académie Française, 13, 14, 19, 130–1,
Badinter, Elisabeth, 518
134, 188, 246, 277, 288, 320, 344,
Bagehot, Walter, 190, 528
360, 371, 378, 465, 468, 472, 477, 523
Bailleul, Jacques-Charles, 251
Acte additionel aux constitutions de l’Empire
Bainville, Jacques, 471
(the ‘Benjamine’), 158
Baker, Keith, 68, 69–70
Action Française, 365, 369, 428, 463,
Bakunin, Mikhail, 229
465, 483
Balzac, Honoré de, 20
Affaire du foulard islamique, 518–19, 523
Bancroft, George, 188 n. 201
Alembert, Jean-Baptiste le Rond d’, 35, 132
Barante, Amable-Guillaume-Prosper, Baron
Algeria, 18, 103, 188, 198, 215, 216, 448,
de, 169, 181–2
494–5, 496–7, 504, 507, 508, 525
Barbey d’Aurevilly, Jules-Amédée, 325–6
Allemane, Jean, 404
Barbusse, Henri, 432, 469, 470–2
Alsace, 197, 198, 199, 202, 224, 232–4, 236,
Barnave, Antoine-Pierre, 311
441, 443, 444, 455, 456, 466
Barni, Jules, 21, 58–63, 98, 101–3, 104,
Althusser, Louis, 438
129–30, 230–1
America, 2, 20, 25, 34, 36, 37, 44, 46, 49, 68,
Barny, Roger, 112
91–3, 94, 105, 180, 182, 183–6, 187,
Barrès, Maurice, 234, 370, 455–7, 458–9,
189–90, 198, 199, 220, 244, 345, 374,
466–7, 473, 474, 520
396, 413, 414, 437, 467, 481, 498, 500,
Barrot, Odilon, 94, 95, 191
504, 521, 528, 529
Barruel, Augustin, 113, 239–42, 296
Amis de l’URSS, Les, 434
Barthe, Marcel, 92–3
Anarchism and anarchists, 18, 64, 419, 430–1,
Barthes, Roland, 500, 501
447, 456, 485
Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur (Paris), 324
Andler, Charles, 405, 407, 448, 467, 468–9
Bastiat, Frédéric, 89, 194
André, Louis, General, 370
Baudelaire, Charles, 20
Anglophilia, 148–9 194, 195, 249, 269, 528
Baverez, Nicolas, 511
Anglophobia, 148–9, 150, 194–6, 223, 442
Bayle, Pierre, 152, 305, 335
Année sociologique, L’, 408
Bazard, Saint-Amand, 352
Anti-France, 227, 369, 445
Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin-Caron de, 18
Anti-militarism, 230–1, 405, 423, 425, 433
Beaumont, Gustave de, 183, 276
Anti-patriotism: see Ligue des Antipatriotes
Beauvoir, Simone de, 21, 477, 479, 488, 489,
Anti-philosophes: see philosophes
492–3, 495, 496, 497–8
Antisemitism: see Jews
Bédier, Joseph, 469
Antraigues, Louis-Alexandre, Comte d’, 33
Belgium, 199, 204, 206, 215, 216–17, 221,
Aragon, Louis, 471, 477
222, 270, 343, 448
Archives du christianisme, 318
Bell, David A., 200
Arendt, Hannah, 513
Benda, Julien, 459, 472–5, 476, 477, 490, 503
Aristocracy, 3, 4, 15, 44, 84, 100, 147–8,
Bénichou, Paul, 15
150–1, 157 174, 175, 177, 179, 181,
Bentham, Jeremy, 55, 111
182–3, 195, 252–3, 260
Bergson, Henri, 381–3, 385, 386, 465, 467,
Armstrong Kelly, George, 312
476, 477–80
Aron, Raymond, 21, 475 n. 223, 477, 488,
Berlin, Isaiah, 513
504–5, 507, 514
Bernanos, Georges, 21, 472
Assembly of Notables, 67
Bernard, Claude, 376, 379, 385
Aston, Nigel, 309
Bernstein, Eduard, 410
Athens, 106, 245, 366, 383
Berri, Charles-Ferdinand d’Artois, Duc de, 168,
Aulard, Alphonse, 285, 292–6, 297, 298–300,
173, 318, 351
308, 469
Berth, Édouard, 463–4
Aurore, L’, 448
Besse, Antonin, 475
Avenir, L’, 221, 222, 338–9, 341
Bicentenary of the Revolution of 1789, 508–9
538
Index
Birnbaum, Pierre, 235, 510
Carnot, Lazare, 204
Blanc, Louis, 21, 56, 58, 89, 98–101, 104, 129,
Carrel, Armand, 210–20, 221, 222, 223,
265, 269, 276, 401–4, 414, 417
228, 234
As historian of the Revolution of 1789, 275
Carthage, 141, 150, 196, 203
Blanqui, Adolphe, 194
Casanova, Jean-Claude, 505
Blanqui, Auguste, 394
Casanova, Laurent, 437
Blum, Léon, 459, 482
Casimir-Périer, Jean, 218
Bodin, Jean, 72, 301
Castellane, Boniface-Louis-André, Comte
Boggio, Philippe, 505–6
de, 33
Boissy d’Anglas, François-Antoine, 85, 86
Castoriadis, Cornelius, 432
Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and
Castro, Fidel, 21, 437
Bolshevism, 297, 390, 429–34, 438–9,
Catholic Church, and Catholicism, 15, 22, 43,
470, 471, 472, 480, 485, 498–9, 509
64, 68, 156, 168, 221, 222–3, 235, 239,
Bonald, Louis de, 14, 44, 45–7, 108, 239, 370
242, 270, 271, 274, 283, 289, 299, 304,
As a critic of Rousseau, 117–20
308, 310, 311, 319–20, 321, 323, 325–6,
As a critic of Madame de Staël, 250–1
329–30, 332–3, 336, 338, 339, 340,
Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon: see Napoleon III
341–3, 353, 358, 370, 378, 379, 385, 387,
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 17, 40, 74, 87–9, 103,
440, 442, 451, 459, 461, 465, 479, 481,
141, 156–8, 159, 160, 162, 165, 173, 205,
483, 508, 510, 528
207, 208, 209–10, 213, 220, 230, 246–7,
Caute, David, 436
249–50, 251, 252, 253, 256–7, 259, 260,
Cavaignac, Louis-Eugène, 57, 95
264, 271, 272, 274, 277, 287, 293, 299,
Cavour, Count Camillo Benso di, 343 n. 262
310–11, 312, 314, 315, 348, 364–5, 416
Censorship: see Press, freedom of
Bossuet, Jacques-
Benigne, 71, 72–3, 148,
Centenary of the Revolution of 1789, 286,
270, 301
324, 365
Bouglé, Célestin, 64, 408, 448, 450–1
Cercle des prolétaires positivistes, 388
Boulainvilliers, Henri de, 152, 252
Chailley, Joseph, 144
Boulanger, Georges-Ernest, 106, 287, 444–5
Chamberlain, Neville, 477
Bourdieu, Pierre, 513–16
Chambord, Henri, Comte de, 103
Bourgeois, Léon, 64–5
Charle, Christophe, 15, 448–9
Boutmy, Émile, 285, 441
Charles I (king of England), 73, 336
Boutroux, Émile, 381, 467, 468, 476
Charles X, 17, 67, 168, 178, 214, 215, 218,
Brasillach, Robert, 19, 472, 482, 484
235, 312, 318
Breton, André, 471
Charléty, Sébastien, 408
Breuteuil, Louis-Auguste Le Tonnelier,
Charlton, D. G., 346
Baron de, 14
Charte, the (1814), 55, 167, 168–9, 172, 173,
Briand, Aristide, 420
174, 214, 215, 246, 252, 336–7
Brissot, Jacques-Pierre, 39, 112, 263
Charte d’Amiens (1906), 389, 422
Broglie, Alfred, Duc de, 193–4
Chartier, Roger, 13, 303
Brunetière, Ferdinand, 378, 452–5, 457,
Chateaubriand, Francois-René, Vicomte de, 19,
458, 474
21, 87–8, 168–9, 288 n. 283, 368
Brunschvicg, Léon, 476, 490
Interpretation of the Revolution of
Buchanan, James, 189
1789, 244–6
Buchez, Philippe, 89, 261–5, 265, 267, 269
On religion, 324–6
Buddhism, 378
Chaussinand-Nogaret, Guy, 3
Buffon, Georges-Louis-Leclerc, Comte
Chauvin, Nicolas, 205
de, 305–6
Chevalier, Michel, 19, 190, 352–3
Buonarroti, Filippo, 391–4, 397–8
Christ, Jesus, 72, 265, 266, 323, 339, 371–2,
Buret, Eugène, 151, 194
384, 398, 399, 400, 401
Burke, Edmund, 11, 49, 237–40, 250
Christian Enlightenment, 304
Butel-Dumont, Georges-Marie, 137
Christianity, 47, 55, 60, 120, 226, 240, 265,
267, 269, 270–2, 298–9, 300, 302, 304,
Cabanis, Pierre, 52, 122, 309
305, 310, 313, 314, 319, 320, 324–6, 327,
Cabet, Étienne, 21, 144, 265, 394–400,
338, 339, 344, 346, 347, 349, 369, 370,
413, 414
371, 383–4, 385, 399, 400, 401, 413, 415,
Cahiers de la Quinzaine, 16, 405
485, 494
Cahiers du Cercle Proudhon, 463, 464
Church and State, separation of, 62, 192, 221,
Camus, Albert, 477–8, 479–80, 492, 496–500
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