Since the seventeenth century, France played a major role in European and world events. The Renaissance and the Reformation are the major phases of the history of France. Between the years 1643-1715, in the reign of Louis XIV, absolute monarchy reached its zenith in France. The court of Louis XIV, owing to its brilliance became the center of the Western world.
The storming of the Bastille in 1789 was the major turning point when the country became a constitutional monarchy. The Revolution came to an end with a new authoritarianism under Napoleon Bonaparte. He established himself as the first consul in 1799 and emperor in 1804.
Thereafter, the country was rocked by many Napoleonic Wars wherein about a million Frenchmen died. The Bourbon dynasty was restored and Napoleon was exiled. The period of exile was short, and after the return of Napoleon from exile, in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the ruler was finally defeated.
In the same year (1815), the Congress of Vienna made Louis XVIII the ruler in order to restore the pre-Napoleonic order in France. This move on the part of the Congress was met with dissatisfaction and a revolution sparked off in 1848 that resulted in the exile of Louis Philippe, last of the Bourbons. Yet another Revolution in the country caused severe loss to the economy of France.
Peace was restored when Prince Louis Napoleon took the throne as Napoleon III. He declared the Second Empire in 1852. The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) saw the Prussians saw the Prussians winning. The rise of the Prussians unsettled the Prince and ended in his defeat and the creation of the Third Republic. France experienced many numerous crises and political and social upheavals in the twentieth century. It had a major role to play in the Second World War and suffered heavy damage and loss. After the War, Fourth Republic was established in the country. In 1944, women were granted universal suffrage.
The next decade in France was again marked with turmoil. France faced a new conflict in Algeria that almost led to civil war. In 1958, the unstable Fourth Republic was overthrown and this gave rise to the Fifth Republic of France. The Algerian War ended in 1962 and Algeria became an independent country. Despite being torn apart by numerous wars, France has survived and emerged from the ruins of the war and is now one of the leading countries in the world.
