France was heavily involved in both World Wars during the 19th and 20th centuries. In World War I, France fought against Germany on the Western Front and eventually achieved victory in 1918 with the help of American forces. However, France suffered heavy losses. In World War II, Germany quickly invaded and occupied northern France in 1940. The country was divided until 1944 when the Allies invaded and liberated France. After the wars, France established the Fifth Republic and regained control of its colonies, though it struggled with unrest in Algeria and Indochina in the postwar period.
2. World War I
• World War I began July
28, 1914
– France pulled in by
Russian alliance
• Germans plan to sweep
through France similarly
to the Franco-Prussian
War in order to take
Russia on the East
– Schlieffen Plan
3. World War I
• Major front: Western Front
• Between France and Germany
• Germans penetrate British
(Allied) defenses
– Become 50 miles from Paris
• U.S. turn the tides at Battle of
Château-Thierry
• November 11, 1918: Armistice
signed
• Treaty of Versailles
– France got its beloved Alsace-
Lorraine back
– Germany severely punished
– Guilt clause
4. World War I
• World War I used new
weaponry
• 1.375 million dead
– #3
• 8.4 million wounded
– #4
• 4.266 million wounded
– #2
• 537,000 missing/POW
– #5
• Lost generation
5. World War II
• May 10, 1940: Germany
launches invasion of France
• 4 days later: Germans pass
through French lines
• June 14: French capital
invaded
• June 22: Armistice signed
• June 25: Armistice takes effect
– France divided into two zones
• 2/3: German-occupied
• 1/3: Still French, led by Vichy
government
7. World War II
• November 8, 1942: Allies
invade North
Africa, Germany and Italy
quickly occupy the rest of
France
• June 6, 1944: France
liberation begins
– Operation Overlord/Battle
of Normandy
• Operation Neptune/D-Day
• August 25, 1944: Paris
8. World War II
• Effects
– Damages
• Financial
• Military
• Psychological
• Political
– Losing colonies
• Resist for a while
9. Post-War Era
• Self-determinism
– Idea proposed by Woodrow
Wilson, became more
possible after World War II
– Lebanon released from
France
• France recognized
independence November
22, 1943
– Algeria became independent
of France
• Goes down in war
10. Post-War Era
• Founder member of NATO
• Fourth Republic
established under new
constitution
– Economic growth
– Lost control of Indochina
– Algeria
• 1958: Fourth Republic
unstable, constitution for
Fifth Republic established
– Current
• First World
11. 1990s
• Early 1990s: Criticized for underground
nuclear testing in French Polynesia
• 1992: Hosts Albertville Winter Cup
• Late 1990s: Recovering from an economic
recession
• 1998: Hosts FIFA World Cup
• January 1, 1999: Switch to Euros
– No more Franc
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