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French History 101
La Marseillaise
Submitted by info on October 23, 2003 - 4:01pm.History
La Marseillaise is a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle on April 24, 1792. Its original name is Chant de marche de l'Armée du Rhin (Marching song of the Rhine Army). It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and was so-called because it was first sung on the streets by troops from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris.
La Marseillaise was rearranged by Hector Berlioz around 1830.
In 1917, after the collapse of the tsarist regim La Marseillaise became the national anthem of Russia, the Russian lyrics being very different from the French lyrics. It was soon replaced with The International by the Bolsheviks.
History of France
Submitted by estelle on September 15, 2003 - 5:07am.
Gaul
Settled mainly by the Gauls and related Celtic peoples (apart from a shrinking area of Basque population in the south-west), the area of modern France comprised the bulk of the region of Gaul (Latin Gallia) under Roman rule from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.
Franks
In 486, Clovis I, leader of the Salian Franks to the east, conquered the Roman territory between the Loire and the Somme, subsequently uniting most of northern and central France under his rule and adopting (496) the Roman Catholic form of Christianity in preference to the Arianism preferred by rival Germanic rulers.
Introduction
Submitted by France.com on February 28, 2003 - 2:58pm.
Symbols of the Republic " />History can be relived all throughout France. Prehistoric paintings decorate the walls of caves in the Southwest, whereas the Southeast is filled with bridges, acqueducts and amphitheaters built by the Romans over 2,000 years ago.
Prehistory
Submitted by France.com on February 26, 2003 - 3:08pm.
The first humans found in France, known as Homo Erectus, are believed to have lived around 950,000 B.C.
Antiquity
Submitted by France.com on February 25, 2003 - 3:35pm.
The Greeks first tried to settle in Celtic Gaul and managed to establish a small colony in Marseille in 600 BC. Then it was the turn of the Romans, lead by Julius Caesar, who entirely invaded Gaul during the Gallic Wars (58-51 BC). The Romans brought unity and peace for two centuries of Pax Romana during which agriculture, cattle-breeding and urban development were greatly improved.
Middle Ages
Submitted by France.com on February 24, 2003 - 3:55pm.
Charles Martel, the first leader of the Carolingian dynasty, initiated the expansion of the Franks' kingdom and stopped the Muslim advance from Spain in 732. Charlemagne (742-814) continued this expansion and conquered most of Germany and Italy to reunite most of the former Roman Empire. Shortly after his death, however, his kingdom was divided under the pressure of invaders such as the Normans (Vikings) and the Magyars (Hungarians).