Location and Extent.—France occupies the narrowest part of the great western peninsula of the European continent between the Mediterranean on the one side, and the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel on the other. As both coasts have many harbors, the situation between two seas is a very advantageous one. In extent it is fully three and a half times larger than England, measuring about six hundred miles each way across it.
Most of its frontiers are natural. On the south the high barrier of the Pyrenees rises between it and Spain; on the east the Alps and Jura separate it from Italy and Switzerland and part of the Vosges mountains forms the boundary towards Germany. On the northeast alone the political limit towards Germany and Belgium is artificially drawn, and has to be guarded by a line of fortresses.
Since 1768, France had held the Mediterranean island ofCorsica, a rugged pyramid of forest-covered mountains.
Divisions of the Country.—Previous to the French Revolution, France was divided intoprovinces, which bore the names of the separate territories out of which the state had been gradually built up. These are accordingly of much greater historical interest than the present division into eighty-sevendepartments, which are almost universally named after the river basins in which they lie. The provincial names are also those which are still most in use in ordinary life in France.
The following are the provinces, with the dates of their incorporation as parts of France, and the departments they include:
Ile de France, the original kernel of the state round Paris (Departments—Seine, Seine et Oise, Seine et Marne, Oise, Aisne).
Champagne(part of France since 1285) to the east of the former (Ardennes, Marne, Haute-Marne, Aube).
Lorraine(since 1766), east of Champagne (Meuse, Meurthe et Moselle, Vosges, and territory of Belfort).
Flanders(since 1677), on the border of Belgium (Nord).
Artois(since 1640), on the Channel (Pas de Calais).
Picardy(original), adjoining Ile de France on N. (Somme).
Normandy(since 1203), along the Channel (Seine-inferieure, Eure, Calvados, La Manche, Orne).
Brittany(since 1532), the western peninsula (Finistere, Morbihan, Cotes-du-Nord, Ille et Vilaine, Loire-inferieure).
Poitou(since 1375), southeast of Brittany (Vendee, Deux-Sevres, Vienne).
Anjou(since 1202) north of Poitou, across the Loire (Maine et Loire).
Maine(since 1202), between Anjou and Normandy (Mayenne, Sarthe).
Angoumois, AunisandSaintonge(since 1242), south of Poitou, along the Bay of Biscay (Charente and Charente-inferieure).
Touraine(since 1256), across the Loire, east of Anjou (Indre et Loire).
Orleans(original), south of Ile de France (Loire et Cher, Eure et Loire, Loiret).
Nivernais(since 1707), southeast of Orleans (Nievre).
Bourbonnais(since 1559), south of Nivernais (Allier).
Marche(since 1531), southwest of Bourbonnais (Creuse).
Berri(since 1100), between Marche and Orleans (Cher, Indre).
Limousin(since 1369), southwest of Marche (Haute-Vienne and Correze).
Auvergne(since 1531), west of Limousin (Cantal, Puy-de-Dome).
Lyonnais(since 1307), northeast of Auvergne (Loire, Rhone).
Burgundy(since 1476), south of Champagne (Ain, Saone et Loire, Cote d’or, Yonne).
Franche Comte(since 1674), nearest Switzerland (Haute-Saone, Jura, Doubs).
Dauphine(since 1349), between the Alps and the Rhone Channel (Isere, Drome, Hautes, Alpes).
Savoie(since 1860), south of Lake of Geneva (Savoie, Haute-Savoie).
Languedoc(since 1271), along the Mediterranean, west of the Rhone (Ardeche, Haute-Loire, Lozere, Gard, Herault, Tarn, Haute-Garonne, Aude).
Guyenne(since 1453), in the basin of the Garonne, southwest (Aveyron, Lot, Dordogne, Tarn et Garonne, Lot et Garonne, Gironde).
Gascogne(since 1453), in the southwest, oldAquitaine(Landes, Gers, Hautes-Pyrenees).
BearnandNavarre(since 1607) (Basses Pyrenees).
Foix(since 1607) next Spain, in the south (Ariege).
Roussillon(since 1642), in the southeast (Pyrenees-Orientales).
Avignon,Vennaissin, andOrange(since 1791), near the Rhone delta (Vaucluse).
Provence, Roman Provincia (since 1245), in the southeast along the Mediterranean (Bouches-Du-Rhone, Basses-Alpes, Var, Alpes-Maritimes).
Corsica(since 1768), in the Mediterranean (Corse).
Surface and Mountains.—Within France the long curve of theCevennes Mountainsin the southeast, prolonged northward by theCote d’or, thePlateau of Langres, and theVosges, determines the slope of the country. Between them and theAlpslies the deep valley of the Rhone, with a southward fall to the Mediterranean. But these high lands, ramifying outward with gentler descent to north and west, give direction to the drainage of the longer slope to the Atlantic coast, the Bay of Biscay, the Channel, and the North Sea.
Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe, rises within France, near the point of union of its boundary with that of Italy and Switzerland; thePic de Nethou, the highest point of the Pyrenean barrier, stands just outside the boundary on the Spanish side; centrally in the country, the highest point isMont Dore, in the volcanic group of the mountains of Auvergne, embraced by the curve of the Cevennes. The lowlands of France are not level plains like those of Belgium and Holland, but for the most part undulating districts; they lie along the Atlantic border (excepting where the heights of Normandy and Brittany run out into the ocean) and in the Mediterranean valley of the Rhone.
Chief Rivers.—The main direction of the drainage of France is from southeast to northwest over the long slope of land. TheGaronne, receiving the numerousgaves, as the streams from the Pyrenees are called, and its tributary theDordogne, from the mountains of Auvergne, forming the estuary of theGirondein the south; theLoire, curving through the center of the country from the Cevennes to the Atlantic,—the longest river of France; theSeine, from the Cote d’or, flowing northwest to the English Channel; and theMeuse, from the Vosges, passing out to join the Rhine in the Netherlands. All are navigable, forming with their tributaries the natural waterways of France, which possesses a river navigation of about five thousand five hundred miles. The great southern river, theRhone, from the mountains of Switzerland, receiving its chief tributary, theSaone, from the southern Vosges, is comparatively valueless to navigation from the rapidity of its current.
Climate and Soil.—Occupying a middle position between northern and southern Europe, France enjoys one of the finest climates of the continent. Toward the northeast it becomes more continental, toward the northwest more maritime and like that of southern England; in the warm south the hot winds from the African deserts may occasionally be felt, and in contrast to these, in the Rhone valley, the chilly northeast wind known as theMistralat times descends from the Alpine Heights with great violence; but the greater part of the country is within the area of the westerly winds.
Products of Soil.—Very few parts of the country are unadapted for cultivation; only some parts of the Pyrenees, the Landes, and of the Vosges, can be thus characterized.
The destruction of natural timber in France within the past two centuries has been enormous. About a sixth part of the surface is wooded, the most extensive remaining forests being those ofOrleansandFontainebleau, between the northern curve of the Loire and Paris; of the hills of Var in the extreme southeast; and of the Jura and the Vosges. Much of the department of Vaucluse, in the lower valley of the Rhone, is covered withTruffle oaks, from about the roots of which enormous quantities of this fungus are obtained. The western promontory of Brittany is now barest of all, but here, as in the mountains of Auvergne, the Cevennes, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, replanting has begun.
The vine is grown in all parts of France excepting the northwestern departments; more than one thousand four hundred varieties of grapes are recognized; the finest growths being those ofChampagneandBurgundyin the east, and of the basin of the Gironde (Bordeaux) in the southwest. Wheat, flax and beet-root for sugar, are the staple products of the north; olives of the extreme southeast. Apples and pears are widely grown in Normandy for cider and perry; oranges, citrons, and pomegranates come from the Mediterranean departments.
In pastoral wealth, in cattle and sheep rearing, France is far behind England and Germany in proportion to its extent.
Industries and Trade.—Agricultural and pastoral pursuits occupy the larger share of the people of France. The trade of the Champagne[478]wine district centers atReimsandChalons-sur-Marne, east of Paris; that of the Burgundy wines atDijon, in the Saone valley, on the east; that of the Gironde wines, or claret, atBordeaux, on the southwest. The subsidiary products of vinegar and brandy are made most largely, the one atOrleans, on the Loire, the other atCognac, a small town on the Charente, north of Bordeaux.
The French People.—To the aboriginalIberianandCelticpeoples of France came theRomanschiefly in the south and east; the descendants of this intermixture being the small dark and lively Frenchman of the south; in the north, in some degree, the Germanic element became interwoven; hence the Frenchman of the northern parts of the land partakes more of the character of his neighbors, is taller, blonde, blue-eyed, and less volatile than the southerner. Hence also the old division of the Romanized French language into theLangue d’oc(or Provençal) of the south; and theLangue d’oil(or Roman Walloon) of the north, from which the many dialects now spoken have descended.
TheCelticelement remains almost pure in Brittany, and theIberianin theBasquesof the western Pyrenees.Italiansappear in the southeast and in Corsica,Flemingson the Belgian frontier, andGermanstoward Lorraine and Alsace, though, in this direction, the boundary drawn long the Vosges and round Lorraine since the war of 1871 follows as nearly as possible the meeting points of the German and French inhabitants of the northeast.
Religion and Education.—France is a Roman Catholic country. Protestants form but a small proportion, and the most numerous in the southwest between the Loire and the Pyrenees. Public education is entirely under the supervision of the Government, and no longer in the hands of the clergy. The percentage of illiterates is least in the districts which lie nearest to Germany, and greatest in the Atlantic coast-lands of the west and southwest.
There are state universities at Aix, Algiers, Angers, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Marseilles, Montauban, Montpelier, Nancy, Nantes, Paris, Poitiers, Rennes, and Toulouse.
Cities and Towns.—More than 8,000,000 people live in the seventy-one chief cities. Fifteen cities have populations of more than 100,000:
There are besides twenty others of over 50,000 inhabitants.
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, PARIS, UNDER GIANT SEARCHLIGHTS
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, PARIS, UNDER GIANT SEARCHLIGHTS
Paris(Fr. pron.Par-ee´), capital of France, and the largest city in Europe after London, is situated on the river Seine, about one hundred and ten miles from its mouth. It lies in the midst of the fertile plain of the Île-de-France, at a point to which converge the chief tributaries of the river, the Yonne, the Marne, and the Oise; and is the center of a great network of rivers, canals, roads, and railways.
France has long been the most highly centralized country in Europe, and Paris as its heart contains a great population of government functionaries. It is a metropolis of pleasure, and attracts the wealthy from all parts of the world; hence it is a city of capitalists and a great financial center.
The Seine and its Bridges.—The Seine divides the city into two parts, and forms the islands of La Cite and St. Louis, both covered with buildings. This river is navigable by small steamers. The quays or embankments, which extend along its banks on both sides, are built of solid masonry, protect the city from inundation and form excellent promenades. The Seine, within the city, is fully five hundred[479]and thirty feet in width, and is crossed by numerous bridges, the more important being Pont Neuf, Pont de la Concorde, Pont Alexandre III., Pont d’Iena, and the Pont de l’Alma.
THE MADELEINE, PARISThis splendid edifice, begun in 1764, is modeled after the Parthenon at Athens. In 1806, Napoleon decreed its completion for a Temple of Glory. Louis XVIII. proposed converting it into an expiatory chapel to Louis XVI. and XVII. and Marie Antoinette. It was completed, 1842, at a cost of nearly $3,000,000.
THE MADELEINE, PARIS
This splendid edifice, begun in 1764, is modeled after the Parthenon at Athens. In 1806, Napoleon decreed its completion for a Temple of Glory. Louis XVIII. proposed converting it into an expiatory chapel to Louis XVI. and XVII. and Marie Antoinette. It was completed, 1842, at a cost of nearly $3,000,000.
Environs and Fortifications.—Paris is surrounded by a line of fortifications twenty-five miles long; outside of this is a chain of fortresses, while beyond that again are the detached forts. These form the two main lines of defense. The inner line consists of sixteen forts, the outer line of eighteen forts besides redoubts; the area thus inclosed measuring four hundred and thirty square miles, with an encircling line of seventy-seven miles.
Montmartre, within the fortifications is four hundred feet high; the city is encircled at a distance of from two to five miles by an outer range of heights, including Villejuif, Meudon, St. Cloud, and Mont-Valerien (six hundred and fifty feet), some of which are crowned by the detached forts which now form the main defenses of the city. At the fifty-six gates in the walls of Paris are paid the octroi dues.
Streets and Boulevards.—The houses of Paris are almost all built of white calcareous stone, and their general height is from five to six stories, arranged in separate tenements. Many of the modern street buildings have mansard roofs, and are highly enriched in the renaissance manner. In the older parts of the city the streets are narrow and irregular, but in the newer districts the avenues are straight, wide, and well-paved.
The central point of the city is Place Royal, along which passes the great thoroughfare of the city from southeast to northwest. Beginning at the Place de la Nation, at the southeast margin of the city, this grand avenue, from Place de la Nation to Place de la Bastille, is calledRue du Faubourg St. Antoine; from Place Bastille to near Hotel de Ville it is calledRue St. Antoine; from Hotel de Ville, past the Louvre, to Place de la Concorde,Rue de Rivoli; from Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe,Avenue des Champs Elysees; and beyond the Arch,Ave. de la Grande Armée.
The Center of Parisian Life.—That which is specifically calledThe Boulevardextends in an irregular arc on the north side of the Seine, from the Place de la Bastille in the east to the Place de la Madeleine in the west and it includes the Boulevards du Temple, St. Martin, St. Denis, des Italiens, Capuchins, and Madeleine, and its length is nearly three miles. Here may be noted also the triumphal arches of the Porte St. Denis and the Porte St. Martin, the former of which is seventy-two feet in height.
On the south side of the Seine the boulevards are neither so numerous nor so extensive, the best-known being the Boulevard St. Germain, which extends from the Pont Sully to the Pont de la Concorde.
After the boulevards among the best streets are the great new streets formed in the time of Napoleon III. are the Rue de Rivoli, two miles in length, the Rue de la Paix, the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore, the Rue Royale and twelve fine avenues radiating from the Place de l’Etoile.
Squares and Parks.—The most notable public squares orplacesare the Place de la Concorde, one of the largest and most elegant squares in Europe, adorned by an Egyptian obelisk, fountains, and statues; Place de l’Etoile, in which is situated the Arc de Triomphe, a splendid structure one hundred and fifty-two feet in height; the Place Vendôme with column to Napoleon I.; Place des Victoires, with equestrian statue of Louis XIV.; Place de la Bastille, with the Column of July; Place de la République, with colossal statue of the Republic.
A REMARKABLY INFORMING PANORAMA OF PARIS AND IMMEDIATE SUBURBS, SHOWING THE PLAN OF THE CITY, THE COURSE OF THE RIVER SEINE, CHIEF BOULEVARDS AND STREETS, AS WELL AS THE LOCATION AND ARCHITECTURAL OUTLINES OF THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS.
A REMARKABLY INFORMING PANORAMA OF PARIS AND IMMEDIATE SUBURBS, SHOWING THE PLAN OF THE CITY, THE COURSE OF THE RIVER SEINE, CHIEF BOULEVARDS AND STREETS, AS WELL AS THE LOCATION AND ARCHITECTURAL OUTLINES OF THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS.
Large map:Left-hand side(779 kB)Right-hand side(775 kB)
ARC DE TRIOMPHE (ARCH OF TRIUMPH), PARIS
ARC DE TRIOMPHE (ARCH OF TRIUMPH), PARIS
Within the city also are situated the gardens of the Tuileries, which are adorned with numerous statues and fountains; the gardens of the Luxembourg, in which are fine conservatories of rare plants; the Jardin des Plantes, in which are the botanical and zoological gardens, hothouses and museums, which have made this scientific institution famous; the Buttes-Chaumont Gardens, in which an extensive old quarry has been turned to good account in enhancing the beauty of the situation; the Parc Monceaux; and the Champs Elysees, the latter being a favorite promenade of all classes.
TROCADERO PALACE, PARISBuilt for the Exhibition of 1878, the Trocadero contains a fine collection of architectural and monumental casts. The building affords some of the finest views of Paris.
TROCADERO PALACE, PARIS
Built for the Exhibition of 1878, the Trocadero contains a fine collection of architectural and monumental casts. The building affords some of the finest views of Paris.
But the most extensive parks are outside the city. Of these the Bois de Boulogne, on the west, covers an area of two thousand one hundred and fifty acres, gives an extensive view toward St. Cloud and Mont Valérien, comprises the racecourses of Longchamps and Auteuil, and in it are lakes, cascades, ornamental cafes, and the Jardin d’Acclimatation.
The Bois de Vincennes, on the east, even larger, is similarly adorned with artificial lakes and streams, and its high plateau offers a fine view over the surrounding country.
The most celebrated and extensive cemetery in Paris is Père la Chaise (one hundred and six and one-half acres), finely situated and containing the tombs of many celebrities. The Catacombs are ancient quarries which extend under a portion of the southern part of the city, and in them are deposited the bones removed from old cemeteries now built over.
Cathedrals and Churches.—Of the churches of Paris the most celebrated is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, situated on one of the islands of the Seine, called the Île de la Cité. It is a vast cruciform structure, with a lofty west front flanked by two square towers, the walls sustained by many flying-buttresses, and the eastern end octagonal.
The church of La Madeleine, a modern structure in the style of a great Roman temple, with a peristyle of lofty Corinthian columns, stands on an elevated basement fronting the north end of the Rue Royale. It is considered by many to be the most beautiful edifice in Paris.
The Pantheon, or church of St. Geneviève, patron saint of Paris (1764) was begun as a church, but converted by the Constituent Assembly into a temple dedicated to the great men of the nation. Napoleon III. restored it to the church and rededicated it to St. Geneviève, but once more, on the occasion of the funeral of Victor Hugo (1885), it was reconverted into a valhalla. There are the tombs also of Voltaire, Rousseau, Marat and Victor Hugo.
PALACE OF JUSTICE, PARISThe Sainte Chapelle, in the south court of the Palais of Justice is the most beautiful example of Gothic in Paris.
PALACE OF JUSTICE, PARIS
The Sainte Chapelle, in the south court of the Palais of Justice is the most beautiful example of Gothic in Paris.
St. Eustache (1532-1637) is an interesting example of French Renaissance architecture; and others worthy of note are: St. Germain l’Auxerrois; St. Gervais; St. Roch; St. Sulpice; Notre Dame de Lorette; and St. Vincent de Paul. On the very summit of Montmartre is the Church of the Sacred Heart, a vast new structure in the Byzantine style which cost over five million dollars. The chief French Protestant churches are the Oratoire and Rédemption. There are several English, Scotch, and American churches, a Russian Greek church, and several synagogues.
THE PANTHEON, PARISIt occupies a most commanding position near the Luxembourg Palace, and is one of the finest architectural structures of the city.
THE PANTHEON, PARIS
It occupies a most commanding position near the Luxembourg Palace, and is one of the finest architectural structures of the city.
Palaces and Public Buildings.—Notable among the public buildings of Paris are its palaces.
The Louvre, a great series of buildings within which are two large courts, is now devoted to a museum which comprises splendid collections of sculpture, paintings, engravings, bronzes, pottery, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities.The Venus de Milo, theFettered Slavesof Michael Angelo, theMona Lisaof Leonardo da Vinci, and a noble group of the works of Raphael, Titian, and Veronese are the chief treasures. In one gallery there are twenty-one large pictures by Rubens. TheSalon Carrécontains the most striking works of art.
The palace of the Tuileries was set on fire in 1871 by the Communists. The ruins have been removed, but a few of the architectural details have been preserved.
The Palace of the Luxembourg, south of the Seine, since 1879 the meeting-place of the French senate, was built by Marie de Médicis in the Florentine style. Close to it a gallery has been[484]constructed for the reception of the works of living artists acquired by the state.
The Palais de l’Élysée, situated in the Rue St. Honoré, with a large garden, is now the residence of the president of the republic. The Chambre des Députés—known under the Empire as the Palais du Corps Législatif—is the building in which the deputies meet.
The Hôtel de Ville, or municipal building, is situated in the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, formerly Place de Grève, on the right bank of the river. It was destroyed by the communists in 1871, but has now been re-erected on the same site with even greater magnificence. It is a very rich example of Renaissance architecture.
HOTEL DES INVALIDES, PARISPrepared as a tomb for Napoleon by Louis Philippe.
HOTEL DES INVALIDES, PARIS
Prepared as a tomb for Napoleon by Louis Philippe.
The Hôtel des Invalides, built in 1670, is now used as a retreat for disabled soldiers, and is capable of accommodating five thousand. The church attached has a lofty and finely-proportioned dome. It contains the burial-place of the first Napoleon.
The Palais de Justice is an irregular mass of buildings occupying the greater part of the western extremity of the Île de la Cité. Opposite the Palais de Justice is the Tribunal de Commerce, a quadrangular building inclosing a large court roofed with glass. The mint (Hôtel des Monnaies) fronts the Quai Conti, on the south side of the Seine, and contains an immense collection of coins and medals.
GRAND OPERA HOUSE, PARISThis is the finest building of its class in the world.
GRAND OPERA HOUSE, PARIS
This is the finest building of its class in the world.
Theaters and Places of Amusement.—Paris has numerous theaters. The leading houses are the Opéra, the Théâtre Français—chiefly devoted to classical French drama—the Opéra Comique and the Odéon, which receive a subvention from government. The new opera house, completed in 1875, cost, exclusive of the site, five million, six hundred thousand dollars.
Montmartre is the center of the bohemian life of Paris, and contains manycafésand places of amusement. It has upwards of forty theaters.
Latin Quarter and Its Institutions.—The chief institutions connected with the University of France, and with education generally, are still situated in the Quatier Latin.
The Sorbonne, the seat of the Paris faculties of letters, science, and Protestant theology, has been rebuilt and increased in size. The Sorbonne contains lecture-halls and class-rooms, and an extensive library open to the public. There gratuitous lectures are given and degrees are granted by the University of France.
Near the Sorbonne is the Collège de France, where gratuitous lectures are also delivered by eminent scholars and men of letters, as well as a large number of colleges and lycées, the great public schools of France for secondary instruction.
The Ecole Polytechnique, the School of Medicine and the School of Law, the Observatory, and the Jardin des Plantes, with its great museums of natural history, are situated in the same quarter of Paris.
The principal public library is Bibliothèque Nationale, which originated in a small collection of the books placed by Louis XI. in the Louvre.
Industries of Paris.—Paris cannot be described as a manufacturing town. Its chief and peculiar industries produce articles which derive their value not from the cost of the material, but from the skill and taste bestowed on them by individual workmen. They include jewelry, bronzes, artistic furniture, and decorative articles known as articles de Paris. In consequence of[485]the intelligence and taste required in their trades the Paris workmen are in many respects superior to the machine hands of manufacturing cities.
STAIRWAY OF HONOR, GRAND OPERA HOUSE
STAIRWAY OF HONOR, GRAND OPERA HOUSE
Versailles(vér-sālz´Fr. pron.ver-säy´), is situated eleven miles west-southwest of Paris. It contains a famous royal palace, a great part of which is now occupied by the Museum of French History, consisting of paintings; but some of the apartments are still preserved with the fittings of a royal residence. The chapel is well proportioned and sumptuous. The great gallery, called the Galerie des Glaces, is one of the finest rooms existing; it is two hundred and forty by thirty-five feet, and forty-two feet high, adorned with mirrors and gilding, and with ceiling-paintings by Lebrun representing the triumphs of Louis XIV.
Here King William of Prussia was proclaimed German emperor in 1871. The council-chamber, the bedroom of Louis XIV., the antechamber of the Mil de Boeuf, the Petits Apartements of the queen, and the theater are all historic and highly interesting.
The gardens are the finest of their kind. They abound with monumental fountains profusely adorned with groups of sculpture, and supplied the model for those of half the palaces of Europe.
St. Denis(saṅ-dė-nē´), two and one-half miles north of the fortifications of Paris, is chiefly notable for its abbey church, the historic burial-place of the kings of France. Dagobert built the church, which was the nucleus of one begun by Pepin, finished by Charlemagne in 775, and demolished and a larger one built on its ruins four hundred years later. During the Revolution the church was pillaged. It was restored by Viollet-le-Duc. Here Charlemagne was anointed; the Oriflamme was kept; Abélard dwelt; Joan of Arc hung up her arms; Henri IV. abjured Protestantism; and Napoleon I. was married to Marie Louise. The bones of the kings of France from Dagobert (630) to Louis XV. (1774) were buried here; and the mad Revolutionists tore them from their tombs, and buried them in a common ditch. They are now in the crypt, and superb royal monuments adorn the church, whose interior is lighted by splendid stained windows, and enriched with mosaics and statuary.
Among the monuments of greatest interest are those of Frédégonde, Dagobert, Pepin, Charlemagne, Clovis II., Charles Martel, Henry II., Catherine de Médicis, Francis I., Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Henry IV., Louis XII., and Louis XIV.
Of the 167 sepulchral monuments, 53 are new or were brought from other churches. In 1817, Louis XVIII. caused the remains of Louis XVI. to be removed from the Madeline cemetery to St. Denis.
THE EIFFEL TOWERContains three stories, reached by a series of elevators. The platform at the summit is nine hundred and eighty-five feet above the ground. It cost about one million dollars.
THE EIFFEL TOWER
Contains three stories, reached by a series of elevators. The platform at the summit is nine hundred and eighty-five feet above the ground. It cost about one million dollars.
Fontainebleau(Fong´tehn-blȯ´), near the Seine’s left bank, thirty-seven miles southwest of Paris, is chiefly famous for its royal château, and the beautiful forest that surrounds it. The château, said to have been founded by Robert the Good toward the end of the tenth century, was rebuilt in 1169 by Louis VII., and enlarged by Louis XI. and his successors. After being allowed to fall into decay, it was repaired and embellished by Francis I., Henry IV., Napoleon I., and Louis-Philippe.
PETIT TRIANON, VERSAILLESThis beautiful little palace was the favorite residence of the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, after Louis XVI. came to the throne of France. It is now a museum of the personal relics of this beautiful and ill-fated Queen.
PETIT TRIANON, VERSAILLES
This beautiful little palace was the favorite residence of the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, after Louis XVI. came to the throne of France. It is now a museum of the personal relics of this beautiful and ill-fated Queen.
Barbizon(Bar-bee-song´), is close to the Forest of Fontainebleau. It is a great artists’ resort, and was the home and death-place of Millet. Corot, Diaz, Daubigny, and Rousseau were other members of the “Barbizon School” of painters.
Chief Industrial Centers.—Textile manufactures are the most important of the mechanical industries of France.
Lyons, the third city of France, at the junction of the Saône with the Rhone, is the center of the silk-growing region and the metropolis of thesilk manufactures, in which the country stands unrivalled.St. Etienne(146,000), southwest of Lyons, comes second to it in this manufacture, after which comeNimes, near the delta of the Rhone,Tours, on the Loire, andParis. Inland trade and manufactures in the south are most active at ancientToulouse, on the Garonne, and atMontpellier, near the Rhone delta.
Woolen, linen, and cotton manufacturesare almost entirely confined to the northern region. Foremost among these manufacturing towns of the north standsLille, with its neighbor towns ofRoubaixandTourcoing, still nearer the Belgian manufacturing region; andCambrai,Douai,Valenciennes, andSt. Quentin, southeast of it.Rouen, on the Seine in Normandy, andAmiens, on the Sommer, between Rouen and Lille,Reims, in the Champagne district,Sedan, on the Ardennes andNancy, in French Lorraine, still farther east, are the other chief manufacturing towns of the northern region.
AtSèvres, southwest of Paris, are the chiefporcelainfactories, which give the models and take the lead in this industry.Limogesis also a noted center of porcelain manufacture.
Glassis very extensively made in the northern departments. Paris itself excels in every kind of luxurious and fanciful manufacture.Besançon, the largest town near the frontier of Switzerland, is a great depot for the produce of the French half of that country, and manufactures watches largely.
The mining industries of France are comparatively limited.Coalis drawn chiefly from thebasin of Valenciennes, which continues the Belgian coalfield on the north, from the basin of the Loire and Rhone, and from that ofCreuzot, on the south of the heights of the Côte d’or. Iron occurs in eleven districts and is of excellent quality, but generally lies distant from the fuel necessary to smelt it, so that this metal must also be imported in large quantity.St. Etienne, southwest of Lyons, is the most noted center of the French hardware manufactures, especially of guns and machinery;Le Creuzot, in the midst of its coal basin, has also noted ironworks.
The trade of France is only inferior to that of Britain, Germany, and the United States; the position of the country, with coasts on three of the most frequented seas, is exceedingly favorable to its commerce. The great seats of maritime traffic with all the world areMarseilles, on the Mediterranean coast;BordeauxandNantes, withSt. Nazaire, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay;Le Havre(at the mouth of the Seine),Boulogne,Calais, andDunkerque, on the English Channel. All of these may in a sense be called the harbors of the central point of the life of the state, luxuriousParis.
Naval and Military Centers.—The naval arsenals of France, dockyards, and stations of the fleet, are atCherbourgandBrest, on the northwest coast;L’OrientandRochefort(south of La Rochelle) on the Bay of Biscay; andToulon, on the Mediterranean.NiceandCannes, on the Riviera, are favorite winter resorts.
France has more than one hundred fortified places; indeed almost every town along the northern and northeastern border is a fortress.Briançon, the highest town in the country, in the Alps, south of the pass of Mont Cenis into Italy, is the chief arsenal and depot of this mountain barrier, and is considered impregnable.
The name France first appears in history about the ninth century. Prior to that time the country which constitutes the greater part of modern France was occupied successively by Celts, Gauls and Franks.
Under the Romans.—When first known this country was called Gallia, and was the center whence swarms of plunderers poured over the mountains into Italy; but the Phœnicians and Greeks had a few trading cities on the Mediterranean coast—especially Marseilles—where in the seaport towns traces of descent from the Greeks are said still to be found.
In 125 B. C. the Romans formed in the east of the Rhone a settlement ever since called Provincia or “the Province,” whose capital was Aquae Sextiae (now Aix), and where corrupted Latin has never ceased to be the dialect, and their power and influence gradually spread. Between 58 and 51 B. C. Julius Caesar subdued the whole of Gaul, except the granite peninsula of the northwest. Later, refugees from Britain caused it to be called Brittany; and there to the present day the Celtic tongue has prevailed, and the habits have been peculiar. The Iberian or Basque tribes of the Pyrenees have likewise preserved their entirely different tongue, which is not even Aryan.
The Impress of Roman Rule.—Roman habits, civilization and speech were adopted all over the country, and Christianity became nearly universal. Many cities were founded as centers of government from the conquered population, and most of the great cities such as Arles and Lyons and many others date from this time. Nimes and Vienne show splendid monuments of Roman architecture. The Romans also made magnificent roads, and are said to have introduced the olive and the vine, to both of which the climate is eminently suitable.
Under Teutonic Invaders.—Continual warfare on the open frontier soon began between the Roman legions and the advancing Teutonic nations, of whom the Belgians, a mixed race, were the van. The city of Lutetia Parisiorum, now known by its tribal name, Paris, was the headquarters of Emperor Julian before his accession in A.D. 361, while he was struggling with these invaders. After his death, Gaul became a prey to the Teutons. They did not destroy the old population, but quartered themselves as guests on the proprietors of land; while the Roman cities kept up their self-government, and paid ransoms to escape pillage. Chief of these Teutonic tribes were the Goths, Burgundians and Franks.
Merovingians.—The Franks, whose dominion swallowed up those of both the foregoing tribes, had been long settled in the north; and Pharamond, their chief in 420, is considered the founder of the French monarchy, as he was of the first or Merovingian race of Frankish kings. In 485 Clovis defeated Syagrius, the Roman general, at Soissons, and finally extinguished the Roman power in the west, and in 507, by his victory over the Visigoths, he rendered himself master of the country between the Loire and Garonne, but was checked at Arles by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths. He then settled in Paris, where he died. His chief aim was a united Frankish kingdom.
AMIENS CATHEDRALThe most perfect specimen of Gothic architecture in France, dating from the thirteenth century. This splendid structure is embellished with a wealth of magnificent mediæval sculpture. Viollet-le-Duc happily calls this cathedral “the Parthenon of Gothic architecture.”
AMIENS CATHEDRAL
The most perfect specimen of Gothic architecture in France, dating from the thirteenth century. This splendid structure is embellished with a wealth of magnificent mediæval sculpture. Viollet-le-Duc happily calls this cathedral “the Parthenon of Gothic architecture.”
Clovis in 493 married Clotilda, a Christian Burgundian princess, and in 496 embraced her faith.
Though nominally Christians, the Franks brought their old hereditary Teuton customs of inheritance and chieftainship, which, as they had last come from the banks of the Yssel, were known as Salic laws—i.e.of the Salian Franks. Their German dominions were called Austreich (the eastern kingdom); their Gaulish Neaustreich (not Eastern) or Neustria; and both were Frankland. Their dynasty soon exhausted itself, and latterly their kings were calledFainéantsor “Do-nothing” kings while the mayors of the palace really governed.
Carlovingians.—One of the mayors, a Teuton wholly in blood, Charles Martel, in 721 checked the tide of Saracen invasion, and saved Gaul by the great battle of Soissons. His son, Pepin, in 753 was elected king, and thence descended the line known as Carlovingians. Under Pepin and Charles the Great, called by the French “Charlemagne,” the country was relatively peaceful and prosperous; but after the latter’s death things returned to their original state of confusion.
Charlemagne was one of the really great monarchs of the world. His dominions reached from the Ebro to the Channel, from the Elbe, to the Atlantic, and included North Italy, and in 800 he was crowned by the Pope Emperor of the West. His power was too vast for a single hand of less power, and fell to pieces after his son’s death. The Western Franks fell to Charles the Bald, and it was then (about 870) that France became a recognized term for the country between the Channel and the Pyrenees.
The king had, however, very little power; his lands were cut up into divisions under dukes, marquises, and counts, who simply paid him a nominal homage, and were bound to follow him in war, but who ruled quite independently. Moreover, the Northmen or Normans were horribly ravaging the whole country; Paris was fortified against them under Robert the Strong, but, in 911, Charles the Simple found himself obliged to make to Rolla, the chief of the Northmen invaders, a grant of the Neustrian lands, which took the name of Normandy. The Carlovingians finally were deposed in 987, and their last sovereign, Louis V., retired to Lotharingia or Lorraine as duke.
Capetians.—The grandson of Robert the Strong, Hugh, became king. He was called Capet, apparently from the hood which marked him as guardian of the Abbey of St. Denis; and the name is used for his dynasty, which reigned for eight hundred years.
The German influences had passed away, though the king and nobility were of Frankish blood. The whole realm was parcelled out into feudal holdings, the great chiefs of which hardly owned the royal power, and the only place where the king really ruled directly was the county of Paris. There was much confusion and private warfare, and after the conquest of England in 1066, the Dukes of Normandy overshadowed the French kings.
Louis IV. (“the Fat”), in 1108, was the first king of any ability. He judicially overcame a robber count, and in his time (though not on any fixed principles) cities began to be allowed to purchase their power of self-government, such as the southern one had preserved from Roman times. This was called the right ofcommune. Except in these cities, the lot of the people of Gallo-Roman blood was wretched. They were called villeins, and, except that they were attached to the soil, were almost slaves, cruelly oppressed and downtrodden by their irresponsible lords, mostly Franks, who covered the land with fortified castles. There was, however, much religious zeal, which found its outlet in the Crusades, first proclaimed at Clermont, in Auvergne, in 1095, and in the religious orders, whose beautiful monasteries and splendid cathedrals still exist.
France was at its weakest under Louis VII., when Henry II. of England, by inheritance Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, had married the heiress of the great Duchy of Aquitaine, and obtained the heiress of Brittany for his son. Philip II., called Augustus, spent his life in undermining the power of the English kings, and when King John murdered his nephew Arthur of Brittany, Philip held a court of justice, cited him thither, and, on his non-appearance, adjudged him to have forfeited Normandy and Anjou, which easily were conquered, leaving only Aquitaine as the possession of John’s mother, and these lands, being held direct of the crown, much added to the royal power.
Under Louis IX.—The king, Louis IX., was the best and most blameless of French sovereigns. It was he who, in 1258, established the Parliament of Paris. In every Teuton nation the king was supposed to take counsel and do justice among the other nobles and freemen; but to attend courts of law in a large territory was a great vexation to the nobles, who would not come, and yet resented decisions made in their absence. Louis arranged that though every immediate vassal of the crown had a right to sit in it, yet in its working state it should only consist of men trained in the law, with just nobles enough to give authority. In this parliament the wills and edicts of the king, and the taxes he imposed, were registered. The provinces, likewise, had parliaments to serve as courts of law. Louis’s devotion led him to attempt two unfortunate crusades, and he died in the second, in 1270.
His grandson Philip IV. (“the Fair”), had a desperate quarrel with the Papacy, and by underhand means succeeded in forcing Pope Clement V. to reside in his dominions. The Popes fixed their residence at Avignon, in Provence, a province belonging to the Empire, and held at the time by Philip’s uncle, Charles, Count of Anjou, but near enough for French influence. Here the Papal court continued for seventy years. Philip V. was a violent and unscrupulous man, and the three sons who reigned in succession after him had not his force of character.
Philip was succeeded in turn by Louis X., Philip V., and Charles IV. The rivalry between France and England, consequent upon the accession of Duke William of Normandy to the throne of the latter, came to a decisive crisis during the first half of the fourteenth century.
House of Valois and the “Hundred Years’ War.”—On the death of Charles IV. (1328) Philip of Valois succeeded to the throne, beginning the Valois dynasty; but Edward III. of England, by virtue of hereditary right derived from his mother’s side, claimed not only such provinces as had been taken from his ancestors, but the whole kingdom. In this way began the protracted conflict which French historians call the “hundred years’ war” (1337-1453), a period covering the reigns of John II. (1350-1364), Charles V. (1364-1380), Charles VI. (1380-1422), and the greater part of the reign of Charles VII. (1422-1461). In 1340 an English fleet destroyed the naval force of France at Sluis, on the coast of Flanders; in 1346, at Crécy, the English archers overcame the flower of French chivalry; and at Poitiers (1356) the Black Prince defeated King John and made him prisoner.
The States-General were also the scene of a deadly struggle between the regent and the third estate, and the peasantry of several districts broke out into a fearful insurrection, which was named theJacquerie, and marked by all the horrors of a servile war. Charles V., with the help of his great constable, Du Guesclin, regained in a few campaigns almost all the English acquisitions in France. On his death, in 1380, his son Charles VI., surnamed theWell-Beloved, ascended the throne.
The reign of this sovereign was signally unfortunate. He fell into a state of insanity, which rendered him incapable of attending to the administration of the government, and in consequence regents were appointed, whose misconduct threw the kingdom into a civil war. During these calamities which afflicted France, Henry V. of England invaded the country, and gained the memorable battle of Agincourt. The consequence of this victory, and other advantages gained by Henry, enabled him to conclude a treaty by which his succession to the throne of France was acknowledged on the death of Charles. Henry and Charles both died shortly after this event, A. D. 1422.
Charles VII. and Joan of Arc.—Charles VII., surnamed theVictorious, asserted his right to the throne of his father, while at the same time the infant Henry VI. of England was proclaimed King of France under the regency of his uncle, the Duke of Bedford. The English laid siege to Orleans, a place of the greatest importance, and so successful were they in their operations against this and other places that the affairs of France began to wear a most gloomy aspect. The tide of misfortune, however, was successfully turned by one of the most extraordinary events recorded in history.
When the hope of saving Orleans was almost abandoned, a young girl named Joan of Arc, about seventeen years of age, who had lived an humble life in a village on the borders of Lorraine, presented herself to the Governor of Vaucouleur, and maintained with much earnestness that she had been sent by Divine commission to raise the siege of that city, and procure the coronation of Charles in the city of Rheims.
After undergoing a most rigid examination before a committee of persons appointed for that purpose, and also before the court and the king himself, she was intrusted with the liberation of Orleans. As she approached the city her presence inspired the inhabitants with confidence, while it spread dismay and consternation among the English, who hastily raised the siege and retired with precipitation, but being pursued by the heroine at the head of the French army, they were entirely defeated at Patay, with a loss of nearly five thousand men, while the French lost only one of their number. From this event Joan was called the Maid of Orleans.
The second part of her mission, which yet remained to be accomplished, was equally arduous and dangerous. The city of Rheims and the intermediate country being in possession of the English or their allies, presented apparently insurmountable difficulties. Charles, however, placing full confidence in her guidance, commenced his march, and as he advanced every obstacle disappeared; the citizens of Rheims, having expelled the garrison, received him with every demonstration of joy. After the coronation was performed, Joan threw herself at the feet of Charles, declaring that her commission was accomplished, and solicited leave to return to her former humble station; but the king, unwilling to part with her services so soon, requested her to remain for some time with the army, with which at length she complied. She afterwards attempted to raise the siege of the city of Campiegne; but her good fortune seemed to have deserted her; she fell into the hands of the English, who, to gratify their revenge for the many losses they sustained through her valour, condemned her, under a charge of various pretended crimes, and caused her to be burned in the public square at Rouen.
By this cruel measure the English hoped to check the success that had attended the operations of Charles. In this they were disappointed; such was the impulse which the heroine had given to the affairs of France, that the English in a few years were expelled from all their possession in the country, with the exception of Calais.
Charles passed the remainder of his reign in improving the internal condition of his kingdom. The close of his life was embittered by the unnatural conduct of his son, who attempted to poison his father. He died in 1464, a prince of acknowledged virtue, justice and discretion.
Louis XI. (1461-1483), the son and successor of Charles VII., annexed Burgundy and Picardy, and acquired Anjou, Maine, Provence, and the counties of Rousillon and Cerdagne; and France thus became one of the great powers on the Mediterranean. On the northwest, by the marriage of Charles VIII. with Anne of Brittany, she gained possession of that large province. Charles VIII. invaded Italy in 1494, and this was the first of a long series of Italian wars in which France was engaged for more than half a century. With Charles VIII., who died in 1498, the direct line of Valois ended, and Louis, duke of[490]Orleans, grandson to a brother of Charles VI., became king under the title of Louis XII. He met at first with some success in Italy, but was at last driven out.
Wars of Francis I. and Charles V. of Germany.—Francis I. (1515-1547), his successor, being opposed by the emperor Charles V., of Germany, suffered a disastrous defeat at Pavia in 1525, and was carried a prisoner to Madrid, where in 1526 he agreed to a treaty by which he forfeited Burgundy, and all claims to Naples, Milan, Tournay, and Arras. No sooner was he set at liberty than he secured from the pope a release from his oaths, and renewed the struggle, but again with unfavorable results, and was compelled to make another disastrous peace at Cambrai (1529).
The Reformation had now begun, and Charles V. was obliged to turn his attention to Germany. Francis encouraged the Protestant princes in their opposition to the emperor, and in 1536 the war again broke out. It was ended in 1544 by the peace of Crespy, when the emperor was threatening Paris.
Francis I. died in 1546, and was succeeded by his son, Henry II., and the struggle soon began again. Henry recovered Calais for France. Under Francis II. (1559-1560) the Roman Catholic House of Guise obtained possession of the effective power in the state. Their adversaries, the House of Bourbon, headed the movement of the reformers. Under the weak kings Charles IX. (1560-1574) and Henry III. (1574-1589), who were under the influence of their mother, Catherine de’ Medici, this division in the French nobility resulted in the war of the League and wars of religion. The massacre of the Protestants on the night of St. Bartholomew (1572) raised to such a pitch the pride of the House of Guise that Henry III. fled to the camp of the Bourbon leader, where he was murdered by a fanatical monk. The name of Charles IX. remains associated with the horrors of the St. Bartholomew’s night, which witnesses the striking of a blow at the very heart of the nation.
The Bourbon Line.—The accession of the Bourbon prince, Henry IV. of Navarre (1589-1610), allayed the fury of religious wars, but his recantation of Protestantism in favor of Catholicism disappointed his own party, to which, however, he granted the free exercise of their religion by the edict of Nantes (1598).
Henry, however, meditated the humiliation of the house of Austria, and was on the eve of his departure for the army when he was assassinated by Ravaillac, May 14, 1610.
Under the regency of his widow, Maria de’ Medici, mother of Louis XIII., the kingdom was distracted by war between the queen mother and the young king. Cardinal Richelieu, who took the reins of government in 1624, consolidated the power of the monarch at home, and, while annihilating the power of the French Protestants, energetically supported the German Protestants against the house of Austria.
His successor, Cardinal Mazarin, pursued the same policy; and the treaty of Westphalia (1648) asserted the triumph of religious and political liberty in Germany, and the victory of France, which added to her territory the province of Alsace.
The troubles of the Fronde, a faint image of the old civil wars, detracted nothing from the influence gained abroad by the French government, and Mazarin concluded with Spain, in 1659, the treaty of the Pyrenees, which secured two other provinces to France—Artois and Roussillon.
Age of Louis XIV.—Under the personal rule of Louis XIV. France rose to the height of glory, while he himself was placed above all control. From the day of Mazarin’s death (1661) he assumed the direction of public affairs. In the first years of his administration the national wealth, promoted by the admirable efforts of Colbert, increased with unusual rapidity. Intellectual progress kept pace with material, and everything conspired to create a literary period of great magnificence.
The king’s military successes, too, achieved through Condé, Turenne, Luxembourg, and others, were brilliant; and he added to his kingdom Flanders, Franche-Comté, the imperial city of Strasburg, and several other important territories.
But the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 drove from the kingdom a large number of its best citizens, and crippled many branches of industry. The war of 1689-1697 against the league of Augsburg greatly exhausted the country, and that of the Spanish succession nearly reduced it to extremities; but after a contest of twelve years Louis succeeded, and by the treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt (1713 and 1714) the house of Bourbon, in the person of Louis’s grandson, Philip V., inherited the best part of the Castilian monarchy.
Louis XIV. died in 1715, after an unparalleled reign of seventy-two years. The burden which he had borne was far too heavy for his weak successors; and toward the end of Louis XV.’s reign France could scarcely be ranked among the great European powers. The four wars in which she then participated, against Spain (1717-1719), during the regency of Philip of Orleans, for the succession of Poland (1733-1735), for the succession of Austria (1740-1748), and finally the seven years’ war (1756-1763), were productive only of disgrace and disaster, including the loss of Canada.
Prelude to the Revolution.—Louis XV. died in 1774, and his grandson Louis XVI. ascended the throne at a period which was perhaps the most inglorious of French history. The kingdom was on the verge of financial as well as political ruin, and it seemed evident that a disastrous crisis was approaching.
An attempt to conciliate the people was made by the restoration of the parliament of Paris; but instead of promoting reform, this body proved a hindrance to it. Turgot and Malesherbes, associated with Maurepas in the ministry, acted with considerable efficiency in the endeavor to improve the state of affairs, but were deposed through the influence of the court party. Necker, who became minister of finance in 1777, at first seemed to improve matters slightly; but the opposition of the[491]nobles and clergy to any scheme of general taxation, with other causes, led to his deposition.
His successor, Calonne, recklessly plunged the finances into a more hopeless condition than ever, and in 1786 the king was induced to call together the States-General, the really popular assembly of representatives, which had not met since 1614, and then in vain. Thenceforward there was a succession of barriers thrown down; madness set in upon the long-oppressed people, who wreaked the vengeance of a thousand years. Frightful mobs rose upon all whom they connected with their past misery. Nobles and clergy fell; the king was dethroned, and in 1793 was executed. A reign of terror set in, during which Robespierre and other fanatics, who thought they must destroy in order to build up, sent to the beheading machine, the guillotine, thousands of victims, and hoped to have swept away even the Christian religion, together with all the old abuses of power.
The Advent of Napoleon and the Directory.—When they fell in 1794, less sanguinary counsels prevailed, and, after sundry attempts at forms of government, Napoleon Bonaparte, of Corsican birth, climbed to supreme power. His course had been through victories. Belgium had been overrun, the Austrians forced back across the Rhine, the allied armies of England and Holland gradually pushed back, and Prussia and Spain forced to conclude peace. The new government began on October 28, the convention having been dissolved on the 26th. England, Russia, and Austria, in a new coalition, now began to carry on a more vigorous warfare; but Carnot’s strategic direction soon baffled it. Bonaparte was put in command of the army which was not to advance against the Austrians from Italy, and in 1796 and 1797 completely changed the condition of affairs. At the truce of Leoben (April 18, 1797) France controlled all Italy; Austria surrendered all rights in Belgium and recognized those republics which France established; and the history of France became almost wholly identified for nearly eighteen years with that of a single man, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Consulate.—Bonaparte was chosen first consul for ten years, December 13, 1799; consul for life, August 2, 1802; then hereditary emperor, May 18, 1804. He reformed and reorganized legislation at home by the formation of the civil code, the organization of public instruction, and the improvements he introduced in all the branches of public service; while he added to his military and political glory by a new succession of triumphs, resulting in the treaties of peace signed at Presburg (1805), Tilsit (1807), and Vienna (1809).
He had now reached the height of his glory; he had placed his brothers on the thrones of Holland, Westphalia, and Spain, and his brother-in-law on that of Naples; but his power was shaken by the resistance which he met with in the Spanish peninsula (1808-1813); and his prestige was ruined by his expedition to Russia in 1812. The European nations united against him, and inflicted upon him at Leipsic, October 16-19, 1813, a blow from which he never recovered.
The Restoration.—Napoleon was dethroned in April, 1814, exiled to the island of Elba, and the brother of Louis XVI. received from the conquerors the sceptre of France, now restricted to her old limits. The sudden return of Napoleon from Elba, however, overthrew this new power; and for one hundred days, from March 20 to June 28, 1815, he was again the sovereign of France; but the battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) destroyed his power forever, and the Bourbons once more ruled the kingdom.
Louis XVIII. granted a charter to his subjects, and died in 1824 in undisturbed possession of his throne. His brother and successor, Charles X., sought popularity by supporting the Greek insurrection against Turkey and conquering Algiers; but having attempted to suspend some of the most important guarantees secured by the charter, a formidable insurrection broke out, July 27, 1830, and he was obliged to abdicate.
House of Orleans.—After a few days’ interval the head of the younger branch of the house of Bourbon, Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, was appointed “king of the French” (August 9) by the chamber of deputies. The choice, being acceptable to the middle classes orbourgeoisie, was maintained; and notwithstanding some occasional outbursts of republicanism among the people, the July monarchy, as it was called, lasted for nearly eighteen years.
Revolution of 1848.—A political manifestation in favor of parliamentary reform brought on another revolution, February 24, 1848, and France became a republic, with a provisional government in which Lamartine played the most conspicuous part; but within a few months the majority of the constituent assembly, frightened by socialistic movements and a terrible civil struggle in the capital (June 23-26), became hostile to the new form of government. On December 10, 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I., was elected president, for a term of four years. On December 2, 1851, the president dissolved the assembly, assumed dictatorial powers, and appealed to the people to sanction his act by their votes. He was reëlected president for a term of ten years; a new constitution was promulgated; and finally, on November 7, 1852, the senate proposed the reëstablishment of the empire.
Second Empire.—The empire was proclaimed, December 2, 1852, and Louis Napoleon ascended the throne with the title of Napoleon III. The chief event of the early portion of this reign was the Crimean war, which largely increased the military prestige of the nation, as well as the popularity and strength of Napoleon’s rule. The war with Austria (1859) left France in a position of even greater authority than before in European politics. In 1860 Savoy and Nice were ceded to France by Italy. The emperor’s schemes for establishing the Hapsburg prince Maximilian on the throne of Mexico proved so ignominious a[492]failure as to do much toward undermining the opinion of his power that had been held in Europe.
The course which Napoleon pursued during the Prusso-Austrian war in 1866 did not tend to restore confidence in him. In 1867 he aided in defending the power of the pope against the Garibaldians. In 1868 the growth of public opinion against the emperor was conspicuous; in 1869 much excitement was caused by the exposure of the confusion in financial affairs; and in 1870 popular disturbances, fomented by Rochefort, broke out on the acquittal of Pierre Bonaparte for the shooting of Victor Noir.
The demand for reforms was answered by a new constitution, which was finally confirmed by aplebisciteon May 8.
Franco-Prussian War.—In the spring of 1870 there were unmistakable manifestations of a hostile spirit on the part of the government against Prussia. The declaration of the candidature of the Hohenzollern prince Leopold for the throne of Spain furnished an immediate cause of war. The voluntary withdrawal of Prince Leopold followed the remonstrances of France, but the latter demanded also of the king of Prussia an explicit promise that no prince of Hohenzollern should ever be a candidate for the Spanish crown. This demand was refused, and war was declared by France, July 19.
On the 28th Napoleon went to Metz, where he personally took command of his forces; and on August 2 the king of Prussia, accompanied by Bismarck and Moltke, joined his army. On the latter day the French bombarded and took Saarbruck. On August 4 the German advance, under the crown prince, defeated the French at Weissenburg, and on the 6th totally defeated MacMahon at Worth.
On the 11th the three German armies under Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and the crown prince effected a junction on French territory, with headquarters at Saarbruck. By the 14th Steinmetz had advanced to near Metz, where the French army was concentrated under Bazaine, and on the afternoon of the same day won a victory at Courcelles; on the 16th Frederick Charles won a second battle at Mars-la-Tour; and on the 18th the combined forces under King William again defeated the French at Gravelotte.
Bazaine now drew within the fortifications, and the Germans, leaving a portion of their forces to invest the city, marched against MacMahon at Chalons. News reaching them of the advance of MacMahon to relieve Bazaine, they turned northward to intercept him. On the 30th they surprised a corps of General Failly near Beaumont, and fought a battle which resulted in the retreat of the French beyond the Meuse and their final withdrawal to Sedan.
The battle of Sedan was begun by the Germans September 1. After severe fighting they drove the French from all sides to that fortress, where, almost surrounded and without provisions or defenses, they were compelled to capitulate. The emperor surrendered to King William in person, September 2, and was carried a prisoner to Wilhelmshohe. In dead, wounded, and prisoners, the French thus lost in the last few days an army of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand men.
The Third Republic.—The news of Sedan created intense excitement at Paris, and the popular indignation against Napoleon and his party was without bounds. Gambetta proclaimed the republic; and a provisional government of national defense was at once formed, with General Trochu for president and Jules Favre for vice-president. The empress took refuge in England.