France

Frankly, one week isn't enough time to explore very much of France, let alone Paris. A scant seven days will force you to make some hard choices, because all of France's major and interesting sights are scattered to the whole country. Seven days may not seem like a long time, but with the right approach, you can see the big sights such as Musée du Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and Versailles. Our suggested itinerary takes you to some o f France’s major attractions and charming towns. Feel…

During the 19th century, France had a wide variety of government types - four dictatorships, two constitutional monarchies, two empires, and three republics. The French government was very unreliable and ever-changing. Directly after the French Revolution, a two house legislative body formed. This expanded power to the bourgeois. However, later power was returned solely to kings. After two kings, Louis XVII and Charles X, both of who were very disliked, power was transferred to Louis Philippe.…

for the rapid fall of France in 1940. Some, if not most, of the attention is given to Hitler’s blitzkrieg style of invasion as a main reason for France’s crushing defeat, but there were many other factors that compounded the devastation that was associated with Hitler’s war on France. As I will highlight, the German advance via the “all new” tank tactics of the time was an extremely devastating driving force that was the tip of the spear but, it should also be noted that France it’s self was a…

changed france from a monarchical government with a rigid social structure, into a more flexible society, where feudalism was abolished and the people gained political power. These changes unified france bringing together the different social classes. From the revolution arose France’s first republic. Although it did not last too long, this new government set the stage for modern french democracy, therefore, having a significant and long lasting effect. While it drastically impacted france, the…

La France sous Napoléon Bonaparte: Self-Promotion Over French Ideals Napoléon Bonaparte, although sometimes regarded as a magnificent leader, only managed to control his empire by defying essential concepts presented by the French Revolution. Napoléon acted egocentrically rather than promoting the ideals of the French Revolution, many of which he transgressed frequently. As a result of these actions, Napoléon succeeded in deceiving his people, also preventing a united French society. In short,…

order to understand the effect of Napoleon Bonaparte’s role in France, it is first necessary to understand something of Napoleon’s life, understand the ideas of The Enlightenment and understand the stage upon which the French Revolution occurred. These are massive and complex topics which can receive only the most cursory of glances in a short essay. Napoleon was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica, which had only belonged to France for a year at the time of his birth. It was an Italian…

Introduction Before 1789 France was still in the Old Regime, which means the people in France were divided into three large social classes called estates. The First Estate held the clergy, the Second Estate was rich nobles, and finally the Third estate was everybody else, they remain 97% of the population. In the late 1780’s French people were faced starvation because of the bad harvest. Also, France was in huge debt due to King Louis XIV and his queen, Marie Antoinette, who continued to live on…

Joan of Arc In Domremy, France around 1412, Joan of Arc was born. She grew up as a peasant in a small village. She worked on a farm alongside her family. At age 13, she claimed to hear voices of different Saints. The voices told her to help out in the battle against England and Burgundy, also to see Charles Dauphin be as crowned king. She disguised herself as a man and joined the French army. Joan went to offer her help in Vaucoulers, but she was denied to aid. In 1429, she was sent by Dauphin…

King Louis XIV of France ruled for around seventy years as king and demonstrated his royalty well in the art that he chose to have made and constructed after his self-esteemed likeness. The painting of King Louis by Hyacinthe Rigaud demonstrates well how the king wished to be portrayed. King Louis is drenched over in a very large and flowing cloak with a rich blue and mixture, which was a very luxurious color back due to the origin of how the color had to be obtained from the grinding up of sea…

Frances Perkins was born in Boston in the year 1880. She grew up on her family farm in Newcastle where her grandmother gave her many words of wisdom. Perkins has stated, “I am extraordinarily the product of my grandmother.” Being inspired from her grandmother, Perkins had wanted to help her surrounding community. Quoting Leah W. Sprague, a Founding Frances Perkins Board Member, “Frances was raised with a deep appreciation of history and pride in her patriot ancestry. She came of age…