French Republic

For the past republics of France, see French Republic (disambiguation).

French Republic République française
Flag Coat of arms
Capital and largest city	Paris
Dominant mode of production	Capitalism
Government	Republic
• President	Emmanuel Macron
• Prime Minister	Jean Castex
History
• Fifth Republic	1958 October 4th

The French Republic, also known as France, is a country in Western Europe. Once a colonial power, France occupied many territories around the world. The following is an incomplete list of modern day countries that France once colonized: Canada (Quebec), USA, Haiti, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, CAR, Rwanda, Chad, Madagascar, Comoros, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, India (Pondicherry), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and China. France still indirectly controls many of its former colonies through neocolonialism.

France has the following communist parties: Pole of Communist Revival in France, Communist Revolutionary Party of France, French Communist Party, and the Workers' Communist Party of France. CPSU Second Secretary Andrei Zhdanov described post-World War 2 France as a U.S. satellite state in 1947.

History

Pre-revolutionary monarchy (987–1792)

See main article: Kingdom of France (987–1792)

First republic and empire (1792–1815)

See main article: French Revolution

In 1794, following the Haitian Revolution, the Jacobins abolished slavery. Britain allied with reactionary monarchist forces to fight the French Revolution.

Kingdom of France (1815–1848)

After the end of the Hundred Days War in 8 July 1815, Napoleon was exiled and the Bourbon Monarchy was restored.

On 26 July 1830, the July Revolution took place, overthrowing Charles X, and replacing him with by Louis Philippe. Proclaiming himself as Roi des Français ("King of the French") rather than "King of France," the king promised to follow the juste milieu, or the middle-of-the-road. The July Monarchy was dominated by wealthy bourgeoisie and numerous former Napoleonic officials. Failed rebellions occurred in 1832 and 1839.

Second republic and empire (1848–1870)

In February 1848, the monarchy was overthrown and the French Second Republic was established. In July 1848, the French proletariat rose up and was massacred by the army. Louis Bonaparte overthrew the republic in 1852. He declared war on Prussia in 1870 and was taken prisoner after being defeated.

Third republic (1870–1940)

See main article: French Third Republic

After Louis Bonaparte's defeat, the French Third Republic was founded and the bourgeoisie took power.

Paris Commune

The capital city of Paris was controlled by the Paris Commune from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the events of the Franco-Prussian War, Paris had been defended by the National Guard. In March 1871, during the establishment of the Third Republic under French chief executive Adolphe Thiers, soldiers of the National Guard seized control of the city and then refused to accept the authority of the French government, instead attempting to establish an independent government. The Commune governed Paris for two months. The Commune was eventually suppressed by the national French Army during La semaine sanglante ("The Bloody Week") beginning on 21 May 1871. Between 6,000 and 20,000 Communards were killed in battle or executed. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who described it as the first example of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Vichy regime and Nazi occupation (1940–1944)

When Nazi Germany invaded France in 1940, many members of the French parliament, including self-proclaimed socialists, supported Pétain and his Vichy regime which collaborated with the Nazis. Philippe Pétain signed an act of capitulation, and most of the French bourgeoisie sided with the Nazis.

Fourth and fifth republics (1945–present)

After the Allies liberated France from Nazi Germany, France sent troops to reconquer its colonies in Vietnam, Africa, and the West Indies. Relying on US support, it fought against Vietnamese freedom fighters led by Ho Chi Minh until its defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

After the war, the French Communist Party formed strong unions and ran for office in bourgeois elections. The United States sent members of the AFL to France to import strike breakers from Italy and paid Corsican gangs to break strikes and murder party members. The USA forced France to dismiss Communist ministers in order to receive economic aid.

Neocolonialism

France controls the national reserves of 14 African countries, including several of its former colonies. These countries only have access to 15% of their money and have to borrow from France with interest if they need more. France does not let them borrow amounts of money greater than 20% of their national revenue in the previous year. These countries cannot make military alliances with any countries except France and must have French as their official language. France claims the right to deploy troops in its former colonial territory in Africa.

Politics

The far-right National Rally party received almost 25% of the vote in the most recent elections. Current prime minister Macron's centrist Renaissance party has a similar level of support. Jean-Luc Mélenchon leads the left-wing France Unbowed party.