France. Emile Chabal
events that took place before this time. This timeline therefore starts with the French Revolution of 1789, which is usually considered the foundational moment of modern French history.
| July 1789 | The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille on 14 July. |
| 1791–1804 | The Haitian Revolution. |
| 1792–1804: First Republic | |
| September 1792 | Abolition of the monarchy and foundation of the First Republic. |
| 1793–1794 | The period of violence known as La Terreur (The Terror). |
| November 1799 | General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the French Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire. |
| May 1804 | Napoleon is declared emperor and announces the end of the First Republic; in its place, he inaugurates the First Empire. |
| June 1815 | Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo and the First Empire comes to an end; the monarchy is restored. |
| July 1830 | The July Revolution; King Charles X is deposed and replaced by Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans. |
| 1848–1851: Second Republic | |
| February 1848 | The February Revolution forces Louis-Philippe to abdicate; foundation of the Second Republic. |
| December 1851 | Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor Napoleon III, thereby bringing the Second Republic to an end. |
| 1851–1870 | The Second Empire. |
| July 1870–May 1871 | Franco-Prussian War. |
| 1870–1940: Third Republic | |
| September 1870 | Foundation of the Third Republic during the Siege of Paris. |
| March–May 1871 | Paris Commune. |
| December 1905 | The legal separation of Church and State. |
| July 1914–November 1918 | First World War. |
| May 1936–April 1938 | The Popular Front government of Léon Blum, a left-wing coalition of radicals, socialists and communists. |
| June 1940 | The fall of France, which is followed by the Nazi occupation of northern France and the establishment of the Vichy administration in the southern ‘free’ zone. |
| November 1942 | The Nazis invade and occupy the southern ‘free’ zone. |
| August 1944 | Liberation of Paris. |
| 1946–1958: Fourth Republic | |
| October 1946 | The adoption of the constitution of the Fourth Republic. |
| March 1947–February 1949 | Unsuccessful anti-colonial uprising in Madagascar. |
| April 1951 | The Treaty of Paris establishes the European Coal and Steel Community. |
| May 1954 | The French army is defeated at Dien Bien Phu; the French formally withdraw from Indochina in August 1954. |
| November 1954 | The Algerian War begins. |
| March 1956 | Tunisia and Morocco become independent. |
| March 1957 | The Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community. |
| May 1958 | Charles de Gaulle is invited to form a new government; he becomes president in January 1959. |
| 1958–present: Fifth Republic | |
| October 1958 | The adoption of the constitution of the Fifth Republic. |
| 1958–1960 | Independence of all the territories formerly part of French West Africa (AOF) and French Equatorial Africa (AEF). |
| February 1960 | France tests its first nuclear bomb in the Algerian Sahara. |
| March 1962 | De Gaulle signs the Évian Accords that end the Algerian War. |
| May–June 1968 | Widespread student and worker protests across France. |
| June 1969 | De Gaulle resigns as president; he is replaced by Georges Pompidou. |
| October 1973 | The first global oil crisis. |
| 1974–1981 | Presidency of the liberal Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (one term). |
| January 1975 | The ‘Loi Veil’ legalizes abortion. |
| 1981–1995 | Presidency of the socialist François Mitterrand (two terms). |
| March 1983 | After two years of left-wing social and economic reforms, Mitterrand announces policy of austerity. |
| 1984 | Unemployment rate exceeds 10% for the first time since the Second World War. |
| September 1992 | In a referendum, the French narrowly support the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty. |
| 1995–2007 | Presidency of the centre-right Jacques Chirac (two terms). |
| December 1999 | Introduction of the euro. |
| April 2002 | Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the extreme right Front National party, reaches the second round of the presidential election. |
| March 2004 | Promulgation of a law banning conspicuous religious symbols in state schools. |
| May 2005 | In a referendum, the French reject a proposed European Constitution; as a result the entire project is abandoned. |
| October–November 2005 | Major riots in French cities in response to police violence. |
| 2007–2012 | Presidency of the centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy (one term). |
| March 2011 | France leads the NATO intervention in Libya. |
| March 2011 |
After a referendum in 2009, the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean becomes France’s |