timeline for french history finial

1905

Law establishing the separation of Church and State

1906

The innocence of Alfred Dreyfus is formally announced by the Court of Cassation

1914

Creation of the union sacrée government at the beginning of the First World War

1918

France regains possession of the territories of Alsace and Lorraine at the end of the Great War, in which France suffers over 1.3 million military deaths

1920

Foundation of the French Communist Party (PCF) at the Congress of Tours

1934

Antiparliamentary riots by far-right leagues in Paris

1936

Election of the Popular Front Government led by socialist Léon Blum

1940

Fall of France brings into existence the Vichy Government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain

1944

Liberation of Paris, Creation of the Provisional Government led by Charles de Gaulle, Suffrage extended to include women

1946

Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the Provisional Government, Proclamation of the Constitution of the Fourth Republic, Beginning of the Indochina War

1954

End of the Indochina War, Beginning of the Algerian War

1957

France signs the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC)

1958

Proclamation of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, Election of Charles de Gaulle as President

1960

Africa's Year of Independence. Independence of Dahomey (now Benin), Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Togo

1962

Algeria obtains independence from France

1968

Wave of protests by students and workers

1969

Resignation of Charles de Gaulle as President

1972

Foundation of the far-right National Front party by Jean-Marie Le Pen

1974

Following the death of Georges Pompidou, rightwing Valéry Giscard d’Estaing is elected President

1975

Abortion is legalized with the passing of the law proposed by Minister of Health Simone Veil

1981

Election of socialist François Mitterrand as President and victory of the left in parliamentary elections

1988

François Mitterrand re-elected as President

1995

Election of rightwing Jacques Chirac as President

2004

Law passed banning the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in French state-controlled primary and secondary schools

2005

Urban riots after the deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré

2007

Election of rightwing Nicolas Sarkozy as President