French History: Monarchs, Leaders, Battles & Conflicts

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering notable French monarchs, political leaders, prime ministers, major battles, wars, and pivotal historical events from ancient Gaul through the Fifth Republic. Designed to aid review for exams on French history.

Clovis I

First major Merovingian king; defeated Visigoths at Vouillé and Romans under Syagrius at Soissons; baptized by St. Remigius.

Dagobert I

Last powerful Merovingian; founded the Abbey of Saint-Denis and made Paris the Frankish capital.

Charles Martel

Carolingian mayor of the palace; won at Amblève, Vincy, and Tours, halting Umayyad advance.

Pepin the Short

First Carolingian king; Donation of Pepin created Papal States; defeated Saracens at Narbonne and Lombard Aistulf.

Charlemagne

Expanded Frankish empire; crowned Emperor 800; sword Joyeuse, pet elephant Abul-Abbas.

Louis the Pious

Charlemagne’s son; empire later split among his sons Charles the Bald, Louis the German, and Lothair.

Charles III ‘the Simple’

Granted Normandy to Viking Rollo via Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911).

Hugh Capet

Founder of Capetian dynasty (987); elected after death of Louis V; name from cape he wore.

Robert II ‘the Pious’

Capetian king, son of Hugh Capet; promoted ecclesiastical reform.

Louis VI ‘the Fat’

Strengthened royal authority; fought robber barons; Abbot Suger his biographer.

Louis VII

Crusader king, divorced Eleanor of Aquitaine; began Notre-Dame and rebuilt Saint-Denis.

Philip II Augustus

Greatly expanded royal domain; wall around Paris; victory at Bouvines; launched Albigensian Crusade.

Louis VIII

Invaded England during First Barons’ War; renounced claims by Treaty of Lambeth (1217).

Saint Louis (IX)

Crusader king; built Sainte-Chapelle; issued Treaty of Paris (Albigensian); famed for justice under oak.

Philip IV ‘the Fair’

Clashed with Boniface VIII (Anagni), suppressed Templars, expelled Jews, began Avignon Papacy.

Salic Law (1320s reinstatement)

Philip V confirmed male-only succession, ending hopes of female Capetian heirs.

Philip VI

First Valois king; began Hundred Years’ War; defeated Flemings at Cassel.

John II ‘the Good’

Captured at Poitiers (1356); heavy ransom in Treaty of Brétigny.

Charles V ‘the Wise’

Rebuilt army with Bertrand du Guesclin; recovered territory during Hundred Years’ War.

Charles VI ‘the Mad’

Suffered bouts of insanity; court split Burgundians vs Armagnacs; Bal des Ardents tragedy.

Charles VII ‘the Victorious’

Reims coronation aided by Joan of Arc; Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; ended Hundred Years’ War.

Louis XI ‘the Spider’

Centralized France; War of the League of the Public Weal; Treaty of Picquigny with Edward IV.

Charles VIII

Launched first Italian War; died after striking doorway; married Anne of Brittany.

Louis XII

‘Father of the People’; campaigns in Italy; divorced Jeanne for Anne of Brittany; married Mary Tudor.

Francis I

Renaissance patron; won Marignano; captured at Pavia; allied with Suleiman; salamander emblem.

Henry II

Ended Italian Wars (Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis); jousting death; oppression of Huguenots.

Wars of Religion (1562-1598)

Catholic-Huguenot conflict sparked by Massacre of Vassy; ended by Edict of Nantes.

St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

1572 slaughter of Huguenots in Paris; followed wedding of Henry of Navarre.

Henry III (Valois)

Last Valois king; assassinated by Jacques Clément after killing Guise leaders.

Henry IV (Bourbon)

Converted to Catholicism (“Paris is worth a mass”); Edict of Nantes; sought ‘a chicken in every pot’.

Louis XIII

Worked with Cardinal Richelieu; siege of La Rochelle; Thirty Years’ War entry.

Louis XIV ‘Sun King’

Longest-reigning monarch; Versailles; revoked Edict of Nantes; numerous wars of expansion.

Louis XV

Lost Seven Years’ War; mistress Madame de Pompadour; ‘Après moi, le déluge.’

Louis XVI

Assisted American Revolution; executed in French Revolution; interested in locksmithing.

Marie Antoinette

Austrian queen; Affair of the Diamond Necklace; executed 1793.

National Assembly (1789)

Third Estate declared itself representative body; Tennis Court Oath; issued Declaration of Rights of Man.

Reign of Terror

1793-94 radical phase; Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre; Law of 22 Prairial.

Thermidorian Reaction

Fall of Robespierre (27 July 1794); end of Terror; rise of Directory.

Directory

Five-man executive (1795-99); suppressed royalists (13 Vendémiaire) by Bonaparte’s ‘whiff of grapeshot.’

Coup of 18 Brumaire

1799 seizure of power by Napoleon and Sieyès, creating Consulate.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Emperor 1804-1814/15; major reforms (Code Civil), vast European conquests, defeated at Waterloo.

Battle of Austerlitz

Napoleon’s 1805 masterpiece; defeated Russian-Austrian armies; Treaty of Pressburg followed.

Battle of Borodino

Bloodiest single-day Napoleonic battle (1812) near Moscow; costly French ‘victory.’

Battle of Leipzig

1813 ‘Battle of Nations’; decisive Allied victory leading to Napoleon’s fall.

Congress of Vienna

1814-15 meeting reshaping Europe after Napoleon; legitimacy & balance of power principles.

Louis XVIII

Restored Bourbon king; Charter of 1814 constitutional monarchy; Hundred Days interruption.

Charles X

Ultra-royalist policies, July Ordinances triggered 1830 July Revolution; abdicated.

July Monarchy

Constitutional reign of Louis-Philippe (1830-48); liberalism moderated by Guizot.

1848 February Revolution

Overthrew Louis-Philippe; Second Republic proclaimed; universal male suffrage.

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte

Elected 1848 president; 1851 self-coup (Operation Rubicon) became Emperor Napoleon III.

Second Empire

Authoritarian then liberalized rule of Napoleon III (1852-70); Haussmannization of Paris.

Franco-Prussian War

1870-71 conflict; French defeat at Sedan; led to fall of Second Empire and German unification.

Paris Commune (1871)

Radical socialist government in Paris; suppressed during ‘Semaine sanglante.’

Adolphe Thiers

First president of Third Republic; crushed Paris Commune; historian of French Revolution.

Georges Clemenceau

‘Tiger’ WWI premier; Treaty of Versailles architect; survived assassination attempt by Cottin.

Jules Ferry

Third Republic premier; championed secular, free compulsory education; pro-colonialism (Tonkin).

Dreyfus Affair

1894-1906 miscarriage of justice against Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus; polarized France.

Tangier & Agadir Crises

1905 and 1911 Moroccan disputes that heightened Franco-German tensions pre-WWI.

First Battle of the Marne

1914 Allied counter-offensive halted German advance; taxi cabs of Paris legend.

Battle of Verdun

1916, longest WWI battle; ‘Ils ne passeront pas’; heavy French casualties under Pétain.

Battle of the Somme

1916 Anglo-French offensive; first day worst in British history; debut of tanks.

Raymond Poincaré

WWI president; ordered Ruhr occupation in 1923 to secure reparations.

Aristide Briand

Statesman behind Locarno Treaties; co-authored Kellogg-Briand Pact; Nobel Peace Prize 1926.

Édouard Daladier

PM who signed Munich Agreement (1938); later imprisoned by Vichy regime.

Philippe Pétain

WWI hero of Verdun turned leader of Vichy France (1940-44); convicted of treason post-war.

Free France

Resistance movement led by Charles de Gaulle; Cross of Lorraine symbol; opposed Vichy.

Operation Torch

1942 Allied landings in North Africa; Darlan’s switch; beginning of French liberation.

Charles de Gaulle

Leader of Free France; founded Fifth Republic (1958); resigned after 1969 referendum.

Algerian War

1954-62 anti-colonial conflict; FLN vs France; ended by Évian Accords and Algerian independence.

May 1968

Massive French strikes and student protests; challenged de Gaulle’s authority.

Georges Pompidou

President 1969-74; pursued industrial modernization; Centre Pompidou named after him.

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing

Centrist president (1974-81); lowered voting age to 18; supported European integration.

François Mitterrand

Socialist president (1981-95); abolished death penalty; Maastricht Treaty; Programme Commun.

Jacques Chirac

President 1995-2007; opposed Iraq War 2003; acknowledged Vichy role in Holocaust; convicted 2011 corruption.

Nicolas Sarkozy

President 2007-12; economic reforms, Libya intervention, faced scandal over campaign funding.

Emmanuel Macron

President since 2017; founded En Marche; pushed pension-age reform via Article 49.3.

Battle of Alesia

52 BC Caesar besieged Vercingetorix; double circumvallation walls decisive in Gallic Wars.

Battle of Tours

732 victory of Charles Martel over Umayyad forces; halted Muslim advance into Gaul.

Battle of Bouvines

1214 triumph of Philip Augustus over Anglo-Imperial coalition; secured French monarchy.

Battle of Crécy

1346 English longbow victory; start of decline in chivalric cavalry tactics.

Battle of Agincourt

1415 English victory of Henry V vs heavily armored French; muddy field; longbows.

War of the League of Cambrai

1508-16 shifting alliances vs Venice; French success at Agnadello, loss after Holy League forms.

Battle of Pavia

1525 Imperial capture of Francis I; led to Treaty of Madrid.

Fronde

1648-53 civil wars vs royal authority under Anne of Austria & Mazarin; influenced young Louis XIV.

Nine Years’ War

1688-97 Louis XIV vs Grand Alliance; ended by Treaty of Ryswick.

War of Spanish Succession

1701-14 over Bourbon inheritance; concluded by Treaty of Utrecht.

Seven Years’ War

1756-63 global conflict; French colonial losses (Canada, India); set stage for Revolution.

Storming of the Bastille

14 July 1789 seizure of royal fortress; symbol of Revolution; now Bastille Day.

Battle of Valmy

1792 Revolutionary victory; prompted proclamation of French First Republic.

Battle of Trafalgar

1805 defeat of Franco-Spanish fleet by Nelson; ensured British naval supremacy.

Battle of Wagram

1809 large Napoleonic victory over Austria; Treaty of Schönbrunn.

Battle of Waterloo

1815 final defeat of Napoleon by Wellington and Blücher; ended Hundred Days.

July Revolution (1830)

Overthrew Charles X; installed Louis-Philippe; triggered by July Ordinances.

June Days (1848)

Workers’ uprising against closure of National Workshops; crushed by Cavaignac.

Battle of Magenta

1859 Franco-Piedmont victory over Austria in Second Italian War of Independence.

Battle of Solferino

1859 bloody battle inspiring Red Cross; led to Armistice of Villafranca.

Battle of Sedan

1870 decisive Prussian victory; capture of Napoleon III; collapse of Second Empire.

Dreyfusard vs Anti-Dreyfusard

Political camps during Dreyfus Affair; divided French society on justice and antisemitism.

Fashoda Incident

1898 Anglo-French standoff in Sudan; symbol of colonial rivalry but resolved peacefully.

Locarno Treaties

1925 pacts guaranteeing Western borders; fostered ‘spirit of Locarno’ détente.