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147-871: Because of the Wissembourg Gap's position on the Franco-German border, it has frequently been a favoured route for military invasions, notably during the War of the Austrian Succession , the French Revolutionary Wars , the Franco-Prussian War , and the Second World War . In the mediaeval period the Wissembourg Gap was an internal border within the Holy Roman Empire , marking the boundary between

294-463: A Senate to form the legislative branch of government and a president to serve as head of state. Calls for the re-establishment of the monarchy dominated the tenures of the first two presidents, Adolphe Thiers and Patrice de MacMahon , but growing support for the republican form of government among the French populace and a series of republican presidents in the 1880s gradually quashed prospects of

441-504: A coup d'état and the establishment of a dictatorship. With his base of support in the working districts of Paris and other cities, plus rural traditionalist Catholics and royalists, he promoted an aggressive nationalism aimed against Germany. The elections of September 1889 marked a decisive defeat for the Boulangists. They were defeated by the changes in the electoral laws that prevented Boulanger from running in multiple constituencies; by

588-479: A Franco-Bavarian army was defeated at Pfaffenhofen on 15 April. With most of his electorate once again occupied, on 22 April he signed the Treaty of Füssen , in which he agreed to vote for Francis Stephen as Emperor, and made peace with Austria. Prussia was now isolated; attempts by Frederick to divide his opponents by supporting Frederick Augustus of Saxony for Emperor were unsuccessful, while neither Britain or Russia

735-726: A French army invaded the Austrian Netherlands . As in 1744, they were greatly helped by divisions between the Pragmatic Allies, making it very difficult to formulate a consistent strategy. The British and Hanoverians detested each other, Austrian resources were focused in Alsace , while the Dutch were reluctant to declare war on France, and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Louis to withdraw. The Dutch however did want to protect their Barrier fortresses and Isaac Cronström thus argued to engage

882-425: A French credit merchant, had served up to three million customers and was affiliated with La Samaritaine , a large French department store established in 1870 by a former Bon Marché executive. The French gloried in the national prestige brought by the great Parisian stores. The great writer Émile Zola (1840–1902) set his novel Au Bonheur des Dames (1882–83) in the typical department store. Zola represented it as

1029-575: A claim to the Habsburg lands. Charles was also seeking to ensure the succession of Maria Theresa not just to her family lands but the titles and powers of the Holy Roman Emperor . Although held by a Habsburg for over 300 years, it was an elective position and could not be held by a woman. The problem was exacerbated by tensions within the Holy Roman Empire , caused by dramatic increases in the size and power of Bavaria, Prussia, and Saxony, mirrored by

1176-513: A constitutional coup d'état, which he denied. The October elections again brought a Republican majority to the Chamber of Deputies, reiterating public opinion. The Republicans would go on to gain a majority in the Senate by January 1879, establishing dominance in both houses and effectively ending the potential for a monarchist restoration. De MacMahon himself resigned on 30 January 1879 to be succeeded by

1323-433: A consumer version of the public square. It educated workers to approach shopping as an exciting social activity, not just a routine exercise in obtaining necessities, just as the bourgeoisie did at the famous department stores in the central city. Like the bourgeois stores, it helped transform consumption from a business transaction into a direct relationship between consumer and sought-after goods. Its advertisements promised

1470-416: A few allies. Consequently, the change of governments could be seen as little more than a series of ministerial reshuffles, with many individuals carrying forward from one government to the next, often in the same posts. The Dreyfus affair was a major political scandal that convulsed France from 1894 until its resolution in 1906, and then had reverberations for decades more. The conduct of the affair has become

1617-509: A few crowns were kept, their precious gems replaced by coloured glass. In 1889, the Republic was rocked by a sudden political crisis precipitated by General Georges Boulanger . An enormously popular general, he won a series of elections in which he would resign his seat in the Chamber of Deputies and run again in another district. At the apogee of his popularity in January 1889, he posed the threat of

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1764-510: A hostile manner toward the State ('Nobilissima Gallorum Gens' ). In 1892, he issued an encyclical advising French Catholics to rally to the Republic and defend the Church by participating in republican politics ('Au milieu des sollicitudes' ). The Liberal Action was founded in 1901 by Jacques Piou and Albert de Mun , former monarchists who switched to republicanism at the request of Pope Leo XIII . From

1911-471: A ministry under the President of the council ( prime minister ), who was nominally answerable to both the President of the Republic and the legislature. Throughout the 1870s, the issue of whether a monarchy should replace or oversee the republic dominated public debate. The elections of 1876 demonstrated strong public support for the increasingly anti-monarchist republican movement. A decisive Republican majority

2058-456: A modern and universal symbol of injustice. It remains one of the most striking examples of a complex miscarriage of justice in which a central role was played by the press and public opinion. At issue was blatant anti-Semitism as practised by the French Army and defended by conservatives and Catholic traditionalists against secular centre-left, left and republican forces, including most Jews. In

2205-582: A monarchical restoration. The Third Republic established many French colonial possessions , including French Indochina , French Madagascar , French Polynesia , and large territories in West Africa during the Scramble for Africa , all of them acquired during the last two decades of the 19th century. The early years of the 20th century were dominated by the Democratic Republican Alliance , which

2352-559: A national pension plan. Unlike Germany or Britain, the programs were much smaller – for example, pensions were a voluntary plan. Historian Timothy Smith finds French fears of national public assistance programs were grounded in a widespread disdain for the English Poor Law . Tuberculosis was the most dreaded disease of the day, especially striking young people in their twenties. Germany set up vigorous measures of public hygiene and public sanatoria, but France let private physicians handle

2499-511: A new seat of government at Versailles due to the encirclement of Paris by Prussian forces. New representatives were elected in February of that year, constituting the government which would come to evolve into the Third Republic. These representatives – predominantly conservative republicans – enacted a series of legislation which prompted resistance and outcry from radical and leftist elements of

2646-498: A newspaper would blackmail a business by threatening to publish unfavorable information unless the business immediately started advertising in the paper. Foreign governments, especially Russia and Turkey, secretly paid the press hundreds of thousands of francs a year to guarantee favourable coverage of the bonds it was selling in Paris. When the real news was bad about Russia, as during its 1905 Revolution or during its war with Japan, it raised

2793-467: A population of 16 million, Austria had an authorised standing army of 157,000, although financial restraints meant its true size was considerably less than that in 1740. Since they had a much greater area to defend, their army was more of "a sieve" than a shield against foreign invasion. In contrast, the Prussian Army was better trained and led than its opponents, while its standing army of 80,000

2940-476: A proposed invasion of Britain , aimed at restoring the exiled Stuarts , and over the winter, 12,000 French troops and transports were assembled at Dunkirk . In the February 1744 Battle of Toulon , a combined Franco-Spanish fleet fought an indecisive action with a British naval force commanded by Admiral Mathews . Although Mathews prevented them exiting the Mediterranean and supporting the invasion attempt, he

3087-545: A result, the French made rapid progress, quickly capturing most of the Dutch-held Barrier fortresses along the border, including Menen and Ypres . When an Austrian army under Prince Charles of Lorraine invaded Alsace in early June, Louis went on the defensive in the Southern Netherlands , and travelled to Metz to meet this threat. In early August, he fell dangerously ill with smallpox , a disease often fatal at

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3234-560: A second column under Johann Bärenklau moved through the Tyrol , towards Munich . On 17 January, von Khevenhüller defeated a Bavarian army at Schärding while seven days later 10,000 French soldiers surrendered at Linz. On 12 February, Charles Albert of Bavaria was crowned Emperor Charles VII, the first non-Habsburg to hold the position in 300 years, although Bärenklau captured Munich the same day. Although technically all allies, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria had no desire to see France established in

3381-421: A symbol of the new technology that was both improving society and devouring it. The novel describes merchandising, management techniques, marketing, and consumerism. The Grands Magasins Dufayel was a huge department store with inexpensive prices built in 1890 in the northern part of Paris, where it reached a very large new customer base in the working class . In a neighbourhood with few public spaces, it provided

3528-465: A town of far less importance to Maria Theresa than Bohemia. Frederick was left dangerously exposed, a situation worsened in early October when Saxony joined the coalition against him as an active belligerent. Under pressure from Charles of Lorraine and a combined Austro-Saxon force under Count Traun , the Prussians were forced to retreat; by the time they entered Silesia in late November, Frederick's army

3675-521: A winter offensive to retake Upper Austria, and attack Bavaria. While Frederick completed his conquest of Silesia, a French force under Maurice de Saxe took Prague on 26 November 1741, allowing the Bavarian elector, Charles Albert , to be crowned King of Bohemia . The year ended with Khevenhüller decisively defeating a bigger Franco-Bavarian army at Sankt Pölten and advancing up the Danube towards Linz, while

3822-417: Is disputed; one suggestion is that it was a fabrication by Frederick, designed to remove anti-Prussian opponents, chiefly Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin . Anna Bestuzhev, wife of his brother Mikhail, and her friend Natalia Lopukhina , confessed to the plot after 25 days of torture; they were publicly flogged, and had their tongues removed before being exiled to Siberia . Fredrick's supporters referred to it as

3969-559: Is part of an emerging consensus that France's radical right was formed in part during the Dreyfus era by men who had been Boulangist partisans of the radical left a decade earlier. The Panama scandals of 1892, regarded as the largest financial fraud of the 19th century, involved a failed attempt to build the Panama Canal . Plagued by disease, death, inefficiency, and widespread corruption, and its troubles covered up by bribed French officials,

4116-606: The communards had disastrous consequences for the labour movement . The French legislative election of 1871 , held in the aftermath when the regime of Napoleon III collapsed, resulted in a monarchist majority in the French National Assembly that favoured a peace agreement with Prussia. Planning to restore the monarchy, the " Legitimists " in the National Assembly supported the candidacy of Henri, Comte de Chambord , alias "Henry V," grandson of King Charles X ,

4263-510: The Austrian Netherlands , along with a wider naval conflict. The war itself can be divided into three separate but connected conflicts, the first being the Silesian Wars between Prussia and Austria. In the second, Austria and Sardinia defeated Spanish attacks in Northern Italy , while the third featured an increasingly global contest between Britain and France. In the end, French conquest of

4410-717: The Count of Wurmser defeated the French army guarding the border at the First Battle of Wissembourg and marched his forces south into Alsace, but in December he was defeated by General Pichegru at the Second Battle of Wissembourg and forced to retreat back into the Palatinate. The Wissembourg Gap was the route selected for the Prussian invasion of France in the Franco-Prussian War . Indeed,

4557-730: The County Palatine of the Rhine to the north and the Alsatian Décapole ( German : Zehnstädtebund ), a federation of ten cities including Wissembourg, to the south. Under the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen the Décapole was annexed by Louis XIV of France , and the Wissembourg Gap therefore became an international border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France . During the War of

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4704-564: The Jesuits and Assumptionists —indoctrinated anti-republicanism into children. Determined to root this out, republicans insisted they needed control of the schools for France to achieve economic and militaristic progress. (Republicans felt one of the primary reasons for the German victory in 1870 was their superior education system.) The early anti-Catholic laws were largely the work of republican Jules Ferry in 1882. Religious instruction in all schools

4851-462: The Kingdom of Naples was unsuccessful, largely due to the incompetence of their commanders. In the north, arguments over strategy, and Spanish accusations of French cowardice at Toulon prevented them from taking full advantage of their victories earlier in the year. This was offset by similar divisions among their opponents; Charles Emmanuel was reluctant to see the Bourbons expelled from Italy, leaving

4998-641: The Marquis d'Ormea . On 1 February 1742, Schulenburg and Ormea signed the Convention of Turin which resolved (or postponed resolution) many differences and formed an alliance between the two countries. In 1742, field marshal Count Traun held his own with ease against the Spanish and Neapolitans. On 19 August 1742, Naples was forced by the arrival of a British naval squadron in Naples ' own harbour, to withdraw her 10,000 troops from

5145-460: The Orléanist Albert de Broglie to the office. The Chamber of Deputies declared the appointment illegitimate, exceeding the president's powers, and refused to cooperate with either de MacMahon or de Broglie. De MacMahon then dissolved the Chamber and called for a new general election to be held the following October. He was subsequently accused by Republicans and their sympathizers of attempting

5292-466: The Panama Canal Company went bankrupt. Its stock became worthless, and ordinary investors lost close to a billion francs. France lagged behind Bismarckian Germany, as well as Great Britain and Ireland, in developing a welfare state with public health, unemployment insurance and national old age pension plans. There was an accident insurance law for workers in 1898, and in 1910, France created

5439-655: The Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War , until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government . The French Third Republic was a parliamentary republic . The early days of the French Third Republic were dominated by political disruption caused by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, which the French Third Republic continued to wage after

5586-574: The Second Pacte de Famille in October, and Louis XV began plans to invade the Austrian Netherlands . The year ended with Saxony agreeing a pact of mutual defence with Austria, leaving Prussia isolated, and facing a renewed offensive as Maria Theresa sought to regain Silesia. Under the 1743 Treaty of Fontainebleau, Louis XV and his uncle, Philip V of Spain agreed on joint action against Britain. This included

5733-642: The Treaty of Worms , intended to expel Spain from Italy. In return for Sardinian support in Lombardy , the Austrians ceded all their territories west of the river Ticino and Lake Maggiore , along with lands south of the Po . In return, Charles Emmanuel renounced his claim to the strategic Duchy of Milan , guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction, and provided 40,000 troops, paid for by Britain. France and Spain responded with

5880-532: The anti-clerical middle class, who saw the Church's alliance with the monarchists as a political threat to republicanism, and a threat to the modern spirit of progress. The republicans detested the Church for its political and class affiliations; for them, the Church represented the Ancien Régime , a time in French history most republicans hoped was long behind them. The republicans were strengthened by Protestant and Jewish support. Numerous laws were passed to weaken

6027-468: The "Botta Conspiracy", alleging the involvement of Austrian envoy Antoniotto Botta Adorno . When Tsarina Elizabeth demanded Botta be punished, Maria Theresa refused, and the episode poisoned the relationship between Austria and Russia. Frederick managed to divide his two main opponents, but Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin remained in place, leaving the overall position unchanged. On 13 September, Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia , Maria Theresa and Britain agreed

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6174-539: The Agence Havas (now Agence France-Presse ), a telegraphic news service with a network of reporters and contracts with Reuters to provide world service. The staid old papers retained their loyal clientele because of their concentration on serious political issues. While papers usually gave false circulation figures, Le Petit Provençal in 1913 probably had a daily circulation of about 100,000 and Le Petit Meridional had about 70,000. Advertising only filled 20% or so of

6321-688: The Allies to fight on ground of his own choosing. On 11 May, he won a hard-fought victory at Fontenoy , a success that established French dominance in the Netherlands, and caused bitter disputes between the British and Dutch. On 4 June, Frederick won a major victory at Hohenfriedberg , but despite this, Austria and Saxony continued the war. Prussian requests for French support were ignored; Louis had been warned by his ministers state finances were increasingly strained, making it important to focus their efforts. One area

6468-474: The Allies to win a narrow victory . This was the last time a British monarch would personally lead troops in battle. While the Pragmatic Army were able to continue their retreat, they had to abandon their wounded, and although reinforced by Charles of Lorraine were unable to agree what to do next. Charles later described Allied headquarters as a 'republic', while Adrien Maurice de Noailles told Louis XV he

6615-499: The Austrian Netherlands gave them clear dominance on land, while Britain's victories at sea cemented its place as the dominant naval power. For much of the 18th century, French military strategy focused on potential threats on its eastern and northern borders, which required a strong land army. Its colonies were left to fend for themselves, or given minimal resources, anticipating they would likely be lost anyway. This strategy

6762-755: The Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe , the Austrian Netherlands , Italy , the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea . Related conflicts include King George's War in North America , the War of Jenkins' Ear , the First Carnatic War , and the First and Second Silesian Wars . Its pretext

6909-530: The Austrian province of Silesia in 1740, although Austria and Sardinia defeated Spanish attacks in Northern Italy. By early 1748, France held most of the Austrian Netherlands , but was close to bankruptcy due to the cost of the war and a crippling British naval blockade. The stalemate led to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which confirmed Maria Theresa in her titles but failed to resolve underlying tensions between

7056-631: The Austrians had an army at Tábor , while Neipperg was recalled from Silesia to defend Vienna. Apparently close to defeat, on 21 September Maria Theresa made an emotional speech to the Hungarian Diet in Pressburg . They approved a levée en masse , which ultimately produced 22,000 troops, rather than the promised 60,000, but was an assertion of loyalty long remembered. Maria Theresa was also helped by deep divisions among her opponents and Frederick's duplicity. Hoping to weaken Saxony, on 9 October he signed

7203-607: The Austrians, Charles VII fled to Augsburg , from where he initiated talks with Vienna and London , feeling he had been abandoned by his French allies. Divided at the top, and their troops weakened by disease, the Franco-Bavarian forces offered limited resistance to the Austrian advance; on 9 May, the Bavarians were defeated outside Simbach , by Charles of Lorraine. In mid-June, the Pragmatic Army arrived at Aschaffenburg , on

7350-524: The Catholic Church. It favoured a progressive income tax, economic equality, expanded educational opportunities and cooperatives in domestic policy. In foreign policy, it favoured a strong League of Nations after the war, and the maintenance of peace through compulsory arbitration, controlled disarmament, economic sanctions, and perhaps an international military force. Followers of Léon Gambetta , such as Raymond Poincaré , who would become President of

7497-570: The Catholic Church. In 1879, priests were excluded from the administrative committees of hospitals and boards of charity; in 1880, new measures were directed against the religious congregations; from 1880 to 1890 came the substitution of lay women for nuns in many hospitals; in 1882, the Ferry school laws were passed. Napoleon's Concordat of 1801 continued in operation, but in 1881, the government cut off salaries to priests it disliked. Republicans feared that religious orders in control of schools—especially

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7644-419: The Church's perspective, its mission was to express the political ideals and new social doctrines embodied in Leo's 1891 encyclical " Rerum Novarum ". Action libérale was the parliamentary group from which the ALP political party emerged, adding the word populaire ("popular") to signify this expansion. Membership was open to everyone, not just Catholics. It sought to gather all the "honest people" and to be

7791-431: The Continent. They sought to offset the disadvantage this created in Europe by allying themselves with one or more Continental powers whose interests were antithetical to those of their enemies, particularly France. In the War of the Austrian Succession, the British were allied with Austria; by the time of the Seven Years' War , they were allied with its enemy, Prussia . In contrast to France, once Britain became engaged in

7938-487: The Council in the 1920s, created the Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD), which became the main center-right party after World War I. Governing coalitions collapsed with regularity, rarely lasting more than a few months, as radicals, socialists, liberals, conservatives, republicans and monarchists all fought for control. Some historians argue that the collapses were not important because they reflected minor changes in coalitions of many parties that routinely lost and gained

8085-426: The Empire, nor to see one another gain relative ground. Maria Theresa ended Austria's secret truce with Frederick, first releasing the details. The Austrians assembled a second army of 28,000 to retake Prague, under Charles of Lorraine . News of the secret truce badly damaged the relationship between Frederick and his allies, but Emperor Charles asked him to relieve the pressure by invading Moravia. Frederick had used

8232-402: The French due to Louis' illness. By mid-September, Frederick had captured Prague, Tabor , Budweis and Frauenberg ; he now advanced up the river Moldau , hoping to catch the Austrians between his forces, and the Franco-Bavarian army he assumed was in pursuit. However, the Bavarians contented themselves with re-occupying Munich, while the French settled down to besiege Freiburg im Breisgau ,

8379-448: The French in the open field. George Wade , supreme commander of the allied army, disagreed. He was under strict orders of the British government to not risk losing his connection to Ostend and not to risk British or Hanoverians troops becoming prisoners of war, which also meant that he refused to put them on garrison duty. The British feared another Jacobite uprising and therefore wanted to be able to send their troops home in time. As

8526-403: The French parliament as liberal and secular republicans gained a legislative majority during his presidency. In February 1875, a series of parliamentary acts established the constitutional laws of the new republic . At its head was a President of the Republic. A two-chamber parliament consisting of a directly elected Chamber of Deputies and an indirectly elected Senate was created, along with

8673-419: The Gap became the scene of significant operations in spring 1945, when Allied forces advanced through it into Germany as part of the Operation Undertone offensive. The formation which led the push through the Gap was the American VI Corps , commanded by General Edward H. Brooks . 49°02′24″N 07°58′12″E  /  49.04000°N 7.97000°E  / 49.04000; 7.97000 War of

8820-457: The Habsburgs as the dominant power, while his territorial ambitions could only be achieved at Austrian expense. As a result, neither side could make significant progress in this area. Frederick's position continued to deteriorate; on 8 January, Austria, Britain, the Dutch Republic and Saxony signed the Treaty of Warsaw , which was clearly aimed at Prussia. This was accompanied by ominous signs of Russian military activity in Livonia , followed by

8967-450: The Interministerial Press Commission to supervise the press closely. A separate agency imposed tight censorship that led to blank spaces where news reports or editorials were disallowed. The dailies sometimes were limited to only two pages instead of the usual four, leading one satirical paper to try to report the war news in the same spirit: Regional newspapers flourished after 1900. However the Parisian newspapers were largely stagnant after

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9114-455: The Klein–Schnellendorf agreement with Neipperg and in what is now considered a memorable act of diplomatic subterfuge, the Austrians surrendered Neisse after a mock defence. Under the prevailing rules of war, this allowed them to receive a pass to the nearest friendly territory and thus be used against Prussia's allies elsewhere, rather than being taken prisoner. Her best general, von Khevenhüller incorporated them into an army being assembled for

9261-400: The Montemar force to provide for home defence. The Spanish force under Montemar was now too weak to advance in the Po Valley and a second Spanish army was sent to Italy via France. Sardinia had allied herself with Austria in the Convention of Turin and at the same time neither state was at war with France and this led to curious complications, combats being fought in the Isère valley between

9408-529: The Pragmatic Sanction in 1735. Attempts to offset this involved Austria in the 1733–1735 War of the Polish Succession and the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739 , and it was weakened by the losses incurred. The situation was compounded by a failure to prepare Maria Theresa for her new role, and many European statesmen were skeptical Austria could survive the contest that would follow Charles' death, which finally came about in October 1740. On land, fighting focused on three main theatres, Central Europe , Italy , and

9555-409: The Pragmatic Sanction, acknowledged Francis as Emperor, and evacuated Saxony. After 1745, Germany ceased to be an active military theatre; although Frederick knew Maria Theresa still intended to regain Silesia, both sides needed a period of peace in order to re-organise. French objectives were less clear; for centuries, the central plank of its foreign policy was weakening the Habsburgs , but it began

9702-409: The Prussian presence in Moravia remained a threat to Vienna. However, Habsburg policy was generally to avoid fighting on too many fronts at the same time; Prussia was the most dangerous, and most difficult to defeat. Although recovering Silesia remained a priority for decades, Maria Theresa was willing to agree a temporary truce with Prussia to improve her position elsewhere. This suited Frederick, who

9849-406: The Prussians at the Battle of Sedan (1 September 1870), Parisian deputies led by Léon Gambetta established the Government of National Defence as a provisional government on 4 September 1870. The deputies then selected General Louis-Jules Trochu to serve as its president. This first government of the Third Republic ruled during the Siege of Paris (19 September 1870 – 28 January 1871). As Paris

9996-417: The Revolution (most famously including the tricolore ) , to restore unity between the monarchy and the nation. Compromise on this was impossible, Chambord believed, if the nation were to be made whole again. The general population, however, was unwilling to abandon the Tricolour flag. Monarchists therefore resigned themselves to delay the monarchy until the death of the ageing, childless Chambord, then to offer

10143-437: The Rhine at Lauterbourg , nine miles to the southeast. Despite the presence of the Lines, an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine succeeded in forcing its way through the Wissembourg Gap and into Alsace in 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession . The Austrians made another attempt to invade France through the Wissembourg Gap in 1793, during the French Revolutionary Wars . In October of that year

10290-435: The Spanish Succession , it was feared that the Grand Alliance (principally England , the Dutch Republic and the Habsburg monarchy ) might attempt to invade France through the Wissembourg Gap, and so in 1706 Marshal Villars established a series of fortifications, the “ Lines of Wissembourg ” ( French : Lignes de Wissembourg , German : Weißenburger Linien ) across the Gap. These fortifications were later extended to

10437-421: The Wissembourg Gap, and the invasion of France culminated a month later with the decisive Battle of Sedan and the collapse of the Second French Empire . The Geisberg monument commemorates the Battle of Wissembourg, and the town cemetery in Wissembourg holds large numbers of soldiers, including the stately tomb of French general Abel Douay who was killed in combat. As a result of the Franco-Prussian War, France

10584-767: The allied army of 40,000 Spaniards and Neapolitans under the command of the Duke of Montemar had advanced towards Modena , Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena had allied himself with them, but the vigilant Austrian commander, Count Otto Ferdinand von Traun had out-marched them, captured Modena and forced the Duke to make a separate peace. The aggressiveness of the Spanish in Italy forced Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and King Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia into negotiations in early 1742. These negotiations were held at Turin. Maria Theresa sent her envoy Count Schulenburg and King Charles Emmanuel sent

10731-464: The ante to millions. During the World War, newspapers became more of a propaganda agency on behalf of the war effort and avoided critical commentary. They seldom reported the achievements of the Allies, crediting all the good news to the French army. In a sentence, the newspapers were not independent champions of the truth, but secretly paid advertisements for banking. The World War ended a golden era for

10878-586: The battlefield. His deputy von Schwerin managed to drag out a victory, both sides losing nearly 25% of their strength. On 5 June, Frederick signed an alliance against Austria with France, who crossed the Rhine on 15 August. A combined Franco-Bavarian force now advanced along the Danube , towards Vienna , capturing Linz on 14 September. Joined by a Saxon army of 20,000, they advanced on Prague from three different points, initially meeting little resistance. Before long,

11025-527: The borders of Hanover and Prussia to each other, and British diplomats tried to persuade Austria to end the Second Silesian War. Franco-Prussian relationships were marked by mutual distrust, while Maria Theresa resented British attempts to persuade her to accept the loss of Silesia. In central Italy an army of Spaniards and Neapolitans was collected for the purpose of conquering the Duchy of Milan . In 1741,

11172-560: The budding Third Republic due to the perceived restoration of conservative policies and values following the suppression of the Commune. De MacMahon, his popularity bolstered by his victory over the Commune, was later elected President of the Republic in May 1873 and would hold the office until January 1879. A staunch Catholic conservative with Legitimist sympathies and a noted mistrust of secularists, de MacMahon grew to be increasingly at odds with

11319-593: The childless Comte de Chambord as king, with the Comte de Paris as his heir. This was the expected line of succession for the Comte de Chambord based on France's traditional rule of agnatic primogeniture if the renunciation of the Spanish Bourbons in the Peace of Utrecht was recognised. Consequently, in 1871 the throne was offered to the Comte de Chambord. Chambord believed the restored monarchy had to eliminate all traces of

11466-464: The death of Emperor Charles VII on 20 January. Since Maria Theresa's husband, Grand Duke Francis, was the best-supported candidate to replace him, this was a major setback for the Franco-Prussian alliance. Charles' son and heir, Maximilian III Joseph made one last effort to drive the Austrians out of Bavaria, but his demoralised and ill-equipped army was out-manoeuvered by Count Batthyány , while

11613-430: The deficient health and housing legislation of 1850. However, the reformers met opposition from bureaucrats, politicians, and physicians. Because it was so threatening to so many interests, the proposal was debated and postponed for 20 years before becoming law in 1902. Implementation finally came when the government realized that contagious diseases had a national security impact in weakening military recruits, and keeping

11760-499: The director and publisher of the anti-Semitic newspaper La Libre Parole . The new trial resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence, but Dreyfus was given a pardon and set free. Eventually all the accusations against him were demonstrated to be baseless, and in 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated and re-instated as a major in the French Army. From 1894 to 1906, the scandal divided France deeply and lastingly into two opposing camps:

11907-502: The dry guillotine), where he spent almost five years. Two years later, evidence came to light that identified a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy as the real spy. After high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy. In response, the Army brought up additional charges against Dreyfus based on false documents. Word of

12054-529: The end, it recruited mostly among the liberal-Catholics ( Jacques Piou ) and the Social Catholics ( Albert de Mun ). The ALP was drawn into battle from its very beginnings (its first steps coincided with the beginning of the Combes ministry and its anticlerical combat policy), as religious matters were at the heart of its preoccupations. It defended the Church in the name of liberty and common law. Fiercely fought by

12201-624: The end, the latter triumphed. The affair began in November 1894 with the conviction for treason of Captain Alfred Dreyfus , a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent . He was sentenced to life imprisonment for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris and sent to the penal colony at Devil's Island in French Guiana (nicknamed la guillotine sèche ,

12348-504: The eve of World War II, France and its colonial possessions totaled only 150 million inhabitants, compared with 330 million for British India alone. Adolphe Thiers called republicanism in the 1870s "the form of government that divides France least"; however, politics under the Third Republic were sharply polarized. On the left stood reformist France, heir to the French Revolution . On the right stood conservative France, rooted in

12495-637: The exciting complex interactions with the newest and most fashionable merchandise and upscale customers. Throughout the lifetime of the Third Republic (1870–1940), there were battles over the status of the Catholic Church in France among the republicans, monarchists and the authoritarians (such as the Napoleonists). The French clergy and bishops were closely associated with the monarchists and many of its hierarchy were from noble families. Republicans were based in

12642-579: The fall of Emperor Napoleon III in 1870. Social upheaval and the Paris Commune preceded the final defeat. The German Empire , proclaimed by the invaders in Palace of Versailles , annexed the French regions of Alsace (keeping the Territoire de Belfort ) and Lorraine (the northeastern part, i.e. present-day department of Moselle ). The early governments of the French Third Republic considered re-establishing

12789-461: The government at Versailles sought to maintain the tenuous post-war stability which it had established. In May, the regular French Armed Forces , under the command of Patrice de MacMahon and the Versailles government, marched on Paris and succeeded in dismantling the Commune during what would become known as The Bloody Week . The term ordre moral ("moral order") subsequently came to be applied to

12936-540: The government passed a variety of financial laws, such as the controversial Law of Maturities , to pay reparations. In Paris, resentment built against the government from late March through May 1871. Paris workers and National Guards revolted and took power as the Paris Commune , which maintained a radical left-wing regime for two months until the Thiers government bloodily suppressed it in May 1871. The ensuing repression of

13083-466: The government's aggressive opposition; and by the absence of the general himself, in self-imposed exile with his mistress. The fall of Boulanger severely undermined the conservative and royalist elements within France; they would not recover until 1940. Revisionist scholars have argued that the Boulangist movement more often represented elements of the radical left rather than the extreme right. Their work

13230-564: The inheritance, this agreement required approval by the various Habsburg territories and the Imperial Diet . Charles succeeded Joseph in 1711 and two years later issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 , which confirmed the principle of female inheritance. However, it also modified the 1703 agreement by placing the rights of his own children first and after his first child Maria Theresa was born in 1717, Charles' internal and external policy

13377-492: The interval to reorganise his cavalry, previously neglected in favour of the infantry, and who performed poorly at Mollwitz; they would prove more effective in the 1742 campaign. In December 1741, von Schwerin had captured Olmütz ; Frederick took Glatz , before moving onto Groß Seelowitz in March 1742. This allowed him to threaten Vienna; a few Prussian patrols even appeared in the suburbs, before withdrawing. In early May, he took

13524-514: The invasion. They held on to the fortresses of Glogau , Breslau , and Brieg , but abandoned the rest of the province and withdrew into Moravia , with both sides taking up winter quarters. In under two weeks Prussia had occupied most of the richest province in the Holy Roman Empire, containing a population of over one million, and the commercial centre of Breslau along with mining, weaving and dyeing industries. However, Frederick underestimated Maria Theresa's determination to reverse her loss, while

13671-553: The last king from the senior line of the Bourbon dynasty . The Orléanists supported Louis-Philippe, Comte de Paris a grandson of King Louis Philippe I , who replaced his cousin Charles X in 1830. The Bonapartists lost legitimacy due to the defeat of Napoléon III and were unable to advance the candidacy of any member of the Bonaparte family . Legitimists and Orléanists eventually agreed on

13818-464: The lead in attacking Dreyfus as a traitor and stirring up anti-Semitism. After Dreyfus was pardoned, the Radical government closed down the entire Assumptionist order and its newspaper in 1900. Banks secretly paid certain newspapers to promote particular financial interests and hide or cover up misbehaviour. They also took payments for favourable notices in news articles of commercial products. Sometimes,

13965-419: The melting pot sought by Leo XIII where Catholics and moderate Republicans would unite to support a policy of tolerance and social progress. Its motto summarized its program: "Liberty for all; equality before the law; better conditions for the workers." However, the "old republicans" were few, and it did not manage to regroup all Catholics, as it was shunned by monarchists, Christian democrats, and Integrists . In

14112-642: The military court's attempts to frame Dreyfus began to spread, chiefly owing to the polemic J'accuse , a vehement open letter published on the liberal newspaper L'Aurore in January 1898 by the notable writer Émile Zola . Activists put pressure on the government to re-open the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France for another trial. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus (now called "Dreyfusards"), such as Anatole France , Henri Poincaré and Georges Clemenceau , and those who condemned him (the anti-Dreyfusards), such as Édouard Drumont ,

14259-555: The moderate Republican Jules Grévy . He promised that he would not use his presidential power of dissolution, and therefore lost his control over the legislature, effectively creating a parliamentary system that would be maintained until the end of the Third Republic. Following the 16 May crisis in 1877, Legitimists were pushed out of power, and the Republic was finally governed by Moderate Republicans (pejoratively labelled "Opportunist Republicans" by Radical Republicans ) who supported moderate social and political changes to nurture

14406-627: The monarchists and clerical elements on the one hand, and the Socialists on the other. Many members had been recruited by the Freemasons. The Radicals were split between activists who called for state intervention to achieve economic and social equality and conservatives whose first priority was stability. The workers' demands for strikes threatened such stability and pushed many Radicals toward conservatism. It opposed women's suffrage for fear that women would vote for its opponents or for candidates endorsed by

14553-414: The monarchy, but disagreement as to the nature of that monarchy and the rightful occupant of the throne could not be resolved. Consequently, the French Third Republic, originally envisioned as a provisional government , instead became the permanent form of government of France. The French Constitutional Laws of 1875 defined the composition of the Third Republic. It consisted of a Chamber of Deputies and

14700-533: The new regime, such as a purge of the civil service . The Jules Ferry laws making public education free, mandatory, and secular ( laїque ), were voted in 1881 and 1882, one of the first signs of the expanding civic powers of the Republic. From that time onward, the Catholic clergy lost control of public education. To discourage the monarchists, the French Crown Jewels were broken up and sold in 1885. Only

14847-518: The north bank of the river Main . Here they were joined by George II , who was attending the enthronement of a new Elector of Mainz in Wiesbaden . By late June, the Allies were running short of supplies and withdrew towards the nearest supply depot at Hanau , the road to which ran through Dettingen, now a part of Karlstein am Main , where 23,000 French troops blocked the road. Despite a strong position, mistakes made by their commander Gramont , allowed

14994-462: The offensive, and moved into north-east Bohemia; by 16 May, he had 10,000 infantry at Kuttenberg , and another 18,000 men under Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau a day's march behind. On the afternoon of 16 May, Charles of Lorraine's cavalry ran into Leopold's rearguard. Leopold recognized he was in contact with the Austrian main force and so accelerated his march ahead to close the gap with Frederick. At 2:00 am on 17 May, his exhausted troops stopped at

15141-431: The opportunity to participate in the newest, most fashionable consumerism at reasonable cost. The latest technology was featured, such as cinemas and exhibits of inventions like X-ray machines (that could be used to fit shoes) and the gramophone . Increasingly after 1870, the stores' work force became feminized , opening up prestigious job opportunities for young women. Despite the low pay and long hours, they enjoyed

15288-424: The pages. The Roman Catholic Assumptionist order revolutionized pressure group media by its national newspaper La Croix . It vigorously advocated for traditional Catholicism while at the same time innovating with the most modern technology and distribution systems, with regional editions tailored to local taste. Secularists and Republicans recognized the newspaper as their greatest enemy, especially when it took

15435-535: The peasantry, the Catholic Church , and the army. In spite of France's sharply divided electorate and persistent attempts to overthrow it, the Third Republic endured for 70 years, which makes it the longest-lasting system of government in France since the collapse of the Ancien Régime in 1789. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 resulted in the defeat of France and the overthrow of Emperor Napoleon III and his Second French Empire . After Napoleon's capture by

15582-479: The population growth rate well below Germany's. There is no evidence to suggest than French life expectancy was lower than that of Germany. The most important party of the early 20th century in France was the Radical Party , founded in 1901 as the "Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party" ("Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste"). It was classically liberal in political orientation and opposed

15729-567: The post-1683 expansion of Habsburg power into lands previously held by the Ottoman Empire . These were the centrifugal forces behind a war that reshaped the traditional European balance of power ; the various legal claims were largely pretexts and seen as such. Bavaria and Saxony refused to be bound by the decision of the Imperial Diet, while in 1738 France agreed to back the 'just claims' of Charles Albert of Bavaria despite previously accepting

15876-452: The press. Their younger staff members were drafted, and male replacements could not be found (female journalists were not considered suitable). Rail transportation was rationed and less paper and ink came in, and fewer copies could be shipped out. Inflation raised the price of newsprint, which was always in short supply. The cover price went up, circulation fell and many of the 242 dailies published outside Paris closed down. The government set up

16023-410: The pro-Army "anti-Dreyfusards" composed of conservatives, Catholic traditionalists and monarchists who generally lost the initiative to the anti-clerical, pro-republican "Dreyfusards", with strong support from intellectuals and teachers. It embittered French politics and facilitated the increasing influence of radical politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. The democratic political structure

16170-531: The problem. The French medical profession guarded its prerogatives, and public health activists were not as well organized or as influential as in Germany, Britain or the United States. For example, there was a long battle over a public health law which began in the 1880s as a campaign to reorganize the nation's health services, to require the registration of infectious diseases, to mandate quarantines, and to improve

16317-473: The republican movement. In Paris, a series of public altercations broke out between the Versailles-aligned Parisian government and the city's radical socialists. The radicals ultimately rejected the authority of Versailles, responding with the foundation of the Paris Commune in March. The principles underpinning the Commune were viewed as morally degenerate by French conservatives at large while

16464-578: The restrictive practices that had been typical for a century. High-speed rotary Hoe presses , introduced in the 1860s, facilitated quick turnaround time and cheaper publication. New types of popular newspapers, especially Le Petit Journal , reached an audience more interested in diverse entertainment and gossip than hard news. It captured a quarter of the Parisian market and forced the rest to lower their prices. The main dailies employed their own journalists who competed for news flashes. All newspapers relied upon

16611-438: The resulting third Battle of Wissembourg (1870) , which took place on 4 August 1870, was the first major engagement of the war. The Prussians and their Bavarian and Swabian allies were nominally commanded by Crown Prince Frederick , but their movements were in practice directed by his chief of staff, General Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal . The battle was a victory for the Prussians, enabling their forces to pour into France through

16758-574: The retention of Austrian fortresses in Southern Silesia meant a quick victory could not be achieved. Early in the year, an Austrian army under von Neipperg relieved Neisse , and marched on Brieg , threatening to cut the Prussians off. On 10 April, just outside Brieg, they were defeated at the Battle of Mollwitz ; Frederick made serious mistakes in his first battle, and was so close to defeat that his subordinates ordered him to avoid capture and leave

16905-499: The rival governments of Charles de Gaulle 's Free France ( La France libre ) and Philippe Pétain 's French State ( L'État français ). During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire ; it extended over 13,500,000 km (5,200,000 sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. In terms of population however, on

17052-418: The roles of railroads, republican schools, and universal military conscription . He based his findings on school records, migration patterns, military service documents and economic trends. Weber argued that until 1900 or so a sense of French nationhood was weak in the provinces. Weber then looked at how the policies of the Third Republic created a sense of French nationality in rural areas. Weber's scholarship

17199-586: The same time, the war demonstrated that Hanover, then held in personal union with the British Crown , was vulnerable to Prussian attacks, while many British politicians felt they received little benefit from the enormous subsidies paid to Austria. The result was the realignment known as the Diplomatic Revolution . Austria and France ended the rivalry which had dominated European affairs for centuries, while Prussia allied with Great Britain. These changes set

17346-687: The scene for the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756. The immediate cause of the war was the death in 1740 of Emperor Charles VI (1685–1740) and the inheritance of the Habsburg monarchy , often collectively referred to as Austria. The 1703 Mutual Pact of Succession provided that if the Habsburgs became extinct in the male line, these possessions would go first to Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia , daughters of Emperor Joseph I , then those of Charles, his younger brother. Since Salic law excluded women from

17493-524: The signatories, many of whom were unhappy with the terms. France achieved minimal gains for vast expenditure, while the Spanish gained the Duchies of Parma , Piacenza and Guastalla . Prussia, often considered the clearest winner, acquired Silesia from Austria, an outcome that undermined the long-standing Anglo-Austrian Alliance , since Maria Theresa deeply resented Britain's insistence she cede Silesia to make peace and made it her main objective to regain it. At

17640-399: The small village of Chotusitz , still three hours from Kutná Hora. Fought later the same day, the Battle of Chotusitz was inconclusive, but technically a Prussian victory, since the Austrians withdrew. On 24 May, French Field Marshal de Broglie won a minor action at Sahay . The two victories left the strategic situation unchanged, since Charles was still able to move against Prague, while

17787-595: The stage for the Seven Years' War. Frederick II succeeded his father Frederick William as king of Prussia on 31 May 1740 at the age of 28. Although Prussia had increased in importance over the prior few decades, its disparate and scattered territories prevented it wielding significant power, a reality Frederick intended to change. The death of Emperor Charles VI on 20 October 1740 provided him with an ideal opportunity to acquire Silesia, but he needed to do so before Augustus of Saxony and Poland could pre-empt him. With

17934-425: The throne to his more liberal heir, the Comte de Paris. A "temporary" republican government was therefore established. Chambord lived on until 1883, but by that time, enthusiasm for a monarchy had faded, and the Comte de Paris was never offered the French throne. Following the French surrender to Prussia in January 1871, concluding the Franco-Prussian War , the transitional Government of National Defence established

18081-415: The time did not participate. The resulting conservative National Assembly elected Adolphe Thiers head of a provisional government, ("head of the executive branch of the Republic pending a decision on the institutions of France"). The new government negotiated a peace settlement with the newly proclaimed German Empire : the Treaty of Frankfurt signed on 10 May 1871. To prompt the Prussians to leave France,

18228-736: The time; although he later recovered, this temporarily paralysed the French command system. With the bulk of the Austrian army occupied in Eastern France, Frederick launched the Second Silesian War on 15 August, and by the end of the month, all 80,000 of his troops were in Bohemia. Although Maria Theresa's main objective was to regain Silesia, the speed of the Prussian advance took the Austrians by surprise. On 23 August, Prince Charles withdrew from Alsace to defend Bohemia, with little interference from

18375-455: The troops of Sardinia and of Spain, in which the French took no part. At the end of 1742, the Duke of Montemar was replaced as head of the Spanish forces in Italy by Count Gages . Third French Republic The French Third Republic ( French : Troisième République , sometimes written as La III République ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when

18522-505: The war due to concern at British commercial growth post-1713. Since the war in Northern Italy was largely fought to support Spanish aims, this left the Netherlands as the only remaining theatre where France could achieve strategic victory. Another significant development was the start of the realignment of alliances that became the Diplomatic Revolution in 1756. Under the August 'Convention of Hanover', Frederick and George II mutually guaranteed

18669-590: The war, it took advantage of the Royal Navy to expand it into the colonies. The British pursued a dual strategy of naval blockade and bombardment of enemy ports, and also utilized their ability to move troops by sea to the utmost. They would harass enemy shipping and attack enemy outposts, frequently using colonists from nearby British colonies in the effort. This plan worked better in North America than in Europe, but set

18816-469: The war. The major postwar success story was Paris Soir , which lacked any political agenda and was dedicated to providing a mix of sensational reporting to aid circulation and serious articles to build prestige. By 1939, its circulation was over 1.7 million, double that of its nearest rival the tabloid Le Petit Parisien . In addition to its daily paper, Paris Soir sponsored a highly successful women's magazine Marie-Claire . Another magazine, Match ,

18963-560: Was 'heavily indebted to the irresolutions of George II.' They ended by doing nothing, and in October, took up winter quarters in the Netherlands. Frederick had responded to Dettingen by renewing his search for allies, and building up his army once again. In July, the Russian court discovered an alleged plot to overthrow Empress Elizabeth , and restore three-year old Ivan VI , with his mother Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna as his regent. Whether this amounted to anything more than drunken gossip

19110-548: Was cut off from the rest of unoccupied France, the Minister of War Léon Gambetta succeeded in leaving Paris in a hot air balloon , and established the provisional republican government in the city of Tours on the Loire river. After the French surrender in January 1871, the provisional Government of National Defence disbanded, and national elections were called to elect a new French government. French territories occupied by Prussia at

19257-684: Was disproportionately large, at around 4% of its 2.2 million population. To add to these advantages, in April 1739 Frederick ensured Austria faced war on two fronts when Louis XV of France agreed to attack from the west, while Prussia did so from the north. In early December 1740, the Prussian army assembled along the river Oder and on 16 December invaded Silesia without a formal declaration of war. Since Austrian military resources were concentrated in Hungary and Italy , they had fewer than 3,000 troops in Silesia, although this increased to 7,000 shortly before

19404-458: Was dominated by ensuring her succession ahead of his two nieces. Prior to their respective marriages to Frederick Augustus of Saxony and Charles Albert of Bavaria in 1719, both nieces were obliged to formally renounce their rights to the inheritance. Charles assumed the rivalry between Saxony and Bavaria would secure his daughter's throne, since neither would be prepared to allow the other to inherit, but instead he gave his two greatest rivals

19551-461: Was driven by a combination of geography, and the superiority of the British navy, which made it difficult for the French navy to provide significant supplies and support to French colonies. The expectation was military victory in Europe would compensate for any colonial losses; in 1748, France recovered possessions like Louisbourg , in return for withdrawing from the Austrian Netherlands. The British tried to avoid large-scale commitments of troops on

19698-481: Was elected to the Chamber of Deputies while the monarchist majority in the Senate was maintained by only one seat. President de MacMahon responded in May 1877, attempting to quell the Republicans' rising popularity and limit their political influence through a series of actions known as le seize Mai . On 16 May 1877, de MacMahon forced the resignation of Moderate Republican prime minister Jules Simon and appointed

19845-491: Was forbidden, and religious orders were forbidden to teach in them. Funds were appropriated from religious schools to build more state schools. Later in the century, other laws passed by Ferry's successors further weakened the Church's position in French society. Civil marriage became compulsory, divorce was introduced, and chaplains were removed from the army. When Leo XIII became pope in 1878, he tried to calm Church-State relations. In 1884, he told French bishops not to act in

19992-465: Was forced to retreat, which led to his dismissal. Success allowed Spain to land troops in Northern Italy, and in April they captured the important port of Villefranche-sur-Mer , then part of Savoy . However, storms sank or severely damaged many French ships, while most of Louis' ministers opposed what they considered an expensive and futile diversion of resources. The invasion was cancelled on 11 March, Louis formally declared war on Britain, and in May,

20139-495: Was modelled on the photojournalism of the American magazine Life. France was a rural nation, and the peasant farmer was the typical French citizen. In his seminal book Peasants into Frenchmen (1976), historian Eugen Weber traced the modernization of French villages and argued that rural France went from backward and isolated to modern with a sense of national identity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He emphasized

20286-473: Was obliged to cede Alsace and Lorraine to the new German Empire , and the Wissembourg Gap therefore ceased to be an international border and became an internal boundary within Germany. As such it did not see any military action during the First World War . The Treaty of Versailles returned Alsace to France , and restored the Wissembourg Gap's status as an international border. In the Second World War ,

20433-536: Was originally conceived as a centre-left political alliance, but over time became the main centre-right party. The period from the start of World War I to the late 1930s featured sharply polarized politics, between the Democratic Republican Alliance and the Radicals . The government fell less than a year after the outbreak of World War II, when Nazi forces occupied much of France , and was replaced by

20580-513: Was proclaimed Emperor Francis I on 13 September. Bolstered by this significant political victory, Maria Theresa continued her attempts to regain Silesia, only to be defeated once again at the Battle of Soor on 30 September. On 15 December, the Prussians forced Saxony out of the war with victory in the Battle of Kesselsdorf , leading to the Treaty of Dresden on 25th. Austria accepted Frederick's ownership of Silesia, while Saxony paid him an indemnity of one million crowns; in return, Prussia accepted

20727-476: Was reduced to 36,000, half of whom then died of dysentery. Despite the surrender of Freiburg and French advances in the Southern Netherlands, Austria seemed well-positioned at the end of 1744. Frederick's retreat damaged his reputation and weakened his army, but the most significant impact was on Franco-Prussian relations, with Louis accused of failing to support Prussia. In Italy, an Austrian attack on

20874-509: Was short of money and men and also suspected France was preparing a separate peace. In June, the Treaty of Breslau ended the First Silesian War; Prussian troops withdrew from Bohemia, and Austria recaptured Prague in December. At the beginning of the year, Louis XV insisted Broglie be given command of the Franco-Bavarian forces, creating tension with the Bavarians, and their general von Seckendorff . With most of his lands occupied by

21021-464: Was supported by the proliferation of politicized newspapers. The circulation of the daily press in Paris went from 1 million in 1870 to 5 million in 1910; it later reached 6 million in 1939. Advertising grew rapidly, providing a steady financial basis for publishing, but it did not cover all of the costs involved and had to be supplemented by secret subsidies from commercial interests that wanted favourable reporting. A new liberal press law of 1881 abandoned

21168-506: Was the Netherlands, particularly after British troops were recalled to deal with the Jacobite rising of 1745 . The other was Italy, where a Franco-Spanish army under Maillebois and Infante Philip defeated the Sardinians at Bassignano on 27 September, then captured Alessandria , Valenza and Casale Monferrato . As a result, France made no effort to block the election of Duke Francis, who

21315-586: Was the right of Maria Theresa to succeed her father, Emperor Charles VI , as ruler of the Habsburg monarchy . France , Prussia , and Bavaria saw it as an opportunity to challenge Habsburg power, while Maria Theresa was backed by Britain , the Dutch Republic , and Hanover , collectively known as the Pragmatic Allies . As the conflict widened, it drew in other participants, among them Spain , Sardinia , Saxony , Sweden , and Russia . Prussia occupied

21462-408: Was widely praised, but was criticized by some who argued that a sense of Frenchness existed in the provinces before 1870. Aristide Boucicaut founded Le Bon Marché in Paris in 1838, and by 1852 it offered a wide variety of goods in "departments inside one building." Goods were sold at fixed prices, with guarantees that allowed exchanges and refunds. By the end of the 19th century, Georges Dufayel ,

21609-579: Was willing to mediate for him with Austria. Bavaria's exit allowed France to focus on the Low Countries, which Saxe persuaded Louis XV provided the best opportunity of defeating Britain, whose financial backing was crucial to the Pragmatic Alliance. He proposed to attack Tournai , a vital link in the trading network for Northern Europe, and strongest of the Dutch Barrier Forts , this forcing

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