The first written records for the history of France appeared in the Iron Age. What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul. Greek writers noted the presence of three main ethno-linguistic groups in the area: the Gauls , Aquitani and Belgae. Over the first millennium BC the Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians established colonies on the Mediterranean coast and offshore islands. In the later stages of the empire, Gaul was subject to barbarian raids and migration.
The Frankish king Clovis I united most of Gaul in the late 5th century. Frankish power reached its fullest extent under Charlemagne. The medieval Kingdom of France emerged from the western part of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire , known as West Francia , and achieved increasing prominence under the rule of the House of Capet , founded in A notable figure of the war was Joan of Arc , a French peasant girl who led forces against the English, establishing herself as a national heroine.
The war ended with a Valois victory in , strengthening French nationalism and increasing the power and reach of the French monarchy. Henry, the Bourbon King of Navarre , won and established the Bourbon dynasty. A burgeoning worldwide colonial empire was established in the 16th century. In the late 18th century the monarchy and associated institutions were overthrown in the French Revolution. The Revolutionary Tribunal executed political opponents by guillotine , instituting the Reign of Terror — The country was governed as a Republic , until Napoleon 's French Empire was declared in Following his defeat in the Napoleonic Wars , France went through regime changes, being ruled as a monarchy , then Second Republic , then Second Empire , until a more lasting French Third Republic was established in The Third Republic was dismantled, and most of the country was controlled directly by Germany, while the south was controlled until by the collaborationist Vichy government.
Following liberation in , the Fourth Republic was established. France slowly recovered, and enjoyed a baby boom that reversed its low fertility rate. Long wars in Indochina and Algeria drained French resources and ended in political defeat. Into the s most of the French colonial empire became independent, while smaller parts were incorporated into the French state as overseas departments and collectivities.
It played a central role in the unification process after that led to the European Union. It remains a strong economic, cultural, military and political factor in the 21st century.
