France in 20th Century and Beyond

World War I (1914–18) was devastating for France. The worldwide economic depression that followed severely weakened the government while Germany gained power under the charismatic and acquisitive Adolf Hitler. France declared war on Germany in 1939, following the Nazi invasion of France’s ally, Poland. In 1940, the German army invaded France; the French army rapidly collapsed, and the Germans occupied the country. The period called the Collaboration is one of France’s most shameful. The government was transferred first to Bordeaux and then, under the Nazi-approved President Pétain, to Vichy. French General Charles de Gaulle refused to accept the armistice with Germany and Italy and broadcast a call for resistance from London on June 18, 1940. However, everything changed on June 6, 1944, when thousands of Allied troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and exiles from the invaded nations landed on the wind-swept shores of Normandy in the D-day invasion. Brilliant Allied military maneuvers led to the eventual surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945.
After the war, the Fourth Republic was set up in 1946. Insurrection in France’s African and Asian colonies caused huge problems for the government. After suffering great losses, France withdrew from most of its colonies, including Indochina in 1954 and Algeria in 1962. In 1958, General de Gaulle returned to power with the Fifth Republic. In May 1968, university students joined with workers in uprisings that paralyzed Paris, spread through the country, and led to de Gaulle’s resignation in 1969. Georges Pompidou became president in 1969, followed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1974. In 1981, the left came to power with the election of François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president since World War II. Mitterrand served two terms and bestowed on Paris famous grands projets such as the Louvre pyramid, Opéra Bastille, and Grand Arche de la Défense.
During the past decade, France has been heavily involved in the development of the European Union, the 12 countries that have banded together with a single currency and no trade barriers. In 1993, voters ousted the socialists and installed a conservative government that’s headed by Jacques Chirac as president. A decade of bombings, strikes, and rising unemployment all faded into the background on December 31, 1999, as Paris’s salute to 2000 with spectacular fireworks over the Tour Eiffel was one of the world’s most spectacular celebrations. In the postmillennium, political headlines in France have centered on its continuing deterioration of relations with its former ally, the United States. The problem centers on Iraq. Most French people bitterly resent the war in Iraq and were extremely critical of George W. Bush during his first four years in office.
On another, more ominous note, attacks against Jews in postmillennium France reached their highest level since World War II. An increase in anti-Semitic acts coincided with heightened tensions in the Middle East. Jewish schools, temples, and cemeteries were attacked. Late in 2005, decades of pent-up resentment felt by the children of African immigrants exploded into an orgy of violence and vandalism. Riots began in the suburbs of Paris and spread around the country. Throughout France, gangs of youths battled the French police, torched schools, cars, and businesses, and even attacked commuter trains. Rioting followed in such cities as Dijon, Marseilles, and Rouen. Horrible incidents were reported, including a woman on crutches who was doused with flammable liquid and set fire. Most of the rioters were the sons of Arab and black African immigrants, Muslims living in a mostly Catholic country. The reasons for the protests? Leaders of the riots claimed they live “like second-class citizens,” even though they are French citizens. Unemployment is 30 percent higher in the ethnic ghettos of France.