Questions tagged [france]
Officially the French Republic is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands
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What would have kept Clement V from instigating a popular revolt against Philip V?
I am reading this book, "Trial of the Templars" by Malcolm Barber.
I am not a historian, so I do not know to what extent Barber's thesis is right - that the Templars were arrested because ...
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Skull and Crossbone door knocker in Southern France [closed]
My daughter has just bought an old house in Southern France and there is a skull and crossbones door knocker, again very old. I was wondering w
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Does it make sense to point cannons at a city (Marseille Fort St Jean)?
According to Wikipedia, Fort St Jean at the entrance to the Vieux Port in Marseille was built with cannons facing the city (instead of out towards the sea as would be typical) on the orders of Louis ...
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Who was an English spy in France in WW2 who escaped the Gestapo by listening to the 'little voice in his head' telling him "Leave Now!"
In a magazine article I read about an English spy in WW2. At one point he was in an apartment when the 'little voice in his head' told him "Leave Now!". He got up and walked out the door ...
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Did France send people from other countries to fight first during WWII?
I am from Poland. This past weekend, I talked with my mother-in-law, who was born in 1935 in France. In 1939, right before World War II broke out, she and her family went back to Poland. I was shocked ...
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Did Maupassant write to his mother about his attraction to women?
The book How the Brain Lost its Mind quotes a letter from Guy de Maupassant, adressed to his mother, in which he explains his inability to resist his attraction to women.
I am obsessed by women. I ...
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Did the famous French privateer Surcouf really drop that epic zinger on an anonymous British officer?
It is said that when a British captive officer taunted Surcouf with the words "You French fight for money while we fight for honour", Surcouf replied "Each of us fights for what he ...
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War deaths in France, 1919/1920
In the Sant Sernin basilica in Toulouse there is a monument to local people who died fighting for France, just like a lot of similar monuments in other parts of France (image here, description here). ...
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Why did France renounce its claim on St Paul and Amsterdam Islands?
Looking at the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, there is a group of islands called St. Paul and Amsterdam.
In the Amsterdam article, you can find this text:
The islands of Île Amsterdam and Île ...
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Was Dumas' Three Musketeers portraying 17th century France accurate? Alternatives?
Considering not only that Alexander Dumas wrote them ~200 years later, but that this and his other works were explicitly fiction, is the society portrayed in The Three Musketeers reasonably close to ...
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Military uniform identification ?French
This photo comes from a collection from my great grandmother. When she was in her 20's she is supposed to have been nanny to this officer's children. Supposedly his name was Jean Lerede and he was ...
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Who was the model for Trutat's famous painting Nude Girl on a Panther Skin?
I have actually got as far as a surname with this one: Tussa. But, if possible, I would like to get a forename and a date of birth to go with it.
Félix Trutat painted his famous Nude Girl on a ...
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Re-imposition of slavery and racist laws in France under Napoleon
The last chapter of the Tom Reiss's biography of General Alex Dumas tells in some detail the dark story of the re-imposition of slavery and very harsh race-based oppression by Napoleon, abrogating ...
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What's the significance of a wreath hung on the traverse / ridge pole of a tent in a military camp?
The first time I saw it, I thought it was odd, but then, 18th century artists love putting strange details in things, so I went on my merry way. But I've seen it a few times since, and now I've got ...
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Did the influence of women in the Paris Commune affect future women's movements?
There is a lot of evidence that shows that women played an instrumental role in the Paris Commune of 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. However, I do not seem to find any information ...
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What was the difference between Hussars and Chasseurs à Cheval in the 19th Century French army?
As far as I can discover, in 19th Century France, Chasseurs à Cheval and Hussars were both light cavalry with little or no armour, prioritizing speed over protection, armed with sabres and carbines, ...
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What are the intellectual roots of the "French Republican identity" pursuit?
The "French Republican identity" was born during French 3rd Republic (1870-1940), founded by political figures such as Jules Ferry and Léon Gambetta.
It is indeed the 3rd French republic ...
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Why is there so much prehistoric art found in Spain and France?
I was reading a book about prehistoric art, and a map with dots indicating locations of caves and deposits shown a lot of concentration around the norther area of Spain and also southern region of ...
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What is the meaning of the word "vallaque" in the French Wikipedia page on Avignon's history?
The Wikipedia page Histoire d'Avignon, contains a passage refering to the Frankish king of Austrasia Sigebert I. He was seeking access to the sea, so that he forced the conquest of a piece of land ...
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What was the role (if any) of Jesuits at the Lycée Louis-Barthou when Guy Debord was a pupil there?
French Situationist Guy Debord (1931-94) was a pupil at the Lycée Louis-Barthou in Pau, southern France. The school was founded by Jesuits in 1640 after a grant of letters patent in 1620. (Source.)
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Why did the French SFIO abandon its anti-militaristic views after Jaures' death?
Before his murder on July 31st 1914, Jaures and the SFIO attempted to unite the workers of the different European countries to not take part in what became WWI. However, only two days after his death, ...
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Is this a French uniform, and what is the time period?
Sorting through French family pictures, papers and glass slides.
Trying to put names to faces.
The picture below is the same gentleman (on the right) with his brother, who he had just bumped in to on ...
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Why did Napoleon IV die fighting in the British Army? [closed]
In 1879 in a war against the Zulu, Napoleon IV, son of Napoleon III participating in the British army met his maker. The question is why wasn't he part of the French army?
After the 1870 war his ...
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What is the context for these Napoleonic(?) sketches?
I'd be interested to know if anyone can put the pictures in this frame into a context. They were found in the eaves of my late father-in-law's house on Cornwall when the house was being cleared two ...
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What was the price of bread in France from 1789 - 1815?
I would really like to know the price of bread in France during the entire revolutionary and Napoleonic era. I am aware it was high in 1789, but couldn't find hard data for further years.
All my ...
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Where did France build up its fleet in 1805-1814?
I was reading about The Battle of Trafalgar and found this interesting section about the consequences:
Napoleon instituted a large-scale shipbuilding programme that had produced a fleet of 80 ships ...
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Who is 'Chlodebaudo/Chlodebaud' in the Merovingian-era Clovis I genealogy & Charlemagne ancestry, supposedly mentioned in a Salic Law manuscript?
In Henry H. Howorth's The Ethnology of Germany.-Part VI. The Varini, Varangians, and Franks.-Section II (1884), p.228 he writes:
We must remember also that in a genealogical table attached to an old ...
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Who placed first on entrance exam 1805 at École Polytechnique?
Wikipedia:Cauchy and Biography of Cauchy say that in 1805 Augustin Cauchy placed second of 293 applicants on the entrance exam at École Polytechnique. Who placed first?
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What are these objects around François Ravaillac's portrait?
What are the objects around the portrait of François Ravaillac, the assassin of king Henry IV of France?
Especially the top corners, and the strange animal in the middle.
Why would these be put around ...
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Is there an English translation of Nicolas de la Mare's 1722 work "Traité de la Police"?
Most places on the Internet (or maybe just the sites with the best SEO) put the origins of Western policing with Scotland Yard. For example, this article says policing came to the U.S. via England, ...
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Why did the Schlieffen Plan prioritize invading France?
AFAIK, the consensus is that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, which led to Russia coming to Serbia's defense. The fact that this would lead ...
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Who was Professor Henri Andre and what did he publish?
Looking at the history of electrochemical batteries, I came across this article from NASA where it says:
In the late 1920s, French Professor Henri André finally made the first practical silver-zinc ...
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Where and when did the legend that the Auld Alliance dates back to 809 AD begin?
The Auld Alliance
Apparently there is a legend that the treaty of 1295 named the Auld Alliance actually dates back to an agreement made between Achaius, a legendary king of Scots, and Charlemagne, ...
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Did France send ships to the Indian Ocean in 1971 in support of Pakistan?
During the Bangladesh Liberation War and related Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 which lead to the independence of Bangladesh, the US executive branch is known to have sent Task Force 74 in the Bay of ...
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How did the Palace of Poitiers change from its depiction in Tres Riches Heures to now?
They seem completely different so I'm really confused how they could be the same structure.Is there anything left of what was depicted in the manuscript?
Tres Riches Heures
Now (sorry couldn't find ...
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Why were French maids apparently so common outside France?
Wikipedia article doesn't help at all. It's surprisingly thin and essentially doesn't explain anything. It's only vaguely implied that this was a thing outside of France.
Why exactly did so many ...
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Until when did Russia occupy Paris after 1814
Russia occupied Paris in 1814 after the battle of Paris. They supposedly stayed for a while, I heard the anecdote that the word 'bistro' derives from that time (not generally accepted in linguistics ...
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What was the role of Scotland during the Hundred Years War?
Scotland was the enemy of England, as they had regained their independence. It made sense for them to join hands with the French forces. And I heard something like that in an Extra Credits video. But ...
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Were any prominent people exiled from France during the Hundred years war? Especially between 1390-1397
Were any notable figures (such as noblemen, or mercenaries, politician [idk what they called them back then] etc. ) that were exiled from France during Hundred Years War between 1390 to 1397. Or any ...
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Where can I find more information about destruction of a castle in Merlas, France?
On approximately the 21st of June 1944, some German troops burned a "castle" (not an historical one, built just before 1900) in the commune of Merlas (Isère), in the south-east of France.
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What did Robespierre think of Huguenots?
I've been reading up recently about the Huguenots ("French Protestants" could be synonym) and how they lived, and this question intrigues me- Did Maximilien Robespierre have anything to say ...
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How many Scots were present at the Battle of Bauge?
The Battle of Bauge
According to Wikipedia the Battle of Bauge was a decisive battle in liberating France from England during the one hundred years war. Apparently the battle was won by a five ...
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Was it viable to continue the battle of France in the French colonies in 1940?
Was continuing the battle of France in the French colonies a viable option in 1940?
This option was advocated by de Gaulle, Churchill, and many leading political figures in France at the time. De ...
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What is the historical explanation behind the name of the French village Ramatuelle?
A village in France is called Ramatuelle.
Is that true that the name of the town comes from the Arabic word Rahmatu-Allah رحمة الله which means "the Mercy of God"?
How does a village in ...
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What's going on with this graph of wheat prices in "Civilization and Capitalism"?
I've been reading through Fernand Braudel's Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century Vol I: The Structures of Everyday Life. On page 135, there's a graph of the price of a quintal of wheat in ...
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Can anyone tell me what military uniform this is?
This is my great grandfather and on the back of the picture it states "France 1913", I am restoring the picture, adding color, and need help identifying the uniform so I can make add the ...
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How long were Old Frankish dialects spoken in modern France?
How long were the Germanic dialects commonly subsumed under the term "Frankish" spoken by Frankish people in Northern Gaul, and how long did it take until they were completely supplanted by ...
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Why didn't colonial empires exchange their colonies with others empire to make their territories whole?
The colonial age created some weird territories that separated one country’s territory into terrible shapes, such as Senegal (colonized by France) and Gambia (colonized by Britain). Why didn't France ...
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Who was the last/is the current count of Orsay?
Alfred d'Orsay (1801-1852), comte d'Orsay, had no children so I believed that the title passed to his sister Ida d'Orsay (who is mentioned to be countess of Orsay on various websites) and then to her ...
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What was the persecuted group that was formally banned from leaving France?
I remember reading a long time ago about a marginalized group on the southern coast of France who was persecuted by the French government. This group for quite understandable reasons wanted to leave ...
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