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This is a timeline of French history, comprising important legal changes and political events in France and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of France. See also the list of Frankish kings, French monarchs, and presidents of France.
There are many administrative divisions, which may have political (local government), electoral (districts), or administrative (decentralized services of the state) objectives. All the inhabited territories are represented in the National Assembly , Senate and Economic and Social Council and their citizens have French citizenship and elect the ...
The political history of France covers the history of political movements and systems of government in the nation of France, from the earliest stages of the history of France until the present day. This political history might be considered to start with the formation of the Kingdom of France , and continue until the present day.
Many of these forms of government were known in Classical antiquity, and pre-date the existence of France. Classical French historiography [ fr ] usually regards Clovis I ( r. 509–511 ) as the first king of France, however historians today consider that such a kingdom didn't begin until the establishment of West Francia in 843.
Administrative divisions of France. The departmental seat of government is known as the prefecture (préfecture) or chef-lieu de département and is generally a town of some importance roughly at the geographical centre of the department. This was determined according to the time taken to travel on horseback from the periphery of the department.
Map of the provinces of France in 1789. They were abolished the following year. Under the Ancien Régime, the Kingdom of France was subdivided in multiple different ways (judicial, military, ecclesiastical, etc.) into several administrative units, until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (départements) and districts in late 1789.
The French Revolution and Napoleonic eras fundamentally altered French society, promoting centralization, administrative uniformity across departments, and a standardized legal code. Education also centralized, emphasizing technical training and meritocracy, despite growing conservatism among the aristocracy and the church.
' old rule ') was the political and social system of the Kingdom of France that the French Revolution overturned [1] through its abolition in 1790 of the feudal system of the French nobility [2] and in 1792 through its execution of the king and declaration of a republic. [3] "Ancien régime" is now a common metaphor for "a system or mode no ...