What is the history of France?

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What is the History of France?
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France, officially the French Republic, is a
unitary semi-presidential republic in Western
Europe, with a number of overseas regions and
territories. France is the largest country in
Western Europe and the third largest in Europe as
a whole, extending from the Mediterranean Sea to
the English Channel and the North Sea, and from
the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. Save for
Morocco and Spain, it is the only country that
has both an Atlantic and Mediterranean
coastline. As one of the oldest countries in the
world, France has a long and eventful history.
Today it stands as one of the worlds major
powers, with strong cultural, economic, military
and political influence in Europe and around the
world.
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History of France  Early History and People
Stone tools recovered in the area now known as
France suggest that early humans may have
inhabited the region at least 1.5 million years
ago.  Neanderthals, who inhabited France during
the Middle Paleolithic period (90,000-40,000
B.C.), are the first known people to have lived
in the region.  These Homo sapiens hunted
animals, made crude tools from flake-stone and
lived in caves.  In the late 19th century,
Neanderthal skeletons were found in caves located
at Le Bugue, a French region in the Vezere Valley
in Dordogne.
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Gaul and the Roman Conquest
The Gauls, a predominantly Celtic people, moved
into the region now known as France between 1500
and 500 B.C., establishing trading links by
approximately 600 B.C. with the Greeks, whose
colonies included Massilia (Marseille) on the
Mediterranean coast.  From a geographic
perspective, Gaul, as a region, comprised all
lands from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean
coast of modern France to the English Channel and
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rhine River and
the western Alps.  In short, the Gaul was not a
natural unit but a Roman construct, the result
of a decision to defend Italy from across the
Alps.
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A Look at the Dynasties
Around 450 AD, various groups of Franks moved
southwards.  The Ripuarian Franks, as they would
come to be known, settled near present-day
Cologne, in the middle of the Rhine area, and
along the lower forks of the Moselle and Meuse
rivers.  There were also what would become the
Salian Franks, who settled along the Atlantic
coast region.  The Salian Franks, along the
Atlantic coastline, were divided into many small
kingdoms. One of the better-known groups
established itself in and around the city of
Tournai its kinglet was Childeric (died c.
481/482), who traditionally is regarded as a
close relative in the male line of Merovech,
eponymous ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty.
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Merovingian Dynasty
Childeric was succeeded by his son, Clovis
(481/482-511), as King of the Merovingian
dynasty.  Among other accomplishments, Clovis was
responsible for unifying Gaul, with the exception
of a few regions in the southeast.  He
consolidated the position of the Franks in
northern Gaul during the years following his
accession.  In 486 he defeated Syagrius, the last
Roman ruler in Gaul, and in a series of later
campaigns, with strong Gallo-Roman support, he
occupied an area situated between the new
Frankish kingdoms of Tournai, the Visigothic and
Burgundian kingdoms, and the lands occupied by
the Ripuarian Franks and the Alemanni, removing
it from imperial control once more.
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The Carolingian Dynasty
As power was handed down for generations to the
next son in the Merovingian bloodline, the
dynasty continued to rule the country until 751,
although in the 720s they became mainly puppet
authorities, as effective power was increasingly
concentrated in the hands of the Pippinids (later
the Carolingian Dynasty), who thanks to their
valuable landholdings and loyal retainers,
maintained a monopoly on the office of mayor of
the palace.Because of their familys disposition
for the name Charles and because of the
significance of Charlemagne in the familys
history, modern historians have traditionally
called the Pippinids the Carolingian Dynasty.
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The Hundred Years War
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Renaissance
Renaissance
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