The French Empire officially refers to the geopolitical entity set up by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, though the French colonial empire is way older than that. French colonies started showing up in the Americas and India as early as the 17th century, and some of them still remain under French control. For the purposes of our discussion, though, we’d draw the line at the Algerian war of Independence in 1962, which is considered by many to be the effective end of the French colonial empire.
Throughout this long period, French society went through many profound changes in its government and social structure – changes that had a cascading effect on Europe and the rest of the world. One can find traces of many political currents that swept across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries within the history of the French Empire, including our modern ideas of liberty, freedom, revolution, and nationalism. In many ways, France is where the modern era began, despite strong, often well-armed resistance from the old one.
10. Revolutionary And Napoleonic Wars
The Revolutionary Wars were a series of conflicts between revolutionary France and almost all other major European powers at the time, most of them absolute monarchies. Beginning in 1792, the conflict would go on for more than two decades, pitting France against some of the largest, most battle-hardened armies of that time, including Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia, and sometimes even the Ottomans.
The Napoleonic phase of the conflict is now known as the Napoleonic wars, beginning with the establishment of his consulate in 1799. Despite the overwhelming combined superiority of the rest of Europe, France – at least in the first phase – proved to be an exceptional military foe. Many factors have been proposed for their early successes, including the military genius of Napoleon Bonaparte, introduction of the mass conscription system still used in countries around the world, and high morale among French soldiers.
Conflict continued until 1815, when Napoleon was finally defeated and exiled for good, though this entire period would have a defining effect on European affairs for a long time to come. For one, its revolutionary nature helped spread the ideas of the revolution across the land, such as universal suffrage, worker’s rights, liberty for all, and all that other good stuff.
9. The Original Vietnam War
The French Empire’s early experiments with overseas colonies might not have been as successful as, say, Britain or Spain, though it emerged as a formidable colonial power in the early part of the 20th century. Of all of its colonial possessions, Indochina – made up of modern day Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and parts of China – was one of the most lucrative. It was also strategically placed, which would be crucial in the upcoming World Wars.
That wouldn’t last long, however, as this was also a time when nationalist sentiments were growing within the country, especially Vietnam. As soon as WW2 was over, a majority of rebel fighters grouped under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, and declared a people’s republic in North Vietnam called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The first Indochina War lasted from 1946 to 1954, and resulted in one of the largest military defeats for a European colonial power at the hands of a native rebel army. While it was the end of French presence in the region, they left a country divided between communist-held areas in the north, and US-backed, royalist territories in the south, paving the way for what we now know as the Vietnam war.
8. Belle Époque
The French golden age – or Belle Époque, translated to ‘beautiful age’ – was a period of growth in arts, culture, living standards and general quality of life right after the Franco-Prussian war of 1971. It was also a relatively stable time without any major conflicts, allowing freer expression of ideas in all spheres. From 1871 to 1914, France tripled its GDP, made new strides in the upcoming fields of aviation, electronics, railways and automobile, and raised its urban wages by more than 50%, among many other achievements.
Some historians, though, object to that rosy view of this period, arguing that the time wasn’t a golden era for everyone involved. While some of the poorer sections of the society did benefit from this period of relative excess, most French citizens – especially outside its urban areas – saw little change in their day-to-day conditions. This was also when popular discontent started moving towards reactionary, racist points of view instead of the original ideas of the French revolution.
7. Left Vs. Right Wing
Left and right seem to be an arbitrary measure to describe political leaning, as there’s nothing inherently political or ideological about directions. Still, we continue to place conservative and reactionary ideologies to the right of the political spectrum, and those advocating for change or progressive reform on the left.
Similar to a lot of other commonly used political phrases today – like the ‘Fourth Estate’ – the left and right wings come from the French Empire. Precisely, they refer to the revolutionary National Assembly established in 1789 and its seating arrangement. The supporters of King Louis XVI – who’d be executed by the guillotine in January 1793 – and other royalists sat on the right. The left was taken up by all kinds of radicals, from the Jacobins to moderate Girondins to the more conservative Dantonists.
6. The Failed Colonial Empire
The history of the French Empire runs in stark contrast to other major European powers of the time. While others like Britain, Spain and Portugal already had thriving overseas colonial empires by the end of the 18th century, the French experiment with colonies didn’t turn out to be as successful, as they had lost most of their colonial possessions to Britain by the end of the 18th century.
That didn’t matter, though, as the political and social currents within France of that time would still have a major impact on European politics in the next century. While Britain’s colonial strategy was focused on overseas expansion, France developed theirs around battlefield superiority within Europe, and it turned out to be immensely successful during Napoleon’s reign. At the height of his power, France controlled almost the entirety of western Europe, with perhaps the largest army ever assembled in Europe up to that time.
5. Invasion Of Russia
We often compare the French invasion of Russia with Hitler’s disastrous Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union, though this interpretation is wrong on many levels. Most importantly, Napoleon’s wars, while still French, nationalistic and immensely bloody at times, weren’t ideologically or politically driven by the same interests as the Nazis; not even close. Strategically speaking, too, Napoleon fought a different, monarchist Russia that was far weaker compared to the Soviet war machine, making these comparisons illogical in many ways.
What they did have in common, though, is the final outcome of the war: absolute ruin for the invading force. Napoleon’s Grande Armée lost just the same as Hitler’s, and in much the same way, too, thanks to bad roads, harsh weather conditions, and a massive scorched-Earth campaign undertaken by Russian forces to destroy everything in their retreat back into the interior. Napoleon – despite his extraordinary genius on the battlefield back in Europe – lost more than 300,000 of the 500,000 troops in the entire campaign, leading to his downfall and first exile to the Mediterranean island of Elba.
4. The Paris Commune
While the French Revolution of 1789 did a lot to dismantle feudalism, its contribution to the emancipation of the most downtrodden parts of the French population was questionable. Many later thinkers consider it to be the end of feudalism and the beginning of industrial-era capitalism, as it did little to improve conditions for the rapidly emerging working class during the Industrial Revolution.
The Paris Commune of 1871 was another attempt almost a century later, though this time, it would be crushed far more brutally and finally. Set up in the immediate aftermath of the siege of Paris by Prussia in 1870-71, it was started by members of the National guard – a unit made of mostly workers defending the city – and went on for two months, before being suppressed by royalist forces. Some estimates put the number of dead at around 20,000, along with several other harsh measures against revolutionaries and other opposition groups within Paris.
3. War in the Vendée
The Vendée uprising was an exceptionally brutal phase of the immediate post-revolution years in France. Historians at the time saw it in the binaries of revolution and counter-revolution, though as we’ve come to realize in the years since, it was far from being that simple. The rebelling population was largely Catholic, royalist, conservative, and in favor of the restoration of the monarchy. However, it was also entirely made up of the local petty bourgeoisie – such as priests, administrators, military commanders, etc. – and working class people with their own idea of freedom.
The threat of counter-revolution had been a part of revolutionary theory in France since its early phases back in 1789. The Vendée uprising was the first organized effort by counter-revolutionaries to retake France, blurring the line between popular revolt and revolution, as in this case, popular sentiment supported the re-establishment of the Ancien Régime.
Historians have tried to explain it in many ways,, including the overwhelmingly Catholic and conservative population of the Vendée. Whatever the causes, the revolt – which had quickly turned into full-fledged warfare – went on from 1793 to 1796, and saw some of the most brutal violence against civilians in post-revolutionary France.
Estimates vary, though anywhere between 117,000 to 200,000 people may have died throughout this war. Most of them were civilians, too, with cases of rape, torture, summary executions, and intentional destruction of civilian property rampant across the Vendée region.
2. The Haitian Revolt
The Haitian revolt was an important event for colonial and revolutionary movements around the world, and is still referred to as the only successful slave revolt in history. Beginning in August, 1791 and ending in January 1804, it was one of the longest wars involving the French empire.
It was also the perfect example of the inherent contradictions within revolutionary French society – slavery and colonialism were treated as antithetical to the ideals of the revolution and banned within France, while still extensively used for labor and profit in the American colonies. For the Haitians, it was a particularly paradoxical position to be in.
Regardless, the revolt was fought on pretty much the same principles, espousing the ideas of liberty for everyone, separation of state and church, land reform for the common good, and freedom of religion. It’s debatable if those goals were actually achieved in the long term, though just like the French revolution that inspired it – which ultimately failed and resulted in an even stricter monarchy of the Bonapartists – at least they tried.
1. The Terror
By now, it’s clear that the French Revolution weighs heavily on the history of the French Empire. In some ways, it is the history of the French Empire, as France only reached the height of its imperial power in its immediate post-revolutionary years.
On the other hand, the revolution of 1789 also strengthened the forces of monarchy and royalism, largely triggered by the execution of Louis XVI by the guillotine in January, 1793. Within France, the event would further radicalize an already radical segment of the government, resulting in its bloodiest phase until that time – the Reign of Terror.
Beginning in September, Robespierrists – a radical Jacobin faction within the National Assembly – executed more than 40,000 people without trial for actions they perceived to be against the revolution. Between 300,000 to 500,000 were arrested across Paris, though accurate numbers are hard to come by due to the fog of war.
It remains one the most controversial parts of French history as well as revolutionary theory, and would have a major impact on events within France and the rest of Europe in the coming decades. For one, it would associate images of bloodshed and wanton murder with the relatively egalatarian and progressive ideas of the French revolution, massively weakening its appeal among the more conservative sections of European society.