1. Where did the name France came from?
Ans:The name France came from the Latin 'Francia' which means country of the Franks.
2. What is absolute monarchy? Tell how it ended as a system of government in France?
Ans:France's political system of absolute monarchy was first initiated in the 17th century. After the period of the renaissance monarchy which was mainly based on the political consensus between monarch, social classes and the submissive’s league, absolute monarchy slowly emerged in the 16th century and was finally established during the 17th century.
3. Tell something about the following leaders in France ( their role, achievements, accomplishments)
a. King Louis XIII
-He is theKing of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643. Along with his First Minister Cardinal Richelieu, Louis "the Just" is remembered for the establishment of the Académie française and participation in the Thirty Years' War against the House of Habsburg. France's greatest victory in the war came at the Battle of Rocroi, five days after Louis' death— apparently from complications of intestinal tuberculosis, "marking the end of Spain's military ascendancy in Europe.
b. King Louis XIV-
He was the builder of the Palace of Versailles and he revoked the Decree of Nantes.
c. Cardinal Richelieu
-A French-Italian cardinal, diplomat, and politician, who served as the chief minister of France from 1642 until his death. Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a noted collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds, and he bequeathed the "Mazarin diamonds.His personal library was the origin of the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris.
d. Mazarin
-Mazarin followed Filippo I Colonna as captain of infantry in his regiment during the war in Monferrato of 1628, over the succession to Mantua. During this war he gave proofs of much diplomatic ability, and Pope Urban VIII entrusted him, in 1629, with the difficult task of putting an end to the war of the Mantuan succession.
4. What is a General Estates in France? What is its composition? Describe each.
Ans:France under the Ancient Regime, the States-General or Estates-General was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king. It had no true power in its own right—unlike the English parliament it was not required to approve royal taxation or legislation[1] instead it functioned as an advisory body to the king, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on fiscal policy[2]. The Estates-General met from intermittently until 1614 and rarely afterwards, but was not definitively dissolved until after the French Revolution[2].
It is comparable to similar institutions across Europe, such as the States-General of the Netherlands, the Parliament of England, the Estates of Parliament of Scotland, the Cortes of Spain, the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Diets (German: Landtage) of the historic states of Germany.
5. Tell something about the following events in the history of France:
1. Hundred Years War
-The precursors to the Hundred Years’ War came from both the French and the English. The French kings attempted to assert control over the English-held province of Guyenne [located in southwest France and corresponding to the present day French département of Gironde and most of the départements of Aveyron, Dordogne, Lot and Lot-et-Garonne]. Guyenne, [also known as Guyenne-et-Gascogne] from the earliest Roman days, had been part of what is now known as the region of Aquitaine. The 1259 Treaty of Paris, between Louis IX of France and Henry III of England, had made Henry III the vassal of Louis IX for both Guyenne and Gascony. England had previously maintained dominance over both Aquitaine and Gascony as a result of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s 12th century marriage to Henry II of England.
2. Thirty Years War
-In 1618, in the Bohemian capital of Prague, three Imperial representatives were thrown out of a window of the Hradshin Palace by angry Bohemian Protestant nobles. They were angry because the man who was soon to become Emperor, the future Emperor Ferdinand II, was a devout Catholic and had made it clear that he would not tolerate Protestantism. This was the "Defenestration of Prague"; the incident which ignited the powder barrel. In 1619, when the old Emperor died, the Bohemians refused to offer the crown of Bohemia to the new Emperor Ferdinand. He in turn decided to take the crown by force and to eliminate Protestantism in that part of the Empire (remember the Peace of Augsburg).
3. War of Spanish Successions
-The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was fought among several European powers, principally the Spanish loyal to Archduke Charles, the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy against the Spanish loyal to Philip V, France and the Electorate of Bavaria over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. Such a unification would have drastically changed the European balance of power. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America and it was marked by the military leadership of notable generals including the Duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. It resulted in the recognition of Philip as King of Spain while requiring him to renounce any claim to the French throne and to cede much of the Spanish Crown's possessions to the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Savoy and Great Britain, partitioning the Spanish Empire in Europe.
4. French Revolution
-The French Revolution (French: Révolution française; 1789–99) was a period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights