Line #57 UsefulNotes/France


1	[[quoteright:328:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/france-map_8843.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:328:Vive la France!]]
3
4	->''Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité'' (''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity'')
5	-->-- '''French Republic's motto'''
6
7	France, officially known as the French Republic ('''French:''' ''République française''), and its predecessors. For those who don't know, France is a Romance country in Western UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, with non-Romance linguistic minorities living on the borders: Celtic Brittany, Allemanic Alsace and Lorraine (and a few other pockets), and some Basques in the extreme southwest (Iparralde). The name "France" comes from the Germanic Franks, who ruled the region formerly known to the Romans as Gallia ("Gaul" was, despite popular belief, not what Romans called the region), but the people living there were not, for the most part, ever Germans. Religiously speaking, a little over half the population regards itself as UsefulNotes/{{C\|hristianity}}atholics of some stripe, with the non-religious being the next largest group, and [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslims]], Protestants, UsefulNotes/{{J\|udaism}}ews, UsefulNotes/{{Buddhis\|m}}ts, and all the others making up the rest. Keep in mind though, that since French law forbids ethnic or religious censuses, any figures bandied about are based on opinion studies and their results can vary wildly depending on the criteria − some studies put non-religious people as the majority, notably.
8
9	France is the fourth-most populated country and second-largest economy in Europe, second only to UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} itself, although the position of number two is sometimes contested between France and the [[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom UK]]. It is sometimes called "The Hexagon", [[ShapedLikeItself because it is roughly hexagonal.]] France also has several oversea departments and territories all around the world, with the former (UsefulNotes/{{Martinique}}, UsefulNotes/{{Guadeloupe}}, UsefulNotes/FrenchGuiana, UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}} and UsefulNotes/ReunionIsland) being considered an integral part of the country. ''La France Métropolitaine'' is the term most commonly used to refer to the parts of France within Europe.
10
11	During a good chunk of the 19th century, French culture came to [[CyclicNationalFascination dominate]] much of the world, being seen as more refined, elegant, and cosmopolitan.
12	----
13	[[AC: French Culture, Media & Beyond]]
14	[[index]]
15	* FrenchMedia
16	** MediaNotes/FrenchNewWave
17	** Creator/{{ORTF}}
18	* UsefulNotes/FrenchLanguage
19	* UsefulNotes/LesGrandesEcoles
20	* UsefulNotes/SnailsAndSoOn
21	[[/index]]
22
23	[[AC: French Sports]]
24	[[index]]
25	* UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans
26	* UsefulNotes/TourDeFrance
27	[[/index]]
28
29	[[AC: French Geography]]
30	[[index]]
31	* UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} (capital city)
32	** UsefulNotes/LeMetropolitain (Paris's transit system)
33	* UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues (Administrative divisions of France)
34	** UsefulNotes/{{Corsica}}
35	** UsefulNotes/FrenchGuiana
36	** UsefulNotes/FrenchPolynesia
37	** UsefulNotes/FrenchSouthernAndAntarcticLands
38	** UsefulNotes/{{Guadeloupe}}
39	** UsefulNotes/{{Martinique}}
40	** UsefulNotes/{{Mayotte}}
41	** UsefulNotes/NewCaledonia
42	** UsefulNotes/ReunionIsland
43	** UsefulNotes/SaintBarthelemy
44	** UsefulNotes/SaintMartin
45	** UsefulNotes/SaintPierreAndMiquelon
46	** UsefulNotes/WallisAndFutuna
47	[[/index]]
48	[[AC: French History and Politics]]
49	[[index]]
50	* UsefulNotes/LesCopsSportif (French police)
51	* UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts
52	* UsefulNotes/OldFrenchMoney
53	* UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}
54	* UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy
55	* UsefulNotes/TheCathars
56	* UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar
57	** UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais
58	** UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc
59	* Duchy of Burgundy
60	** UsefulNotes/CharlesDukeOfBurgundy
61	** UsefulNotes/MaryDuchessOfBurgundy
62	* UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi
63	** UsefulNotes/EleanorOfAquitaine
64	** UsefulNotes/LouisXI
65	** UsefulNotes/LouisXIII
66	*** UsefulNotes/CardinalRichelieu
67	*** UsefulNotes/CardinalMazarin
68	** UsefulNotes/LouisXIV
69	** UsefulNotes/LouisXV
70	*** UsefulNotes/ChevalierDEon
71	** UsefulNotes/LouisXVI
72	*** UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette
73	* UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion
74	* UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution
75	** UsefulNotes/CharlotteCorday
76	** UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre
77	** UsefulNotes/MarquisDeLafayette
78	* UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars
79	** UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte
80	** UsefulNotes/JosephineDeBeauharnais
81	* UsefulNotes/TheFrenchColonialEmpire
82	* UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem
83	** UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance
84	*** UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle
85	* UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades
86	** UsefulNotes/TheUltimateResistance (French nuclear weapons)
87	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI
88	* UsefulNotes/MaginotLine
89	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII
90	[[/index]]
91
92	----
93	[[AC:The French flag]]
94	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_france.png]]
95	->The ''Tricolor'' was conceived during UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, and its design and/or colors have since been copied by other countries undergoing revolution. Blue and red are traditional colors of UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, associated with Saints Martin and Denis, Bishops of Tours and Paris, respectively; white was the color of the monarchy, UsefulNotes/MarquisDeLafayette added to (supposedly) symbolize the nation. It is also important to understand that ''Le Tricolore'' is SeriousBusiness to the French people, even moreso than the symbolic importance assigned by most other nations to their flags.[[note]]For example, after the fall of Napoleon III, France again became a republic (this time permanently) despite wide popular support for monarchy at the time, almost entirely because the would-be heir (Henri, comte de Chambord) refused to take the throne unless the Tricolor was replaced by the royal family's old white fleur-de-lys banner. The French people wouldn't accept this, so it was decided to wait until the comte de Chambord died (the next in line, Philipp, comte de Paris, was fine with the Tricolor). But Henri lived for another decade, by which time monarchy had declined in popularity. Ironically, in his youth the comte de Chambord had himself designed a "Royal Tricolor" with a variation of the royal coat of arms in the center, but apparently got more stubborn and uncompromising with age.[[/note]]
96	----
97	[[AC: National emblem of France]]
98	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coat_of_arms_of_the_french_republic.png]]
99	->It was adopted in 1905 during King Alfonso XIII's official visit to France.
100	----
101	[[AC:The French national anthem]]
102
103	->Allons enfants de la patrie,
104	->Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
105	->Contre nous, de la tyrannie
106	->L'étendard sanglant est levé.
107	->L'étendard sanglant est levé.
108	->Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
109	->Mugir ces féroces soldats?
110	->Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
111	->Égorger vos fils et vos compagnes!
112
113	->Aux armes, citoyens!
114	->Formez vos bataillons!
115	->Marchons, marchons,[[note]]or "Marchez, marchez" ("March, march") in an earlier version[[/note]]
116	->Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons!
117
118	--
119
120	->Let's go, children of the motherland,
121	->The day of glory has come!
122	->Against us, tyranny's
123	->bloody flag has been raised.
124	->Its bloody flag has been raised.
125	->Can you hear in the countryside,
126	->These ferocious soldiers bellowing?
127	->They come all the way into your arms
128	->[[KickTheDog To cut your sons and wives' throats!]]
129
130	->To arms, citizens!
131	->Form your batallions!
132	->Let's march, let's march,
133	->[[{{Squick}} And let an impure blood flow into our furrows!]]
134
135	It was written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle as a military song during the 1792 war against European royalists. The "impure blood" is a topic of controversy: one interpretation is that it designates the blood of the patriots [[HeroicSacrifice who sacrifice themselves for freedom]], opposed to the self-proclaimed [[BlueBlood "pure blood"]] of the nobles. Another, opposite one, is that it is the blood of the enemies and traitors who wanted to crush the revolution, "impure" meaning "treacherous" and "full of vice" in context. Historians rather favor the latter interpretation nowadays.
136
137	This is the first verse of seven (in the final version). Rest assured: they are all equally violent.
138	----
139	[[AC:Government]]
140	* Unitary semi-presidential republic
141	** President: Emmanuel Macron
142	** Prime Minister: Gabriel Attal
143	** President of the Senate: Gérard Larcher
144	** President of the National Assembly: Yaël Braun-Pivet
145	----
146	[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
147	* '''Capital and largest city:''' UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}
148	* '''Population:''' 67,406,000
149	* '''Area:''' 640,679 km
150	(247,368 sq mi) (42nd)
151	* '''Currency''': Euro (€) (EUR)[[note]][[UsefulNotes/OldFrenchMoney since 2002]][[/note]]
152	* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' FR
153	* '''Country calling code:''' 33
154	* '''Highest point:''' Mont Blanc (4810 m/15,781 ft) (28th[[note]]shared with UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}[[/note]])

Context UsefulNotes / France