A brief, dated history of France.
Gaul and Roman rule
The Celtic Gauls were conquered by Julius Caesar, whose victory over Vercingetorix at Alesia in 52 BC brought Gaul into the Roman Empire for nearly five centuries.
The Franks and the Middle Ages (486–1453)
The Frankish king Clovis unified the territory around 486–507 and converted to Christianity. Charlemagne was crowned Emperor in 800. In 987 Hugh Capet founded the dynasty that would build the French kingdom. The Hundred Years War with England (1337–1453) was turned by Joan of Arc in 1429 and ended with English expulsion.
Renaissance and absolute monarchy (16th–18th centuries)
The Renaissance brought the great châteaux of the Loire. Royal power peaked under Louis XIV, the "Sun King" (reigned 1643–1715), who built Versailles and made France the dominant power in Europe.
The Revolution and Napoleon (1789–1815)
The French Revolution erupted with the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, abolishing the monarchy and proclaiming liberty, equality and fraternity. Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor in 1804 and reshaped Europe before his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815.
Republics, empires and world wars
The 19th century swung between monarchy, empire and republic, settling into the Third Republic in 1870. France bore terrible losses in the First World War (1914–18) and was occupied during the Second World War (1940–44) before liberation.
Modern France
The Fifth Republic was founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. A founding member of the European Union and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, France remains a global leader in culture, science and diplomacy — and the world most visited country.
Informational summary. Dates follow widely accepted historical consensus.