L'Histoire de la France Moderne Quiz

Answer: Nephew

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the son of Louis Bonaparte, himself briefly King of Holland between 1806 and 1810, and Hortense de Beauharnais Bonaparte, who was the stepdaughter of Napoleon I. Louis was the first Napoleon's brother, which didn't save him from being deposed from his throne for being too lenient on his subjects.

Louis-Napoléon, who had spent much of his life in exile following the downfall of Napoleon I, considered himself the rightful leader of France and made several efforts to rally support. The 1848 revolution brought him his chance, and he became President. Although his term should have lasted only four years, a coup d'état in December 1851 meant he remained in power, this time as Emperor, a position he held until 1870.

Answer: Sedan

The Franco-Prussian War lasted from July 1870 until May 1871. Prussia had been gaining in strength, becoming the most powerful of the Germanic states, especially after defeating Austria in the Seven Weeks' War of 1866. Attempts to put a Prussian prince on the throne of Spain was the catalyst for war, as France would then have threats on both its northern and southern borders, having been the dominant power of Europe for many years.

War was declared on Prussia by France, provoked by Bismarck, the 'Iron Chancellor' of Prussia. The war went badly for the French, with the Battle of Sedan proving decisive and an overwhelming victory for Prussia in September 1870. Napoleon III surrendered, bringing an end to the Second French Empire and the establishment of the Third Republic. Germany also became unified, and the uneasy peace between France and Germany was doomed to end in the slaughter of World War I.

Answer: La Belle Epoque

La Belle Epoque was a time of great artistic and mechanical innovation in France and gave the world such things as the Eiffel Tower, Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Of course, it wasn't called that at the time - the name was applied retrospectively.

The ending of the Franco-Prussian war had left France in turmoil and Paris had been taken over by the Paris Commune, a radical group. Reclaiming the city caused damage or destruction to many buildings, including the Tuileries Palace, but this gave the opportunity for rebuilding. The holding of the World's Fair in 1889 and 1890 was the impetus for much new work, including the Eiffel Tower. The Metro also dates from this period and artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Cezanne became prominent.

The era lasted from around 1871 until the all-out war of 1914-1918 brought it to a dramatic halt.

Answer: Jean Jaures

Auguste-Marie-Joseph-Jean Jaurès, to give him his full name, was a leading figure in French socialism, unifying various groups into one political party. Jaurès was active in the campaign to exonerate the falsely accused Dreyfus, which caused friction with his socialist colleagues since Dreyfus was a middle class military man.

Jaurès was his own man, and was actively working towards a peaceful negotiated agreement with Germany, a position he maintained even after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914. Jaurès himself would suffer the same fate only a few weeks later when he was shot by Raoul Villain, who was convinced that Jaurès was helping Germany's belligerent ambitions.

Answer: The Wild Beasts

Fauvism was a short-lived art movement and Matisse is the best known of the painters who are described as Fauvists. Marked by a bold use of colour, the heyday of the Fauvists lasted only from 1905 until 1908, although the style continued rather longer than that.

Georges Braque began his art career as a Fauvist before developing Cubism with Pablo Picasso and Fauvism is sometimes viewed as a forerunner since the movement rejected realistic depictions of people and places.

Answer: Verdun

The Battle of Verdun lasted from February until December 1916 with the German forces trying to secure access to the River Meuse, protected by the fortress of Verdun. Pétain was brought in after early German advances and a stalemate meant that neither side was in the ascendancy. Eventually, the French managed to repel the German assaults, with the Battle of Louvemont being the final action of the Battle of Verdun. The French captured thousands of German prisoners of war and ordnance, although paid a heavy cost in loss of life themselves.

Pétain was hailed as the Hero of Verdun for his leadership.

Answer: Vichy

France had fallen to Germany early in the war, with the northern part of the country an occupied state. Pétain was a member of the government and the leader of a faction classed as defeatist. He was appointed leader with Pierre Laval as his deputy, with the latter, in particular, being convinced the war was already lost.

In June 1940, a Franco-German armistice was signed, symbolically in the railway coach where the Germans had signed the surrender at the end of World War I, dividing France into two regions. The Vichy government, officially État Français, was free in name only. Pétain's 'government' fell in 1944; he was arrested, and tried for treason. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to solitary confinement for life. He died in 1951.

Answer: Photography

Cartier-Bresson was born near Paris in 1908 and his first interest was in painting before photography became his passion. He was a pioneer in what is now called photojournalism, capturing images which see below the surface. His most famous book is called 'Images à la Sauvette' or 'The Decisive Moment' in English, which was published in 1952 and has a collection of his notable photographs.

While the early days of photography seem a long time ago, Cartier-Bresson lived into the twenty-first century, dying in 2004 at the age of 95.

Answer: Algeria

While the British Empire is well known, France was not far behind, especially when it came to Africa. French colonies included the countries now called Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger as well as Morocco, Tunisia and Chad, among others.

Algeria became a French colony in 1830 when France invaded, with the pretext of putting an end to piracy along the Barbary coast. Many historical sources state that it was an attempt by King Charles X to improve his popularity. Whatever the reason, the French were reluctant to cede control and it took a long and bitter war, lasting from 1954 until 1962, before Algeria regained its independence.

The other three options were all British colonies.

Answer: Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle distinguished himself during both World Wars of the twentieth century. He fought at Verdun, became a brigadier general in World War II, and was part of the government in 1940, making secret trips to England to find ways of continuing the war. He escaped from France when he realised that Pétain intended to surrender, becoming the leader of the 'Free French'. In France, de Gaulle was sentenced to death in absentia.

Britain found de Gaulle difficult to deal with as his absolute self belief and ability to take offence caused many problems (this would last long after the war ended). Algiers became de Gaulle's new base from 1943 and he arrived back in France in 1944. Having kept a low profile for a few years, de Gaulle was chosen as the President in 1958, establishing the Fifth Republic, which still exists into the first quarter of the twenty-first century. He resigned in 1969 and died the following year.

Georges Pompidou became de Gaulle's successor while Alain Prost and Eric Cantona are French sportsmen, in Formula I racing and football (soccer) respectively.