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France Facts France is especially known for its French cuisine, its strong-tasting cheeses, wines and baguettes, all of which are enjoyed in France with every meal. Capital: Paris Official language: French Currency: Euro Passport and visa: A Finnish citizen needs…
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Bordeaux is the largest and most important city in the French department of Gironde. It is also the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which is quite popular among Dutch tourists. The beautiful old town from the world famous wine region…
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Renaissance and Mannerism The art of the Renaissance and Baroque in France was dominated by the strengthening of kingship. It took on Italian influences relatively quickly, which were decisive for the development of the characteristic French classicism (Classicisme). Architecture Initially,…
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Nouvelle critique The literary criticism provided important impulses for contemporary French literature. Already in the literary-theoretical-essayistic works of G. Bataille, M. Blanchot and G. Bachelard, the literary aspect in the narrower sense was closely connected with the reflection on language;…
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Architecture The core landscape of the Gothic is the Île-de-France, where influences from Burgundy (pointed arch, triforium), Normandy (ribbed vaults) and Provence (three-portal facade) formed a logically well thought-out building system. The first early Gothic building was built around 1130…
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According to the structure of French linguistic history, a distinction is made between Old French (9th – 14th centuries), Middle French (14th – 16th centuries) and, since the 16th century, New French literature. The lyric After 1945, poetry initially took…
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French art, term for the art of the West Franconian Empire, which began to stand out from German art around the turn of the first millennium. It originated in one of the oldest art centers on earth (Roman art, Celtic…
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In the poetry, the impulses of surrealism and symbolism were taken up (R. Char, H. Michaux, M. Jacob, P. Reverdy, P. Fargue and R. Desnos) or the poetry was cosmically-universally oriented (Claudel; Saint- John Perse, “Anabase”, 1924, German “Anabasis”; J….
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In view of the internal and external emergency – unrest in most of the departments, military setbacks in the spring of 1793 – and the increasing tensions between Girondins and Montagnards, the majority of the Paris sections, directed by Robespierre,…
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The experience of the First World War, the collapse of traditional Western values, led to a decisive turning point in political and social positions as well as in literary directions. R. Rolland was committed to pacifism and international understanding, and…
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Art. VI: The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens are entitled to participate in its creation personally or through their representatives. Whether it protects or punishes: it must be the same for everyone. Since all citizens…
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Symbolism and Decadence Symbolist poetry developed as a counter-movement to positivism and naturalism. She did not want to offer an image of reality, but rather to evoke layers of being and consciousness hidden behind the external appearances: the ambiguity of…
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French Revolution, in French history the period from 1789 to 1799, in the course of which the Ancien Régime was forcibly abolished and political and social relations were reorganized; beyond France, it also had an impact on the world of…
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The realistic novels The novels Stendhals and H. de Balzacs, which have both historical and contemporary backgrounds, mark the beginning of the great realistic novel of French literature. Realistic traits also characterize the novellas Mérimées, which often deal with romantic…
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With the expansion of the royal domain (crown domain), a strong monarchy was formed, which in early modern Europe became a political and cultural point of reference. The French Revolution made France a modern nation-state. Subjects of an absolute monarch…
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Pre-romanticism In addition to the political one, the French Revolution had brought about a social reorganization that put an end to the aristocratic salon culture. Writers belonging to the liberal opposition left Napoleon I’s France and wrote about their exile…
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In the first round of the presidential elections on April 23, 2017, eleven applicants took part. President Hollande had renounced a new candidacy. Former Minister of Economic Affairs E. Macron took first place with 24%. A year earlier he had…
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The Encyclopédie (1751–80), which by J. Le Rond d’Alembert and D. Diderot, later edited by Diderot alone, critically analyzed the current state of knowledge and the practical arts, also became an instrument of the Enlightenment and included state and church…
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President (from May 16, 2007) Sarkozy and his new Prime Minister F. Fillon sought comprehensive reforms of the social security systems. Despite weeks of protests by the opposition and the trade unions, a pension reform came into force on November…
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Historical and social foundations of the Enlightenment With recourse to rationalist and skeptical traditions and against the background of absolutist arbitrariness and failed attempts at domestic reform, political and philosophical, social, religious and general cultural criticism intensified during the 18th…
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The Second Empire (1852–1870) In the struggle to curb socialist demands, the plebiscitary-Caesarist technique of Bonapartism, as practiced by Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, soon prevailed. He used the security needs of the property bourgeoisie, the peasants’ fears of being downgraded…
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The classic drama The performance of P. Corneille’s “Cid” (1637; German “Der Cid”) had triggered a literary dispute over failure to observe the classical rules. was held in the Académie française; Corneille wrote regular dramas with the following pieces (including…
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Mitterrand won the presidential elections of 1981. Based on the absolute majority of socialists in the National Assembly won in the same year, the government of Fr. Mauroy (1981-84) introduced a reform program (increase in social benefits; nationalization of banks…
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Historical and cultural foundations The government of Henry IV initiated a period of internal peace after the denominational disputes of the 16th century, but this was followed by renewed political instability after the king’s assassination in 1610. The politics of…
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After the end of the war, the most important domestic political task was to eliminate or mitigate the economic, financial and social consequences of the war. When it came to the necessary decisions, the government and parliament were caught in…
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The beginnings of humanistic culture With the intervention of French kings in the political disputes in northern Italy from the end of the 15th century, the interest of the French elites in Italian Renaissance culture, Renaissance humanism and ancient culture…
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Under Heinrich IV. (1589–1610), with the after the murder of Heinrich III. When the House of Bourbon came to the French throne, the ruined country quickly rose again. His Protestant minister M. Sully (1597–1610) organized finance and economics; the first…
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Troubadour poetry, miracle and mystery games In the 12th and 13th centuries, poetry played an important role in France. Popular lyric poetry included, inter alia. the epically tinged, romance-like “Chansons d’histoire” and the “Chansons de toile”, the “Rondeaux” and “Virelais”…
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The French Revolution (1789-99) showed the weakness of absolutist rule in France and within a few years put the state (establishment of the First Republic in 1792) and society on new foundations (representation of the nation by the National Assembly,…
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Oldest testimonies The oldest evidence of French literature are dynastic and international law texts (“Les serments de Strasbourg”) and, in the broadest sense, missionary texts through which the Gospel should be conveyed to the population in the respective (Romance or…
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