France

From the forests of Gaul to the Fifth Republic

France was not founded in a single moment but assembled over two thousand years — from Celtic Gaul and Roman province, through the Frankish realms that gave the country its name, the long consolidation of the Capetian kings, the Revolution that abolished the monarchy, and five republics punctuated by two empires. Few nations have rehearsed so many ideas of what a state can be.