French History and Politics

French History from Charlemagne to 1944

25 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 25 questions

  1. Which Frankish king was crowned emperor in Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800?
  2. Which treaty of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire among the grandsons of Charlemagne?
  3. Which dynasty began when Hugh Capet was elected king of the Franks in 987?
  4. Which battle of 732, fought between Tours and Poitiers, is linked with Charles Martel?
  5. Which city did Joan of Arc relieve from an English siege in 1429?
  6. In which year did the Hundred Years' War between France and England end, after the Battle of Castillon?
  7. Which king issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots?
  8. Which king revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 with the Edict of Fontainebleau?
  9. Which palace did Louis XIV make the permanent seat of the royal court in 1682?
  10. Which king was known as the Sun King?
  11. In which year did the people of Paris storm the Bastille?
  12. Which assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August 1789?
  13. Which French king was executed by guillotine in January 1793?
  14. Which revolutionary leader dominated the Committee of Public Safety during the Terror?
  15. In which cathedral was Napoleon crowned emperor in 1804?
  16. In which year did Napoleon suffer his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo?
  17. Who was elected the first president of the Second Republic in December 1848 and later became emperor?
  18. Which battle of September 1870 led to the capture of Napoleon III and the end of the Second Empire?
  19. In which year did the Paris Commune take power in the capital?
  20. Which writer published the open letter J'accuse in 1898 in defence of Captain Dreyfus?
  21. Which battle of 1916 became a lasting symbol of French resistance in the First World War?
  22. Who made the appeal of 18 June 1940 from London calling on the French to continue the fight?
  23. Which marshal headed the collaborationist French State based at Vichy from 1940?
  24. On which date did Allied forces land in Normandy in the operation known as D-Day?
  25. Which king signed the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539, making French the language of law and administration?

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