France:
This country of six-five million residents is one of the forebearers of western influence.It's newly elected leader Francois Hollande took office in May,2012 as a member of the socialist party that overtook Nicholas Sarkozy of the Popular Party. Paris as one of the world's cultural capitals has 12 million residents with the next largest cities being Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice.
It's hard to miss it's prominent geographic territory, as it's the larget western European country. France is credited with many diverse characteristics aside from it's cultural heritage such as being an economic world power and diplomatic leader on major international issues. It's political history likely helped define the image of its importance going back to the ruling days of Napolean Bonaparte. For centuries, leadership by royal monarchs existed up until monumental change occurred in the late 18th century.
A shift from the absolute to a constitutional monarchy took place after havok erupted from the storming of the Parisian Bastile prison in 1789 that resulted in Louis XVI's promotion to power. He received large popularity until strife ensued among outside ruling governments particularly that of Austria, and French citizens perceived the threat of a reinstallation of the absolute monarchy for which a revolution quickly erupted across the country. Revolutionaries called for structuing of a Republic political system and several years of harsh fighting ensued.
Hostilities eventually calmed as France fended off foreign threats and centralized the power of the Republic. Bonaparte came to power and oversaw further expansion of the country's borders, exerting ideaological influence along the way until his demise at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Such a brief retelling of this period's escalation of events doesn't reflect adequately on the country's long history and it's exemplified presence as a model for other Western nations. Yet an introduction to some of it's noteworthy events shall offer a starting point from where the country has evolved to it's current state of being.
