History of Paris

From Roman domination to the Revolution until today

Paris was founded at the end of the 3rd century B.C. by a Gallic tribe (a Celtic-origin population). In 52 B.C. Julius Caesar conquered the land subjugating it to Roman domination, putting an end to centuries of conflicts between Gauls and Romans.
In the 2nd century A.C. Christianity was introduced; Roman domination ended in the 5th century when the Franks conquered the land.

In 508 King Clodoveus I made Paris the capital of the kingdom.
The Middle Ages were years of great wealth and welfare for the city during which huge structures were built (like Notre Dame and Louvre, in 1200 or so) and reclamation and drainage works were made.
In the 9th century Vikings invaded the west coast of France and after three centuries of war they enter Paris and that was the beginning of the Hundred Years War between Norman England and Paris Capetian Dynasty. The conflict ended up with the French defeat in 1415 in Agincourt and Paris under British rule in 1420.
In 1429 a young girl who went down in history as Joan of Arc joined French troops and defeated English ones in Orléans.
Paris struggled then against many troubles in the name of religion around 1500: there were fights between Huguenots (French protestants supported by England), Catholics and Monarchy.
Louis XIV, the Sun-king, was crowned in 1643 and ruled until 1715. In that period he led the city bankrupt because of internal rebellions and waste of money for the construction of magnificent buildings. He was succeeded by Louis XV and Louis XVI. The immoderacy of the latter caused, on July 14th 1789, the rebellions of the Parisians and the well-known “capture of the Bastille” that originated the French Revolution.
The State, destabilized by the Revolution, was put in order by Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1804 he was crowned French Emperor by the Pope. Napoleon conquered a great part of Europe but this thirst for conquest led him to defeat, in Russia in 1812 and then in Waterloo, Belgium, in 1815.
After Napoleon’s rule, France faced a very troubled period until 1851, when a coup d’état grant full powers to Napoleon III who in 17 years renovated and made the city majestic through the construction of wide boulevards and parks.

After World War I, between 1920s and 1930s, Paris became a world artistic centre and made proselytes among intellectuals supporting freedom of thinking. In 1940 French population suffered a bad blow because of Nazi invasion that let Germany rule on France until August, 25th 1944. At the end of the war, Paris took on its role as innovation supporter again and encouraged that strong liberal movement that reached its height during student rebellion in 1968.
As to recent history, under the eyes of the world, President Mitterand put the great urban-architectural plans into effect during 1980s; those plans gained general approval even when their outcomes were disastrous. The Pompidou Centre and Louvre glass pyramid are still subject for debates, from approval to criticism.