CHAPTER IX.

THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE.

Origin and growth of France; comparison with Austria 325

How far Karolingia split off from the Empire 326

France a nation as well as a power 326-327

Use of the name of _France_; its dukes acquire the western kingdom; extent of their dominion 327-328

Two forms of annexation; first, of fiefs of the crown; secondly, of lands beyond the kingdom 328

Distinctions among the fiefs; the great vassals; Normandy; Britanny 328

The Twelve Peers; different position of the bishops in Germany and Karolingia 328-329

§ 1. _Incorporation of the Vassal States._

The duchy of France in 987; the King cut off from the sea 329-330

The neighbouring states; position of the Parisian kings 330

The kings less powerful than the dukes; advantages of their kingship; first advances of the kings 331

The House of Anjou; gradual union of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Aquitaine, and Gascony 331-333

Acquisition of continental Normandy, Anjou, &c. 333-334

The English kings keep Aquitaine and insular Normandy 334

Sudden greatness of France 334

Fiefs of Aragon in Southern Gaul; counts of Toulouse and Barcelona 334-335

Effects of the Albigensian war; French annexations; Roussillon and Barcelona freed from homage 335

Languedoc 335

Other annexations of Saint Lewis 335-336

Annexation of Champagne; temporary possession of Navarre 336-337

The Hundred Years’ War; relations between France and Aquitaine; momentary possession of Aquitaine by Philip the Fair 337

Peace of Bretigny; Aquitaine and other lands freed from homage 337-338

Peace of Troyes; momentary union of the French and English crowns 338

Final annexation of Aquitaine; beginning of the modern French kingdom 338-339

Growths of the Dukes of Burgundy; the towns on the Somme; momentary annexation of Artois and the County of Burgundy 339-340

Annexation of the duchy of Burgundy; Flanders and Artois released from homage; analogy with Aquitaine 340-343

§ 2. _Foreign Annexations of France._

Relations between France and England; Boulogne; Dunkirk 341-342

Relations between France and Spain; Roussillon; Navarre; Andorra 342-343

Advance at the cost of the Imperial kingdoms, first Burgundy, then Germany 343

Effect of the Burgundian conquests of France; relations with Savoy and Switzerland 344

History of the _Langue d’oc_ 345

French dominion in Italy; slight extent of real annexation 345-346

French annexations from Germany; the Three Bishoprics; effect of isolated conquests 346

French acquisitions in Elsass; France reaches and passes the Rhine; increased isolation 347-348

Temporary annexation of Bar; annexation of Roussillon; advance in the Netherlands 348-349

Annexation of Franche Comté and Besançon; seizure of Strassburg; annexation of Orange 349-350

Annexation of Lorraine; thorough incorporation of French conquests; effect of geographical continuity 350-351

Purchase of Corsica; its effects; birth of Buonaparte 351-352

§ 3. _The Colonial Dominion of France._

French colonies in North America; Acadia; Canada; Louisiana 352

Colonial rivalry of France and England; English conquest of Canada 353

French West India Islands 353

The French power in India; Bourbon and Mauritius 353-354

§ 4. _Acquisitions of France during the Revolutionary Wars._

Distinction between the Republican and ‘Imperial’ Conquests 355-356

First class of annexations; Avignon, Mülhausen, Montbeliard; Geneva; bishopric of Basel 355

Second zone; traditions of Gaul and the Rhine; Netherlands; Savoy, &c.; feelings of Buonaparte towards Switzerland 355-356

Character of Buonaparte’s conquests; dependent and incorporated lands; division of Europe between France and Russia 356-357

The French power in 1811 357-358

Arrangements of 1814-1815 358-359

Later changes; annexation of Savoy, Nizza, and Mentone; loss of Elsass and Lorraine 359

Losses among the colonies; independence of Hayti; sale of Louisiana 359-360

Conquest of Algeria; character of African conquests 360