Rick Steves France 2016

About the time of Christ, Romans “Latinized” the land of the Gauls. With the fifth-century fall of Rome, the barbarian Franks and Burgundians invaded. Today’s France evolved from this unique mix of Latin and Celtic cultures.

While France wallowed with the rest of Europe in medieval darkness, it got a head start in its development as a nation-state. In 507, Clovis, the king of the Franks, established Paris as the capital of his Christian Merovingian dynasty. Clovis and the Franks would eventually become Louis and the French. The Frankish military leader Charles Martel stopped the spread of Islam by beating the North African Moors at the Battle of Tours (a.k.a. the Battle of Poitiers). And Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”), the most important of the “Dark Age” Frankish kings, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope in 800. Charlemagne presided over the “Carolingian Renaissance” and effectively ruled an empire that was vast for its time.

The Treaty of Verdun (843), which divided Charlemagne’s empire among his grandsons, marks what could be considered the birth of Europe. For the first time, a treaty was signed in vernacular languages (French and German), rather than in Latin. This split established a Franco-Germanic divide, and heralded an age of fragmentation. While petty princes took the reigns, the Frankish king ruled only Ile de France, a small region around Paris.

Vikings, or Norsemen, settled in what became Normandy. Later, in 1066, these “Normans” invaded England. The Norman king, William the Conqueror, consolidated his English domain, accelerating the formation of modern England. But his rule also muddied the political waters between England and France, kicking off a centuries-long struggle between the two nations.

In the 12th century, Eleanor of Aquitaine (a separate country in southwest France) married Louis VII, king of France, bringing Aquitaine under French rule. They divorced, and she married Henry of Normandy (soon to be Henry II of England). This marital union gave England control of a huge swath of land from the English Channel to the Pyrenees. For 300 years, France and England would struggle over control of Aquitaine. Any enemy of the French king would find a natural ally in the English king.

In 1328, the French king Charles IV died without a son. The English king (Edward III), Charles IV’s nephew, was interested in the throne, but the French resisted. This quandary pitted France, the biggest and richest country in Europe, against England, which had the biggest army. They fought from 1337 to 1453 in what was modestly called the Hundred Years’ War.

Regional powers from within France actually sided with England. Burgundy took Paris, captured the royal family, and recognized the English king as heir to the French throne. England controlled France from the Loire north, and things looked bleak for the French king.

Enter Joan of Arc, a 16-year-old peasant girl driven by religious voices. France’s national heroine left home to support Charles VII, the dauphin (boy prince, heir to the throne but too young to rule). Joan rallied the French, ultimately inspiring them to throw out the English. In 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English, who convicted her of heresy and burned her at the stake in Rouen. But the inspiration of Joan of Arc lived on, and by 1453 English holdings on the Continent had dwindled to the port of Calais. (For more on Joan of Arc, see here.)

By 1500, a strong, centralized France had emerged, with borders similar to today’s. Its kings (from the Renaissance François I through the Henrys and all those Louises) were model divine monarchs, setting the standards for absolute rule in Europe.

Outrage over the power plays and spending sprees of the kings—coupled with the modern thinking of the Enlightenment (whose leaders were the French philosophes)—led to the French Revolution (1789). In France, it was the end of the ancien régime, as well as its notion that some are born to rule, while others are born to be ruled.

The excesses of the Revolution in turn led to the rise of Napoleon, who ruled the French empire as a dictator. Eventually, his excesses ushered him into a South Atlantic exile, and after another half-century of monarchy and empire, the French settled on a compromise role for their leader. The modern French “king” is ruled by a constitution. Rather than dress in leotards and powdered wigs, France’s president goes to work in a suit and carries a briefcase.

The 20th century spelled the end of France’s reign as a military and political superpower. Devastating wars with Germany in 1870, 1914, and 1940—and the loss of her colonial holdings—left France with not quite enough land, people, or production to be a top player on a global scale. But the 21st century may see France rise again: Paris is a cultural capital of Europe, and France—under the EU banner—is a key player in integrating Europe as a single, unified economic power. And when Europe is a superpower, Paris may yet be its capital.

FRANCE TODAY

Today, the main political issue in France is—like everywhere—the economy. Initially, France weathered the 2008 downturn better than the US, because it was less invested in risky home loans and the volatile stock market. But now France, along with the rest of Europe, has been struggling. French unemployment remains high (over 10 percent) and growth has flatlined. France has not balanced its books since 1974, and public spending, at 56 percent of GDP, chews up a bigger chunk of output than in any other eurozone country. Abroad, the entire eurozone has been dragged down by countries heavily in debt—Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland. The challenge for French leadership is to address its economic problems while maintaining the high level of social services that the French people expect from their government.

France has its economic strengths: a well-educated workforce, an especially robust services sector and high-end manufacturing industry, and more firms big enough to rank in the global Fortune 500 than any other European country. Ironically, while France’s economy may be one of the world’s largest, the French remain skeptical about the virtues of capitalism and the work ethic. Globalization conflicts in a fundamental way with French virtues—many fear losing what makes their society unique in the quest for a bland, globalized world. Business conversation is generally avoided, as it implies a fascination with money that the French find vulgar. (It’s considered gauche even to ask what someone does for a living.) In France, CEOs are not glorified as celebrities—chefs are.

The French believe that the economy should support social good, not vice versa. This has produced a cradle-to-grave social security system of which the French are proud. France’s poverty rate is half of that in the US, proof to the French that they are on the right track. On the other hand, if you’re considering starting a business in France, think again—taxes are formidable (figure a total small-business tax rate of around 66 percent—and likely to increase). French voters are notorious for their belief in the free market’s heartless cruelty, and they tend to see globalization as a threat rather than a potential benefit. France is routinely plagued with strikes, demonstrations, and slowdowns as workers try to preserve their hard-earned rights in the face of a competitive global economy.

France is part of the 28-member European Union, a kind of “United States of Europe” that has successfully dissolved borders and implemented a common currency, the euro. France’s governments have been decidedly pro-EU. But many French are Euro-skeptics, afraid that EU meddling threatens their job security and social benefits.

The French political scene is complex and fascinating. France is governed by a president (currently François Hollande), elected by popular vote every five years. The president then selects the prime minister, who in turn chooses the cabinet ministers. Collectively, this executive branch is known as the gouvernement. The parliament consists of a Senate (348 seats) and the 577-seat Assemblée Nationale.

In France, compromise and coalition-building are essential to keeping power. Unlike America’s two-party system, France has a half-dozen major political parties, plus more on the fringes. A simple majority is rare. Even the biggest parties rarely get more than a third of the votes. Since the parliament can force the gouvernement to resign at any time, it’s essential that the gouvernement work with them.

For a snapshot of the current political landscape, look no further than the 2012 elections that brought François Hollande to power. He faced incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy of the center-right Popular Movement Union (UMP—now rebranded the “Republicans”)—the man who had cut taxes, reduced the size of government, limited the power of unions, cut workers’ benefits, and (most controversially) raised the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Hollande’s Socialist Party (PS) was just one of Sarkozy’s challengers. There was the radical Left Front Party (which includes the once-powerful Communists) and the environmental Green Party (Les Verts). On the far-right was the National Front party (FN), led by Marine Le Pen. She called for expulsion of ethnic minorities, restoration of the French franc as the standard currency, secession from the EU, and broader police powers.

After several months and one TV debate (yes, the French election season is that short), Hollande emerged victorious. And just one month later, his Socialist Party captured more than half of the 577 seats of the Assemblée Nationale. Nevertheless, Hollande has to work closely with legislators, including a strong minority from opposing parties.

François Hollande is politically moderate and personally modest, even boring. Raised in a suburban Parisian middle-class home, he rose quietly through the ranks: assemblyman from a nondescript département, small-town mayor, secretary of the Socialist Party. He’s never before held a major elected office. Though Hollande is a “Socialist” (a word that spooks Rush Limbaugh), he’s in the mainstream of the European political spectrum.

Hollande moved into the Elysée Palace (the French White House) with his “Première Dame” (or first lady), Valérie Trierweiler. Trierweiler is a well-known journalist who writes for the magazine Paris Match (the French counterpart to Time). She was the first unwed first lady to occupy the Elysée Palace. But in January 2014, it was revealed that Hollande was cheating on her (his personal guards drove him on a Vespa to his lover’s apartment in the wee hours), which brought the relationship to an end. Oh-la-la—imagine this drama in the States. Reaction in France has been predictably understated, as one’s personal business is, after all, personal.

But Hollande faces challenges beyond his home life. On the sluggish economy, he favors government expansion and stimulus rather than austerity: hiring thousands of teachers and building hundreds of thousands of homes. Abroad, he’s run into trouble working with Germany to shore up weaker members of the eurozone—particularly Greece. And he’s had to abandon his promise to return the retirement age—at least for some workers—to 60. Hollande’s lune de miel (honeymoon) has clearly passed—liberals and conservatives alike are furious over his economic policies. In the spring of 2015 his approval rating was below 20 percent.

In recent years the French political scene has become as polarized as in the United States, although the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 brought some unity, if only for a short period. This attack shocked a nation unaccustomed to terrorism on its soil. The government’s challenge: to respond with sufficient intensity to deter would-be terrorists without infringing on the rights of its Muslim population.

Another ongoing issue that French leaders must work together to address is immigration, which is shifting the country’s ethnic and cultural makeup in ways that challenge French society. Ten percent of France’s population is of North African descent, mainly immigrants from former colonies. The increased number of Muslims raises cultural questions in this heavily Catholic society that institutes official state secularism. The French have (quite controversially) made it illegal for women to wear a full, face-covering veil (niqāb) in public. They continue to debate whether banning the veil enforces democracy—or squelches diversity.

Finally, a prominent Socialist whom Hollande must contend with is Ségolène Royal. She lost to Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election, and lost to Hollande in the 2011 primary. In 2014, she was appointed France’s Minister of Ecology. As it happens, Royal and Hollande know each other well: They met in college, lived together for 30 years, and raised four children before splitting up in 2007. They never married. French politics makes strange bedfellows. But that’s personal...

For more about French history, consider Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler by Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw, available at www.ricksteves.com.

FRANCE: PAST AND PRESENT

FRENCH HISTORY IN AN ESCARGOT SHELL

FRANCE TODAY