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Directory (French Government 1795)In political history, the term directory, in French directoire, applies to high collegial institutions of state composed of members styled director (French directeur, etc.)
In modern speech, the term is also used, more informally, to describe a small group of influential states that is said to 'direct' the agenda, and weigh heavily on the decisions, of a larger international organism, especially if they meet en petit comité.
French Directoire
Executive Directory (in French Directoire exécutif), commonly known as the Directory (or Directoire) held executive power in France from 2 November, 1795 until 10 November,1799: from the end of the Convention to the beginning of the Consulate. Five Directors shared power. In the history of France, the period of this regime, commonly referred to as the Directoire era, constitutes the last stage of the French Revolution and precedes the coming of the Consulate, which, in turn, was followed by the First Empire.
Constitution of Year III
In its final shape, the constitution of the Directory period centred on a parliamentary system of two houses: a Council of Five Hundred and a Council of Ancients, 250 in number. Members of the Five Hundred needed to have reached at least thirty years of age, members of the Ancients at least forty. The system of indirect election of the Convention period continued, but the constitution abandoned universal suffrage. Electors needed a moderate qualification in the first degree, a higher one in the second degree.
After the election of 750 persons, they had the duty of choosing the Ancients from their own number. A legislature had a period of three years, with one-third of the members renewed every year. The Ancients held a suspensory veto, but no initiative in legislation.
The constitution specified the executive as consisting of five directors, chosen by the Ancients out of a list elected by the Five Hundred. One director faced retirement each year. Ministers for the various departments of State aided the directors. These ministers did not form a council and had no general powers of government.
The system made provision for the stringent control of all local authorities by the central government. Since the separation of powers still appeared axiomatic, the directors had no voice in legislation or taxation, nor could directors or ministers sit in either house. The law guaranteed freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of labour, but forbade armed assemblies and even public meetings of political societies. Only individuals or public authorities could tender petitions.
From the beginning, however, circumstances restricted the free play of the constitution. The Convention had acquired so much unpopularity that, if its members had retired into private life, they would have courted danger and risked the undoing of their work. Therefore a decree required that two-thirds of the first legislature must come from among the members of the Convention.
When the constitution went before the primary assemblies, most electors held aloof, 1,050,000 voting for and only 5,000 voting against it. On 23 September it officially became law. Then all the parties which resented the limit upon freedom of election combined in Paris to rise in revolt. The government entrusted its defense to Barras; but its true man of action was the young General Napoleon Bonaparte, who had the use of a few thousand regular troops and of a powerful artillery. On 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795) the ill-equipped and ill-led Parisian insurgents saw their insurrection quelled almost without loss to the victors. Further resistance seemed impossible. The Convention dissolved itself on 26 October 1795.
The Directeurs (Directors)
Initial Composition
The feeling of the nation showed clearly in the elections. Among those who had sat in the Convention the anti-Jacobins generally prevailed. Leaders of the old Right sometimes won the mandate of many départements at once. Owing to this circumstance, 104 places reserved to the new members of the Convention remained unfilled. When the persons elected met, they had no choice but to co-opt the 104 from the Left of the Convention. The new one-third appeared, as a rule, as enemies of the Jacobins, but not of the Revolution. Many had served as members of the Constituent or of the Legislative Assembly. When the new legislature was complete, the Jacobins had a majority, although a weak one.
After the selection of the Council of the Ancients by lot, it remained to name the directors. For its own security the Left resolved that all five must be old members of the Convention and regicides. The Ancients chose Rewbell, Barras, La Révellière Lépeaux, Carnot and Letourneur.
Rewbell was an able, although unscrupulous, man of action; Barras a dissolute and shameless adventurer; La Révellière Lépeaux the chief of a new sect, the Theophilanthropists, and therefore a bitter foe to other religions, especially the Catholic. Severe integrity and memorable public services raised Carnot far above his colleagues, but he was not a statesman and was hampered by his past. Letourneur, a harmless insignificant person, admired and followed Carnot.
The division in the legislature was reproduced in the Directory. Rewbell, Barras and La Révellière Lépeaux had a full measure of the Jacobin spirit; Carnot and Letourneur favoured a more temperate policy.
All Directeurs (5 at any time)
- 2 November 1795 – 18 June 1799 Louis-Marie de La Revellière, dit (that is, also known as) La Revellière-Lépeaux
- 2 November 1795 – 26 May 1797 Étienne-François Le Tourneur, dit Le Tourneur (de la Manche)
- 2 November 1795 – 19 May 1799 Jean-François Rewbell
- 2 November 1795 – 10 November 1799 Paul Barras
- 4 November 1795 – 5 September 1797 Lazare Carnot
- 26 May 1797 – 5 September 1797 François Barthélemy
- 8 September 1797 – 18 June 1799 Philippe-Antoine Merlin, dit Merlin de Douai
- 9 September 1797 – 19 May 1798 Nicolas François de Neufchâteau
- 20 May 1798 – 17 June 1799 Jean-Baptiste Treilhard
- 20 May 1799 – 10 November 1799 Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
- 17 June 1799 – 10 November 1799 Louis-Jérôme Gohier
- 19 June 1799 – 10 November 1799 Pierre-Roger Ducos, dit Roger-Ducos
- 20 June 1799 – 10 November 1799 Jean-François-Auguste Moulin
Character of the French Directory Period
With the establishment of the Directory, the Revolution might seem closed. The nation only desired rest and the healing of its many wounds. Those who wished to restore Louis XVIII of France and the ancien régime and those who would have renewed the Reign of Terror were insignificant in number. The possibility of foreign interference had vanished with the failure of the First Coalition. Nevertheless, the four years of the Directory were a time of arbitrary government and chronic disquiet. The late atrocities had made confidence or goodwill between parties impossible. The same instinct of self-preservation which had led the members of the Convention to claim so large a part in the new legislature and the whole of the Directory impelled them to keep their predominance.
As the majority of Frenchmen wanted to be rid of them, they could achieve their purpose only by extraordinary means. They habitually disregarded the terms of the constitution, and, when the elections went against them, appealed to the sword. They resolved to prolong the war as the best expedient for prolonging their power. They were thus driven to rely upon the armies, which also desired war and were becoming less and less civic in temper.
Other reasons influenced them in this direction. The finances had been so thoroughly ruined that the government could not have met its expenses without the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. If peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside. Barras and Rewbell were notoriously corrupt themselves and screened corruption in others. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed, and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity.
The constitutional party in the legislature desired a toleration of the nonjuring clergy, the repeal of the laws against the relatives of the émigrés, and some merciful discrimination toward the émigrés themselves. The directors baffled all such endeavours. On the other hand, the socialist conspiracy of Babeuf was easily quelled. Little was done to improve the
finances, and the assignats continued to fall in value.
Military Successes
But the Directory was sustained by the military successes of the year 1796. Hoche again pacified La Vendée (See Revolt in the Vendée). Bonaparte's victories in Italy more than compensated for the reverses of Jourdan and Moreau in Germany. The king of Sardinia made peace in May 1796, ceding Nice and Savoy to the French Republic and consenting to receive French garrisons in his Piedmontese fortresses. By the treaty of San Ildefonso, concluded in August, Spain became the ally of France. In October 1796 Naples made peace.
In 1797 Bonaparte finished the conquest of northern Italy and forced Austria to make the treaty of Campo Formio (October), whereby the emperor ceded Lombardy and the Austrian Netherlands to the French Republic in exchange for Venice and undertook to urge upon the Diet the surrender of the lands beyond the Rhine. Notwithstanding the victory of Cape St Vincent, the United Kingdom was brought into such extreme peril by the mutinies in the fleet that she offered to acknowledge the French conquest of the Netherlands and to restore the French colonies.
The selfishness of the three directors threw away this golden opportunity. In March and April, the election of a new third of the Councils had been held. It gave a majority to the constitutional party. Among the directors, the lot fell on Letourneur to retire, and he was succeeded by Barthélemy, an eminent diplomatist, who allied himself with Carnot. The political disabilities imposed upon the relatives of émigrés were repealed. Priests who would declare their submission to the Republic were restored to their rights as citizens. It seemed likely that peace would be made and that moderate men would gain power.
18 Fructidor
Barras, Rewbell, and La Révellière-Lépeaux then sought help from the armies. Although Royalists formed but a petty fraction of the majority, they accused that fraction of seeking to restore monarchy and to undo the work of the Revolution. Hoche, then in command of the army of the Sambre and Meuse, visited Paris and sent troops. Bonaparte sent General Augereau, who executed the coup d'état of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797).
The councils were purged, the elections in forty-nine departments were cancelled, and many deputies and other men of note were arrested. Some of them, including Barthélemy, were deported to Cayenne. Carnot made good his escape. The two vacant places in the Directory were filled by Merlin of Douai and François of Neufchateau. Then the government frankly returned to Jacobin methods. The law against the relatives of émigrés was reenacted, and military tribunals were established to condemn émigrés who should return to France.
The nonjuring priests were again persecuted. Many hundreds were either sent to Cayenne or imprisoned in the hulks of Re and Oleron. La Révelliére Lépeaux seized the opportunity to propagate his religion. Many churches were turned into Theophilanthropic temples. The government strained its power to secure the recognition of the décadi as the day of public worship and the non-observance of Sunday. Liberty of the press ceased. Newspapers were confiscated and journalists were deported wholesale. It was proposed to banish from France all members of the old noblesse. Although the proposal was dropped, they were all declared to be foreigners and were forced to obtain naturalisation if they would enjoy the rights of other citizens. A formal bankruptcy of the state, the cancelling of two-thirds of the interest on the public debt, crowned the misgovernment of this disastrous time.
1798
In the spring of 1798, not only a new third of the legislature had to be chosen, but the places of the members expelled by the revolution of Fructidor had to be filled. The constitutional party had been rendered helpless, and the mass of the electors were indifferent. But among the Jacobins themselves, there had arisen an extreme party hostile to the directors. With the support of many who were not Jacobins but detested the government, it bade fair to gain a majority. Before the new deputies could take their seats, the directors forced through the councils the law of the 22nd Floréal, annulling or perverting the elections in thirty departments and excluding forty-eight deputies by name. Even this coup d'état did not secure harmony between the executive and the legislature. In the councils, the directors were loudly charged with corruption and misgovernment. The retirement of Francois of Neufchâteau and the choice of Treilhard as his successor (15 May 1798) made no difference in the position of the Directory.
While France was thus inwardly convulsed, its rulers were doubly bound to husband the national strength and practise moderation towards other states. Since December 1797, a congress had been sitting at Rastatt to regulate the future of Germany. That it should be brought to a successful conclusion was of the utmost import for France. But the directors were driven by self-interest to new adventures abroad. Bonaparte was resolved not to sink into obscurity, and the directors were anxious to keep him as far as possible from Paris; they therefore sanctioned the expedition to Egypt which deprived the Republic of its best army and most renowned captain. Coveting the treasures of Bern, the Directors sent Brune to invade Switzerland and remodel its constitution. In revenge for the murder of General Duphot (28 December 1797), they sent Berthier to invade the Papal States and erect the Roman Republic. They also occupied and virtually annexed Piedmont. In all these countries, they organised such an effective pillage that the French became universally hated.
As the armies were far below the strength required by the policy of unbounded conquest and rapine, the first permanent law of conscription was passed in the summer of 1798. The attempt to enforce it caused a revolt of the peasants in the Belgian departments. The priests were held responsible and some eight thousand were condemned to deportation en masse, although much the greater part escaped by the goodwill of the people. Few soldiers were obtained by the conscription, for the government was as weak as it was tyrannical.
Under these circumstances, Horatio Nelson's victory of Aboukir (1 August 1798), which gave the British full command of the Mediterranean and isolated Bonaparte in Egypt, was the signal
for a second coalition. Naples, Austria, Russia and
Turkey joined Great Britain against France. Ferdinand IV of Naples, rashly taking the offensive before his allies were ready, was defeated and forced to seek a refuge in Sicily.
1799
In January 1799, the French occupied Naples and set up the Parthenopaean Republic. But the consequent dispersion of their weak forces only exposed them to greater peril. At home, the Directory was in a most critical position. In the elections of April 1799, a large number of Jacobins gained seats. A little later Rewbell retired. It was imperative to fill his place with a man of ability and influence. The choice fell upon Sieyès, who had kept aloof from office and retained not only his immeasurable self-conceit but the respect of the public.
Sieyès felt that the Directory had bankrupted its own reputation, and he intended to do far more than merely serve as a member of a board. He hoped to concentrate power in his own hands, to bridle the Jacobins, and to remodel the constitution. With the help of Barras, he proceeded to rid himself of the other directors. An irregularity having emerged in Treilhard's election, he retired, and Gohier took his place (30 Prairial, 18 June 1799). Merlin of Douai and La Révellière Lépeaux were driven to resign in June 1799; Moulin and Ducos replaced them. The three new directors so lacked significance that they could give no trouble, but for the same reason they could give little service.
Such a government proved ill-fitted to cope with the dangers then gathering round France. The directors having resolved on a French offensive in Germany, the French crossed the Rhine early in March, but the Archduke Charles of Austria defeated them at Stockach on 25 March 1799. The congress at Rastatt, which had sat for fifteen months without doing anything, broke up in April, and Austrian hussars murdered the French envoys. In Italy, the allies took the offensive with an army partly Austrian, partly Russian, under the command of the Russian field marshal (future generalissimo) Suvorov. After defeating Moreau at Cassano d'Adda on 27 April 1799, he occupied Milan and Turin. The puppet republics established by the French in Italy collapsed, and Suvorov defeated the French army on the Trebbia as it retreated from Naples.
Thus threatened with invasion on her German and Italian frontiers, France seemed disabled by anarchy within. The finances stood in the last distress; the anti-religious policy of the government kept many départements on the verge of revolt; and commerce almost ground to a halt due to the decay of roads and the increase of bandits. The French lacked any real political freedom, yet also lacked the ease or security which enlightened despotism can bestow. The Terrorists lifted their heads in the Council of Five Hundred. A Law of Hostages, which was really a new Law of Suspects, and a progressive income tax showed the temper of the majority. The Jacobin Club re-opened and became once more the focus of disorder. The Jacobin press renewed the licence of Hébert and Marat. Never since the outbreak of the Revolution had the public temper seemed so gloomy and desponding.
In this extremity, Sieyès chose as minister of police the old Terrorist Joseph Fouché, who best understood how to deal with his brethren. Fouché closed the Jacobin Club and deported a number of journalists. But, like his predecessors, Sieyès felt that for the revolution which he meditated he must have the help of a soldier. As his man of action, he chose General Joubert, one of the most distinguished among French officers. The Directory sent Joubert to restore the fortunes of the war in Italy. At Novi, on 15 August 1799, he encountered Suvorov. He was killed at the outset of the battle and his men suffered defeat.
After this disaster, the French held scarcely any territory south of the Alps save Genoa. The Russian and Austrian governments then agreed to drive the enemy out of Switzerland and to invade France from the east. At the same time, the joint forces of Great Britain and Russia assailed the Netherlands. But the narrow views and conflicting interests of the members of the second coalition doomed it to failure like the first. Lack of co-ordination between Austrians and Russians, and André Masséna's victory at Zürich (25 - 26 September 1799) stalled the invasion of Switzerland. In October the British and the Russians had to evacuate the Netherlands. All immediate danger to France ended, but the issue of the war remained in suspense. The Directors had felt forced to recall Bonaparte from Egypt. He anticipated their order and on 9 October 1799 landed at Fréjus.
18 Brumaire
See main article 18 Brumaire.
The Directory, and, in most scholars' view, the French Revolution itself, came to an end with the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and replaced it with the Consulate. This occurred on November 9, 1799, which was 18 Brumaire in the year VIII under the French Revolutionary Calendar.
In November 1799, France was suffering the effects of military reverses brought on by Bonaparte's adventurism in the Middle East. The looming threat of opportunistic invasion by the Second Coalition had provoked internal unrest, with Bonaparte stuck in Egypt. A return to Jacobinism seemed possible.
The coup was first prepared by the Abbé Sieyès, then one of the five Directors. Bonaparte returned from Egypt a hero to the public despite his reverses. Sieyès believed he had found the general indispensable to his coup. However, Bonaparte promptly began a coup within the coup. Ultimately, the coup brought to power Bonaparte, not Sieyès.
The plan was, through the use of troops conveniently arrayed around Paris, first to persuade the Directors to resign, then to persuade the two Councils to appoint a pliant commission to draw up a new constitution.
On the morning of 18 Brumaire, members of the Council of Ancients sympathetic to the coup warned their colleagues of a Jacobin conspiracy and persuaded them to remove to Saint-Cloud, west of Paris. Bonaparte was charged with the safety of the two Councils. Three directors, including Sieyès himself resigned, destroying quorum. However, the two Jacobin Directors, Gohier and Moulin, refused to resign. Moulin escaped, Gohier was taken prisoner, and the two Councils were not immediately intimidated and continued to meet.
By the following day, the deputies had worked out that they were facing an attempted coup rather than being protected from a Jacobin rebellion. Faced with their recalcitrance, Bonaparte stormed into the chambers accompanied by a small escort of grenadiers. He met with heckling in both houses; he was first jostled, then outright assaulted. His brother Lucien, President of the Council, called upon the grenadiers to defend their leader. Napoleon escaped, but only through the use of military force. Ultimately, military force also dispersed the legislature.
The Consulate was declared, with Bonaparte, Sieyès, and Roger Ducos as consuls.
The lack of reaction from the streets proved that the revolution was, indeed, over. In the words of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, "A shabby compound of brute force and imposture, the 18th Brumaire was nevertheless condoned, nay applauded, by the French nation. Weary of revolution, men sought no more than to be wisely and firmly governed." Resistance by Jacobin officeholders in the provinces was quickly crushed, twenty Jacobin legislators were exiled, and others were arrested.
Bonaparte completed his coup within a coup by the adoption of a constitution under which the First Consul, a position he was sure to hold, had greater power than the other two.
Italian Directories (under French control)
In Genoa
17 Jan 1798 - Jul 1799 Executive Directory
- Luigi Emanuele Corvetto (b. 1756 - d. 1821)
(to Jan 1799)
- Pietro Ferreri (from Jan 1799)(b. 1758 - d. 18..)
- Giorgio Ambrogio Molfino
- Agostino Maglione (b. 1744 - d. 18..)
- Niccolò Littardi (b. 1748 - d. 18..)
- Paolo Costa
Jul 1799 - Oct 1799 Executive Directory
- Pietro Ferreri (1st time) (s.a.)
- Luigi Lupi (1st time)
- Giovanni Battista Rossi
- Francesco Masuccone
- Paolo Costa
Oct 1799 - 7 Dec 1799 Executive Directory
- Pietro Ferreri (2nd time) (s.a.)
- Luigi Lupi (2nd time)
- Francesco Montaldo
- Domenico Assereto
- Giuseppe Morchio
In Lombardy
29 Jun 1797 - 31 Aug 1798 First Directory
- Duca Giovanni Galeazzo
Serbelloni (to 13 Nov 1797) (b.1744 - d. 1802)
- Giovanni Battista Savoldi (from 13 Nov 1797)
- Marco Alessandri (1st time) (b.1755 - d.1830)
- Pietro Moscati (to 16 Apr 1798) (b.1739 - d.1824)
- Jacopo Lamberti (1st time) (from 16 Apr 1798)
- Giovanni Paradisi (b.1760 - d. 1826)
(to 16 Apr 1798)
- Carlo Testi (from 16 Apr 1798)
- Giovanni Costabili Containi (b.1756 - d.1841)
31 Aug 1798 - 14 Dec 1798 Second Directory
- Girolamo Adelasio (1st time) (to 17 Oct 1798)
- Antonio Sabbati (from 17 Oct 1798)
- Marco Alessandri (2nd time) (s.a.)
- Jacopo Lamberti (2nd time)
- Giuseppe Luosi (1st time) (b. 1755 - d. 1830)
(to 17 Oct 1798)
- Antonio Smancini (from 17 Oct 1798)
- Fedele Sopransi (1st time) (to 17 Oct 1798)
- Vincenzo Brunetti (from 17 Oct 1798)
14 Dec 1798 - 29 Apr 1799 Third Directory
- Girolamo Adelasio (2nd time)
- Marco Alessandri (3rd time) (s.a.)
(to Mar 1799)
- Ferdinando Marescalchi (b. 1764 - d. 1816)
(from Mar 1799)
- Jacopo Lamberti (3rd time) (to Mar 1799)
- Fedele Vertemate Franchi (from Mar 1799)
- Giuseppe Luosi (2nd time) (s.a.)
- Fedele Sopransi (2nd time)
In Lucca
4 Feb 1799 - 17 Jul 1799 Executive Directory
Initial members:
- Giorgio Martinelli
- Giovanni Domenico Merli
- Giovanni Sebastiano Gusti
- Jacopo Pellegrini
- Jacopo Antonio Franchi
Four of the above replaced at different times by:
- Domenico Bertagna
- Pietro Martelli Leonardi
- Giuseppe Duccini
- Francesco Belluomini
Directory of the Cispadane Republic
16 Oct 1796 - 9 Jul 1797 .... (Five directors)
9 Jul 1797 - 20 Jul 1799 Incorporated into the Cisalpine Republic
Naples (Sicily this side of the Lighthouse)
President of the Executive Directory: 5 Jun 1799- 23 Jun 1799 Ercole D'Agnese
See also
- Timeline of the French Revolution
- [http://www.archontology.org/nations/france/france_state1/01_directoire_member.php Members of the Executive Directory]
- [http://www.archontology.org/nations/france/france_state1/01_directoire_pres.php Presidents of the Executive Directory]
Sources and References
- [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Italy_states.htm| WorldStatesmen] (here Italy linked)
Category:French Revolution
Category:Heads of state
Category:Historical legislatures
French language
French (French: français) is the third of the Romance languages in terms of number of speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese, being spoken by about 67 million people as a mother tongue, and altogether by some 128 million people, which includes second-language speakers who use French for daily communication. French is thus the 18th most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, and 9th in terms of daily speakers. It is an official language in 29 countries. It is also an official or administrative language in various communities and organisations (such as the European Union, IOC, United Nations and Universal Postal Union). Before World War II, French was considered the international language, particularly in such fields as diplomacy, trade, shipping, and transportation.
History
The Roman invasion of Gaul
The French language is a Romance language, meaning that it is descended from Latin. Before the Roman invasion of what is modern-day France by Julius Cæsar (58–52 BC), France was inhabited largely by a Celtic people that the Romans referred to as Gauls, although there were also other linguistic/ethnic groups in France at this time, such as the Iberians in southern France and Spain, the Ligurians on the Mediterranean coast, Greek colonies such as Massalia (i.e. present-day Marseille), Phoenician outposts, and the Vascons on the Spanish/French border.
Although in the past many Frenchmen liked to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors (nos ancêtres les Gaulois), perhaps fewer than 200 words with a Celtic etymological origin remain in French today (largely place and plant names and words dealing with rural life and the earth). In the reverse direction, some words for Gallic objects which were new to the Romans and for which there were no words in Latin were imported into Latin – for example, clothing items such as les braies. Latin quickly became the lingua franca of the entire Gallic region for mercantile, official and educational purposes, yet it should be remembered that this was Vulgar Latin, the colloquial dialect spoken by the Roman army and its agents and not the literary dialect of Cicero.
The Franks
From the third century on, Western Europe was invaded by Germanic tribes from the east, and some of these groups settled in Gaul. For the history of the French language, the most important of these groups are the Franks in northern France, the Alemanni in the German/French border, the Burgundians in the Rhone valley and the Visigoths in the Aquitaine region and Spain. These Germanic-speaking groups had a profound effect on the Latin spoken in their respective regions, altering both the pronunciation and the syntax. They also introduced a number of new words: perhaps as much as 15% of modern French comes from Germanic words, including many terms and expressions associated with their social structure and military tactics.
Langue d'Oïl
Linguists typically divide the languages spoken in medieval France into three geographical subgroups: Langue d'oïl and Langue d'oc are the two major groups; the third group, Franco-Provençal, is considered a transitional language between the two other groups. The Oïl–Oc divide is broadly comparable to the divide illustrated by the use of "yes" in English and "aye" in Scots.
Langue d'oïl, the languages which use oïl (in modern usage, oui) for "yes", is the language group in the north of France. These languages, like Picard, Walloon, Francien and Norman, were influenced by the Germanic languages spoken by the Frankish invaders. From the time period Clovis I on, the Franks extended their rule over northern Gaul. Over time, the French language developed from either the Oïl language found around Paris (the Francien theory) or from a standard administrative language based on common characteristics found in all Oïl languages (the lingua franca theory).
Langue d'oc, the languages which use oc for "yes", is the language group in the south of France and northern Spain. These languages, such as Gascon and Provençal, have relatively little Frankish influence.
(Modern French has two words for "yes", oui and si; the latter is used to contradict negative statements. Si derives from Latin sic "thus", and is cognate to the word for "yes" in Spanish, Italian, and Catalan. Oïl/oui derive, according to Larousse, from Latin hoc ille "thus he (did)".)
Other linguistic groups
The early middle ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects of France:
From the 5th to the 8th centuries, Celtic-speaking peoples from southwestern Britain (Wales, Cornwall, Devon) travelled across the English Channel, both for reasons of trade and as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England. They established themselves in Bretagne (Brittany). Their language was a dialect of the Brythonic languages, which has been named Breton in more recent centuries. It is part of the larger Celtic language family, though the modern dialects reflect a noticeable influence from French in their vocabulary.
From the 6th to the 7th centuries, the Vascons crossed over the Pyrénées, a mountain range in the south of France. Their presence influenced the Occitan language spoken in southwestern France, resulting in the dialect called Gascon.
Scandinavian vikings invaded France from the 9th century onwards and established themselves in what would come to be called Normandie (Normandy). They took up the langue d'oïl spoken there and contributed many words to French related to maritime activities, amongst other things.
With their conquest of England in 1066, the Normans brought their language. The dialect that developed there as a language of administration and literature is referred to as Anglo-Norman. Anglo-Norman served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until 1362, when the use of English became dominant again. Because of the Norman Conquest, the English language has borrowed a considerable amount of its vocabulary from French.
The Arab peoples also supplied many words to French around this time period, including words for luxury goods, spices, trade stuffs, sciences and mathematics.
History of French
For the period up to around 1300, some linguists refer to the oïl languages collectively as Old French (ancien français). The earliest extant text in French is the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842; Old French became a literary language with the chansons de geste that told tales of the paladins of Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades.
By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 King Francis I made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the Latin that had been used before then. With the imposition of a standardised chancery dialect and the loss of the declension system, the dialect is referred to as Middle French (moyen français). Following a period of unification, regulation and purification, the French of the 17th to the 18th centuries is sometimes referred to as Classical French (français classique), although many linguists simply refer to French language from the 17th century to today as Modern French (français moderne).
The foundation of the Académie française (French Academy) in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu created an official body whose goal has been the purification and preservation of the French language. This group of 40 members is known as the Immortals, not, as some erroneously believe, because they are chosen to serve for the extent of their lives (which they are), but because of the inscription engraved on the official seal given to them by their founder Richelieu—"À l'immortalité" ("to the Immortality (of the French language)"). The foundation still exists and contributes to the policing of the language and the adaptation of foreign words and expressions. Some recent modifications include the change from software to logiciel, packet-boat to paquebot, and riding-coat to redingote. The word ordinateur for computer was however not created by the Académie, but by a linguist appointed by IBM (see :fr:ordinateur).
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, France was the leading power of continental Europe; thanks to this, together with the influence of the Enlightenment, French was the lingua franca of educated Europe, especially with regards to the arts, literature, and diplomacy; monarchs like Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia could both speak and write in French.
Through the Académie, public education, centuries of official control and the role of media, a unified official French language has been forged, but there remains a great deal of diversity today in terms of regional accents and words. For some critics, the "best" pronunciation of the French language is considered to be the one used in Touraine (around Tours and the Loire River valley), but such value judgments are fraught with problems, and with the ever increasing loss of lifelong attachments to a specific region and the growing importance of the national media, the future of specific "regional" accents is difficult to predict.
Modern issues
There is some debate in today's France about the preservation of the French language and the influence of English (see franglais), especially with regard to international business, the sciences and popular culture. There have been laws (see Toubon law) enacted which require that all print ads and billboards with foreign expressions include a French translation and which require quotas of French-language songs (at least 40%) on the radio. There is also pressure, in differing degrees, from some regions as well as minority political or cultural groups for a measure of recognition and support for their regional languages.
Geographic distribution
regional language
French is an official language in the following countries or parts thereof:
La Francophonie is an international organization of French-speaking countries and governments.
Legal status in France
Per the Constitution of France, French is the official language of the Republic since 1792 [http://www.languefrancaise.net/dossiers/dossiers.php?id_dossier=50].
France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. See Toubon Law.
Contrary to a misunderstanding common in the American and British media, France does not prohibit the use of foreign words in websites or any other private publication, which would anyway contradict constitutional guarantees on freedom of speech. The misunderstanding may have arisen from a similar prohibition in the Canadian province of Quebec which made strict application of the Charter of the French Language between 1977 and 1993, although these regulations addressed language used in advertising and the provision of commercial services offered within the province, not the language of private communication.
There exist in addition to French a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities; see Languages of France.
Legal status in Canada
About 12% of the world's francophones are Canadian, and French is one of Canada's two official languages, with English; various provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms deal with the right of Canadians to access services in English and French all across Canada. By law, the federal government must operate and provide services in both English and French; proceedings of the Parliament of Canada must be translated into both English and French; and all Canadian products must be labelled in both English and French. Overall about 22% of Canadians speak French as a first language and 18% are bilingual.
French has been the only official language of Quebec since 1974, although it is commonly (and incorrectly) believed that the designation of French as the sole official language occurred in 1977 with the adoption of the Charter of the French Language (which is popularly referred to as Bill 101). By far the provision of Bill 101 with the most significant impact has been that which mandates French-language education, unless a child's parents or siblings have received the major part of their own education in English within Canada. That provision has reversed a historical trend whereby a large number of immigrant children were being sent to English schools by their parents. In so doing, Bill 101 has greatly contributed to the "visage français" (French face) of Quebec. Other provisions of Bill 101, on the other hand, have been ruled unconstitutional over the years, including those mandating French-only commercial signs, court proceedings, and debates in the legislature. Some of those provisions have remained in effect, for a while, using the constitutional "notwithstanding" clause that permits a non-compliant law to temporarily remain. No "notwithstanding provision" is currently in effect. In 1993 the Charter was changed to allow signage in other languages so long as French is markedly "predominant". The Charter also provides for a measure of access by Anglophones to health and social services in their own language.
The only province which has French as an official language is New Brunswick. In Ontario and Manitoba, French does not have full official status, although the provincial governments do provide full French-language services in all communities where significant numbers of francophones live.
All of the other provinces do make some effort to accommodate the needs of their francophone citizens, although the level and quality of French-language service varies significantly from province to province.
Legal status in Switzerland
French is an official language in Switzerland. It is spoken in the part of Switzerland called Romandy.
Dialects of French
- Acadian French
- African French
- Belgian French
- Cajun French
- Canadian French
- Cambodian French
- Louisiana Creole French
- français d'Aoste
- français-germanique
- Indian French
- Levantine French
- Maghreb French
- Newfoundland French
- North American French
- Oceanic French
- Quebec French
- South East Asian French
- Swiss French
- West Indian French
- [http://www.linguasphere.org/langues_romanes.pdf linguasphere on Romance languages]
Languages derived from French
- Antillean Creole
- Haitian Creole
- Lanc-Patuá
- Mauritian Creole
- Michif
- Louisiana Creole French
- Réunionese Creole
- Seychellois Creole
- Tay Boi
Sounds
:Main article: French phonology and orthography
French pronunciation follows strict rules based on spelling, but French spelling is often based more on history than phonology. The rules for pronunciation vary between dialects, but the standard rules are:
- liaison or linking: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n and m, are normally silent. (The final letters 'c', 'r', 'f', and 'l' however are normally pronounced.) When the following word begins with a vowel, though, a silent consonant may once again be pronounced, to provide a "link" between the two words and avoid a glottal stop between them. Some liaisons are mandatory, for example the s in les amants or vous avez; some are optional, depending on dialect and register, for example the first s in deux cents euros or euros irlandais; and some are forbidden, for example the s in beaucoup d'hommes aiment. The t of et is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in set phrases like pied-à-terre. Doubling a final consonant and adding a silent e at the end of a word (e.g. Parisien → Parisienne) makes it clearly pronounced, always.
- elision or vowel dropping: Monosyllabic words such as je or que drop their final vowel before another word beginning with a vowel. The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g. je ai is instead pronounced and spelt → j'ai)
- nasal "n" and "m". When "n" or "m" follows a vowel combination, the "n" and "m" become silent and cause the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e. pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to allow part of the air to leave through the nostrils). Exceptions are when the "n" or "m" is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes en- and em- are always nasalized. The rules get more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
- digraphs French does not introduce extra letters or diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, rather it uses specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended. (See French phonology and orthography or [http://www.languageguide.org/francais/grammar/pronunciation/ French Pronunciation Guide] for more details.)
- accents are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone.
- Accents that affect pronunciation:
- "é", is pronounced instead of the defaults or,
- "è" (e.g., secrète) means that the vowel is pronounced (as usual),
- dieresis (e.g. naïve, Noël) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one (or following one in some cases), not combined,
- the "ç" means that the letter c is pronounced in front of A, O, or U. ("c" is otherwise hard before a hard vowel.)
- The circumflex (e.g. pâté, forêt) shows that an e is pronounced and that an o is pronounced . In some dialects it also signifies a pronunciation of for the letter a, but this differentiation is disappearing. It usually indicates a former long vowel created by the dropping of an "s" from the Latin root (as in English "paste", "forest"),
- Accents with no pronunciation effect:
- The circumflex does not affect the pronunciation of the letters i or u, and in most dialects, a as well.
- All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words or for etymological reasons, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs là and où ("there", "where") from the article la and the conjunction ou ("the fem. sing.", "or") respectively.
Grammar
:Main article: French grammar
French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including:
- the loss of Latin's declensions
- only two grammatical genders
- the development of grammatical articles from Latin demonstratives
- new tenses formed from auxiliaries
French word order is Subject Verb Object, except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is Subject Object Verb.
Vocabulary
Word origins
The majority of French words derive from vernacular or "vulgar" Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example:
- brother: frère (brother) / fraternel
- finger: doigt / digital
- faith: foi (faith) / fidèle
- cold: froid / frigide
- eye: œil / oculaire
The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian words of Latin origin because as French developed into a separate language from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word.
It is estimated that 12 percent (4,200) of common French words found in a typical dictionary such as the Petit Larousse or Micro-Robert Plus (35,000 words) are of foreign origin. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707 words from Italian, 550 from ancient Germanic languages, 481 from ancient Gallo-Romance languages, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160 from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish, 153 from Dutch, 112 from Persian and Sanskrit, 101 from Native American languages, 89 from other Asian languages, 56 from Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, and 144 from other languages (3 percent of the total).
Source: Henriette Walter, Gérard Walter, Dictionnaire des mots d'origine étrangère, 1998.
Levels of register
French, like many other languages, possesses a continuum of several levels of register. The colloquial register is used in almost any circumstance of life, and should not be confused with slang or rude talk. Formal French is used in writing or in formal occasions (when people make official speeches or when they are interviewed on television, for instance). Some level of formality is also normally used in classrooms in France, although colloquial French is now spoken by more and more professors with their students.
Colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of grammar. For instance, the negation in formal French is "ne... pas", whereas in colloquial French it is simply "... pas", such as "I don't think so", which is "Je ne crois pas" in formal French, and "Je crois pas" in colloquial French. Another example of change in grammar is the way to ask a question: by inverting verb and subject in formal French, or also by using "est-ce que", whereas in colloquial French a question is phrased exactly as an affirmation, with the voice rising in the end. E.g.: "Is he sick?" would be "Est-il malade?" or "Est-ce qu'il est malade?" in formal French, and "Il est malade?" in colloquial French. On the other hand, questions with "est-ce que" are more colloquial than using inversion.
Secondly, colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of pronunciation. Some words undergo shortening, or sound change, whereas some syllables are dropped altogether. For instance, "yes" is "oui" in formal French, and becomes "ouais" in colloquial French; "I" is "je" in formal French, but becomes "j' " in colloquial French; so a sentence like "I think he'll come" is "Je pense qu'il viendra" in formal French, and "J'pense qu'i'viendra" in colloquial French. There are many instances of shortening of words, such as "teacher", which is "professeur" in formal French, but becomes "prof'" in colloquial French.
Counting system
The French counting system is partially vigesimal:
twenty () is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 70-99. So for example, means 4 times 20, i.e. is the French word for 80, and (literally "sixty-fifteen") means 75. This is comparable to archaic English use of "score", as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).
Belgian French and Swiss French are different in this respect.
Writing system
French is written using the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics (the circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis, and cedilla) and two ligatures (æ, œ).
French spelling, like English spelling, tends to preserve obsolete pronunciation rules. This is mainly due to extreme phonetic changes since the Old French period, without a corresponding change in spelling. However, some conscious changes were also made to restore Latin orthography:
- Old French doit > French doigt "finger" (Latin digitum)
- Old French pie > French pied "foot" (Latin pedem)
As a result, it is nearly impossible to predict the spelling on the basis of the sound alone. Final consonants are generally silent, except when the following word begins with a vowel. For example, all of these words end in a vowel sound: nez, pied, aller, les, finit, beaux. The same words followed by a vowel, however, may sound the consonants, as they do in these examples: beaux-arts, les amis, pied-à-terre.
On the other hand, a given spelling will almost always lead to a predictable sound, and the Académie française works hard to enforce and update this correspondence. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.
The diacritics have phonetic, semantic, and etymological significance.
- grave accent (à, è, ù): Over a or u, used only to distinguish homophones: à ("to") vs. a ("has"), ou ("or") vs. où ("where"). Over an e, indicates the sound .
- acute accent (é): Over an e, indicates the sound , the ai sound in such words as English hay or neigh. It often indicates the historical deletion of a following consonant (usually an s): écouter < escouter.
- circumflex (â, ê, î, ô û): Over an e or o, indicates the sound or , respectively. Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an s or a vowel): château < castel, fête < feste, sûr < seur, dîner < disner. By extension, it has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: du ("of the") vs. dû (past participle of devoir "to owe"; note that dû is in fact written thus because of a dropped e: deu).
- diaeresis or tréma (ë, ï, ü): Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: naïve, Noël. Diaeresis on ÿ only occurs in some proper names (such as l'Haÿ-les-Roses) and in modern editions of old French texts. Since the 1990 orthographic rectifications, the diaeresis in words containing guë (such as aiguë or ciguë) was moved onto the u: aigüe, cigüe. Words coming from German retain the old Umlaut if applicable but uses French pronounciation, such as capharnaüm(mess).
- cedilla (ç): Indicates that an etymological c is pronounced when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus je lance "I throw" (with c = before e), je lançai "I threw" (c would be pronounced before a without the cedilla).
The ligature œ is a mandatory contraction of oe in certain words (sœur "sister" , œuvre "work [of art]" , cœur "heart" , cœlacanthe "Coelacanth" ), sometimes in words of Greek origin, spelled with an οι diphthong which became oe in Latin, pronounced in French (and other Romance languages): œsophage , œnologie . It may also appear in œu digraph (or œ alone in œil "eye"), in words that were once written with eu digraph (which could be read or , depending on the word): bœuf "ox" (Old French buef or beuf), mœurs "custom", œil "eye" , etc. In these cases, the Latin etymon must be spelled with an o where the French word has œu: bovem > bœuf, mores > mœurs, oculum > œil.
Some attempts have been made to reform French spelling, but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries.
Some common phrases
- French: français ("fran-seh")
- hello: bonjour ("bon-zhoor")
- I love you.: Je t'aime. ("jhe tem")
- My name is _____: Je m'appelle _____ ("jhe-ma-pelle")
- good-bye: au revoir ("o-ruh-vwar")
- please: s'il vous plaît (Literally: if it please you) ("sill voo pleh")
- thank you: merci ("mairr-see")
- you are welcome: de rien (Literally: Of nothing) ("duh ryeh"), je vous en prie, il n'y a pas de quoi (France); bienvenue ("byeh-venuh") (Quebec)
- that one: celui-là ("su-lwee la"), colloq. ("swee la"), or celle-là (feminine) ("cell-la")
- how much?: combien? ("kom-byen")
- English: anglais ("ahng-gleh")
- yes: oui ("wee"), colloq. ouais (seldom written) ("way")
- no: non ("non")
- I am sorry: Je suis désolé(e). (add the "e" if the speaker is feminine); ("zhahn swee deh-zo-leh"), colloq. ("shswee deh-zo-leh"). Pardon ("par-dohn")
- I do not understand: Je ne comprends pas. ("zhuh nuh comprahn pa"), colloq. Je comprends pas (with dropping of "ne") ("shcomprahn pa")
- Where are the toilets?: Où sont les toilettes ? ("oo son leh twa-let")
- Cheers (toast to someone's health): Tchin ("chin"), Santé ("san-teh") or À la vôtre ("a la votr")
- Do you speak English?: Parlez-vous anglais ? ("par-leh voo ang-gleh") OR "Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?" ("voo par-leh ang-leh")
- Excuse me: Excusez-moi. ("eh-skyu-zay mwa")
- Good night: Bonne nuit ("bun nwee")
- Hi!: Salut ! ("sal-oo")
- I am tired: Je suis fatigué(e). (add the "e" if the speaker is feminine) ("jhe swee fah-tee-gay")
- Are you coming?: Venez vous ?, Est-ce que vous venez ? (or with close friends and relatives: tu viens?)
- I am thinking about it: J'y pense. ("jhee pahnss")
- I am going to the grocery store: Je vais à l'épicerie. ("jhe vay a lay-pee-ser-ee")
- We are going to school: On va à l'école. (colloquial) ("ohn va a lay-cohl")
- She is so pretty.: Elle est si jolie. ("el ay see jho-lee")
- our neighbors to the South: Nos voisins du sud ("noh vwah-zen due sued")
- Could you help me?: Pourriez-vous m'aider ? ("poo-ree-ay voo may-day")
- May I help you?: Puis-je vous aider? ("pwee-jha voo zay-day")
- It is the best of worlds: C'est le meilleur des mondes. ("say le may-yuhr day mohnd")
- Go to bed!: Va te coucher ! ("vah te coo-shay")
- I'm watching TV.: Je regarde la télé. ("jhe re-gard lah tay-lay")
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. ("wee-kee-pay-dee-ah, lahns-ee-kloh-pay-dee lee-bruh")
- I am the state.: L'État, c'est moi. ("leh-tah seh-mwa")
See also
- Académie française
- common phrases in different languages
- List of English words of French origin
- List of French phrases
- French in the United States
- French Language Wikipedia
- French phrases used by English speakers
- French proverbs
- Reforms of French orthography
- Morphology of the French verb
- Louchebem
- Verlan
- French Creole languages
External links
-
- [http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?k1=33 All free French dictionaries] Collection of free French dictionaries.
- [http://www.declan-software.com/french French language learning audio software]
- [http://www.window.to/french/ Learn French online]
- [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/ Académie Française]
- [http://french.about.com/library/begin/bl_begin_vocab.htm Beginning French Vocabulary]
- [http://radio-canada.ca/education/francaismicro/ Capsules linguistiques - Radio-Canada.ca]
- [http://www.moelc.moe.edu.sg/french/ Département de Français, Ministry of Education Language Centre, Singapore]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fra Ethnologue report for French]
- [http://www.sprachprofi.de.vu/english/f.htm Free online resources for learners]
- [http://www.lexilogos.com/french_language_dictionary.htm French-English : all online dictionaries]
- [http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/ French Language Course]
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/french.html French Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.intuxication.org/~webtypo/le_francais_facile.htm Le français facile]
- [http://portal.wikinerds.org/rapidfrench How to learn French in 10 months]
- [http://dhost.info/defu/wiki/index.php?id=French_accentuation_rules Basic tips of French accentuation]
- [http://www.languagehelpers.com/words/french/basics.html LanguageHelpers]
- [http://www.lightandmatter.com/french/ Liberté, an online first-year French textbook]
- [http://www.listenandlearn.org/learn/french/index.php Learn French by reading and listening]
- [http://www.how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/french/index.html A profile of the French language]
- [http://dhost.info/defu/wiki/index.php?id=Virtual_French_Keyboard A virtual French keyboard]
- [http://linearb.co.uk:8080/memory/ Searchable French-English dictionary, with example sentences]
- [http://atilf.atilf.fr/ Le Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé] (very comprehensive)
- [http://truckspeak.monsite.wanadoo.fr Truck Drivers' French - English, English - French Dictionary]
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=3&learn-French/ Listen to useful French expressions]
- [http://www.FrenchLanguageTips.com/ Learn French Fast & Easy]
- [http://www.wordreference.com/ Wordreference.com dictionary]
- [http://www.my-french-dictionary.com/ My French Picture Dictionary]
Category:French language
Category:Oïl languages
Category:Languages of Belgium
Category:Languages of Canada
Category:Languages of France
Category:Languages of Luxembourg
Category:Languages of Switzerland
Category:Languages of French Guiana
Category:Languages of Morocco
Category:Languages of French Polynesia
Category:Languages of Wallis and Futuna
Category:Languages of New Caledonia
Category:Synthetic languages
Category:Guttural R
als:Französische Sprache
zh-min-nan:Hoat-gí
ko:프랑스어
ja:フランス語
simple:French language
th:ภาษาฝรั่งเศส
1795
1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 16 - French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands.
- January 20 - French troops enter Amsterdam and later proclaim Batavian Republic.
- January 21 - Dutch fleet freezed in IJsselmeer is captured by French 8e Hussard.
- February 7 - The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
- April 7 - France adopts the metre as the unit of length.
- April 8 - The Marriage of King George IV of the United Kingdom to Caroline of Brunswick.
- Spring - Kamehameha I of the Island of Hawaii defeats the Oahuans at the Battle of Nu'uanu Valley, solidifying his control of the major islands of the archipelago.
- May 15 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France enters Milan in triumph.
- May and June - The Battle of Richmond Hill in the colony of New South Wales between the Darug people and British Colonial Forces.
- June 8 - Dauphin, would-be-Louis XVII dies.
- June 28 - French government announces that the heir to the French throne has died of illness - many doubt the statement.
- June 27 - British forces land of Quiberon to aid the revolt in Brittany.
- June 27 - French troops recapture St. Lucia.
- July 15 - The Marseillaise officially adopted as the French national anthem.
- August 3 - The signature of the Treaty of Greenville puts an end to the Northwest Indian War.
- October 1 - Austrian Netherlands annexed to the French Republic as the "Belgian departments."
- October 5 - Royalist riots in Paris are crushed by troops under Paul Barras and newly reinstalled artillery officer Napoleon Bonaparte.
- October 27 - The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid, which established the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the U.S.
- Sweden becomes the first monarchy to recognize the French Republic.
- City of Edmonton, Alberta founded when a Hudson's Bay Company Trading Post is established with the construction of Fort Edmonton.
- Third Partition of Poland
- Failed harvest in Munich
- Large slave rebellion in Curaçao
- Spain cedes its half of Hispaniola to France.
- December 13 A meteorite fell at Wold Newton, a hamlet in Yorkshire in England. This meteorite fall was subsequently used as a literary premise by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer as the basis for the Wold Newton family stories. See: Wold Newton meteorite.
Ongoing events
- French Revolution (1789-1799)
- French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) First Coalition
Births
- February 3 - Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan revolutionary leader, general and statesman (d. 1830)
- May 19 - Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873)
- May 23 - Charles Barry, English architect (d. 1860)
- September 16 - Saverio Mercadante, Italian composer (d. 1870)
- October 15 - King Frederick William IV of Prussia (d. 1861)
- October 31 - John Keats, English poet (d. 1821)
- November 2 - James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
- November 12 - Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (d. 1856)
- December 4 - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (d. 1881)
- December 10 - Matthias W. Baldwin, American locomotive manufacturer (d. 1866)
Deaths
- January 3 - Josiah Wedgwood, English potter (b. 1730)
- January 21 - Samuel Wallis, English navigator
- January 26 - Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer (b. 1732)
- March 4 - John Collins, American politician (b. 1717)
- March 21 - Giovanni Arduino, Italian geologist (b. 1714)
- April 12 - Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
- May 7 - Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, French revolutionary leader (executed) (b. 1746)
- May 19 - Josiah Bartlett, signer of the American Declaration of Independence (b. 1729)
- June 1 - Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (b. 1744)
- June 8 - King Louis XVII of France (b. 1785)
- July 3 - Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
- July 3 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
- July 9 - Henry Seymour Conway, British general and statesman (b. 1721)
- August 4 - Timothy Ruggles, American-born Tory politician (b. 1711)
- August 31 - François-André Danican Philidor, French composer and chess player (b. 1726)
- October 8 - Andrew Kippis, English non-conformist clergyman and biographer (b. 1725)
- October 10 - Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian and historian (b. 1714)
- November 15 - Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (b. 1719)
- December 23 - Henry Clinton, British general (b. 1730)
Category:1795
ko:1795년
ms:1795
10 NovemberNovember 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining.
Events
- 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Ladislaus III of Poland (or Ulaszlo I of Hungary) are crushed by the Turks under Sultan Murad II and Ladislaus is killed.
- 1674 - Anglo-Dutch War: As provided in the Treaty of Westminster, Netherlands cedes New Netherlands to England.
- 1766 - The last Colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress passes a resolution creating the Continental Marines (later renamed the United States Marine Corps) to serve as landing troops for the recently created Continental Navy.
- 1865 - Major Henry Wirz, the superintendent of a prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia, is hanged, becoming the only American Civil War soldier executed for war crimes.
- 1871 - Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
- 1919 - The first national convention of the American Legion is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota (convention ended on November 12).
- 1926 - In San Francisco, California, a necrophiliac serial killer named Earle Nelson (dubbed "Gorilla Man") kills and then rapes his 9th victim, Mrs. William Edmonds.
- 1928 - Michinomiya Hirohito is crowned the 124th Emperor of Japan
- 1938 - Kate Smith, on her weekly radio show, sings Irving Berlin's God Bless America for the first time.
- 1940 - Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI; his job is to report back information on Hollywood "subversives".
- 1942 - World War II: Germany invades Vichy France following French Admiral François Darlan agreement to an armistice with the Allies in North Africa.
- 1951 - Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States.
- 1954 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1969 - National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts the children's television program Sesame Street.
- 1970 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - For the first time in five years, an entire week ends with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
- 1970 - Soviet Lunar probe Lunokhod 1 launched.
- 1971 - In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine airplanes.
- 1972 - Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba, where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro.
- 1975 - The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board.
- 1975 - United Nations Resolution 3379: United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism (the resolution was repealed in December 1991).
- 1989 - After ruling for 33 years , Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov is replaced by foreign minister Petur Mladenov, who in 1990 changes the party's name to Bulgarian Socialist Party.
- 1995 - In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop) are hanged by government forces.
- 1997 - Telcoms WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger (the largest merger in US history at the time).
- 1997 - A jury in Fairfax, Virginia finds Mir Aimal Kasi guilty of the murder of two CIA employees in 1993.
- 1997 - Seymour Hersh's book "The Dark Side of Camelot" is published; it includes allegations of explicit photos of John F. Kennedy with various sex partners having been taken.
- 1997 - The conviction of 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward reduced from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter and her sentence reduced from life in prison to time served. She had been found guilty less than two weeks earlier in a baby-shaking death.
- 2005 - The New Cybermen were revealed on the BBC's Website.
Births
- 745 - Musa al-Kazim, Shia Imam (d. 799)
- 1341 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman (d. 1408)
- 1433 - Charles, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1477)
- 1483 - Martin Luther, German protestant reformer (d. 1546)
- 1565 - Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, Swedish theologian and astronomer (d. 1646)
- 1566 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English politician (d. 1601)
- 1577 - Jacob Cats, Dutch poet, jurist and politician (d. 1660)
- 1668 - Louis III, Prince of Condé (d. 1710)
- 1668 - François Couperin, French composer (d. 1733)
- 1683 - George II of Great Britain (d. 1760)
- 1695 - John Bevis, English physician and astronomer (d. 1771)
- 1697 - William Hogarth, English artist (d. 1764)
- 1710 - Adam Gottlob Moltke, Danish statesman (d. 1792)
- 1728 - Oliver Goldsmith, English playwright (d. 1774)
- 1759 - Friedrich von Schiller, German writer (d. 1805)
- 1801 - Samuel Gridley Howe, American social reformer (d. 1876)
- 1801 - Vladimir Dal, Russian lexicographer (d. 1872)
- 1845 - Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1894)
- 1871 - Winston Churchill, American novelist (d. 1947)
- 1879 - Vachel Lindsay, American poet (d. 1931)
- 1880 - Jacob Epstein, American-born scuptor (d. 1959)
- 1887 - Arnold Zweig, German author (d. 1968)
- 1888 - Andrei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1972)
- 1889 - Claude Rains, English actor (d. 1967)
- 1893 - John P. Marquand, American writer (d. 1960)
- 1896 - Jimmy Dykes, baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
- 1907 - Jane Froman, American actor and singer (d. 1980)
- 1909 - Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
- 1912 - Birdie Tebbetts, baseball player and manager (d. 1999)
- 1918 - Ernst Otto Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1919 - Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, Russian inventor
- 1919 - Moise Tshombe, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 1969)
- 1925 - Richard Burton, Welsh actor (d. 1984)
- 1928 - Ennio Morricone, Italian composer
- 1932 - Roy Scheider, American actor
- 1935 - Igor Dmitrievich Novikov, Russian astrophisicist
- 1940 - Russell Means, American activist
- 1940 - Screaming Lord Sutch, English musician
- 1942 - Robert F. Engle, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 - Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1944 - Silvestre Reyes, American politician
- 1944 - Sir Tim Rice, English lyricist
- 1947 - Greg Lake, British musician
- 1947 - Glen Buxton, American guitarist (Alice Cooper) (d. 1997)
- 1949 - Ann Reinking, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
- 1956 - Sinbad, American actor and comedian
- 1958 - Massimo Morsello, Italian singer and activist
- 1958 - Brooks Williams, American musician
- 1959 - Linda Cohn, American sports reporter
- 1959 - Mackenzie Phillips, American actress
- 1960 - < | | |
