ard agricultural methods, and internal tariff barriers were also contributory causes to the revolution” (Baker Siepmann 353).
After Napoleon reigned for a decade and a half, the Bourbon kings were restored to the throne. During the 19th century, France continued to thrive, ruled by a succession of houses, empires and republics. After 1870 the country was ruled by a succession of political presidents. At the end of World War II, when the Americans liberated France, Charles de Gaulle, a French general, came to power. After he stepped down in 1946, major social and economic reforms were needed. An increasing population and the goal of modernization were the primary activities during this era, and industrial production double during the 1940s and 1950s. France was one of the original five countries to form the common market known as the European Economic Community in the late 1950s, now known as the European Union. Post-World War battles with Indochina and Algeria were costly for France.
Because of this and other factors, by the end of the 1950s de Gaulle was restored to power. De Gaulle’s policies were aimed at strengthening French international power and restoring its independence. He withdrew all forces from NATO while working to strengthen ties with Europe. Between 1960 and 1970 the country was at peace and industry grew, however, a period of malaise seized the nation in the latter half of the 1960s. De Gaulle resigned in 1969 and died one year later, being replaced by Georges Pompidou, the prime minister during most of the 1960s. During the 1970s, the Arab oil embargo hit France, with few of its own oil reserves, particularly hard causing inflation, unemployment and economic stagnation. Valery Giscard d’Estaing and Francois Mitterand were the next two presidents of France, with Jaques Chirac serving as Mitterand’s prime minister. Jacques Chirac won the presidency, after an unsuccessful earlier bid, in 1995...