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France

Embossed postcard of the flag and coins of France, with fixed exchange rates for major currencies including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, Austria, Russia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the United States of America. There were 100 centimes to the franc. The card was postmarked July 24, 1918 from Welkenraedt in occupied Belgium.
Text:
Carte postale avec pavillon national pour faire connaître le monnayage international.

Embossed postcard of the flag and coins of France, with fixed exchange rates for major currencies including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, Austria, Russia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the United States of America. There were 100 centimes to the franc. The card was postmarked July 24, 1918 from Welkenraedt in occupied Belgium.

Image text

Carte postale avec pavillon national pour faire connaître le monnayage international.

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"For we have now no thought in us but France", Henry the Fifth, I, ii.

Having a population less than two-thirds that of Germany, France feared facing Germany alone in war, and vigorously fostered a Franco-Russian Alliance. Should Germany attack France, France hoped to ensure that Russia would strike Germany from the east. To support its ally, France helped finance Russia's recovery after its defeat in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905.

France also pursued ties with Britain, resulting in the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale. These agreement, coupled with the the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, were the basis of the Triple Entente of France, Russia, and Great Britain.

To increase the size of its standing army, France increased its military service from two years — the duration of service in Germany — to three years.

The majority of delegates returned in the French general election of April 1914 Radical or Socialist.

French President Raymond Poincaré served through the entire war, but prime ministers and their governments were less stable. Stable or not, they maintained a Union Sacrée across the political spectrum. The fall of Paul Painlevé's government was different, and came after mutinies in much of the French army in May and June and the Bolshevik Revolution a week before Corday wrote, as well as charges of treason and collaboration with Germany directed against pacifists, socialists, the leftist press, and some close to Painlevé.

Wartime Prime Ministers

René Viviani, June 13, 1914 to October 29, 1915

Aristide Briand, October 29, 1915 to March 20, 1917

Alexandre Ribot, March 20 to September 12, 1917

Paul Painlevé, September 12 to November 16, 1917

Georges Clemenceau, November 16, 1917 to January 20, 1920

The war on the Western Front was primarily fought in France.

France is a country in Europe.

A sample pie chart graphic

Statistics for France (1)

Type Statistic
Population 39,601,509

Some places in France (9)

Click to View Location Type
Argonne Region
Artois Region
Champagne Region
Chemin des Dames Region
Lille City
Marseilles City
Paris City
Soissons City
Verdun City

Some people from France (14)

Last Name First Name Full Name Role
Clemenceau Georges Georges Clemenceau
Foch Ferdinand Ferdinand Foch
Fonck René René Fonck
Franchet d'Esperey Louis Louis Franchet d'Esperey
Gallieni Joseph Joseph Gallieni
Guynemer Georges Georges Guynemer
Joffre Joseph Joseph Joffre
Maunoury Michel-Joseph Michel-Joseph Maunoury
Nivelle Robert Robert Nivelle
Nungesser Charles Charles Eugène Marie Nungesser
Pau Paul Paul Pau
Poincaré Raymond Raymond Poincaré
Pétain Henri Philippe Henri Philippe Pétain
Sarrail Maurice Maurice Sarrail

Some books about France (25)

Title Author Last Name Author First Name
France and the Dardenelles in the Great War
Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1913–1916) Apollinaire Guillaume
Northern France from Belgium and the English Channel to the Loire Excluding Paris and its Environs; Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker, Fifth Edition with 16 Maps and 55 Plans Baedeker Karl
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 Barthas Louis
The Twelve and Other Poems Blok Alexander
Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front Buswell Leslie
Lice Cendrars Blaise
The Astonished Man Cendrars Blaise
A History of Modern France, Volume 3: 1871-1962 Cobban Alfred
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War Doughty Robert
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914, Vol. I, August to October Edmonds J. E.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914, Vol. II, October-November Edmonds J. E.
Over the top, by an American soldier who went, Arthur Guy Empey, machine gunner, serving in France Empey Guy
Argonne 1918: The AEF in France Gregory Barry
Your Death Would Be Mine; Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War Hanna Martha
Northern France Insight Guide Insight Guide
A Minstrel in France Lauder Harry
Northern France and the Paris Region; The Green Guide Michelin Green
Falcons of France Nordhoff James
Selected Poems Pasternak Boris
Fields of Glory Rouaud Jean
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 Sumner Ian
Italy, France And Britain At War Wells H. G.
Fighting France Wharton Edith
With the French Flying Corps Winslow Carroll Dana