The Triple Alliance of 1883 isolated France, but in 1890 she confronted the Triple Alliance with the Dual Alliance—between France and Russia—and made great attempts to establish colonial power.
The outstanding events of 1914, 1915 and 1916 were those connected with France’s participation in the European war as the leading military power of the Entente Allies. (See further under [Great Wars of History].)
Books of Reference.—The chief histories are those of Henri Martin, Michelet, Dareste, Lavalee, Sismondi, Kitchin Lavisse, and Durny. These works cover the general history of France. See, in addition, Tocqueville’s The Ancient Regime; Taine’s French Revolution; Carlyle’s History of the French Revolution; Fyffe’s History of Europe; Hazlitt’s Life of Napoleon Bonaparte.
COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES
The colonies and dependencies of France (including Algeria and Tunis) have an area roughly estimated at about 4,000,000 square miles with a population of about 41,600,000. Algeria, however, is not regarded as a colony but as a part of France, and Tunis is attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The area and population of the colonial domain of France at the beginning of the European war was as follows:
| Colonies and Year of Acquisition | Area in Sq. Mi. | Population | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Asia: | |||||||
| India (1679) | 196 | 277,000 | |||||
| Annam (1884) | - | 309,980 | 16,317,000 | ||||
| Cambodia (1862) | |||||||
| Cochin-China (1861) | |||||||
| Tonking (1884) | |||||||
| Laos (1892) | |||||||
| Total Asia | 310,176 | 16,594,000 | |||||
| In Africa: | |||||||
| Algeria (1830-1902) | 343,500 | 5,231,850 | |||||
| Sahara (——) | 1,544,000 | 800,000 | |||||
| Tunis (1881) | 45,779 | 1,500,000 | |||||
| Senegal (1637-1880) | - | 1,585,810 | - | 915,000 | |||
| Upper Senegal & Niger (1893) | 4,415,000 | ||||||
| Guinea (1843) | 1,498,000 | ||||||
| Ivory Coast (1843) | 890,000 | ||||||
| Dahomey (1893) | 749,000 | ||||||
| Mauritania (1893) | 400,000 | ||||||
| Congo (1884) | 669,280 | 5,000,000 | |||||
| Reunion (1649) | 970 | 201,000 | |||||
| Madagascar (1643-1896) | 226,015 | 2,701,000 | |||||
| Mayotte (1843) | 840 | 96,000 | |||||
| Somali Coast (1864) | 5,790 | 180,000 | |||||
| Total Africa | 4,421,934 | 24,576,850 | |||||
| In America: | |||||||
| St. Pierre and Miquelon (1635) | 96 | 6,000 | |||||
| Guadeloupe (1634) | 688 | 182,000 | |||||
| Martinique (1635) | 378 | 182,000 | |||||
| Guiana (1626) | 34,000 | 27,000 | |||||
| Total America | 35,222 | 397,000 | |||||
| In Oceania: | |||||||
| New Caledonia (1854-1887) | 7,200 | 55,800 | |||||
| Tahiti, etc. (1841-1881) | 1,544 | 30,000 | |||||
| Total Oceania | 8,744 | 85,000 | |||||
| Grand Total | 4,776,126 | 41,653,650 | |||||
SOVEREIGNS AND PRESIDENTS OF FRANCE
Giving, in order, the Royal Houses to which the French sovereigns belonged; Period of Rule in Chronological order; names of kings, emperors, regents and presidents; dates of birth and death of each; their genealogy or lineage; and other important personal facts.