History of Champagne

The Carolingian reign saw periods or prosperity for the Champagne region beginning with Charlemagne's encouragement for the area to start planting vines and continuing with the coronation of his son Louis the Pious at Reims. The tradition of crowning kings at Reims contributed to the reputation of the wines that came from this area.

History of Moselle

Moselle is one of the original 83 dé partements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Lorraine.

In 1793, the foreign enclaves of Manderen, Lixing-lè s-Rouhling, Momerstroff, and Cré hange (Kriechingen), all possessions of princes of the German Holy Roman Empire, were annexed by France and incorporated into the Moselle dé partement.

History of Vosges

The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories formerly part of the province of Lorraine. In German, it is referred to as Vogesen and in Italian as Vosgi.

In 1793 the independent principality of Salm (town of Senones and its surroundings), enclosed inside the Vosges department, was annexed to France and incorporated into Vosges.

Administrative history of Lorraine

It is important to note that the current ré gion of Lorraine is larger than the historical duchy of Lorraine which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern ré gion includes provinces and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper.

History of Strasbourg

From Romans to Renaissance

At the site of Strasbourg, the Romans established a military outpost and named it Argentoratum . (Hence the town is commonly called Argentina in medieval Latin.) It belonged to the Germania SuperiorRoman province. The name was first mentioned in the year 12 BC; the city celebrated its 2, 000th birthday of continuous settlement in 1988.

About Bas Rhin

Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 dé partements created on 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution.

In the mid-1790s, following the French occupation of the entire left bank of the Rhine, the northern boundary of the dé partement was extended north beyond the Lauter to the Queich river to include the areas of Annweiler am Trifels, Landau in der Pfalz, Bad Bergzabern, and Wö rth am Rhein.

Between France and Germany

France had declared the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), and was defeated not only by the Kingdom of Prussia, but also by other German states which at the end of the war led to the unification of Germany. Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871; unlike other members states of the German federation, which had governments of their own, the new Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine was under the sole authority of the Kaiser, administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin.

Duchy of Alsace

Roman Alsace

In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, but by 1500 BC, Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established Alsace as a center of viticulture. To protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day.

Religion in France

France is a secular country as freedom of religion is a constitutional right, although some religious doctrines such as Scientology, Children of God, the Unification Church, and the Order of the Solar Temple are considered cults. According to a January 2007 poll by the Catholic World News: 51% identified as being Catholics, 31% identified as being agnostics or atheists.

Geography of France

While Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe, France also has a number of territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica>. These territories have varying forms of government ranging from overseas department to overseas collectivity.

Name of France

The name "France" comes from Latin Francia , which literally means "land of the Franks" or "Frankland". There are various theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca.

History of France

Rome to revolution

The borders of modern France are approximately the same as those of ancient Gaul, which was inhabited by St. Jerome wrote that Gaul was the only region "free from heresy".

In the 4th century AD, Gaul's eastern frontier along the Rhine was overrun by Germanic tribes , principally the Franks, from whom the ancient name of "Francie" was derived.