Editing History of France (section)

== Since 1945 ==
{{See also|French Fourth Republic|French Fifth Republic|History of French foreign relations}}
The political scene in 1944–45 was controlled by the Resistance, but it had numerous factions. Charles de Gaulle and the Free France element had been based outside France, but now came to dominate, in alliance with the Socialists, the Christian Democrats (MRP), and what remained of the Radical party. The Communists had largely dominated the Resistance inside France, but cooperated closely with the government in 1944–45, on orders from the Kremlin. There was a general consensus that important powers that had been an open collaboration with the Germans should be nationalized, such as [[Renault]] automobiles and the [[History of French journalism|major newspapers]]. A new Social Security system was called for, as well as important new concessions to the labour unions. Unions themselves were divided among communist, Socialist, and Christian Democrat factions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=George |title=Workers and Communists in France: From Popular Front to Eurocommunism |date=1982 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-5200-4075-5 |location=Berkeley |pages=20–25}}</ref> Frustrated by his inability to control all the dominant forces, de Gaulle resigned in 1946.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fenby |first=Jonathan |title=The General: Charles de Gaulle and The France He Saved |date=2010 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-8473-7392-2 |location=London}}</ref> On 13 October 1946, a new constitution established the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]]. The Fourth Republic consisted of a parliamentary government controlled by a series of coalitions. France attempted to [[First Indochina War|regain control of French Indochina]] but was defeated by the [[Viet Minh]] in 1954. Only months later, France faced another [[Decolonization|anti-colonialist]] [[Algerian War|conflict in Algeria]] and the debate over whether or not to keep control of [[French Algeria|Algeria]], then home to over one million [[Pied-Noir|European settlers]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |date=2009-03-04 |title=In France, a War of Memories Over Memories of War |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/arts/design/05abroad.html?_r=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430005608/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/arts/design/05abroad.html?_r=1 |archive-date=2011-04-30}}</ref> wracked the country and nearly led to a [[May 1958 crisis|coup]] and civil war.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crozier |first1=Brian |last2=Mansell, Gerard |date=July 1960 |title=France and Algeria |journal=[[International Affairs (journal)|International Affairs]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=310–321 |doi=10.2307/2610008 |jstor=2610008 |s2cid=153591784}}</ref> Charles de Gaulle managed to keep the country together while taking steps to end the war. The Algerian War was concluded with the [[Évian Accords]] in 1962 which led to Algerian independence.

The June 1951 elections saw a re-emergence of the right, and until June 1954 France was governed by a succession of centre-right coalitions.<ref>France Since 1815 By Martin Evans, Emmanuel Godin, 2014, P.137</ref>

=== Economic recovery ===
Wartime damage to the economy was severe, and apart from gold reserves, France had inadequate resources to recover on its own. The transportation system was in total shambles — the Allies had bombed out the railways and the bridges, and the Germans had destroyed the port facilities. Energy was in extremely short supply, with very low stocks of coal and oil. Imports of raw materials were largely cut off, so most factories shut down. The invaders had stripped most of the valuable industrial tools for German factories. Discussions with the United States for emergency aid dragged on, with repeated postponements on both sides. Meanwhile, several million French prisoners of war and forced labourers were being returned home, with few jobs and little food available for them. The plan was for 20 percent of German reparations to be paid to France, but Germany was in much worse shape even than France, and in no position to pay.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Footitt |first1=Hilary |title=France, 1943–1945 |last2=Simmonds |first2=John |date=1988 |publisher=Leicester University Press |isbn=978-0-7185-1231-6 |pages=215–227}}</ref>

After de Gaulle left office in January 1946, the diplomatic logjam was broken in terms of American aid. The U.S. Army shipped in food, from 1944 to 1946, and U.S. Treasury loans and cash grants were disbursed from 1945 until 1947, with [[Marshall Plan]] aid continuing until 1951. France received additional aid from 1951 to 1955 in order to help the country in its war in Indochina. Apart from low-interest loans, the other funds were grants that did not involve repayment. The debts left over from World War I, whose payment had been suspended since 1931, were renegotiated in the [[Blum-Byrnes agreement]] of 1946. The United States forgave all $2.8 billion in debt from the First World War, and gave France a new loan of $650 million. In return, French negotiator [[Jean Monnet]] set out the French five-year plan for recovery and development.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wall |first=Irwin M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnS4wOYyuCgC&pg=PA55 |title=The United States and the Making of Postwar France, 1945–1954 |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5214-0217-0 |page=55}}</ref> The Marshall Plan gave France $2.3 billion with no repayment. The total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953, amounted to $4.9 billion.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1954.zip |title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: August 1954 |date=1955 |publisher=U.S. Bureau of the Census |page=899}} Table 1075.</ref>

A central feature of the Marshall Plan was to encourage international trade, reduce tariffs, lower barriers, and modernize French management. The Marshall Plan set up intensive tours of American industry. France sent missions of businessmen and experts to tour American factories, farms, stores and offices. They were especially impressed with the prosperity of American workers, and the low price of vehicles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuisel |first=Richard F. |title=Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-5200-7962-5 |pages=70–102}}</ref> Some French businesses resisted Americanization, but the most profitable, especially chemicals, oil, electronics, and instrumentation, seized upon the opportunity to attract American investments and build a larger market.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuo |first=Laureen |date=2017 |title=Improving French Competitiveness through American Investment following World War II |journal=Business History Review |volume=91 |pages=129–155 |doi=10.1017/S0007680517000605 |s2cid=157255687 |number=1}}</ref> The U.S. insisted on opportunities for Hollywood films, and the French film industry responded with new life.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Le Forestier |first=Laurent |date=2004 |title=L'accueil en France des films américains de réalisateurs français à l'époque des accords Blum-Byrnes |trans-title=The reception in France of American films by French directors during the Blum-Byrnes agreements |journal=Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine |language=fr |volume=51-4 |pages=78–97 |doi=10.3917/rhmc.514.0078 |number=4}}</ref>

Although the economic situation in France was grim in 1945, resources did exist and the economy regained normal growth by the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fohlen |first=Claude |title=The Fontana Economic History of Europe: Vol.6 Part 1: Contemporary Economies, part 1 |date=1976 |isbn=978-0-0063-4261-8 |editor-last=Cipolla |editor-first=Carlo M. |pages=72–127 |chapter=France, 1920–1970|publisher=Fontana}}</ref> France managed to regain its international status thanks to a successful production strategy, a demographic spurt, and technical and political innovations. Conditions varied from firm to firm. Some had been destroyed or damaged, nationalized or requisitioned, but the majority carried on, sometimes working harder and more efficiently than before the war. Despite strong American pressure through the ERP, there was little change in the organization and content of the training for French industrial managers. This was mainly due to the reticence of the existing institutions, and the struggle among different economic and political interest groups for control over efforts to improve the further training of practitioners.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hill |first=John S. |date=1992 |title=American Efforts to Aid French Reconstruction Between Lend-Lease and the Marshall Plan |journal=[[Journal of Modern History]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=500–524 |doi=10.1086/244513 |jstor=2124596 |s2cid=144892957}}</ref>

The [[Monnet Plan]] provided a coherent framework for economic policy, and it was strongly supported by the Marshall Plan. It was inspired by moderate, Keynesian free-trade ideas rather than state control. Although relaunched in an original way, the French economy was about as productive as comparable West European countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mioche |first=Philippe |date=1998 |title=Le Demarrage de l'economie Française au lendemain de la Guerre |trans-title=Restarting the French Economy after the War |journal=Historiens et Géographes |language=fr |volume=89 |pages=143–156 |issn=0046-757X |number=361}}</ref>

=== Vietnam and Algeria ===
[[Pierre Mendès France]], was a [[Radical Party (France)|Radical party leader]] who was Prime Minister for eight months in 1954–55, working with the support of the Socialist and Communist parties. His top priority was ending the deadly war in Indochina in the wake of the humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Windrow |first=Martin |title=The French Indochina War 1946–54 |date=2013 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-0430-3}}</ref> The U.S. had paid most of the costs of the war, but its support inside France had collapsed. In February 1954, only 7% of the French people wanted to continue the fight to keep Indochina out of [[Ho Chi Minh]] and his [[Viet Minh]] movement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Larkin |first=Maurice |title=France since the Popular Front: Government and People 1936–1996 |date=1997 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-1987-3151-1 |edition=2nd revised |pages=240–241}}</ref> At the [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Conference in July 1954]], Pierre France made a deal that gave the Viet Minh control of Vietnam north of the 17th parallel, and allowed France to pull out all its forces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Kenneth T. |title=The 1954 Geneva Conference: Indo-China and Korea |date=1968 |publisher=Greenwood Press}}</ref> That left South Vietnam standing alone, and the U.S. would provide support for it afterwards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christensen |first=Thomas J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1v2pqaOmuEC&pg=PA123 |title=Worse Than a Monolith: Alliance Politics and Problems of Coercive Diplomacy in Asia |date=2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3881-3 |pages=123–125}}</ref> Pierre France next came to an agreement with [[Habib Bourguiba]], the nationalist leader in Tunisia, for the independence of that colony by 1956, and began discussions with Moroccan nationalists for a French withdrawal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Werth |first=Alexander |title=The Strange History of Pierre Mendès France and the Great Conflict over French North Africa |date=1957 |publisher=Barrie Books |location=London}}</ref>

With over a million European residents in Algeria (the [[Pied-Noir|Pieds-Noirs]]), France refused to grant independence until the [[Algerian War of Independence]] had turned into a French political and civil crisis. Algeria won its independence in 1962, unleashing a massive wave of immigration from the former colony back to France of both Pied-Noir and Algerians who had supported France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Martin |title=Algeria: France's Undeclared War |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1928-0350-4 |location=Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=McDougall |first=James |date=December 2017 |title=The Impossible Republic: The Reconquest of Algeria and the Decolonization of France, 1945–1962 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3fcec5a2-738d-4cc7-ae7d-0e8acd9adae7 |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=89 |pages=772–811 |doi=10.1086/694427 |s2cid=148602270 |number=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepard |first=Todd |title=The Invention of Decolonization: The Algerian War and the Remaking of France |date=2006 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-4360-2 |location=Ithaca, NY}}</ref>

=== Suez crisis (1956) ===
{{Main|Suez crisis}}
[[File:Port Said from air.jpg|thumb|Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez Canal hit during the initial Anglo-French assault on [[Port Said]], 5 November 1956.]]
In 1956, another crisis struck French colonies, this time in Egypt. The Suez Canal, having been built by the French government, belonged to the French Republic and was operated by the [[Suez Canal Company|Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez]]. Great Britain had bought the Egyptian share from [[Isma'il Pasha]] and was the second-largest owner of the canal before the crisis.

The Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] nationalized the canal despite French and British opposition; he determined that a European response was unlikely. Great Britain and France attacked Egypt and built an alliance with Israel against Nasser. Israel attacked from the east, Britain from Cyprus and France from Algeria. Egypt was defeated in a mere few days. The Suez crisis caused an outcry of indignation in the Arab world, and Saudi Arabia set an embargo on oil on France and Britain. U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] forced a ceasefire; Britain and Israel soon withdrew, leaving France alone in Egypt. Under strong international pressures, the French government ultimately evacuated its troops from Suez and largely disengaged from the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gorst |first1=Anthony |title=The Suez Crisis |last2=Johnman |first2=Lewis |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1350-9728-8 |location=London |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

=== President de Gaulle, 1958–1969 ===
The [[May 1958 crisis|May 1958 seizure of power in Algiers by French army units]] and French settlers opposed to concessions in the face of Arab nationalist insurrection ripped apart the unstable Fourth Republic. The National Assembly brought De Gaulle back to power during the May 1958 crisis. He founded the Fifth Republic with a strengthened presidency, and he was elected in the latter role. He managed to keep France together while taking steps to end the war, much to the anger of the Pieds-Noirs (Frenchmen settled in Algeria) and the military; both had supported his return to power to maintain colonial rule. He granted independence to Algeria in 1962 and progressively to other French colonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Horne |first=Alistair |title=A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962 |date=2006 |publisher=[[New York Review Books]] |isbn=978-1-5901-7218-6 |edition=4th |location=New York}}</ref>

Proclaiming ''grandeur'' essential to the nature of France, de Gaulle initiated his "Politics of Grandeur."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kolodziej |first=Edward A. |title=French International Policy under de Gaulle and Pompidou: The Politics of Grandeur |date=1974 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, NJ |page=618}}</ref><ref>On his presidency, see {{Cite book |last=Fenby |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKn2xyFGwlcC |title=The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved |date=2010 |publisher=Skyhorse |isbn=978-1-6208-7447-9 |pages=380–626}}</ref> He demanded complete autonomy for France in world affairs, which meant that major decisions could not be forced upon it by NATO, the European Community or anyone else. De Gaulle pursued a policy of "national independence." He vetoed Britain's entry into the Common Market, fearing it might gain too great a voice on French affairs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kulski |first=W. W. |title=De Gaulle and the World: The Foreign Policy of the Fifth French Republic |date=1966 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls/page/239 239 ff] |ol=5995988M |author-link=W. W. Kulski}}</ref> While not officially abandoning [[NATO]], he withdrew from its military integrated command, fearing that the United States had too much control over NATO.{{Sfnp|Kulski|1966|p=[https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls/page/176 176]}} He launched an independent [[Force de dissuasion|nuclear development program]] that made France the [[France and weapons of mass destruction|fourth nuclear power]]. France then adopted the [[Mutual assured destruction|dissuasion du faible au fort doctrine]] which meant a Soviet attack on France would only bring total destruction to both sides.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hecht |first=Gabrielle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yl2BbxqFY0C&pg=PR7 |title=The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II |date=2009 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-2622-6617-8 |pages=7–9}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F011021-0002, Köln, Staatsbesuch de Gaulle, Begrüßung Adenauer.jpg|thumb|upright|De Gaulle and Germany's [[Konrad Adenauer]] in 1961]]

He [[Élysée Treaty|restored]] cordial [[Franco-German relations]] in order to create a European counterweight between the "Anglo-Saxon" (American and British) and Soviet spheres of influence. De Gaulle openly criticised the [[Vietnam War|U.S. intervention in Vietnam]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=De Gaulle urges the United States to get out of Vietnam |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/de-gaulle-urges-the-united-states-to-get-out-of-vietnam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308040516/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/de-gaulle-urges-the-united-states-to-get-out-of-vietnam |archive-date=2010-03-08 |access-date=2015-07-26 |website=History.com |language=en}}</ref> He was angry at American economic power, especially what his Finance minister called the "[[exorbitant privilege]]" of the U.S. dollar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eichengreen |first=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TIlpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |title=Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1997-8148-5 |page=4}}</ref>

In [[May 1968 in France|May 1968]], he appeared likely to lose power amidst widespread protests by students and workers, but persisted through the crisis with backing from the army. His party, denouncing radicalism, won the [[1968 French legislative election|1968 election]] with an increased majority in the Assembly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seidman |first=Stephen |title=The Imaginary Revolution: Parisian Students and Workers in 1968 |date=2004 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-5718-1675-7 |location=New York City}}</ref> Nonetheless, de Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a [[1969 French constitutional referendum|referendum]] in which he proposed more decentralization.

=== Economic crises: 1970s-1980s ===
By the late 1960s, France's economic growth, while strong, was beginning to lose steam. A global currency crisis meant a devaluation of the Franc against the West German Mark and the U.S. Dollar in 1968, which was one of the leading factors for [[May 1968 in France|the social upheaval of that year]]. Industrial policy was used to bolster French industries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maclean |first=Mairi |title=Economic Management and French Business: From de Gaulle to Chirac |date=2002 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-3337-6148-9 |location=London}}</ref>

The ''[[Trente Glorieuses]]'' era (1945–1975) ended with the worldwide [[1973 oil crisis]], which increased costs in energy and thus on production. Economic instability marked the [[Giscard d'Estaing]] government (1974–1981). Giscard turned to Prime Minister [[Raymond Barre]] in 1976, who advocated numerous complex, strict policies ("Barre Plans"). The plans included a three-month price freeze; wage controls; salary controls; a reduction of the growth in the money supply; increases in taxes and bank rates but a reduction in the value-added tax; measures to restore the trade balance; limits on expensive oil imports; special aid to exports; an action fund to aid industries; increased financial aid to farmers; and social security.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frears |first=J.R. |title=France in the Giscard Presidency |date=1981 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-0-0435-4025-1 |location=London |page=135}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hibbs |first1=Douglas A. Jr |last2=Vasilatos |first2=Nicholas |date=1981 |title=Economics and Politics in France: Economic Performance and Mass Political Support for Presidents Pompidou and Giscard d'Estaing |journal=European Journal of Political Research |volume=9 |pages=133–145 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-6765.1981.tb00595.x |number=2}}</ref>

Economic troubles continued into the presidency of [[François Mitterrand]]. A recession in the early 1980s led to the abandonment of ''dirigisme'', in favour of a more pragmatic approach to economic intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sachs |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Wyplosz |first2=Charles |date=April 1986 |title=The economic consequences of President Mitterrand |journal=Economic Policy |volume=1 |pages=261–306 |doi=10.2307/1344559 |jstor=1344559 |number=2}}</ref> Growth resumed later in the decade, only to be slowed down by the economic depression of the early 1990s, which affected the Socialist Party.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Levy |first1=Jonah |title=Developments in French Politics Vol.4 |last2=Cole |first2=Alistair |last3=Le Galès |first3=Patrick |date=2008 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-2305-3700-2 |location=Basingstoke |pages=1–21 |chapter=From Chirac to Sarkozy: A New France?}}</ref>

France's recent economic history has been less turbulent than in many other countries. The average income in mid-century grew by 0.9% per year, a rate which has been outdone almost every year since 1975. By the early 1980s, for instance, wages in France were on or slightly above the [[EEC]] average.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Card |first1=David |last2=Kramarz |first2=Francis |last3=Lemieux |first3=Thomas |date=1996 |title=Changes in the relative structure of wages and employment: A comparison of the United States, Canada, and France |url=http://www.crest.fr/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Pageperso/kramarz/card-kramarz-lemieux.pdf |journal=The Canadian Journal of Economics |volume=32 |pages=843–877 |doi=10.3386/w5487 |s2cid=154902220 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730215601/http://www.crest.fr/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Pageperso/kramarz/card-kramarz-lemieux.pdf |archive-date=30 July 2020 |access-date=5 December 2020 |number=4}}</ref>

=== 1989 to 2017 ===
After the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of the USSR]] and the end of the [[Cold War]], potential menaces to mainland France appeared considerably reduced. France began reducing its nuclear capacities and conscription was abolished in 2001. In 1990, France, led by Mitterrand, joined the short successful [[Gulf War]] against Iraq; the French participation to this war was called the [[Opération Daguet]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Short |first=Philip |title=A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand |date=2014 |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |isbn=978-0-8050-8853-3 |location=New York City}}</ref>

[[Jacques Chirac]] assumed office after a campaign focused on the need to combat France's high unemployment rate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The economy became strengthened.<ref name=":0"/> French leaders increasingly tied the future of France to the continued development of the [[European Union]] (EU). In 1992, France ratified the [[Maastricht Treaty]] establishing the EU. In 1999, the [[Euro]] was introduced to replace the Franc. France also became involved in joint European projects such as [[Airbus]], the [[Galileo (satellite navigation)|Galileo positioning system]] and the [[Eurocorps]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The French stood among the strongest supporters of [[NATO]] and EU policy in the Balkans, to prevent genocide in former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]; French troops joined the [[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|1999 NATO bombing of the country]]. France became actively involved in fighting against international terrorism. In 2002, [[Alliance Base]], an international [[Counterterrorist Intelligence Center]], was secretly established in Paris. France contributed to the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|toppling of the Taliban regime]] in Afghanistan, but it strongly rejected the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-07-15 |title=France: No Troops To Iraq - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-no-troops-to-iraq/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel (Frankfurter Buchmesse 2017).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Emmanuel Macron]] and Germany's [[Angela Merkel]] in 2017]]

Jacques Chirac was reelected in 2002,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noveck |first=Jocelyn |date=2002-05-06 |title=Chirac Wins Re-Election in France |language=en |work=AP News |url=https://apnews.com/article/71985d918192ded29199603eb5584c8c |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506072508/https://apnews.com/article/71985d918192ded29199603eb5584c8c |archive-date=2022-05-06}}</ref> and became a fierce opponent of the Iraq invasion.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Jacques Chirac, French President Who Opposed U.S. Iraq War, Is Dead At 86 |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764561501/jacques-chirac-french-president-who-opposed-u-s-iraq-war-is-dead-at-86 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926144923/https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764561501/jacques-chirac-french-president-who-opposed-u-s-iraq-war-is-dead-at-86 |archive-date=2019-09-26}}</ref> Conservative [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] was elected and took office in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-05-06 |title=Sarkozy is new French president |language=en |work=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/5/6/sarkozy-is-new-french-president |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722163516/https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2007/5/6/sarkozy-is-new-french-president |archive-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> Sarkozy was very actively involved in the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|military operation in Libya]] to oust the [[Gaddafi government]] in 2011.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Grand |first=Camille |title=The French Experience: Sarkozy's War? |date=2015 |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-8793-5 |series=Precision and Purpose |pages=183–204 |chapter=The French Experience |jstor=10.7249/j.ctt16f8d7x.13 |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt16f8d7x.13}}</ref> After 2005, the world economy stagnated, and the 2008 global crisis (including its effects in both the Eurozone and France) dogged Sarkozy, who lost [[2012 French presidential election|reelection in 2012]] against Socialist [[Francois Hollande]].<ref name=":0"/> Hollande advocated a growth policy in contrast to the austerity policy advocated by Germany's [[Angela Merkel]] as a way of tackling the [[European sovereign debt crisis]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-01 |title=France presidency: Francois Hollande decides not to run again |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38173350 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201212140/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38173350 |archive-date=2016-12-01 |website=BBC News |language=en}}</ref>

==== Muslim tensions ====
At the close of the Algerian war, hundreds of thousands of Muslims, including some who had supported France ([[Harkis]]), settled permanently in France, especially in the larger cities where they lived in subsidized public housing, and suffered very high unemployment rates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haddad |first1=Yvonne Yazbeck |last2=Balz |first2=Michael J. |date=June 2006 |title=The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back? |journal=International Migration |volume=44 |pages=23–34 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00362.x |number=2}}</ref> In 2005, the predominantly Arab-immigrant suburbs of many French cities [[2005 French riots|erupted in riots]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-11-09 |title=Special Report: Riots in France |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/4417096.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124022323/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/4417096.stm |archive-date=2005-11-24 |access-date=2007-11-17 |website=BBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mucchielli |first=Laurent |date=May 2009 |title=Autumn 2005: A review of the most important riot in the history of French contemporary society |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |volume=35 |pages=731–751 |doi=10.1080/13691830902826137 |s2cid=144434973 |number=5}}</ref> Traditional interpretations say these race riots were spurred by radical Muslims or unemployed youth. Another view states that the riots reflected a broader problem of racism and police violence in France.<ref name="schneider">{{Cite journal |last=Schneider |first=Cathy Lisa |date=March 2008 |title=Police Power and Race Riots in Paris |journal=Politics & Society |volume=36 |pages=133–159 |doi=10.1177/0032329208314802 |s2cid=145068866 |number=1}} (Quote on p. 136.)</ref> In 2009, there were [[2009 French riots|more riots]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

[[File:Place de la République, 18h50, une foule silencieuse.jpg|thumb|Over 1 million demonstrators gathering to pledge solidarity to liberal French values, in 2015 after the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting]]]]
In 2015, ''[[The New York Times]]'' summarized an ongoing conflict between France's secular and individualist values, and a growing Muslim conservatism.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Erlangerjan |first=Steven |date=2015-01-09 |title=Days of Sirens, Fear and Blood: 'France Is Turned Upside Down' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/days-of-sirens-fear-and-blood-france-is-turned-upside-down.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110230359/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/days-of-sirens-fear-and-blood-france-is-turned-upside-down.html |archive-date=2015-01-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> In 1994, [[Air France Flight 8969]] was hijacked by terrorists; they were captured. In 2012, a Muslim radical shot three French soldiers and four Jewish citizens [[Toulouse and Montauban shootings|in Toulouse and Montauban]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} In January 2015, the satirical newspaper ''[[Charlie Hebdo]]'' and a Jewish grocery store came under [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|attack]] from some angered Muslims in Paris. World leaders rallied to Paris to show their support for free speech.<ref name=":2"/> There were more terrorist attacks afterwards, including [[November 2015 Paris attacks|another series of attacks]] in Paris in November 2015, and a [[2016 Nice truck attack|truck attack]] in Nice in 2016.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== 2017 to present ===

In the [[2017 French presidential election|2017 election for president]] the winner was [[Emmanuel Macron]], the founder of a new party "[[La République En Marche!]]" (later Renaissance RE).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hewlett |first=Nick |date=2017 |title=The Phantom Revolution. The Presidential and Parliamentary Elections of 2017 |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/97951/3/WRAP-phantom-revolution-presidential-legislative-Hewlett-2017.pdf |journal=Modern & Contemporary France |volume=25 |pages=377–390 |doi=10.1080/09639489.2017.1375643 |s2cid=149200645 |number=4}}</ref> In the [[2022 French presidential election|2022 presidential election]] president Macron was re-elected after beating his far-right rival, [[Marine Le Pen]], in the runoff.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henley |first=Jon |date=2022-04-24 |title=What's in Emmanuel Macron's intray after his re-election as French president? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/24/whats-in-emmanuel-macrons-intray-after-his-re-election-as-french-president |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424230933/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/24/whats-in-emmanuel-macrons-intray-after-his-re-election-as-french-president |archive-date=2022-04-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

The problem of high unemployment has yet to be resolved.<ref name=":1"/> {{Clear left}}