1.
Marseille
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Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice
2.
Sorbonne
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The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which was the historical house of the former University of Paris. The name is derived from the Collège de Sorbonne, initiated during 1257 by the eponymous Robert de Sorbon as one of the first significant colleges of the medieval University of Paris. The university predates the college by about a century, and minor colleges had been founded already during the late 12th century, during the 16th century, the Sorbonne became involved with the intellectual struggle between Catholics and Protestants. The Collège de Sorbonne was suppressed during the French Revolution, reopened by Napoleon during 1808 and this was only one of the many colleges of the University of Paris that existed until the French revolution. After months of conflicts between students and authorities at the University of Paris at Nanterre, the administration closed that university on May 2,1968. Students at the Sorbonne campus in Paris met on May 3 to protest against the closure and the threatened expulsion of several students at Nanterre. More than 20,000 students, teachers and other endorsers marched towards the Sorbonne, still sealed off by the police, who charged, wielding their batons, as soon as the marchers approached. While the crowd dispersed, some began to make out of whatever was at hand, while others threw paving stones. The police then responded with tear gas and charged the crowd again, may 10 marked the Night of Barricades, where students used cars, wood, and cobblestones to barricade the streets of the Latin Quarter. Brutal street fighting ensued between students and riot police, most notably on Rue Gay-Lussac, early the next morning, as the fighting disbanded, Daniel Cohn-Bendit sent out a radio broadcast calling for a general strike. On Monday,13 May, more than one million workers went on strike, negotiations ended, and students returned to their campuses after a false report that the government had agreed to reopen them, only to discover police still occupying the schools. When the Sorbonne reopened, students occupied it and declared it an autonomous Peoples University, during 1970, the University of Paris was divided into thirteen universities, managed by a common rectorate, the Chancellerie des Universités de Paris, with offices in the Sorbonne. The building also houses the École Nationale des Chartes, the École pratique des hautes études, the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, nowadays, the use of the name refers more often to Panthéon-Sorbonne University for French public especially students in France. But, all Parisian universities like to refer as their ancestor, some alliances of universities use that name, like Sorbonne University. Listing of the works of Alexandre Falguière List of works by Henri Chapu La Sorbonne
3.
Nazism
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National Socialism, more commonly known as Nazism, is the ideology and practice associated with the 20th-century German Nazi Party and Nazi Germany, as well as other far-right groups. Nazism subscribed to theories of racial hierarchy and Social Darwinism, identifying Germans as part of what Nazis regarded as an Aryan or Nordic master race and it aimed to overcome social divisions and create a homogeneous society, unified on the basis of racial purity. The term National Socialism arose out of attempts to create a nationalist redefinition of socialism, the Nazi Partys precursor, the Pan-German nationalist and anti-Semitic German Workers Party, was founded on 5 January 1919. By the early 1920s, Adolf Hitler assumed control of the organisation, following the Holocaust and German defeat in World War II, only a few fringe racist groups, usually referred to as neo-Nazis, still describe themselves as following National Socialism. The full name of Adolf Hitlers party was Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the shorthand Nazi was formed from the first two syllables of the German pronunciation of the word national. The term was in use before the rise of the NSDAP as a colloquial and derogatory word for a peasant, characterizing an awkward. It derived from Ignaz, being a version of Ignatius, a common name in Bavaria. Opponents seized on this and shortened the first word of the name, Nationalsozialistische. The NSDAP briefly adopted the Nazi designation, attempting to reappropriate the term, the use of Nazi Germany, Nazi regime, and so on was popularised by German exiles abroad. From them, the spread into other languages and was eventually brought back to Germany after World War II. In English, Nazism is a name for the ideology the party advocated. The majority of scholars identify Nazism in practice as a form of far-right politics, far-right themes in Nazism include the argument that superior people have a right to dominate over other people and purge society of supposed inferior elements. Adolf Hitler and other proponents officially portrayed Nazism as being neither left- nor right-wing, but the politicians of the Right deserve exactly the same reproach. It was through their miserable cowardice that those ruffians of Jews who came into power in 1918 were able to rob the nation of its arms, a major inspiration for the Nazis were the far-right nationalist Freikorps, paramilitary organisations that engaged in political violence after World War I. The Nazis stated the alliance was purely tactical and there remained substantial differences with the DNVP, the Nazis described the DNVP as a bourgeois party and called themselves an anti-bourgeois party. After the elections in 1932, the alliance broke after the DNVP lost many of its seats in the Reichstag, the Nazis denounced them as an insignificant heap of reactionaries. The DNVP responded by denouncing the Nazis for their socialism, their violence. Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was pressured to abdicate the throne and flee into exile amidst an attempted communist revolution in Germany, there were factions in the Nazi Party, both conservative and radical
4.
Munich Agreement
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The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. Today, it is regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of demands made by Adolf Hitler. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Sudetenland was of immense strategic importance to Czechoslovakia, as most of its border defenses, and banks were situated there, as well as heavy industrial districts. Part of the borderland was invaded and annexed by Poland, the phrase Munich Betrayal is also used because the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France and Britain proved useless and also known because of the phrase About us, without us. This phrase is most hurtful for people of Czechoslovakia, Today the document is typically referred to simply as the Munich Pact. In Germany the Sudeten crisis led to the so-called Oster Conspiracy, from 1918 to 1938, after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, more than 3 million ethnic Germans were living in the Czech part of the newly created state of Czechoslovakia. Sudeten German pro-Nazi leader Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Party that served as the branch of the Nazi Party for the Sudetenland. By 1935, the SdP was the second largest political party in Czechoslovakia as German votes concentrated on this party while Czech, on 24 April, the SdP issued a series of demands upon the government of Czechoslovakia, that were known as the Carlsbad Program. Among the demands, Henlein demanded autonomy for Germans living in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovakian government responded by saying that it was willing to provide more minority rights to the German minority but it refused to grant them autonomy. As the previous appeasement of Hitler had shown, the governments of both France and Britain were intent on avoiding war, the French government did not wish to face Germany alone and took its lead from the British government of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain considered the Sudeten German grievances justified and believed Hitlers intentions were limited, both Britain and France, therefore, advised Czechoslovakia to concede to Germanys demands. Beneš resisted and on 19 May initiated a partial mobilization in response to possible German invasion, while recognizing that this would still be insufficient for a full-scale naval war with Britain, Hitler hoped it would be a sufficient deterrent. Ten days later, Hitler signed a directive for war against Czechoslovakia. On 22 May, Juliusz Łukasiewicz, the Polish ambassador to France, told the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet that if France moved against Germany in defense of Czechoslovakia, Łukasiewicz also told Bonnet that Poland would oppose any attempt by Soviet forces to defend Czechoslovakia from Germany. Daladier told Jakob Surits, the Soviet ambassador to France, Not only can we not count on Polish support but we have no faith that Poland will not strike us in the back. Hitlers adjutant, Fritz Wiedemann, recalled after the war that he was shocked by Hitlers new plans to attack Britain. In the meantime, the British government demanded that Beneš request a mediator, Not wishing to sever his governments ties with Western Europe, Beneš reluctantly accepted
5.
Free France
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It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support
6.
Croix de Guerre
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The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, the Croix de guerre was also commonly bestowed on foreign military forces allied to France. The Croix de guerre may either be awarded as an individual or unit award to soldiers who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy. The medal is awarded to those who have mentioned in dispatches. The unit award of the Croix de guerre with palm was issued to military units whose members performed heroic deeds in combat and were recognized by headquarters. The Croix de guerre medal varies depending on which country is bestowing the award, separate French medals exist for the First and Second World War. For the unit decoration of the Croix de guerre, a fourragère is awarded, regulations also permitted the wearing of multiple Croix de guerre, meaning that such medals were differentiated in service records by specifying French Croix de guerre, French Croix de guerre, etc. There are three distinct Croix de guerre medals in the French system of honours, Furthermore, the French collaborationist government created two croix during World War II. These croix are now illegal under French law and wearing them is outlawed, The Croix was created by a law of April 2,1915, the Croix reinstated an older system of mentions in dispatches, which were only administrative honours with no medal. The sculptor Paul-André Bartholomé created the medal, a cross with swords. The French Croix represents a mention in dispatches awarded by a commanding officer, depending on the officer who issued the mention, the ribbon of the Croix is marked with extra pins. Mentioned in Despatches, a star for those who had been mentioned at the regiment or brigade level. A silver star, for those who had been mentioned at the division level, a silver gilt star for those who had been mentioned at the corps level. A bronze palm for those who had been mentioned at the army level, a silver palm stands for five bronze ones. A silver gilt palm for those who had been mentioned at the Free French Forces level, the French Croix de guerre des TOE was created in 1921 for wars fought in theatres of operation outside France. It was awarded during the Indochina War, Korean War, when World War II broke out in 1939, a new Croix de guerre was created by Édouard Daladier. It was abolished by Vichy Government in 1941, which created a new Croix de guerre, in 1943 General Giraud in Algiers created another Croix de guerre
7.
Resistance Medal
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The Resistance medal was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. The Resistance medal was awarded to approximately 38,288 living persons and 24,463 posthumously and these awards were both for membership in the Free French forces and for participation in the metropolitan clandestine Resistance during the German occupation of France in World War II. Higher deeds were rewarded with the Ordre de la Libération, proposals for the medal ceased to be accepted on 31 March 1947. For acts that occurred in Indochina, however, that date was moved back to 31 December 1947, the Resistance medal may be revoked by decree following any act contrary to honour or integrity, whether committed prior to or after bestowal of the medal. The Resistance medal is a 37mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze, the reverse bears the relief image of an unfurling ribbon bearing the relief inscription in Latin PATRIA NON IMMEMOR translating into THE NATION DOES NOT FORGET. The suspension is cast as an part of the medal. A 28mm in diameter rosette is on the ribbon of the Officer of the Resistance medal
8.
Order of Liberation
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The Order of Liberation is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a high honour, second only after the Légion d’Honneur. Very few people, military units and communes were ever awarded it, a different order, the Médaille de la Résistance was created and awarded for lesser but still distinguished deeds by members of the Resistance. The Order of Liberation was established by General de Gaulle in order n°7, the object of the Order was to “reward people, of the military or civilian communities, who will have distinguished themselves in the task of liberating France and her Empire”. There were no restrictions as to age, sex, rank, origin or nationality, nor any regarding the nature of the deeds, the Order has a single rank, the title of Compagnon de la Libération. General de Gaulle, founder of the Order, was the only Grand Maître of the Order, the Order was usually bestowed by the traditional French military ceremony of prise darmes. The last awards to French citizens, units and communes were made on 23 January 1946, awards to foreign nationals were made until 1960. The medal of the Order is called the Croix de la Libération and it is a 31 mm wide by 33 mm high rectangular bronze shield bearing a 60 mm high vertical gladius on its obverse. On the blade of the gladius, a black enamelled Cross of Lorraine, on the reverse, in Latin, a relief inscription in bold letters on four rows, “PATRIAM SERVANDO VICTORIAM TULIT”. Green represents hope, black represents mourning, symbolizing the state of France in 1940, the ribbon at first had diagonal black stripes, but the Order was only awarded in that form during August–September 1942. Amongst the 1036 Companions of the Order,65 were killed before the end of the war, members of the French resistance, especially the more famous ones, often received the Order under their nom de guerre. The youngest, Mathurin Henrio, was 14 when he was dead by Nazi officers for refusing to answer questions on the whereabouts of Maquisards. On June 18,1996, at Mont Valérien, the 18 military units which had awarded the Cross of Liberation were given a green. Occupied by German troops and subjected to the harshest of repression, has given to the French, by individual and collective actions. By the blood of her children, showed to the whole World the French will for national liberation. Grenoble, awarded on May 4,1944 Heroic city at the vanguard of the French Resistance, draped in her pride, despite the arrest and the massacre of her best sons, put up a fierce fight to the Germans at every instant. Despising the interdictions given by the invaders and their accomplices, demonstrated on November 11,1943 her certainty of Victory and her will to take part in it. By her courage in the presence of the invader and by the energy with which she sustained the harshest of trials
9.
Human Rights League (France)
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The Human Rights League of France, is a Human Rights NGO association to observe, defend and promulgation of Rights Man within the French Republic in all spheres of public life. The LDH is a member of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, the League was founded on 4 June 1898 by the republican Ludovic Trarieux to defend captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew wrongly convicted for treason - this would be known as the Dreyfus Affair. Dissolved by the anticommunist regime of Vichy during World War II, it was reconstituted in 1943 by a central committee including Pierre Cot, René Cassin. The LDH was refounded after the Liberation, paul Langevin, who had recently joined the French Communist Party, became its president. Opposed to the Algerian War and the use of torture by the French Army. The LDH has opposed itself to the 23 February 2005 law on the role of colonisation. President Jacques Chirac finally had the law, which had voted by his UMP majority. The LDH also took position in favor of the recognition of foreigners right to vote in local elections end of December 2005, besides, it took part in prisonners movement organized since 1970 by the GIP, founded by Michel Foucault and Daniel Deferre. The LDH also supports Italian former activist Cesare Battisti and American Ira Einhorn, the LDH has also opposed itself to Nicolas Sarkozys policies, which it deems repressive. In its 2003 report, it declared that since the Algerian War we had never seen such a strong rollback of human rights in France. The LDH has filed a complaint end of 2005 concerning a CIA flight which landed in Le Bourget airport in the frame of the war on terror. End of 2004, the LDH counted 7,487 members, in 1932, it could boast 170,000 members
