1.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
2.
Prefectures in France
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There are 101 prefectures in France, one for each department. The official in charge is the prefect, the prefect represents the national government at the local level and as such exercises the powers that are constitutionally attributed to the national government. The prefect issues ordinances written for the application of law, to close a building that does not conform to safety codes. In the past, the prefect was head of the department, but since 1982, there is an exception in Paris and its three surrounding departments. These departments are administered by a prefecture for law enforcement and security purposes, called the Prefecture of Police. The power of law enforcement is usually invested in the mayor in other French communes, the departments are divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons. The chef-lieu darrondissement is the subprefecture, the official in charge is the subprefect (French, sous-préfet. Cantons have relatively few competences, the most important one being the local organisation of elections, administrative divisions of France French National Police
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
5.
Subprefectures in France
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In France, a subprefecture is the administrative center of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the prefecture for its department. The term also applies to the building houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement. The civil servant in charge of a subprefecture is the subprefect, between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by the title commissaire adjoint de la République. Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille) are divisions of the city rather than the prefecture, and so are not arrondissements in the same sense
6.
Pontarlier
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Pontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region near the Swiss border in eastern France. Pontarlier occupies the ancient Roman station of Ariolica, in Gallia and is placed in the Tables on the road from Urba, although the distances in the Antonine Itinerary do not agree with the real distances, French geographer DAnville recognized a transposition of the numbers. The Theodosian Tabula names the place Abrolica, which William Smith states as an error of transcription. After the Burgundian invasion in 5th, Pontarlier became a way of trade from the kingdom of Burgundy to Switzerland. It was the way to cross Jura mountains until the 17th. The city of Pontarlier is briefly mentioned in Victor Hugos Les Misérables and it was to this city that convict Jean Valjean was to report for his parole after being released from the galleys. Breaking these instructions is a turning point in the novel. Pontarlier was famous for the production of absinthe until its ban in 1915, the distilleries switched over to producing pastis. With the ban lifted in the 1990s, distilleries are once again producing absinthe in Pontarlier. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, city council website Aeroclub of Pontarlier WebSite
7.
Socialist Party (France)
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The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France, and the largest party of the French centre-left. The PS is one of the two major political parties in France, along with the Republicans. The Socialist Party replaced the earlier French Section of the Workers International in 1969, the PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance. The PS first won power in 1981, when its candidate François Mitterrand was elected President of France in the 1981 presidential election, under Mitterrand, the party achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993. In 2007, the candidate for the presidential election, Ségolène Royal, was defeated by conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. Then, the Socialist party won most of regional and local elections, in 2016, the party had 42,300 members. In 2014, the party had 60,000 members, in 2012 the party had 173,486 members. The defeat of the Paris commune greatly reduced the power and influence of socialist movements in France and its leaders were killed or exiled. Frances first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France, was founded in 1879 and it was characterised as possibilist because it promoted gradual reforms. Two parties split off from it, in 1882, the French Workers Party of Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, at the same time, the heirs of Louis Auguste Blanqui, a symbol of the French revolutionary tradition, created the Central Revolutionary Committee led by Édouard Vaillant. There were also some declared socialist deputies such as Alexandre Millerand, in 1899, the participation of Millerand in Pierre Waldeck-Rousseaus cabinet caused a debate about socialist participation in a bourgeois government. In 1905, during the Globe Congress, the two merged in the French Section of the Workers International. Leader of the group and director of the party paper LHumanité. The party was hemmed in between the liberals of the Radical Party and the revolutionary syndicalists who dominated the trade unions. Together with the Radicals, who wished to install laicism, the SFIO was a component of the Left Block without to sit in the government, in 1906, the General Confederation of Labour trade union claimed its independence from all political parties. The French socialists were strongly anti-war, but following the assassination of Jaurès in 1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of World War I and they suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In 1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections, the right wing, led by Léon Blum, kept the old house and remained in the SFIO. In 1924 and in 1932, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalition of the Left, the question of the possibility of a government participation with Radicals caused the split of neosocialists at the beginning of the 1930s
8.
List of French departments by population
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This table lists the 101 French departments in descending order of population, area and population density. The figures include, population without double counting for 1999, municipal population published in decree No, 2010-1723 of 30 December 2010 as amended by Decree No. 2011-343 of 28 March 2011 which corresponds to data compiled as at 1 January 2008, municipal population The total population takes into account double counting. Guadeloupe has seemingly lost population between 1999 and 2008, however, this diminution of the legal population is due to the creation of the overseas communities of Saint Barthelemy and Saint-Martin. In the 1999 census, the population of Guadeloupe without the arrondissement of Saint-Martin-Saint-Barthélemy was 386,566 inhabitants, the departments population has actually increased by more than 15,000 people over the period based on a constant territory
9.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
10.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
11.
Communes in France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
12.
Estuary
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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
13.
Arpitan
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Franco-Provençal, Arpitan or Romand is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland, northwestern Italy, and in enclaves in the Province of Foggia in Apulia, Italy. Franco-Provençal has several dialects and is separate from but closely related to neighboring Romance languages, Oïl languages, Occitan, Gallo-Italian. The name Franco-Provençal was given to the language by G. I, Ascoli in the 19th century because it shared features with French and Provençal without belonging to either. Arpitan, a neologism, is becoming a name for the language. This name was popularized due to the lands where the Arpitan language is spoken or used to be the prevalent idiom, the name for the region comes from the term Arpes, meaning Alps in Arpitan. Today, the largest number of Franco-Provençal speakers reside in the Aosta Valley, the language is also spoken in alpine valleys in the province of Turin, two isolated towns in Foggia, and rural areas of the Romandie region of Switzerland. It is one of the three Gallo-Romance language families of France and is recognized as a regional language of France. Organizations are attempting to preserve it through cultural events, education, scholarly research, aside from regional French dialects, it is the most closely related language to French. The number of speakers of Franco-Provençal has been declining significantly, according to UNESCO, Franco-Provençal is a potentially endangered language in Italy and an endangered language in Switzerland and France. Franco-Provençal emerged as a Gallo-Romance variety of Latin, the linguistic region comprises east-central France, western portions of Switzerland, and the Aosta Valley of Italy with the adjacent alpine valleys of the Piedmont. This area covers territories once occupied by pre-Roman Celts, including the Allobroges, Sequani, Helvetii, Ceutrones, by the 5th century, the region was controlled by the Burgundians. Franco-Provençal is first attested in manuscripts from the 12th century, possibly diverging from the langues doïl as early as the 8th–9th centuries, one writer has detected the influence of Basque by analyzing fossil words from toponymy and the dialect in the Aosta Valley Valdôtain patois. However, Franco-Provençal is consistently typified by a strict, myopic comparison to French, and so is characterized as conservative. Thus, commentators, like Désormaux, consider medieval the terms for many nouns and verbs, including pâta rag, bayâ to give, moussâ to lie down, all of which are conservative only relative to French. As an example, Désormaux, writing on this point in the foreword of his Savoyard dialect dictionary, states, one can note it not only in phonetics and morphology, but also in the vocabulary, where one finds numerous words and directions that clearly disappeared from French. Franco-Provençal failed to garner the prestige of its three more widely spoken neighbors, French, Occitan, and Italian. Communities where speakers lived were generally mountainous and isolated from one another, the internal boundaries of the entire speech area were divided by wars and religious conflicts. France, Switzerland, the Franche-Comté, and the duchy, later kingdom, the edict explicitly replaced Latin with French as the language of law and the courts
14.
Doubs River
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The Doubs is a 453 kilometres long river in eastern France and western Switzerland, left tributary of the Saône. Its source is near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains, at an altitude of 946 m and it is the tenth longest French river in terms of length within France. From its source in Mouthe it flows northeast, more or less along the French-Swiss border, near Montbéliard it turns southwest, until it flows into the river Saône in Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, approx. Its entire course resembles an inverted letter U, with the corner the only point at which the Doubs flows into Switzerland as far as Saint-Ursanne. In Switzerland it traverses the cantons Jura and Neuchâtel, the waterfall known as the Saut du Doubs is located on the French-Swiss border. The flooding season can stretch from September to May, with floods being occasioned either by heavy rains or by melting of snow from the Jura mountains. At its mouth, the rate can vary from as low as 20 m³/s to over 1000 m³/s during floods. In Besançon, the largest floods have been in 1852, in 1896, there have also been many lesser floods more recently. As a mountain river with substantial discharge, the Doubs has been used for electricity generation, among several hydroelectric stations, the most important are the Dam of Châtelot,74 metres tall, and the Dam of Refrain,66.5 metres tall. Nature parks in Switzerland January 1910 Doubs river flood http, //www. geoportail. fr The Doubs at the Sandre database
15.
County of Burgundy
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It should not be confused with the more westerly Duchy of Burgundy, a fiefdom of Francia since 843. The area once formed part of the Kingdom of the Burgundians, in 982, Otto-William, son of Adalbert of Lombardy, Count at Mâcon in the Duchy of Burgundy, received the County of Burgundy from his mother, Gerberga of Dijon. In 1002, Otto-William also claimed the Duchy of Burgundy upon the death of his stepfather Duke Henry I. However, the duchy was seized as a fief by King Robert II of France two years later, and he was only able to maintain rule over the Arelat county with his residence at Dole. The development of commercial routes across the Jura and the development of salt mines assured the prosperity of the county, guy of Burgundy, brother of Renaud II, later became pope and negotiated the Concordat of Worms with Emperor Henry V. In the 12th century, Imperial protection allowed for the development of Besançon, Burgundy was from then on called Franche-Comté, the free county. Upon Emperor Fredericks death in 1190, his younger son Otto I, received the county of Burgundy and assumed the rare title of an archcount. He was succeeded by his daughter, Beatrice II, and her husband Otto I, Duke of Merania, they were in turn followed by their son, Otto III, Count of Burgundy, and their daughter, Adelaide. The authority of the counts was re-established only by the marriage of Hugh of Chalon with Adelaide, however, this did not prevent a younger son, John of Chalon-Arlay, from taking control of the vassal states. Otto IV, son of Hugh and Adelaide, was the last of the counts of Burgundy. He married first the daughter of the Count of Bar, then the grandniece of King Louis IX of France and this marriage brought the county under French influence. The daughters of Otto IV and Mahaut, Jeanne and Blanche, married respectively Philip V and Charles IV of France, Jeanne became Queen of France after having been one of the heroines in the Tour de Nesle Affair. In that same affair Blanche was found guilty of adultery and was imprisoned for the rest of her life and these events are retold in the French historical novel series Les Rois maudits by Maurice Druon. By marrying their daughter and heir Joan, Duke Eudes IV of Burgundy reunited the duchy, in 1382 she bequeathed her estates to her son Count Louis II of Flanders. The county and the duchy were again ruled in personal union by his descendants from the House of Valois-Burgundy until the death of Duke Charles the Bold at the 1477 Battle of Nancy. His cousin King Louis XI of France immediately occupied the county, fiercely opposed by Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg, with the Netherlands, the County of Burgundy was held by Habsburg Spain until it was finally incorporated into France by the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678. List of counts of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy Kings of Burgundy Duchy of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy Dukes of Burgundy family tree The History Files, Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy
16.
Arpitan language
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Franco-Provençal, Arpitan or Romand is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland, northwestern Italy, and in enclaves in the Province of Foggia in Apulia, Italy. Franco-Provençal has several dialects and is separate from but closely related to neighboring Romance languages, Oïl languages, Occitan, Gallo-Italian. The name Franco-Provençal was given to the language by G. I, Ascoli in the 19th century because it shared features with French and Provençal without belonging to either. Arpitan, a neologism, is becoming a name for the language. This name was popularized due to the lands where the Arpitan language is spoken or used to be the prevalent idiom, the name for the region comes from the term Arpes, meaning Alps in Arpitan. Today, the largest number of Franco-Provençal speakers reside in the Aosta Valley, the language is also spoken in alpine valleys in the province of Turin, two isolated towns in Foggia, and rural areas of the Romandie region of Switzerland. It is one of the three Gallo-Romance language families of France and is recognized as a regional language of France. Organizations are attempting to preserve it through cultural events, education, scholarly research, aside from regional French dialects, it is the most closely related language to French. The number of speakers of Franco-Provençal has been declining significantly, according to UNESCO, Franco-Provençal is a potentially endangered language in Italy and an endangered language in Switzerland and France. Franco-Provençal emerged as a Gallo-Romance variety of Latin, the linguistic region comprises east-central France, western portions of Switzerland, and the Aosta Valley of Italy with the adjacent alpine valleys of the Piedmont. This area covers territories once occupied by pre-Roman Celts, including the Allobroges, Sequani, Helvetii, Ceutrones, by the 5th century, the region was controlled by the Burgundians. Franco-Provençal is first attested in manuscripts from the 12th century, possibly diverging from the langues doïl as early as the 8th–9th centuries, one writer has detected the influence of Basque by analyzing fossil words from toponymy and the dialect in the Aosta Valley Valdôtain patois. However, Franco-Provençal is consistently typified by a strict, myopic comparison to French, and so is characterized as conservative. Thus, commentators, like Désormaux, consider medieval the terms for many nouns and verbs, including pâta rag, bayâ to give, moussâ to lie down, all of which are conservative only relative to French. As an example, Désormaux, writing on this point in the foreword of his Savoyard dialect dictionary, states, one can note it not only in phonetics and morphology, but also in the vocabulary, where one finds numerous words and directions that clearly disappeared from French. Franco-Provençal failed to garner the prestige of its three more widely spoken neighbors, French, Occitan, and Italian. Communities where speakers lived were generally mountainous and isolated from one another, the internal boundaries of the entire speech area were divided by wars and religious conflicts. France, Switzerland, the Franche-Comté, and the duchy, later kingdom, the edict explicitly replaced Latin with French as the language of law and the courts
17.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
18.
Toussaint Louverture
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François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, also known as Toussaint LOuverture or Toussaint Bréda, was the best-known leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military and political acumen saved the gains of the first Black insurrection in November 1791 and he first fought for the Spanish against the French, then for France against Spain and Britain, and finally, for Saint-Domingue s colonial sovereignty against Napoleonic France. Though Toussaint did not sever ties with France, his actions in 1800 constituted a de facto autonomous colony, the colonys constitution proclaimed him governor for life even against Napoleon Bonapartes wishes. He died betrayed before the final and most violent stage of the armed conflict, however, his achievements set the grounds for the Black armys absolute victory and for Jean-Jacques Dessalines to declare the sovereign state of Haiti in January 1804. Toussaints prominent role in the Haitian success over colonialism and slavery had earned him the admiration of friends, Toussaint Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, he was by then a free black man and a Jacobin. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Toussaint switched allegiance to the French when they abolished slavery and he gradually established control over the whole island and used political and military tactics to gain dominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and he restored the plantation system using paid labour, negotiated trade treaties with Britain and the United States, and maintained a large and well-disciplined army. In 1801, he promulgated an autonomist constitution for the colony, in 1802 he was forced to resign by forces sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to restore French authority in the former colony. He was deported to France, where he died in 1803, the Haitian Revolution continued under his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence on January 1,1804. The French had lost two-thirds of forces sent to the island in an attempt to suppress the revolution, almost nothing is known for certain about Toussaint Louvertures early life, as there are contradictory accounts and evidence about this period. The earliest records of his life are his recorded remarks and the reminiscences of his legitimate son Isaac Louverture. His mother Pauline was Gaou Guinous second wife, the couple had several children, of whom Toussaint was the eldest son. Pierre Baptiste Simon is usually considered to have been his godfather, Toussaint is thought to have been born on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue, which was owned by the Comte de Noé and later managed by Bayon de Libertat. His date of birth is uncertain, but his name suggests he was born on All Saints Day and he was probably about 50 at the start of the revolution in 1791. Various sources have given birth dates between 1739 and 1746, because of the lack of written records, Toussaint himself may not have known his exact birth date. In childhood, he earned the nickname Fatras-Bâton, suggesting he was small and weak, though he was to become known for his stamina, an alternative explanation of Toussaints origins is that he arrived at Bréda with a new overseer who took up his duties in 1772. Toussaint is believed to have been educated by his godfather Pierre Baptiste. Historians have speculated as to Toussaints intellectual background and he may also have received some education from Jesuit missionaries
19.
Heinrich von Kleist
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Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. The Kleist Prize, a prize for German literature, is named after him. Kleist was born into the von Kleist family in Frankfurt an der Oder in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. After a scanty education, he entered the Prussian Army in 1792, served in the Rhine campaign of 1796 and he studied law and philosophy at the Viadrina University and in 1800 received a subordinate post in the Ministry of Finance at Berlin. In the following year, Kleists roving, restless spirit got the better of him, and procuring a lengthened leave of absence he visited Paris and then settled in Switzerland. There he found friends in Heinrich Zschokke and Ludwig Wieland, son of the poet Christoph Martin Wieland, and to them he read his first drama. On a journey to Dresden in 1807, Kleist was arrested by the French as a spy, on regaining his liberty, he proceeded to Dresden, where, in conjunction with Adam Heinrich Müller, he published the journal Phöbus in 1808. In 1809 Kleist went to Prague, and ultimately settled in Berlin, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Kleists whole life was filled by a restless striving after ideal and illusory happiness, and this is largely reflected in his work. He was by far the most important North German dramatist of the Romantic movement, in the spring of 1799, the 21-year-old Kleist wrote a letter to his half-sister Ulrike in which he found it incomprehensible how a human being can live without a plan for his life. In effect, Kleist sought and discovered an overwhelming sense of security by looking to the future with a plan for his life. It brought him happiness and assured him of confidence, especially knowing that life without a plan only saw despair, the irony of his later suicide has been the fodder of his critics. His first tragedy was The Schroffenstein Family, the material for the second, Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, is taken from a Greek source and presents a picture of wild passion. More successful than either of these was his play, Käthchen of Heilbronn, a poetic drama full of medieval bustle and mystery. In comedy, Kleist made a name with The Broken Jug, while Amphitryon, of Kleists other dramas, Die Hermannsschlacht is a dramatic work of anti-Napoleonic propaganda, written as Austria and France went to war. It has been described by Carl Schmitt as the greatest partisan work of all time, in it he gives vent to his hatred of his countrys oppressors. This, together with the drama The Prince of Homburg, which is among his best works, was first published by Ludwig Tieck in Kleists Hinterlassene Schriften, robert Guiskard, a drama conceived on a grand plan, was left a fragment. The Earthquake in Chile and St. Cecilia, or the Power of Music are also examples of Kleists story telling as is The Marquise of O. His short narratives influenced those of Kafka and the novellas of the Austrian writer and he also wrote patriotic lyrics in the context of the Napoleonic Wars
20.
Fort de Joux
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The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is a castle, transformed into a fort, located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux in the Doubs department in the Jura mountains of France. It commands the mountain pass Cluse de Pontarlier, during its long history, the Château de Joux has gone through successive transformations. The first structure, in the 11th century, was made of wood, in the next century, the lords of Joux rebuilt the dungeon and the external fortifications in stone. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, bought it in 1454 to transform it as a border fort and he added a moat and barracks. The château passed to Charles the Bold, Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Margaret of Austria and it was finally annexed by France in 1678 by Louis XIV. While others have improved, or at least repaired, the castle during the course of its history, the châteaus most famous remodeler was Vauban, the Austrians captured it in 1814. Later, the construction of the forts at Larmont during the 19th century provided reinforcement, in 1879, Captain Joffre, then a military engineering officer, modernised it and transformed it into a fort included in the Maginot line to prevent German invasion from Swiss territory. It served as a prison for successive French governments between the 17th and 19th centuries, in this capacity, the château is best known as the site of imprisonment for Toussaint Louverture, who died there on 7 April 1803, Mirabeau, and Heinrich von Kleist. In addition to being used as a prison, the château has played a part in the defence of the region until the First World War. The fortress currently houses a museum of arms that exhibits more than 600 rare weapons dating from the early 18th to the 20th centuries, the castle also has a well which, at 147 metres, was once the deepest in France. Cut with a gallery and partially filled, it is now the third deepest at about 101 metres. Since 1949, the French Ministry of Culture has listed the château as a monument historique, list of castles in France Caroit, Jean-Michel, L’INDEPENDENCE DE LA PREMIERE REPUBLIQUE NOIRE - 1er JANVIER1804, Le Monde, January 2,1904. (Archived from the original, June 7,2004, website contains translation and apparently the original. Francerama Ministry of Culture database entry for Fort de Joux Ministry of Culture photos Le Château de Joux website The Louverture Project, Fort de Joux
21.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
22.
Mandeure
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Mandeure is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Mandeure was a Roman town called Epomanduodurum and it reached its apogee in the 2nd century. The Roman theater was one of the largest in Gaul, measuring 142 m with four levels of seats that could seat 12,000 to 15,000 spectators, free guided tours are available by contacting the mayors office. Communes of the Doubs department INSEE Mandeure on the intercommunal Web site of the department Official Web site
23.
Treaty of Paris (1814)
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It established peace between France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, who in March had defined their common war aim in Chaumont. The Treaty was also signed by Portugal and Sweden while Spain signed shortly after in July, Peace talks had started on 9 May between Talleyrand, who negotiated with the allies of Chaumont on behalf of the exiled Bourbon king Louis XVIII of France. The allies had agreed to reduce France to her 1792 borders, however, the allied parties did not sign a common document, but instead concluded separate treaties with France allowing for specific amendments. This provision resulted in the Congress of Vienna, held between September 1814 and June 1815, the treaty reapportioned several territories amongst various countries. Most notably, France retained all of the territory which it possessed as of 1 January 1792 and these included Guadeloupe, which had been ceded to Sweden by Britain when she entered the coalition. In return, Sweden was compensated 24 million francs and this gave rise to the Guadeloupe Fund. The only exceptions to this were Tobago, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Great Britain kept sovereignty over the island of Malta. The treaty returned to Spain the territory of San Domingo that had transferred to France by the Treaty of Basel in 1795. This implicitly recognised French sovereignty over Saint-Domingue, which Dessalines had proclaimed independent under the name of Haiti, France only recognised the independence of Haiti in 1838. The treaty also reinstated the Bourbon monarchy in France, in the person of Louis XVIII, the treaty also aimed to abolish the French slave trade, but not slavery, over a five-year period, and formally recognized the independence of Switzerland. Several powers, despite the intentions of the treaty, still feared a reassertion of French power. With this in mind, the territories strengthened themselves for protection, the House of Orange, which united Belgium and the Netherlands, was created to strengthen the two aforementioned countries in case of a French attack. Many German states had been consolidated by Napoleon, and they retained this status, while Prussia gained territory in western Germany, in Italy, several different political entities were recognized, and the neutrality of Switzerland was formally recognized. Napoleonic Wars Congress of Vienna Treaty of Fontainebleau Treaty of Paris EB staff, bis zu den Grafen von Paris. Rudolf, Uwe Jens, Berg, W. G, alexander Rich, Gisela Gledhill, and Dr. Jerzy Kierkuć-Bieliński, Peace Breaks Out. London and Paris in the Summer of 1814, London, Sir John Soane’s Museum, in print
24.
Battle of Waterloo
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The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday,18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon Napoleons return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition, Wellington and Blüchers armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in an invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw to Waterloo, Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington. This resulted in the separate and simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard, upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon, in the evening Napoleon committed his last reserves to a desperate final attack, which was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellingtons Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleons last. According to Wellington, the battle was the thing you ever saw in your life. Napoleon abdicated four days later, and on 7 July coalition forces entered Paris, the defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleons rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, the battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-lAlleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, as this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians, an additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Wellingtons initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels and this would have pushed Wellington closer to Blücher, but may have cut Wellingtons communications with his base at Ostend. In order to delay Wellingtons deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellingtons supply chain from the ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total strength of about 300,000 men. The force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts and he hoped this would prevent them from combining, and he would be able to destroy first the Prussians army, then Wellingtons
25.
Austrian Empire
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The Austrian Empire was an empire in Central Europe created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804. It was an empire and one of Europes great powers. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and it was also the third most populous after Russia and France, as well as the largest and strongest country in the German Confederation. Proclaimed in response to the First French Empire, it overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution in 1806. The Ausgleich of 1867 elevated Hungarys status and it became a separate entity from the Empire entirely, joining with it in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt, on 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors. In 1804 the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria. In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, to safeguard his dynastys imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Hungarys affairs remained administered by its own institutions as they had been beforehand, thus under the new arrangements no Imperial institutions were involved in its internal government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805, on 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers, Napoleons army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 6 December 1805, the French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France, the Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleons German allies at the expense of defeated Austria. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg, Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and this confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him
26.
Victor Hugo
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Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers, outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables,1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,1831. In France, Hugo is known primarily for his collections, such as Les Contemplations. He produced more than 4,000 drawings and also campaigned for causes such as the abolition of capital punishment. He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris and his legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French currency. Victor Hugo was the son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet, his brothers were Abel Joseph Hugo. He was born in 1802 in Besançon in the region of Franche-Comté. On 19 November 1821, Léopold Hugo wrote to his son that he had conceived on one of the highest peaks in the Vosges Mountains. This elevated origin, he went on, seems to have had effects on you so that your muse is now continually sublime, Hugos childhood was a period of national political turmoil. Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of the French two years after Hugos birth, and the Bourbon Monarchy was restored before his 13th birthday, since Hugos father was an officer, the family moved frequently and Hugo learned much from these travels. On a childhood trip to Naples, Hugo saw the vast Alpine passes and the snowy peaks, the magnificently blue Mediterranean. Though he was five years old at the time, he remembered the six-month-long trip vividly. They stayed in Naples for a few months and then headed back to Paris, at the beginning of her marriage, Hugos mother Sophie followed her husband to posts in Italy and Spain. Thereafter she dominated Hugos education and upbringing, as a result, Hugos early work in poetry and fiction reflect her passionate devotion to both King and Faith. It was only later, during the leading up to Frances 1848 Revolution. Young Victor fell in love and, against his mothers wishes, because of his close relationship with his mother, Hugo waited until after her death to marry Adèle in 1822. Adèle and Victor Hugo had their first child, Léopold, in 1823, on 28 August 1824, the couples second child, Léopoldine was born, followed by Charles on 4 November 1826, François-Victor on 28 October 1828, and Adèle on 24 August 1830. Hugos eldest and favourite daughter, Léopoldine, died aged 19 in 1843, on 4 September, she drowned in the Seine at Villequier, pulled down by her heavy skirts when a boat overturned
27.
Gustave Courbet
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Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and his independence set an example that was important to later artists, such as the Impressionists and the Cubists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th-century French painting as an innovator, Courbets paintings of the late 1840s and early 1850s brought him his first recognition. They challenged convention by depicting unidealized peasants and workers, often on a grand scale traditionally reserved for paintings of religious or historical subjects, Courbets subsequent paintings were mostly of a less overtly political character, landscapes, seascapes, hunting scenes, nudes and still lifes. He was imprisoned for six months in 1871 for his involvement with the Paris Commune, Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 to Régis and Sylvie Oudot Courbet in Ornans. Being a prosperous farming family, anti-monarchical feelings prevailed in the household, Courbets sisters, Zoé, Zélie and Juliette, were his first models for drawing and painting. After moving to Paris he often returned home to Ornans to hunt, fish and he went to Paris in 1839 and worked at the studio of Steuben and Hesse. An independent spirit, he left, preferring to develop his own style by studying the paintings of Spanish, Flemish and French masters in the Louvre. Among his paintings of the early 1840s are several self-portraits, Romantic in conception, trips to the Netherlands and Belgium in 1846–47 strengthened Courbets belief that painters should portray the life around them, as Rembrandt, Hals and other Dutch masters had. By 1848, he had gained supporters among the younger critics, Courbet achieved his first Salon success in 1849 with his painting After Dinner at Ornans. The work, reminiscent of Chardin and Le Nain, earned Courbet a gold medal and was purchased by the state, the gold medal meant that his works would no longer require jury approval for exhibition at the Salon—an exemption Courbet enjoyed until 1857. In 1849-50, Courbet painted Stone-Breakers, which Proudhon admired as an icon of peasant life, the painting was inspired by a scene Courbet witnessed on the roadside. He later explained to Champfleury and the writer Francis Wey, It is not often that one encounters so complete an expression of poverty and so, right then, I told them to come to my studio the next morning. Courbets work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools, instead, he maintained that the only possible source for living art is the artists own experience. He and Jean-Francois Millet would find inspiration painting the life of peasants, Courbet painted figurative compositions, landscapes, seascapes, and still lifes. He courted controversy by addressing issues in his work, and by painting subjects that were considered vulgar, such as the rural bourgeoisie, peasants. His work, along with that of Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet and he depicted the harshness in life, and in so doing challenged contemporary academic ideas of art. The Salon of 1850–1851 found him triumphant with The Stone Breakers, the Burial, one of Courbets most important works, records the funeral of his grand uncle which he attended in September 1848
28.
Jura (department)
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Jura is a department in the east of France named after the Jura mountains. Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté, dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV and the capital was moved to Besançon. Dole is now a sous-préfecture of Jura, as early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern 2/3 of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in areas into the 20th century. Jura is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 and it was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The Jura mountains are wooded and rolling, not craggy and rocky like the Alps, many lakes can be found throughout the Jura - the largest natural lake being Lac de Chalain, measuring 3 km long and 1 km wide. Lac de Vouglans was formed after the building of a hydro-electric dam and it is one of the largest man-made lakes in France. The President of the General Council is Jean Raquin, the climate of the Jura varies greatly by elevation. The lower valleys are temperate and pleasant, but the mountain valleys have bitterly cold winters. The Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wines, such as vin jaune. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety, other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay. The department contains no industrial cities, the few towns function as administrative, in the absence of large-scale industrial enterprises, small artisanal businesses play an important role. The Jura CFA recently recorded 752 current apprenticeships in trades such as building, baking, butchery, hair dressing, car repairing, sales, the Jura mountains provide ample opportunities for hiking, skiing, and other winter sports. Cantons of the Jura department Communes of the Jura department Arrondissements of the Jura department Prefecture website General council website Tourism website Tourism Information
29.
Territoire de Belfort
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The Territoire de Belfort is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Its departmental code is 90, and its prefecture is Belfort, there is a single arrondissement, which is sub-divided into 9 cantons and thence into 102 communes. The administrative district Territoire de Belfort was created under the terms of the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt, the German Empire annexed almost all of Alsace, but the French were able to negotiate retention of the Territoire de Belfort which thereby was separated from the rest of Alsace. There were three reasons for this exceptional treatment, The population in and around Belfort was French-speaking. Belfort had demonstrated heroic resistance, under Colonel Pierre Denfert-Rochereau, to the German invasion, belforts left-wing Catholic Deputy Émile Keller now conducted a similarly forceful political campaign in the National Assembly. He argued that ceding heroic Belfort to Germany after the war would be unthinkable, Belfort, on steep ground and lined up with the Vosges Mountains, would form part of a natural line of defence for Frances newly imposed eastern frontier. This encouraged the politicians in Paris to hold out for its retention, the Germans agreed primarily because the Prussian military officiers indicated that leaving it in France would give Germany a more defensible border. After retaining its status as a territoire for just over half a century. France had recovered Alsace three years earlier, but the decision was not to reintegrate Belfort into its former department. When the regions of France were created, Belfort was not included in the region of Alsace, the departmental income of the department in 2008 had increased to €18259 which was a little below the overall national figure. The averaged figure for the Territoire de Belfort masked relatively large disparities such as, in particular, in 2006 the department recorded a population of 144,600. Of these, slightly more than 50,000 live in the commune of Belfort itself, four principal phases can be identified in the population trends during the two centuries between 1801 and 2000. The period from 1800 to 1872 was marked by economic development. However, the epidemic which in 1851 arose from increasing urbanisation, along with a more general economic slow-down. Between 1803 and 1872 the recorded population increased from 37,558 to 56,781, the population increase and the economic development were at their most intense in the Belfort conglomeration itself. Population declined, having slipped to 86,648 in 1946, after 1945 the region became a focus for industrial growth, population levels followed the same rising trend, to stand at 131,999 in 1982. Nevertheless, as in parts of France, from about 1980 it was clear that the economic crisis of the 1970s was having a lasting effect in slowing the pace of expansion. Geographers might contend that Belfort lies on the ridge that divides two regions of France, but before 1870 it was part of Alsace
30.
Vaud
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The Canton of Vaud is the third largest of Swiss cantons by population and fourth by size. The capital and biggest city is Lausanne, officially designated Olympic Capital by the International Olympic Committee, the canton had 725,944 inhabitants as of 2011. Along the lakes, Vaud was inhabited in prehistoric times, later, the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii inhabited the area. The tribe was defeated by Caesars troops in 58 BC and as a consequence the Romans settled the area, the towns of Vevey and Lausanne are two of the many towns established by the Romans. In 27 BC the state of Civitas Helvetiorum was established around the capital of Avenches, there are still many Roman remains around the town today. Between the 2nd and the 4th century the area was invaded by Alemannic tribes. The Merovingian Franks later replaced the Burgundians and their occupancy did not last long either, and in 888 the area of the canton of Vaud was made part of the Carolingian Empire. In 1032 the Zähringens of Germany defeated the Burgundians, the Zähringens themselves were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy. It was only under the counts of Savoy that the area was given political unity, a part stretching from Attalens to the River Sarine, in the north, was absorbed by the canton of Fribourg. As the power of the Savoys declined at the beginning of the 15th century the land was occupied by troops from Bern, by 1536 the area was completely annexed. The Bernese occupiers were not popular amongst the population, later, inspired by the French Revolution, the Vaudois drove out the Bernese governor in 1798 and declared the Lemanic Republic. Under Napoleon I, it became the canton of Léman, in 1803, Vaud joined the re-installed Swiss confederation. In spite of Bernese attempts to reclaim Vaud, it has remained a sovereign canton ever since, separation was prevented at the cost of very few lives. The current constitution dates from 14 April 2003, replacing the one from 1885, in the Jura mountains in the west, the canton borders the French departments of Ain, Jura, and Doubs. In the east, it borders the cantons of Fribourg and Bern, the total area is 3,212 square kilometres. Along with the canton of Berne, Vaud is one of the two cantons whose territory extends from the Jura to the Alps, through the three geographic regions of Switzerland. The areas in the south east are mountainous, situated on the side of the Bernese Alps. This region is named the Vaud Alps
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Canton of Jura
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The Republic and Canton of the Jura, also known as the canton of Jura or canton Jura, is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. It shares borders with the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the canton of Bern, the canton of Neuchatel, the canton of Solothurn, the King of Burgundy donated much of the land that today makes up canton Jura to the Bishop of Basel in 999. The area was a state within the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years. After the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 the Jura had close ties with the Swiss Confederation, at the Congress of Vienna, the Jura region became part of the canton of Bern. The Jura was French-speaking and Roman Catholic, whereas the canton of Bern was mostly German-speaking, after World War II, a separatist movement campaigned for a secession of Jura from the canton of Bern. After a long and partly militant struggle, which included some arson attacks by a youth organisation Les Béliers, in 1978 the split was made official when the Swiss people voted in favour, and in 1979 the Jura joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member. The canton celebrated its independence from the canton of Bern on 23 June, the area is now known as Bernese Jura. The word Jura, therefore, may refer either to canton Jura, or to the territory of canton Jura. Switzerland as a whole presents the latter from a touristic standpoint with documentation easily available in French or German. On creation, the canton adopted the title Republic and canton of the Jura, other cantons in Switzerland using the title Republic and Canton are Ticino, canton of Geneva, and canton of Neuchâtel. In each case, the title refers to the autonomy of the canton, since 1994, the question of the Jura region has again been controversial. In 2004, a federal commission proposed that the French-speaking southern Jura be reunited with the canton of Jura, Canton Jura lies in the northwest of Switzerland. It consists of parts of the Jura mountains in the south, the Jura plateau is hilly and almost entirely limestone. The districts of Ajoie and Franches-Montagnes lie in this region, the term Jurassic is derived from the Jura Alps, strata of which date to that era. To the north and the west of the canton lies France, the canton of Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft are to east of the canton, while the canton of Bern bounds the Jura to the south. The rivers Doubs and the Birs drain the lands, the Doubs joins the Saône and then the Rhône, whereas the Birs is a tributary to the Rhine. Jura is divided into 3 districts, Delémont - capital, Delémont Porrentruy - capital, Porrentruy Franches-Montagnes - capital, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the canton of Bern The population is almost entirely French-speaking, just one municipality is German-speaking, Ederswiler
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Jura mountains
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The Jura Mountains French, Massif du Jura, are a sub-alpine mountain range located north of the Western Alps, mainly following the course of the France–Switzerland border. The Jura separates the Rhine and Rhône basins, forming part of the watershed of each, the name Jura is derived from juria, a Latinized form of a Celtic stem jor- forest. The mountain range gives its name to the French department of Jura, the Swiss Canton of Jura, the Jurassic period of the timescale. The Jura Mountains are a province of the larger Central European uplands. In France, the Jura covers most of the Franche-Comté region, the range reaches its highest point at Le Crêt de la Neige in the department of Ain and finds its southern terminus in the northwestern part of the department of Savoie. The north end of the Jura extends into the tip of the Alsace region. Roughly 1,600 square kilometres of the range in France is protected by the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park. The Swiss Jura is one of the three geographical regions of Switzerland, the other being the Swiss plateau and the Swiss Alps. In Switzerland, the covers the western border with France in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Bern, Neuchâtel. Much of the Swiss Jura region has no association with Early Modern Switzerland and was incorporated as part of the Swiss Confederacy only in the 19th century. In the 20th century, a movement of Jurassic separatism developed which resulted in the creation of the canton of Jura in 1979, the Swiss Jura has been industrialized since the 18th century and became a major centre of the watchmaking industry. The area has several cities at very high altitudes, such as La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, the Jura range proper is continued as the Table Jura in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Aargau, and further to Schaffhausen and into southern Germany towards the Swabian and Franconian plateaus. The range is built up vertically while decreasing in size laterally and this deformation accommodates the compression from alpine folding as the main Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger, more active Alpine mountain building, the geologic folds comprise three major bands of building that date from three epochs, the Lias, the Dogger and the Malm geologic periods. Each era of folding reveals effects of shallow marine environments as evidenced by beds with carbonate sequences, containing abundant bioclasts. Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of geologic folds, the highest peak in the Jura range is Le Crêt de la Neige at 1,720 metres. Vosges and Jura coal mining basins The Jura range offer a variety of tourist activities including hiking, cycling, downhill skiing, there are many signposted trails including the Jura ridgeway, a 310 km hiking route. Tourist attractions include natural features such as the Creux du Van, lookout peaks such as the Chasseral, caves such as the Grottes de lOrbe, and gorges such as Taubenloch
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Union for a Popular Movement
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The Union for a Popular Movement was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Socialist Party. The UMP was formed in 2002 as a merger of several parties under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac. In May 2015, the party was renamed and succeeded by the Republicans, Nicolas Sarkozy, then the president of the UMP, was elected President of France in the 2007 presidential election, but was defeated by PS candidate François Hollande in a run-off five years later. After the November 2012 party congress, the UMP experienced internal fractioning and was plagued by scandals which forced its president, Jean-François Copé. After his re-election as UMP president in November 2014, Sarkozy put forward an amendment to change the name of the party into The Republicans, since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right have joined forces around the values of economic liberalism and the building of Europe. Their rivalries had contributed to their defeat in the 1981 and 1988 legislative elections, before the 1993 legislative election, the Gaullist Rally for the Republic and the centrist Union for French Democracy formed an electoral alliance, the Union for France. However, in the 1995 presidential campaign they were divided between followers of Jacques Chirac, who was eventually elected, and supporters of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur. After their defeat in the 1997 legislative election, the RPR, before the 2002 presidential campaign, the supporters of President Jacques Chirac, divided in three centre-right parliamentary parties, founded an association named Union on the Move. After Chiracs re-election, in order to contest the election jointly. It was renamed Union for a Popular Movement and as established as a permanent organisation. In the UMP four major French political families were represented, Gaullism, republicanism, Christian democracy. Chiracs close ally Alain Juppé became the partys first president at the founding congress at the Bourget in November 2002. Juppé won 79. 42% of the vote, defeating Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of the partys Eurosceptic Arise the Republic faction, and three other candidates. During the partys earlier years, it was marked by tensions, in the 2004 European Parliament election on 13 June 2004, the UMP also suffered another heavy blow, winning 16. 6% of the vote, far behind the Socialist Party, and only 16 seats. Juppé resigned the presidency on 15 July 2004 after being found guilty in a corruption scandal in January of the same year. Nicolas Sarkozy rapidly announced that he would take over the presidency of the UMP and resign his position as finance minister, ending months of speculation. On 28 November 2004, Sarkozy was elected to the presidency with 85. 09% of the votes against 9. 1% for Dupont-Aignan and 5. 82% for Christine Boutin. Having gained control of what had been Chiracs party, Sarkozy focused the party machinery, however, during this time, the UMP under Sarkozy gained a record number of new members and rejuvenated itself in preparation of the 2007 election
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