Sentence:  Although scholars have offered different chronologies and causalities for the move toward modernity, most have resolved the paradox of the two <WSD>Frances</WSD> by placing them in sequence: "diverse <WSD>France</WSD> gave way over time as modern centralized <WSD>France</WSD> gathered force." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Q142)The (French Republic), a (country) in western (Europe) and member state of the (European Union) (since 1993), having (Paris) as its capital city, bounded by (Belgium), (Luxembourg), (Germany), (Switzerland), (Italy), (Monaco), (Andorra)(,) and (Spain).