French (CivRev2)

The French people represent a civilization in Civilization Revolution 2. Their color is light blue.
==History==
Bordering the Mediterranean and the English Channel, wedged between Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Benelux countries, France has long been one of the great cultural, political and military powers of Western Europe.
Although humans have inhabited the area for thousands of years, the political entity of France had its roots in the Roman province of Gaul, located in the southeast section of the country and founded in the second century BC. During the turbulent Middle Ages France was divided into a number of petty kingdoms who were almost constantly at war with one-another. It wasn't until the thirteenth century that France became more-or-less permanently united under one ruler.
French military power reached its zenith under Napoleon Bonaparte, an artillery officer who came to power following the regicidal French Revolution of the late eighteenth century. A brilliant general, Bonaparte led French armies to battle against virtually every other state in Western Europe, again and again winning astonishing victories against seemingly overwhelming odds. Bonaparte was eventually defeated by a coalition of European powers after he lost his finest troops in a disastrous campaign against the Russian city of Moscow.
The first half of the twentieth century saw France pitted against its increasingly powerful neighbor, Germany. France has remained mostly at peace in the years since (except of course for some nasty wars against rebellious colonies such as Algeria and Vietnam).
France is one of the great cultural powers of the modern world. French food and wine are generally agreed to be among the finest on Earth, and the beautiful city of Paris has long been a center of arts, science, and letters.
==Fun Facts==
Modern France has the sixth largest economy in the world.
France, beginning in the Renaissance and continuing until the present day, is the center of world fashion and style. Among the accomplishments of French designers are the invention of the high heel and the little black dress, as well as the popularization of perfume.
"How can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese?"- Charles de Gaulle
Category:French