History of France
During the late 5th century, Clovis I, the Frankish king, united most of Gaul under his rule, establishing Frankish dominance in the region for centuries. The House of Capet, founded by Hugh Capet in 987, increased the prominence of the medieval Kingdom of France, which had emerged from the western part of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, known as West Francia.
In the late 18th century, the French Revolution led to the overthrow of the monarchy and associated institutions, followed by the Reign of Terror in which thousands of political opponents were executed by guillotine. France was then governed as a Republic, until Napoleon Bonaparte declared the French Empire in 1804. After several regime changes, including periods of monarchy, Second Republic, and Second Empire, a more lasting French Third Republic was established in 1870.
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