Timeline of Key Events

Pre-20th Century

- 1534: Jacques Cartier claims parts of North America for France - 1608: Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec - 1635: Martinique and Guadeloupe colonized - 1791-1804: Haitian Revolution - first successful slave revolt - 1830: French invasion of Algeria begins - 1881: Tunisia becomes French protectorate - 1884-1885: Berlin Conference partitions Africa - 1887: Creation of French Indochina - 1895: Formation of French West Africa (AOF)

Early 20th Century

- 1912: Morocco becomes French protectorate - 1914-1918: Over 500,000 colonial troops serve France in WWI - 1931: Paris Colonial Exhibition - 1939-1945: Colonial troops crucial to Free France efforts - 1944: Thiaroye massacre of Senegalese soldiers - 1945: Sétif and Guelma massacres in Algeria (thousands killed) - 1945: Creation of CFA franc - 1946: French Union established; Caribbean colonies become departments - 1947: Madagascar uprising brutally suppressed

Decolonization Era

- 1954: Battle of Dien Bien Phu; First Indochina War ends - 1954: Algerian War of Independence begins - 1956: Independence of Tunisia and Morocco - 1958: Guinea votes for immediate independence - 1960: Year of Africa - 14 French colonies gain independence - 1962: Algerian independence after 8-year war - 1968: Last major French military base in Africa established

Post-Colonial Period

- 1974: France suspends labor immigration - 1981: François Mitterrand elected; promises new Africa policy - 1983: March for Equality and Against Racism - 1989: First "headscarf affair" in schools - 1994: France's controversial role in Rwandan genocide - 1998: France wins World Cup with diverse team

21st Century

- 2004: Law banning conspicuous religious symbols in schools - 2005: Urban rebellions in banlieues across France - 2011: French military intervention in Ivory Coast - 2013: Operation Serval in Mali begins - 2017: Emmanuel Macron promises artifact restitution - 2020: George Floyd protests resonate in France - 2021: Return of 26 artifacts to Benin - 2022: France expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso - 2023: Niger expels French troops; Nahel Merzouk killing sparks protests

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