Colonies of France: a brief history of the colonial empire

France became one of the first countries to actively explore and settle new continents. It is interesting that some colonies of France exist to this day, although in a much smaller number.

In the 16th century, the French state, along with Portugal and Spain, began equipping expeditions to discover and colonize unknown lands. It is interesting that the era of the existence of the colonial empire can be divided into two stages.

French colonies of the 16th-19th centuries

First of all, it should be noted that most of North America in its time was divided into separate colonies, which belonged to England and France. By 1713 the colonial empire had reached its maximum size. Canada, Louisiana, Quebec are all former colonies of France.

The history of the development of new colonies is quite interesting. After the part of North America was called "New France", the first necessity was to develop a viable state here.

On the territory of the colony, the number of Catholic priests grew , which not only supported the French who arrived here, but also actively spread Christianity to Indian tribes. Already in 1674, a diocese was established in Quebec, headed by Bishop Francois de Laval. By the way, in 1663 he created a spiritual seminary, which became a real impetus to the development of the education system. A few years later the school turned into Laval University, which became the first higher educational institution in the Western Hemisphere.

Nevertheless, the New France considerably lagged behind the development of the English colonies. There were no schools for children, therefore, the population was not only illiterate, but extremely superstitious. The gap between aristocrats and peasants only increased. On the territory of the colonies there were no workers, no lawyers, no researchers. There were no even normal ways that would connect the different parts of the colony.

At the beginning of the 18th century the colonies of France were huge:

• South of the modern province of Quebec (by the way, the population of this province in Canada still considers itself to be part of the French state, there are even two official languages here);
• Territory near the Hudson Bay;
• Louisiana (the territory of this region stretched from the Great Lakes to New Orleans);
• New Earth;
• Acadia.

Unfortunately, in connection with the Seven Years' War, France lost most of the American colonies. In 1762, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, in which the colonial empire renounced its possessions in the Ohio Valley, on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, the Canadian provinces and Nova Scotia. Under French rule, New Orleans remained.

And already in 1803 documents were signed between the United States of America and the French state on the sale of Louisiana. Now France also lost its control over New Orleans, an important strategic city.

Another blow to the state of the colonial empire was inflicted in the early 19th century. In those days, France also owned the colony of Santo Domingo, which is on the territory of the islands of Haiti. From 1791 to 1803 years. The uprising of African slaves continued. By the way, for today this is the only known story of the slave revolt, which ended in their victory. In the 19th century, the population still gained independence, and Santo Domingo became the first republic headed by blacks.

Modern colonies of France

No doubt, a few centuries ago, France owned vast territories around the globe. The state was interested not only in large areas, but also in small islands, as well as in those parts of the earth that are practically unfit for living. For example, once France belonged to the small islands of the Arctic and part of Antarctica.

But even today a small part of the once huge colonial empire has been preserved. Overseas French departments are in French Guiana, on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as in Reunion.