Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
At its peak, under Napoleon, the French territory was three times as large as it is today thanks to the emperor's very successful military campaigns. What was his secret?
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
How did Napoleon conquer and then lose nearly all of Europe in a span of just fifteen years? Find out in the second part of this series.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
How did Molière become so successful? The French playwright, whose plays are still being performed today, did not just rely on his talent as a writer—he knew how to drum up publicity for himself as well.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
Molière wasn't afraid of his plays causing a scandal—in fact, he often orchestrated scandals in order to drum up publicity. Find out more about his marketing genius in this video.
Difficulty:
Adv-Intermediate
France
In 1983, the Marche des Beurs highlighted the problem of anti-Arab racism in France. Forty years on, the country is still feeling its effects.
Difficulty:
Adv-Intermediate
France
On October 15, 1983, a dozen people set out from Marseille to march against racism and police violence. En route to Paris, they met many people who, to their surprise, were sympathetic to their cause.
Difficulty:
Adv-Intermediate
France
In 1983, the murder of an Algerian immigrant on a train galvanized a massive anti-racism protest that led to significant government reforms. But racism remains a serious problem in France to this day.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
The Malgré-nous (Despite Ourselves) are the roughly 130,000 young Alsatians from Lorraine, many of them recruited by force, who served under the Nazis during World War II.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre took place over a half a century ago, but France still remembers.
Difficulty:
Adv-Intermediate
France
A Lockheed P-38 Lightning, last piloted by noted writer Saint-Exupéry, who presumably went down with it on July 31, 1944, has been found and identified off the coast of Marseille. This gives credence to a local fisherman who, six years ago, claimed to have netted the author’s ID bracelet.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
Sixty years after the disappearance of literary great Saint-Exupéry, a commemoration is held on the Mediterranean Sea at the spot where his airplane fell.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
On the 9th of November, 1989, the wall that divided the German city of Berlin began to fall along with the East German state that built it. Claudia Rusch, a young Francophile, was one of the first to scramble over what remained of the divide, meeting up with a French friend on the western side. She’s recently recounted her story in a book, which is a best-seller in her native Germany.
Difficulty:
Beginner
France, Morocco
Opening night in Casablanca for the movie Indigènes (English title "Days of Glory") provided a special opportunity for some of the subjects of the film to reflect upon their past, and for Moroccans and the French to talk about their future.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
The first electric car? 1899! La Jamais contente. This car and other rare self-propelled antique vehicles can now be seen in car museums.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
France
What is the best way to explain the horrors of the Holocaust to nine-year-old children? France’s Holocaust memorial has taken measures to avoid disturbing children by placing the most graphic photographs out of their line of sight and by offering a tour specifically designed for younger viewers. The idea is for children to learn about this dark moment in our history without being overwhelmed.
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