"You Cannot Govern a Country that Makes 400 Kinds of Cheese": A Peculiar History of France

When General Charles De Gaulle quipped that his country was ungovernable because of how many cheeses it made, he likely referred to its most recent centuries of existence: Five republics, four kings, three wars with Germany, two emperors, and one Fascist regime, all of that since 1789. Yet nowadays France is considered one of the world's major democracies that helps build a European union. The historical lens will help us chart the evolution of this nation and how it negotiated some of the darkest episodes of the twentieth century. Our readings will be taken from online sources.