France profile – Timeline – BBC News

1958 May – De Gaulle returns to power on back of the crisis and founds the Fifth Republic, with a stronger presidency.

1961 January – French voters vote in favour of self-determination for Algeria in a referendum.

1961 April – Generals’ Putsch. A failed coup attempt by four retired army general to force De Gaulle not to abandon French settlers in Algeria, and to deny Algeria independence.

1962 March – Algeria grains independence from French colonial rule.

1962 August – OAS (Organisation armée secrète) far-right paramilitaries attempt to kill De Gaulle for what they see as his abandonment of French settlers in Algeria by machine-gunning his presidential car. The attack fails.

1968 May – Civil unrest throughout France, with demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories. The unrest begins with student protests against capitalism, heavy police repression sees sympathy strikes, which eventually involve almost a quarter of France’s workforce.

1969 – De Gaulle leaves office. Georges Pompidou elected president.

1970 – De Gaulle dies of stroke.

1974 – Pompidou dies, succeeded by Valery Giscard d’Estaing.

1981 – Socialist candidate Francois Mitterrand is elected president.

1986 – Centre-right victory in legislative elections of 1986 leads to “co-habitation” – a left-wing president and a right-wing prime minister, Jacques Chirac.

1988 – Mitterrand re-elected.

1992 – France signs Maastricht Treaty on European union.

1995 – Jacques Chirac elected president, ending 14 years of Socialist presidency.

France attracts international condemnation by conducting a series of nuclear tests in the Pacific.

1997 – Lionel Jospin becomes prime minister.

2000 September – President Chirac embroiled in corruption scandal. He dismisses newspaper allegations.

2001 June – Compulsory military service abolished.

2002 January – Euro replaces franc, first minted in 1360.

2002 May – Jacques Chirac re-elected president, beating National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of voting. Jean-Marie strong Le Pen’s showing in the first round sent shockwaves across France and Europe and prompted mass demonstrations.

Lionel Jospin, the main left-wing presidential contender whom Le Pen knocked out in the first round, resigns the premiership and the Socialist Party leadership.

2002 June – Landslide victory in legislative elections for centre-right UMP. Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s new centre-right government ends the “cohabitation” between President Chirac and Socialist Lionel Jospin.

2002 November – Widespread public sector strikes over government privatisation plans bring country to a standstill.

2003 March – Constitution changed to allow devolution to regions and departments of powers over economic development, transport, tourism, culture and further education.

2003 July – Corsica referendum, first to follow March constitutional amendments, narrowly votes against establishment of unified assembly with limited powers to raise and spend taxes. Paris had hoped that a yes vote would end separatist violence.

Parliament approves controversial reforms to pension system.

2004 March – President Chirac’s UMP routed in regional elections.

2004 November – Nicolas Sarkozy takes over as leader of UMP.

2005 January – Trade unions organise wave of public sector strikes against proposed labour, pension and welfare reforms.

2005 May – Referendum goes against proposed EU constitution. The result prompts a political shake-up, including the resignation of Prime Minister Raffarin.

2005 June – International project group says France is to host the world’s first experimental nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache, near Marseille.