When did France become a country?

Answer 1

There are many views as to when France was "really" a country.

- 476: Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

- 486: Clovis, a Frankish king, takes hold of Syagrius' kingdom, a remainder of Roman possessions, between the rivers Somme and Loire. The Franks hold the northern half of nowadays France, and expand southwards.

- August 843: this is when most historians would date France. The empire of Charles the Great is divided between his grandsons. The treaty of Verdun, established as the first document written (partially) in French, is also the first mention as France (Francia Occidentalis).

- 1214: During his reign, the king Philippe-Auguste, changes his previous title "Rex Francorum" (king of the Franks) for "Rex Franciæ" (King of France). In July 1214, his victory in Bouvines is seen by French historians, as the birth of the sense of French nationhood.

- 1337 to 1453: during the Hundred Year War, French kings (notably Charles V and VII) successfully fuel the national sense of unity.

- 1792: the defence of the besieged nation will be another culminating point in that sense of nationhood.