French nationalism

French nationalism promotes the cultural unity of the French nation.

French nationalism emerged from its numerous wars with England, which involved the reconquest of the territories that made up France. The wars produced a great icon of French nationalism, Joan of Arc. The Catholic religion also played a major role after the Protestant Reformation. French nationalism became a powerful movement after the French Revolution in 1789. Napoleon Bonaparte promoted French nationalism based upon the ideals of the French Revolution such as the idea of "liberty, equality, fraternity" and justified French expansionism and French military campaigns on the claim that France had the right to spread the enlightened ideals of the French Revolution across Europe, and also to expand France into its so-called "natural borders." Napoleon's invasions of other nations had the effect of spreading the concept of nationalism outside France.

After Napoleon's defeat and downfall, French nationalism from the 19th to early 20th century took on an assertive and extreme patriotism that supported military force to achieve its political goals. During World War I France pursued irredentist claims on the region of Alsace-Lorraine that had been lost to Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. French national pride was damaged in World War I by the long, drawn out war with Germany fought on its soil; especially in World War II when the French government surrendered to Germany in 1940; and after France lost many of its colonies due to decolonization after World War II.

The symbols of nationalism included not only Joan of Arc, but also Roland, the hero of The Song of Roland (La chanson de Roland). He died in combat against the Unfaithful while defending Charlemagne and his men, making him a suitable patriotic symbol for the modern age.

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Wikipedia