- published: 23 Apr 2016
- views: 339
France (English i/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774) was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, though Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, his first cousin twice removed, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723. Cardinal de Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took over control of the Kingdom.
Louis enjoyed a favorable reputation at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). In time, the debauchery of his court, his ill-advised financial policies, the return of the Austrian Netherlands (which were gained following the Battle of Fontenoy) at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the cession of New France at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War led Louis to become one of the most unpopular kings in the history of France. He even suffered an assassination attempt in 1757. However, his reign saw the incorporation of Lorraine and Corsica to the Kingdom.
Actors: David Belasco (writer), Campbell Gullan (actor), Armand Pouget (actor), Edoardo Bencivenga (director), Arrigo Frusta (writer), Louis Payne (actor), George Kleine (producer), George Kleine (miscellaneous crew), George Kleine (miscellaneous crew), Hamilton Revelle (actor), Richard Thornton (actor), Mrs. Leslie Carter (actress), Mrs. Leslie Carter (actress), Miss Robinson (actress), Miss Wilkins (actress),
Genres: Drama, History,