It is not new in history when a country, as a person, except for the name, the official name, has another, unofficial one. Although the name of Canada - "Maple Leaf Country" - can be explained by the composition of the deciduous forests of the North American continent, other examples are not so obvious. For example, why is France the Fifth Republic, or, say, China itself is called by its inhabitants the Celestial Empire? Rooted in history.
Examples in history
Here is the closest example. At the beginning of the first millennium after the birth of Christ, ancient Rome became a haven and stronghold of the first Christians. Then, defeated by crowds of barbarians, he lost this status, and Constantinople became the unofficial capital of the Christian world. And in the XV century, this “city of cities”, or the Second Rome, fell, becoming part of the Ottoman Empire and the support of the crescent, not the cross.
At this time, Vasily III, the father of John IV, nicknamed the descendants of "Terrible", was in dire need ofAn additional factor in the unification of the country and the people - after the fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Russia turned from a specific feudal state into an autocratic powerful country. Taking advantage of the current situation (the Unia was signed, uniting the eastern and western Christian churches), Vasily III conferred the title of the Third Rome on the capital.
Let's try to answer the question why France is called the Fifth Republic. The history of this country is inextricably linked with this word "republic", and the events in France largely determined the course of events on the European continent.
In essence, the answer to the question why France is called the Fifth Republic is quite simple - the country had five editions of the constitution. And it so happened that according to the number of the edition of the main document of the country, it is customary to “number” the republic as well.
French First Republic
The very beginning of the republican history of France can, of course, be considered the great French revolution, marked by the capture by the angry inhabitants of the country of the stronghold and symbol of royal power, the famous Bastille in 1789. When asked why France, the Fifth Republic now, was then in a state of revolution and civil war, most historians answer almost according to Karl Marx.
The catastrophic gap in the standard of living and civil rights of the ruling circles and the common people led to the collapse. Another factor was the presence in the country of a developed middle class who had something to lose and who was ready to defend their rights and freedoms.
Further, as we know, followed by the detention and shameful return to Paris of King Louis XVI who tried to escape, the execution of the entire royal family and the proclamation of the Republic - the first French Republic.
From Robespierre to post-Napoleonic restoration
It should be noted that the First Republic did not last long - until 1804, when France became an empire led by Napoleon.
Then events poured in like a cornucopia:
- seizure of power by Bonaparte;
- formation of the French Empire;
- the defeat of the so-called great army in the vastness of Russia;
- a series of successive restorations of roy alty and new revolutions.
Why has France, the Fifth Republic as it is now called, experienced so many revolutions and returns to monarchy in its history? Probably because it was, by and large, the first country in the world to make the transition from the absolute power of one person to more progressive forms of government.
And from 1848 to 1852 there was the Second Republic with its own version of the constitution, another restoration put an end to it. A descendant of the Bourbons sat on the throne, and France became an empire again.
Germany is to blame for the creation and collapse of the Third Republic
The history of the Third Republic lasts from the overthrow of the last Frenchmonarch in 1870 until the occupation of France in 1940 by the Nazi troops. The prerequisites for changing the constitutional order were standard - the isolation of power from the real state of affairs in the country.
The days of the reign of the last emperor of France were numbered after the shameful end of the Franco-German war of 1870, when Napoleon III managed to surrender to the Prussian commanders along with his entire army. As soon as the news reached Paris, almost overnight the decision was made to abolish royal power and establish the Third Republic.
So, the monarchy in France was over, but then why is France the 5th Republic and not the Third?
Post-war world order
After the end of the Second World War in 1946, the country, like many others, was actively engaged in internal construction. Obviously, a lot has changed in the world. The canons by which peoples lived earlier did not meet the challenges and requirements of our time.
In 1946, a referendum was held in France, as a result of which the state became a parliamentary one. That is why France the Fifth Republic is still a state in which the post of prime minister has a weight comparable to that of the president.
“Got over” with democracy
The Fourth French Republic prospered until 1958, when an event occurred that showed that an overly liberal government is good for the time being.
WhatIt happened? It must be said that France, democratic from the inside, nevertheless remained a colonial power right up to the 1980s. In 1958, an uprising broke out in one of its colonies - Algeria. In general, the event was ordinary, but the consequences were not ordinary - the troops sent to quell the uprising refused to obey the government and, on the contrary, they themselves tried to put forward conditions and demands on the authorities.
The founder of the new constitution was the man who managed to suppress the crisis brewing in the country and bring order to the country - the political giant loved by many Frenchmen Charles de Gaulle. That's why France is the Fifth Republic. The features of the new constitution are the strengthening of the role of the president while maintaining the decisive word of the parliament and the priority of fundamental democratic freedoms.
