France

France became a major power under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties in the 16th-18th centuries and briefly dominated Europe under Napoleon after the overthrow of the monarchy in the French Revolution 1789. Defeated in the Franco-Prussian War 1870–71, the country also suffered much destruction and loss of life in World War I, and during World War II was occupied by the Germans. France was a founding member of the EEC (now the EU) in 1957