La 3e République et l’époque contemporaine

France then experienced the Restoration (1814-1830) and the July Monarchy (1830-1848), then the second Empire (1852-1870). The second Empire collapsed following military defeats, making way for the 3rd Republic (1871-1940).
This was a time of conflict regarding the conception of citizenship and national identity. Free, public and mandatory schooling was instituted by Jules Ferry (1879-1883), recommending "secular morality" (dignity, merit, solidarity). As of 1880 secular laws (authorisation to work on Sundays, possibility of divorcing (1884), abolition of State Catholic Theology faculties, and secularisation of schools in 1886) were promulgated.
Finally, the integration of the Catholic Church in secular France can be imagined through the law on separation, promulgated on 9 December 1905 (in Alsace and Lorraine, however, local legislation, the Concordat and German laws were maintained).
The 3rd Republic came to an end in 1940 after Hitler’s Germany invaded France. After the French State (1940-1944) and the temporary government (1944-1947), the 4th Republic lasted from 1947 to 1958 and the 5th Republic was instituted in 1958.

France became a member of the Western European Union in 1954 and in 1957 of the European Economic Community, which in 1993 became the European Union.