French colonial empire

The French colonial empire was made up of the overseas territories ruled by France from the sixteenth century. The first empire, from the voyages of Jacques Cartier to Canada, included Quebec, Louisiana, Caribbean islands and trading posts in India, but most of it was lost to Britain in the eighteenth century. The second empire began with the conquest of Algeria in 1830 and expanded to include much of West and Central Africa, Madagascar, Indochina and islands in the Pacific. After the Second World War, France fought wars in Indochina and Algeria to hold its colonies, but most territories became independent in the late 1950s and 1960s. Some places remain as overseas departments and territories.

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