France Seconde History-Geography
Chapters: 9
1. History: periodisation
Dividing history into periods
- Periodisation: How Historians Divide Time into Periods – Periodisation means cutting the long line of time into named periods so we can study it. Years are counted BCE (before) and CE (after) year 1, and grouped into centuries. A common scheme has four great periods: Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the early modern period and the modern/contemporary period, separated by turning points such as 476, 1453 or 1492, and 1789. Other schemes use dynasties, technology ages or regional divisions. Periods are useful tools chosen by historians, not natural facts.
2. History 1: the Mediterranean world
Ancient Mediterranean: Greek and Roman legacies · Medieval Mediterranean: exchanges and conflicts
- The Medieval Mediterranean: Exchanges and Conflicts – Between about 600 and 1500 the Mediterranean was shared by three civilisations: Latin Christendom in the west, the Byzantine Empire in the east and the Islamic world in the south and east. Ships carried goods and ideas between them, yet the same sea also saw wars such as the Crusades. Venice grew rich by trading with all sides.
3. History 2: 15th–16th c., a new view of the world
Atlantic expansion and the “New World” · Renaissance, humanism and religious reforms
- The Age of Exploration (c. 1400–1600) – Between about 1400 and 1600, sailors from Portugal and Spain, and later other European countries, opened new sea routes across the world's oceans. They wanted spices and gold without paying many middlemen, they wanted to spread Christianity, and they wanted fame. New ships (the caravel), the compass, the astrolabe and better maps made long trips possible. Dias reached the southern tip of Africa (1488), Columbus reached the Americas (1492), da Gama reached India (1498) and Magellan's fleet sailed round the world (1519–22). Earlier, Zheng He of China had led huge fleets to Africa (1405–33). The voyages linked the whole world for the first time. They brought trade, new foods and wealth to Europe, but also conquest, deadly disease and the Atlantic slave trade.
- Changing Cultural Traditions: Renaissance, Reformation and Science – From the 14th to the 17th century, rich Italian trading cities led a new interest in Greek and Roman learning called humanism. Artists aimed for realism, using perspective and the study of the body; architects built great domes. Printing spread ideas. Some educated women wrote and ruled. Luther's challenge in 1517 split the Western Church into Catholic and Protestant groups, and the Catholic Church reformed itself. Copernicus, Galileo and Newton changed how people saw the universe, and sailors found sea routes to the Americas and India.
4. History 3: the early modern state
The rise of the state in France · The British model and its influence
- Louis XIV, the Sun King: Absolutism in France (1643–1715) – Louis XIV became king of France in 1643 at the age of four and reigned for 72 years. During the Regency his mother Anne of Austria and the minister Cardinal Mazarin ruled. High taxes for war led to the Fronde revolts (1648–53), when law courts and great nobles challenged the crown; the crown survived. In 1661 Mazarin died and Louis ruled by himself, with no chief minister. He used small councils, loyal ministers like Colbert and royal officials called intendants. He kept nobles busy at his palace of Versailles and used art and ceremony to show himself as the Sun King. Colbert tried to make France rich through mercantilism. Louis fought many wars and gained land up to 1678, but later wars against large alliances, the end of Protestant rights in 1685 and famines left France in deep debt by 1715. His grandson kept the Spanish throne, but France was exhausted.
- Parliamentary Democracy – In a parliamentary democracy, citizens elect members of parliament (MPs). The party or coalition with a majority of seats forms the government; its leader becomes Prime Minister and picks a cabinet from parliament. The government stays in power only while it keeps the confidence of parliament. A head of state (monarch or president) has mostly ceremonial power, courts are independent and everyone is under the rule of law. The system grew over centuries in England (1215, 1689, the rise of cabinet, votes for all adults) and was adapted by India, Canada, Australia and many others.
5. History 4: 17th–18th c. societies
Enlightenment and science · Tensions in the society of orders
- The Enlightenment – The Enlightenment (about 1680–1800) was a movement in Europe that said people should use reason and evidence, not only tradition, to understand the world and to run society. It grew out of the Scientific Revolution. Thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Mary Wollstonecraft argued for natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of speech and religion, and government by consent. Ideas spread through books, newspapers, salons and the Encyclopédie. Some monarchs tried reforms (enlightened absolutism); the ideas also fed the American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions and later movements everywhere, including reformers in India.
- Social Change and Social Order in Villages and Cities – Social change means a big, lasting change in how society is organised. It can be slow (evolutionary) or sudden (revolutionary), and it can change structures, ideas or values. It is caused by the environment, technology and the economy, politics and culture. Social order is the other side: the way society keeps itself steady through shared values, domination, authority and law. Order is always challenged by contest, crime and violence. Villages, towns and cities differ in size, density and work, and each changes in its own way.
6. Geography 1: societies and environments
Societies facing hazards · Key resources under pressure (water, energy)
- Natural Hazards – A natural hazard is a natural event that can harm people and property, such as an earthquake, volcano, landslide, flood, drought or cyclone. It becomes a disaster when it hits people who are not ready. Geological hazards come from inside the Earth; meteorological (weather) hazards come from the air and water. Risk = hazard × vulnerability ÷ capacity to cope, so warning systems, strong buildings and trained people cut the damage.
- Minerals and Energy Resources – Minerals are natural substances found in rocks. They are metallic (ferrous or non-ferrous), non-metallic, or energy minerals. Energy comes from conventional sources like coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity, and from non-conventional sources like sun, wind, nuclear, biogas, tides and heat from the Earth. Both minerals and energy must be conserved.
7. Geography 2: population and development
Unequal development · Different demographic paths
- Development Geography: Why Places Are Rich or Poor – Development means people living better lives: more income, better health, more schooling and more freedom. We measure it with indicators such as GNI per person, life expectancy and years at school, and with the Human Development Index (HDI, 0 to 1), which joins all three. Development is uneven: rich cores and poorer peripheries exist between world regions and inside one country. Where rich and poor areas touch, there are strong contrasts and flows of workers, goods, factories and money, with both good and bad effects. There is no single model of development: countries have grown through export factories, services, or mines and farming, each with risks.
- The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth – People are not spread evenly on Earth. Most live on fertile plains near water; few live in deserts, high mountains or icy lands. Density tells how many people live on each square km. Geographical, economic and social factors explain the pattern. The world grew slowly for thousands of years and then very fast after 1800. Population changes through births, deaths and migration. The demographic transition theory shows how birth and death rates fall as a society moves from rural farming to urban industry. Countries use family planning and health care to control growth.
8. Geography 3: generalised mobility
International migration · International tourism
- Migration – Migration is the movement of people from one place to another to live there, for some time or for good. The place left is the origin; the place reached is the destination. People move because of push factors (problems at home) and pull factors (attractions elsewhere), but obstacles like cost, distance and laws stop some. Migration can be internal or international, temporary or permanent, voluntary or forced, and it changes both the origin and the destination.
- Tourism Geography: Resources, Types, Impacts and Planning – Tourism is travelling away from home for at least one night for leisure, business, health or visiting friends. Tourism geography asks where people go, why, and what tourism does to places. Places attract visitors with natural resources (mountains, beaches, wildlife) and cultural resources (heritage, festivals, food). People are pushed from home and pulled to destinations. Tourism can be domestic or international, and there are many types: eco, adventure, cultural, medical and marine. Resorts often follow a life cycle from exploration to stagnation and then decline or renewal. Tourism brings jobs and money but can harm nature and local culture if visitors exceed the carrying capacity, so good planning aims at sustainable tourism.
9. Geography 4: Southern Africa
Southern Africa in transition
- Development Geography: Why Places Are Rich or Poor – Development means people living better lives: more income, better health, more schooling and more freedom. We measure it with indicators such as GNI per person, life expectancy and years at school, and with the Human Development Index (HDI, 0 to 1), which joins all three. Development is uneven: rich cores and poorer peripheries exist between world regions and inside one country. Where rich and poor areas touch, there are strong contrasts and flows of workers, goods, factories and money, with both good and bad effects. There is no single model of development: countries have grown through export factories, services, or mines and farming, each with risks.