French Fifth Republic

State · 1958–2026 CE · at its largest around 1958 CE

De Gaulle's Fifth Republic gave France a strong presidency, ended the Algerian War and championed European integration. It weathered the May 1968 revolt, built nuclear power and high-speed trains, and remains a cultural force in film, fashion, cuisine and ideas.

On its lands while it lasted

Ho Chi Minh (1890 CE – 1969 CE): Vietnamese revolutionary who led the Viet Minh independence movement, declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and led North Vietnam until his death.
Mao Zedong (1893 CE – 1976 CE): Communist revolutionary who founded the People's Republic of China and led it until his death.
Nelson Mandela (1918 CE – 2013 CE): Anti-apartheid leader imprisoned for 27 years who became South Africa's first Black president in 1994 and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
Cold War (1947–1991 CE): The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies, fought through an arms race, proxy wars and the space race rather than direct war. Divided Berlin was its emblem; it ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Apartheid (1948–1994 CE): System of institutionalised racial segregation and white minority rule introduced by the National Party government of South Africa in 1948 and dismantled in the early 1990s.
Vietnam War (1955–1975 CE): War between communist North Vietnam and the US-backed South, which escalated into large-scale American intervention and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
First human in space (1961 CE): Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the Earth once on 12 April 1961 after launch from Baikonur.
Cultural Revolution (1966–1976 CE): Political campaign launched by Mao against perceived enemies within the party and society, bringing mass persecution and violence.
Cambodian genocide (1975–1979 CE): Under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians died from execution, forced labour and starvation.
Iranian Revolution (1978–1979 CE): Mass protests overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to found the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Reform and opening up (1978 CE): Programme of economic reform begun under Deng Xiaoping that introduced markets and foreign investment, driving rapid growth.
Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989 CE): Soviet intervention in Afghanistan against mujahideen insurgents backed by the United States, Pakistan and others; Soviet troops withdrew in 1989.
Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989 CE): On 9 November 1989 East Germany opened its border crossings, and crowds began tearing down the Berlin Wall. It symbolised the end of the Cold War.
World Wide Web opens to the public (1991 CE): Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web, developed at CERN, was made publicly available on the internet in 1991; CERN placed the software in the public domain in 1993, and the web spread rapidly worldwide.
Rwandan genocide (1994 CE): Mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu by Hutu extremist militias and soldiers between April and July 1994, in which an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people were killed in about 100 days.