apache dance - a violent fast dance in French vaudeville (an apache is a member of the French underworld)

Agincourt - a battle in northern France in which English longbowmen under Henry V decisively defeated a much larger French army in 1415

Battle of the Marne, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, Marne River - a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918

Chalons, Chalons-sur-Marne - the battle in which Attila the Hun was defeated by the Romans and Visigoths in 451

battle of Crecy, Crecy - the first decisive battle of the Hundred Years' War; in 1346 the English under Edward III defeated the French under Philip of Valois

Dunkerque, Dunkirk - a city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in a desperate retreat under enemy fire

battle of Ivry, Ivry, Ivry la Bataille - a battle (1590) in which the Huguenots under Henry IV defeated the Catholics under the duke of Mayenne

Argonne, Argonne Forest, Meuse-Argonne, Meuse-Argonne operation, Meuse, Meuse River - an American operation in World War I (1918); American troops under Pershing drove back the German armies which were saved only by the Armistice on November 11

siege of Orleans, Orleans - a long siege by the English was relieved by Joan of Arc in 1429

battle of Poitiers, Poitiers - the battle in 1356 in which the English under the Black Prince defeated the French

Battle of Rocroi, Rocroi - a battle in the Thirty Years' War (1643); the French defeated the Spanish invaders

battle of St Mihiel, Saint-Mihiel, St Mihiel - a battle in the Meuse-Argonne operation in World War I (1918); the battle in which American troops launched their first offensive in France

battle of Soissons-Reims, battle of the Aisne, battle of the Chemin-des-Dames, Soissons - a battle in World War I (May 1918); the Germans tried to attack before the American numbers were too great to defeat; the tactical success of the Germans proved to be a strategic failure

Battle of the Somme, Somme, Somme River - battle in World War I (1916)

Battle of the Somme, Somme, Somme River - battle of World War II (1944)

battle of Tertry, Tertry - a battle in France in 687 among the descendants of Clovis

battle of Valmy, Valmy - the French defeated the Austrian and Prussian troops in 1792 (with a famous cannonade from the French artillery)

battle of Verdun, Verdun - a battle in World War I (1916); in some of the bloodiest fighting in World War I the German offensive was stopped

French Revolution - the revolution in France against the Bourbons; 1789-1799

bastille - a jail (literally, a French jail)

maisonette, maisonnette - a small house

oriflamme - a red or orange-red flag used as a standard by early French kings

rue - (French) a street or road in France

tricolor, tricolour - a flag having three colored stripes (especially the French flag)

French - the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France

bonheur - (French) happiness and good humor

haute cuisine - (French) an elaborate and skillful manner of preparing food

nouvelle cuisine - a school of French cooking that uses light sauces and tries to bring out the natural flavors of foods instead of making heavy use of butter and cream

bureau de change - (French) an establishment where you can exchange foreign money

FLNC, National Liberation Front of Corsica - a terrorist group formed in 1976 to work for Corsican independence; attacks on Corsica are aimed at sabotaging public infrastructure and symbols of colonialism

ancien regime - a political and social system that no longer governs (especially the system that existed in France before the French Revolution)

Common Market, EC, EEC, European Community, European Economic Community, European Union, EU, Europe - an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members; "he took Britain into Europe"