History, geography and culture is the largest theme on the examen civique, with 83 of the 258 official knowledge questions, roughly one third of the official list. It runs from the Revolution of 1789 to the Fifth Republic of 1958, across the geography of the 13 metropolitan regions, 101 departments and overseas France, and through the writers, painters and scientists every candidate is expected to recognise. Study it first: it carries the most marks. The free practice questions below are in the original French.
Parmi ces textes, lequel a été adopté sous Napoléon Ier ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 132 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Parmi ces personnalités, laquelle a été président de la Ve République ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 133 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Quel est l'objectif des lois scolaires de la IIIe République ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 134 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Que signifie la date du 14 juillet pour les Français ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 135 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Pourquoi l'année 1958 est importante pour la France ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 136 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Parmi ces pays, lequel est un pays fondateur de l'Union Européenne ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 137 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Simone Veil est une figure importante de l'histoire française. Elle a notamment :
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 138 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Dans quelle région est située une partie des plages du débarquement ayant permis d'engager la libération de la France ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 139 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Dans quelle ville les rois de France étaient-ils couronnés ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 140 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
Quel roi de France a été guillotiné pendant la Révolution française ?
Based on: Liste officielle des questions de connaissance, examen civique (naturalisation), Ministère de l'Intérieur, thème « Histoire, géographie et culture », n° 141 (data.gouv.fr / leqcmcivique, Licence Ouverte 2.0)
The exam's history questions cluster around a spine of dates. The Revolution began in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille and the Declaration of the Rights of Man; Louis XVI was guillotined in 1793. Napoleon became emperor in 1804, the year the Civil Code was promulgated. Slavery was definitively abolished in 1848 through the decree championed by Victor Schoelcher, after Nantes had been the leading French slave-trading port of the 18th century. Under the Third Republic, Jules Ferry made public primary school free in 1881, then compulsory and secular in 1882, and the 1905 law separated the Churches and the State. The world wars supply another cluster: 1914 to 1918 ended by the armistice of 11 November 1918; General de Gaulle's appeal to resistance from London on 18 June 1940; Jean Moulin unifying the internal Resistance; the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944; the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944; and 8 May 1945, the end of the Second World War in Europe. Women obtained the right to vote in 1944 and first voted in 1945, the year social security and the United Nations were created. The Fifth Republic was born in 1958, the President has been elected by direct universal suffrage since the 1962 referendum, Simone Veil carried the 1975 law on abortion, and the death penalty was abolished in 1981 under François Mitterrand, on the initiative of Robert Badinter.
The geography questions expect a working map of France. Metropolitan France has 13 regions since the 2016 territorial reform, and the country counts 101 departments, Mayotte becoming the 101st in 2011. Overseas France spans the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific: Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Antilles, Réunion in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, and French Guiana in South America, which shares a border with Brazil and hosts the Ariane launch base near Kourou. Mont Blanc in the Alps is the highest peak, the Pyrenees separate France from Spain, the Seine flows through Paris, La Manche separates France from England, and the population is around 68 million. The culture questions are name-recognition: Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables, Molière was the great 17th-century playwright, Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Simone de Beauvoir wrote The Second Sex, and Marguerite Yourcenar was the first woman elected to the Académie française. Among artists, Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir led Impressionism, Eugène Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the People, and Auguste Rodin sculpted The Thinker. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre, Versailles embodies the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV, and the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1789 | Start of the French Revolution, storming of the Bastille |
| 1804 | Napoleon becomes emperor; the Civil Code is promulgated |
| 1848 | Definitive abolition of slavery (Victor Schoelcher) |
| 1881-1882 | Jules Ferry's laws: free, then compulsory and secular schooling |
| 1905 | Law separating the Churches and the State |
| 11 November 1918 | Armistice ending the First World War |
| 1944 | Normandy landings; women obtain the right to vote |
| 8 May 1945 | End of the Second World War in Europe |
| 1958 | Birth of the Fifth Republic |
| 1981 | Abolition of the death penalty under François Mitterrand |
The recurring spine is 1789 (Revolution), 1804 (Napoleon emperor, Civil Code), 1848 (abolition of slavery), 1881-1882 (Jules Ferry school laws), 1905 (separation of Churches and State), 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 (the world wars), 1944 (women's vote, Normandy landings), 1958 (Fifth Republic), 1962 (direct election of the President) and 1981 (abolition of the death penalty).
Jules Ferry, Minister of Public Instruction under the Third Republic. The 1881 law made public primary education free, and the 1882 law made it compulsory and secular. The exam pairs him with the broader goal of the Third Republic school laws: a public school open to all children.
In 1944, an ordinance granted women the right to vote and to stand for election in France, and they voted for the first time in 1945. This is one of the most frequently tested facts in the history theme, often listed alongside 1945 as the year social security and the United Nations were created.
Metropolitan France has 13 regions since the territorial reform of 2016, and France counts 101 departments in total, including 5 overseas departments: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte. Mayotte became the 101st department in 2011 following a local referendum.
The death penalty was abolished in 1981 under President François Mitterrand, on the initiative of Justice Minister Robert Badinter. It is one of a cluster of Fifth Republic reforms the exam tests, alongside the 1975 law on abortion carried by Simone Veil.
Writers: Victor Hugo (Les Misérables), Molière, Albert Camus (Nobel Prize in Literature), Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Yourcenar (first woman at the Académie française). Painters and sculptors: Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Eugène Delacroix, Paul Cézanne, Auguste Rodin. Scientists: Marie Curie, double Nobel laureate. Landmarks: the Louvre, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower of 1889 and Mont-Saint-Michel.
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