Munsey's Magazine, December 1914

About this issue

Richard Le Gallienne's expansive historical essay surveys French national development from Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul through the Third Republic. The article opens philosophically, arguing that national greatness derives from spiritual rather than merely geographical significance. Le Gallienne traces France's ethnic composition—indigenous Celts, Greek colonists in Massilia, Roman provincial rule, Germanic invasions—establishing France's character as fundamentally Celtic but profoundly shaped by Roman Latinization. He examines Clovis and the Franks' emergence as unifying force around 500 CE, the Merovingian period's instability, Charlemagne's empire, and the Treaty of Verdun (843) establishing Francia as distinct kingdom. The narrative continues through the Carlovingian dynasty to the settlement of Northmen under Rollo, founding Normandy. Maps and architectural illustrations (Mont St. Michel, Orange's triumphal arch, Rheims Cathedral) accompany the text, depicting crucial historical sites and territorial divisions, including twelfth-century English holdings in France under Henry II.