During the early 16th century Francis I strengthened the French Crown. He also welcomed to France many Italian artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, was an Italian polymath: scientist, architect, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, engineer, painter, sculptor, musician, and writer. Their influence assured the success of the Renaissance style.

The years between 1562 and 1598 there was an increase in the number of Protestants, this led to the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants. Catherine de Medici, Queen of France as the wife of King Henry II of France, ordered the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of hundreds of Protestants. Henry IV, of the Bourbon dynasty, issued the Edict of Nantes (1598), granting religious tolerance to the Huguenots (French Protestants).

The 17th century was a period of extravagance and power of the French Monarchy. King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu transformed France's feudal monarchy to an absolute monarchy. But the French king most associated with this period is Louis XIV. Also known as the Sun King, Louis strengthened his own power having all the local princes and lords occupied with the elaborate court life at his palace at Versailles. The objective of this court life was to keep the local princes and lords from focusing on trying to undermine Louis' power. This period is also known for the genius of the writers, architects and musicians who were promoted by the royal court. The extravagance of Louis XIV, the costly foreign wars that weakened the government, plunged France in an economic and financial crisis. Louis XIV died in 1715 and Louis XV assumed the throne. The Bourgeoisie began to demand more political rights, and this had become a big problem for for Louis' successors.

France was scenary of many battles during the French Revolution at the beginning of 1789, it was also established the First Republic and an authoritarianism period under Napoleon Bonaparte, who had successfully defended the infant republic from the enemy and then made himself first consul in 1799 and emperor in 1804. The Congress of Vienna (1815) tried to restore the pre-Napoléonic order in the person of king Louis XVIII, but industrialization and the middle class, were under Napoléon, they pressured for change, and finally Louis Philippe, last of the bourbons was drove into exile in 1848. In 1852 Prince Louis Napoléon, a nephew of Napoléon I, declared the Second Empire and took the throne as Napoléon III. But he was against the rising power of Prussia and that ignited the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), and that war ended in his defeat, his abdication, and the creation of the Third Republic.

This way the monarchy in France arrived to its end in 1871 and the Third Republic was formed. In 1889 was contructed what is now one of the most impresive and visited monuments around the world, the Eiffel Tower was built in order to commemorate the centenial of the French Revolution. There was also a big and important contribution in the nineteenth century from the paintings of the Impressionists, the satirist Zola, the Art Nouveau style and the novelist Flaubert.

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