France, officially known in the French as "République française", was a country located in the west of the European continent on Earth.
History[]
Around 3.5 billion years ago, the development of life on Earth began in the area which later became known as France. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
According to current real-world science, there is evidence that suggests life already took hold on Earth between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago [1] and flourished in the oceans by at least 3.7 billion years ago. [2]
For a long time, France was a monarchy ruled by the King of France, including Louis of France. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")
The Leonardo da Vinci hologram wanted to move to early 16th century France from Florence, because he thought the Florentines weren't able to grasp his genius and that the king of France would be a better patron. Two prominent French cities Leonardo had interest in were the capital city Paris and Avignon. (VOY: "Concerning Flight")
The champagne manufacturer Moët et Chandon was founded in 1743 in Epernay. (Star Trek Generations)
In the early 19th century, France was ruled by Napoléon Bonaparte. During his reign, France fought the losing Battle of Trafalgar against the British under Horatio Nelson and was finally defeated at Waterloo. (TOS: "Space Seed"; TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds"; Star Trek Generations; VOY: "The Thaw")
In the script for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, workers in 19th century France threatened by machines taking their jobs sabotaged the gears of these machines with their shoes.
In the early 20th century, France fought in World War I. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II")
In 1930, Jean Labeau became foreign minister and vice premier on February 9th. The same year, he met the American ambassador in Paris. (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever")
In the mid-20th century, France fought in World War II as a member of the Allies. France was occupied for several years by Nazi Germany. (VOY: "The Killing Game")
In 2024, France was rocked by student unrest. Although the Neo-Trotskyites had taken over the government from the Gaullists, both governments could not quell the unrest. The disturbances caused a group of tourists to cancel their trip to the French Alps. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I")
In 2032, France took part in the Ares IV mission. (VOY: "One Small Step")
The French flag could be seen on the Ares IV model amongst others. According to the 'Star Trek Fact Files, France was a member of the International Space Agency in the early 21st century.
In 2143, the assignment patches for Ariane 1, and for the joint Soviet-French mission Soyuz T-6, which bore the flag of France, were on display in the 602 Club. (ENT: "First Flight")
In addition, France was a major contributor to the International Space Station. (Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 284)
In 2305, Jean-Luc Picard was born in La Barre in France. (TNG: "Conundrum")
Geography[]
Cities[]
- Avignon (TNG: "Chain Of Command, Part II"; VOY: "Concerning Flight")
- Dunkirk (PIC: "Remembrance")
- Epernay (Star Trek Generations)
- La Barre (TNG: "Family")
- Sainte Claire (VOY: "The Killing Game")
- Marseille
- Paris
- Café des Artistes (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées (TNG: "Imaginary Friend"; Star Trek: First Contact)
- Eiffel Tower (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris"; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; DS9: "Homefront", "Paradise Lost")
- Hippodrome de Longchamp (Bois de Boulogne) (TNG: "The Emissary")
- Louis Pasteur's house (DS9: "Distant Voices")
- Federation President's office (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; DS9: "Homefront", "Paradise Lost")
- The Club Ingénue from the holo-program Julian Bashir, Secret Agent was also located in Paris. (DS9: "Our Man Bashir")
Furthermore, the French city of Calais is referenced in the name of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, which was seen but not named.
Hydrography[]
Oceans and seas: Atlantic Ocean, English Channel, Mediterranean Sea
Other[]
- Mountains: Alps, Mont Ventoux
- Regions: Bergerac, Burgundy, Corsica, Riviera
- Les Eyries
- Fleur-de-lis
Culture[]
The flag of France was striped blue, white, and red. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")
- Literature
- Music
French[]
Other[]
In Dangerous Ground, Doctor John Rawley spent some of his four years after graduating from Johns Hopkins in this country. During his stay in France, Dr. Rawley studied psychiatry. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")
The pages seen in the episode were from the mystery novel Dangerous Ground by author Frances Sil Wickware. This novel was published in 1946. Information on France was from page 12.
Appendices[]
Background information[]
It is possible France was a member of the European Hegemony and the European Alliance.
Pages created for the Picard family album, but not used on-screen, referred to the French cities of Strasbourg and Saumur. They also placed La Barre, and consequently France, as being located within the European Union in 2234.
Portions of the French anthem, La Marseillaise can be heard in the soundtrack of TNG: "Hide And Q", composed by Dennis McCarthy.
While this could not be made out on screen, the Café des Artistes menu contained the phrase "Cinquant million Français n'est pas wrong" (fifty million French can't be wrong), possibly hinting at the population of the country in the 24th century. That number would be somewhat less than the current population which is around 67 million.
Star Trek in France[]
Star Trek didn't air on French television until 1982. Only thirteen episodes were broadcast at the time on TF1; twelve weekly from 2 January 1982 to 20 March 1982, with one broadcast on 26 December 1982: "Catspaw", "Assignment: Earth", "The Deadly Years", "The Immunity Syndrome", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Wink of an Eye", "The City on the Edge of Forever", "Whom Gods Destroy", "The Mark of Gideon", "Errand of Mercy", "The Doomsday Machine", "The Lights of Zetar", and "The Tholian Web". The remaining sixty-six episodes aired in 1986 on the channel La Cinq.
TOS was the only Star Trek series to air on French terrestrial television. Star Trek: The Next Generation aired on the cable and satellite channel Canal Jimmy in 1996, followed by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager in 1998 and Star Trek: Enterprise in 2004.