Modern States of France and the Low Countries: Map & History

Initially, the 18 Brumaire coup seemed to be a victory for Sieyès, rather than for Bonaparte. Sieyès was a proponent of a new system of government for the Republic, and the coup initially seemed certain to bring his system into force. Bonaparte's cleverness lay in counterpoising Pierre Claude François Daunou's plan to that of Sieyès, and in retaining only those portions of each which could serve his ambition.

From Wikipedia: French Consulate · The new government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, and eventually shattered it in November 1799. Historians sometimes date the start of the political downfall of the Directory to 18 June 1799 (Coup of 30 Prairial VII by the French Republican calendar). This was when anti-Jacobin Director Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, after only a month in office, with the help of the Directory's only surviving original member, Paul Barras, also an anti-Jacobin, successfully rid himself of the other three then-sitting directors.

From Wikipedia: French Consulate · Fall of the Directory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following the collapse of the Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), Napoleon Bonaparte became ruler of France as leader of the Consulate. By the Consulate's end with the creation of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804, Napoleon had consolidated his power into an authoritarian personal rule. After Napoleon spent the next ten years expanding his empire by successive military victories, a coalition of European powers defeated him in the War of the Sixth Coalition, ended the First Empire in 1814, and restored the monarchy to the brothers of Louis XVI. The first Bourbon Restoration lasted from 6 April 1814 to 20 March 1815, when Napoleon managed to escape from exile on the island of Elba and seized power once more. Following Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, he was exiled to Saint Helena for the rest of his life.

From Wikipedia: Bourbon Restoration in France · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In April 1814, the Armies of the Sixth Coalition restored Louis XVIII to the throne, the brother and heir of the late Louis XVI. A popular constitution was granted by the King: the Charter of 1814. It presented all Frenchmen as equal before the law while retaining substantial prerogatives for the King and nobility and limited voting to those paying at least 300 francs a year in direct taxes.

From Wikipedia: Bourbon Restoration in France · Political overview (CC BY-SA 4.0)

With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the reactionary aristocracy with its disdain for entrepreneurship returned to power. British goods flooded the market, and France responded with high tariffs and protectionism to protect its established businesses, especially handcrafts and small-scale manufacturing such as textiles. The tariff on iron goods reached 120%. Agriculture had never needed protection, but now demanded it due to the lower prices of imported foodstuffs, such as Russian grain. French winegrowers strongly supported the tariff – their wines did not need it, but they insisted on a high tariff on the import of tea. One agrarian deputy explained: "Tea breaks down our national character by converting those who use it often into cold and stuffy Nordic types, while wine arouses in the soul that gentle gaiety that gives Frenchmen their amiable and witty national character."

From Wikipedia: Bourbon Restoration in France · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The president had only joined the cry of "Down with the Republicans!" in Montalembert in the hope of effecting a revision of the constitution without having recourse to a coup d'état. His concessions only increased the boldness of the monarchists, who had only accepted Louis-Napoléon as president in opposition to the Republic and as a step in the direction of the monarchy. A conflict was now inevitable between his personal policy and the majority of the Chamber, who were divided into legitimists and Orléanists in spite of the death of Louis-Philippe in August 1850.

From Wikipedia: French Second Republic · Coup d'état and end of the Second Republic (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the liberation of France in 1944, the Vichy government was dissolved and the Provisional Government of the French Republic (French: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française, GPRF), also known as the French Committee of National Liberation, was instituted after a unanimous request of the Provisional Consultative Assembly to be properly represented. With most of the political class discredited and containing many members who had more or less collaborated with Nazi Germany, Gaullism and communism became the most popular political forces in France.

From Wikipedia: French Fourth Republic · Founding of the Fourth Republic (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The trigger for the collapse of the Fourth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. France was still a colonial power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of decolonization. French West Africa, French Indochina, and French Algeria still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the French Union. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French-identifying population, saw rising pressure for separation from the Métropole. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as the Pieds-Noirs, who wanted to stay part of France, so the Algerian War became not just a separatist movement but had elements of a civil war.

From Wikipedia: French Fourth Republic · Algeria and collapse (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The trigger for the collapse of the French Fourth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. France was still a colonial power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of decolonization. French West Africa, French Indochina, and French Algeria still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the French Union. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French population, saw rising pressure for separation from Metropolitan France. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as European settlers, native Jews, and Harkis (native Muslims who were loyal to France), who wanted to maintain the union with France. The Algerian War was not just a separatist movement but had elements of a civil war.

From Wikipedia: French Fifth Republic · Origins: May 1958 crisis (CC BY-SA 4.0)