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| | French Colonial Empire - Introduction |
 | | From its beginnings in the early 1600s through the great expansion of the late 19th century, the French overseas empire was formed more by the agencies and stimulation of the state, church, and armed forces than by the initiation of the business community. |
 | | Merchants, financiers, and manufacturers did engage in and profit from French imperial ventures, but generally they had to be prodded into participation by monarchical or republican officials. |
 | | French colonial imperialism survived World War I, but World War II led to its reorganization as the French Union, and finally to its dissolution primarily as the result of the wars in Indochina and Algeria. |
| www.discoverfrance.net /Colonies (648 words) |
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