IV.

History

Before the Roman conquest of Gaul, the city, then known as Burdigala, was the capital of the region held by the Bituriges Vivisci, a Celtic tribe. It fell to the Romans in the 1st century bc, and developed into a flourishing trading station. By the 4th century ad it was the capital of the province of Aquitania Secunda and the seat of an archbishopric. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, it was held for varying periods by the Goths and Normans. In 1154, through the marriage (1152) of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England, Bordeaux became a dominion of England. The English withdrew from the city in 1453 during the Hundred Years' War, as a result of reverses inflicted by the French. Accustomed to regional autonomy during English rule, between 1548 and 1675 the city was the site of revolts against French rule. Bordeaux was a stronghold of the Girondins, a moderate Republican faction, during the French Revolution. Severe reprisals were inflicted on the Bordeaux Girondins during the Reign of Terror, when the revolutionary government of France was in the hands of extremists. The city became the seat of the French government in the final stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). During World War I, the French government again moved to Bordeaux. The city served as the seat of government for a short time in 1940, during World War II, but was soon occupied by the Germans. French troops cleared the city of the last German troops in April 1945. After the war Bordeaux continued to expand, with a modern bridge connecting the city with the motorway, and with new suburbs being built, mostly to the north.