France

Famous as a military event of great strategic ambition, D-Day is also a landmark in the story of Europe's radical pastToday, 6th June, marks the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

In June 1817, hundreds of rebels gathered in rural Derbyshire and marched on London "Every man his skill must try He must turn out and not deny; No bloody soldier must he dread, He must turn out and fight for bread.

Born on this day in 1805, Auguste Blanqui devoted his life to the dream of revolution “The Republic means the emancipation of the workers, it’s the end of the reign of exploitation, it’s the coming of a new order that will free labour from the tyranny of capital.” When did the end?

Born on this day in 1908, Simone de Beauvoir was one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century “One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion.” Simone de Beauvoir was many things.

The life and work of one of the twentieth century's most famous scientists “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

Born on 3rd September 1859, Jean Jaurès was the leader of the French Socialist Party Jean Jaurès, killed on the 31st of July, 1914, was one of the very first fatalities of the Great War.

In early 1944, the French Resistance staged an uprising against Nazi rule on the Glières plateau, high up in the Alps. Though defeated, it remains one of the great moments in the history of rebellion against Hitler in occupied Europe.