François Mitterrand in the context of "1981 French presidential election"

The French Communist Party (French: Parti communiste français, pronounced [paʁti kɔmynist fʁɑ̃sɛ], PCF) is a communist party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left.

The PCF was founded in 1920 by Marxist–Leninist members of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who supported the Bolsheviks in the 1917 Russian Revolution. It became a member of the Communist International, and followed a Marxist-Leninist line under the leadership of Maurice Thorez. In response to the threat of fascism, the PCF joined the socialist Popular Front which won the 1936 election, but it did not participate in government. During World War II, it was outlawed by the occupying Germans and became a key element of the Resistance. The PCF participated in the provisional government of the Liberation from 1944 to 1947, but for the next 30 years was excluded from government despite consistently winning more than 20 percent of the vote in elections. It fell behind the Socialist Party in the 1970s, though entered government early in François Mitterrand's presidency (1981–1984) and participated in the Plural Left cabinet led by Lionel Jospin (1997–2002).

The Kanaks (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. Kanak peoples traditionally speak diverse Austronesian languages that belong to the New Caledonian branch of Oceanic. According to the 2019 census, the Kanaks make up 41.2% of New Caledonia's total population – corresponding to around 112,000 people. The other populations are the Caldoche, who are European born in New Caledonia; the Zoreille, who were born in metropolitan France and live in New Caledonia, in addition to about 10% that are non-Kanak Polynesians and 10% that are mixed race.

The earliest traces of human settlement in New Caledonia go back to the Lapita culture, about 3000 BP, i.e. 1000 BCE. In addition, Polynesian seafarers have intermarried with the Kanaks over the last centuries. New Caledonia was annexed to France in 1853, and became an overseas territory of France in 1956. An independence movement, which led to a failed revolt in 1967, was restarted in 1984, pursuing total independence from French rule. When the 1988 Matignon agreements were signed between the representatives of France and New Caledonia to decide on holding the referendum for independence, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the Kanak leader of the independence movement, had mooted a proposal to set up an Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture (ADCK). After Tjibaou's assassination in 1989, the French President François Mitterrand ordered that a cultural centre on the lines suggested by Tjibaou be set up in Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia; it was to be the last of Mitterrand's Grands Projets. The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was formally established in May 1998.

Eurocorps (French: Eurocorps, German: Eurokorps), located in the French city of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), is a multinational corps headquarters. Founded by France and Germany in 1992, it is today composed of personnel from six framework nations and five associated nations. The framework nations place the Eurocorps at the service of the European Union (EU) and NATO, which certified it in 2002 as one of its nine High Readiness Land Headquarters (HRF (L) HQ).

The precedents of the Eurocorps date back to 1989, when German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand, initiated military cooperation by establishing the Franco-German Defense and Security Council and creating a joint brigade, which became operational in 1991.

The Constitution of Andorra (Catalan: Constitució d'Andorra) is the supreme law of the Principality of Andorra. It was adopted on 2 February 1993 and given assent by the Andorran people in a referendum on 14 March 1993. According to the Constitution itself, it was to enter into force on the day of its publication in the Butlletí Oficial del Principat d'Andorra, which occurred on 28 April 1993.

The Constitution was signed by Andorra's two co-princes: the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell, who at that time were François Mitterrand and Joan Martí Alanis respectively. The new constitution stipulates that these two officials are Andorra's heads of state. Indeed, this arrangement has existed for centuries, although at one time, the French king or emperor held the position now held by the French president.

The Opéra Bastille (French: [ɔpeʁa bastij] , "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's Grands Travaux, it became the main facility of the Paris National Opera, France's principal opera company, alongside the older Palais Garnier; most opera performances are shown at the Bastille along with some ballet performances and symphony concerts, while Palais Garnier presents a mix of opera and ballet performances.

Designed by Uruguayan-Canadian architect Carlos Ott, it is situated facing Place de la Bastille. It can seat 2,723 people in total, with a main theatre, concert hall and studio theatre, making it the largest opera house in Europe.

The Grand Louvre refers to the decade-long project initiated by French President François Mitterrand in 1981 of expanding and remodeling the Louvre – both the building and the museum – by moving the French Finance Ministry, which had been located in the Louvre's northern wing since 1871, to a different location. The centerpiece of the Grand Louvre is the Louvre Pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei, which was also the project's most controversial component. The Grand Louvre was substantially completed in the late 1990s, even though its last elements were only finalized in the 2010s.

Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (/sɑːrˈkoʊzi/ sar-KOH-zee; French: [nikɔla pɔl stefan saʁkɔzi] ; born 28 January 1955) is a former French politician and convicted criminal who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.

Born in Paris, his roots are half Hungarian Protestant, a quarter Greek Jewish, and a quarter French Catholic. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to 2002, he was Minister of the Budget under Prime Minister Édouard Balladur (1993–1995) during François Mitterrand's second term. During Jacques Chirac's second presidential term, he served as Minister of the Interior and as Minister of Finances. He was the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party from 2004 to 2007.

The Socialist Party (French: Parti socialiste [paʁti sɔsjalist], PS) is a centre-left to left-wing political party in France. It holds social democratic and pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major political parties under the Fifth Republic, along with the Rally for the Republic in the late 20th century, and with the Union for a Popular Movement in the early 2000s. It is currently led by First Secretary Olivier Faure. The PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists, Progressive Alliance and Socialist International.

The PS was founded in 1969 from a merger of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the Convention of Republican Institutions led by François Mitterrand, and other groups. In the 1970s, the PS surpassed the Communist Party's share of the left-wing vote. It first won power in 1981, when Mitterrand was elected president. The PS achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986, and again from 1988 to 1993. PS leader Lionel Jospin lost his bid to succeed Mitterrand as president in 1995 to conservative Jacques Chirac, but he served as prime minister in a cohabitation government from 1997 to 2002, when he was again defeated by Chirac in the presidential election.

National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but also to "advance the interests of the nation"; the government sets policies which favor these organizations. The policy is practiced by many governments, in some sectors more than others (such as defense), but by giving an unfair advantage against market competition, the policy promotes economic nationalism domestically and global pre-eminence abroad contrary to the free market. The policy also deters or prevents venture capitalism.

As the policy is the collective form of inequality of opportunity, it is irreconcilable with the paradigm of the neo-liberal (or "laissez-faire") economy. It was a major part of the dirigiste policy of 1945–1975 France.

The LGV Sud-Est (French: Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est; English: South East high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line which connects the Paris and Lyon areas. It was France's first high-speed rail line, it has also been the most widely used line in France as well as being the busiest high-speed line in Europe.

Construction of LGV Sud-Est commenced in 1976, although development of the associated technologies had been underway for over a decade prior. Several key decisions, such as the use of overhead electrification instead of gas turbines, were influenced by geopolitical events as much as by innovations. On 22 September 1981, the inauguration of the first section between Saint-Florentin and Sathonay-Camp was attended by President François Mitterrand. It marked the beginning of the re-invigoration of French passenger rail service; ten million passengers travelled on the LGV Sud-Est within its first ten months of operation while domestic flights between Paris and Lyon declined substantially due to the effectiveness of TGV services.