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Historically, France was always the big dog in Europe. It was the largest and most powerful country in Europe, which by western standards was the most important. For hundreds of years they were one united country, vs the tiny countries of the netherlands, switzerland, so on. Germany was not united until late in the game. France was also colonizing as heavily as anybody. The French were in egypt, the Pacific, South America, etc... the French colonized India before the Brits and were still in India when the Brits left. The country has also always been Catholic so it has always had the support of the Catholic church and its long arm through the centuries. France had a long and very succesful monarchy that created great monuments to themselves. Just look at Versailles. It wipes out anything else created at that time. When you compare all of that history and how dominant it was shaping Europe, then you see its influence. It is hard to have "culture" without heritage.
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