This paper deals with the contemporary issues related to French national identity and suggests that they have reached a socio-cultural crisis. It traces the development of French nationalism and the factors that have determined it over the course of the past four centuries. Through an historical lens, the findings suggest that the fortification and increased centralization of the State apparatus coupled with carefully orchestrated state-sanctioned programs pointed at language development have largely been responsible for the construction of the contemporary French nation state entity, its value structure and assertions of uniqueness and singularity. The study follows the historical trajectory of France as it became an icon of the modern era through its leading role in the Enlightenment, its colonial pursuits and domestic nation building efforts. Taking the position that the present can only be understood by a thorough unearthing of the past, this paper holds that current socio-cultural problems in France related to immigration, regional identities and assertions of a threatened national culture are best understood through a holistic archeology of the French national entity.