The history of the Jews of France dates back over 2,000 years. In the early Middle Ages, France was a center of Jewish learning, but persecution increased as the Middle Ages wore on. France was the first country in Europe to emancipate its Jewish population during the French Revolution, but, despite legal equality anti-Semitism remained an issue, as illustrated in the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. Despite the death of a quarter of all French Jews during the Holocaust, France currently has the largest Jewish population in Europe.
French Jews are mostly Sephardic and span a range of religious affiliations, from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities to the large segment of Jews who are entirely secular.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_France#The_Revolution_and_Napoleon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions_in_France#Catholicism_as_a_state_religion
Though the Revolution had begun the process of Jewish emancipation, Napoleon spread the concept across Europe, liberating Jews from their ghettos and establishing relative equality for them in the lands he conquered.
During the Ancien Régime, France had traditionally been considered the Church's eldest daughter, and the King of France always maintained close links to the Pope. This led to various conflicts, in particular during the Reformation and the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots.
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