
Constitution - European Union, National, Government: France, Germany, and Italy, as well as most non-European countries influenced by continental concepts of constitutionalism, have no record of unbroken constitutional fidelity similar to that found in Britain and the U.S. Because of the highly substantive and ideological content of most French constitutions, the best way to change them has been to replace them altogether with a new, ideologically different document. Only the constitution of the Third Republic (established in 1870) was exceptional in this respect, since it consisted of very short, highly procedural organic laws, which served France well for 70 years, until the German invasion of 1940.