From its inception however, the phrase has never been wholly adopted by it’s citizens nor its leaders. From Napoleon to Marshal Pétain, it has had to be altered to suit Frances true relationship with equality and liberty. French women, for example, were only give the right to vote in 1945. It was one of the last countries in Europe and the world to do so, given that many of the countries that followed had been colonised and not self-governed. Freedom and equality have never been principles France has been comfortable with.