French Birthrate Question

Until 1795 France had the largest population in Europe, even larger than Russia. However only a hundred years the population only increased by a very small amount. The population of other countries exploded. At first I though it had to do with population density... but after further analysis that really doesn't make sense France was more sparsely populated then the other major powers. Why did this happen?
 
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Until 1795 France had the largest population in Europe, even larger than Russia. However only a hundred years the population only increased by a very small amount. The population of other countries exploded. At first I though it had to do with population density... but after further analysis that really doesn't make sense France was more sparsely populated then the other major powers. Why did this happen?

Just a guess, but didn't France (in the first couple of decades) lose much of its male population in all the wars it fought since it became a Republic, especially under Napoleon Bonaparte? That had to have a pretty severe effect on its birthrate, not unlike what happened after the First World War in the early 20th century.
 
Just a guess, but didn't France (in the first coupe of decades) lose much of its male population in all the wars it fought since it became a Republic, especially under Napoleon Bonaparte? That had to have a pretty severe effect on its birthrate, not unlike what happened between the two world wars in the early 20th century.

That, and I heard that France went through a transition period prior to all other western countries.
 
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