French Community

Communauté française

1958–1995


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité"
"Liberty, equality, brotherhood"

Anthem
La Marseillaise

The French Community in 1959

Members:

Capital

Paris

Languages

French

Political structure

Confederation

Historical era

Cold War

•

Fifth Republic

4 October 1958

•

Abolished

4 August 1995

Currency

French franc
CFA franc
CFP franc

Preceded by

French Union

Members:

The French Community (French: Communauté française) was an association of some states which were once a part of the Second French Empire. During 1958 it replaced the French Union, which had itself succeeded the French colonial empire during 1946.

The constitution of the Fifth Republic, which created the French Community, was a consequence of the war in Algeria. Under the 1948 French Union there was said to be no French colonies, but metropolitan France, the overseas departments, and the overseas territories would instead constitute a single French Union, or just one France. In reality, the colonies had little power, with all power remaining centralized in the French Parliament.

On January 31, 1956, an enabling law changed the system, abandoning assimilation in favor of autonomy, to allow territories to develop their own local government and eventually gain their independence. This was an attempt to quell the concerns over Algerian independence. However, this did not stop the demands for independence. The 1 million French colonists in Algeria were determined to resist any possible Algerian independence, and they made massive demonstrations in Algiers on 13 May 1958. The trouble, which threatened to become a civil war, provoked a political crisis in France and caused the end of the Fourth Republic. General Charles de Gaulle was recalled to power and a new constitution was written. Initially De Gaulle seemed to confirm the Algerian settlers’ hopes that he would help them, ending a speech to them with the cry “Algérie Française”, but privately he indicated that he did not have any intention of maintaining control of 9 million Algerians for the benefit of one million settlers. This attitude was manifest in the new constitution, which provided for the right of the overseas territories to request complete independence.

On 28 September 1958 a referendum was held throughout the French Union and the new constitution was approved, by universal suffrage, in all of the territories except French Guinea, which voted instead for the option of complete independence. Under this new constitution, the French Union was replaced by the French Community and France was now a federation of states with their own self-government.

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Wikipedia