French Community

French Community
Communauté française (French)
1958–1995
(De facto: 1958–1960)
Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité"
Liberty, equality, fraternity
Anthem: "La Marseillaise"
The French Community in 1959
The French Community in 1959
CapitalParis
Common languagesFrench
Membership
Historical eraCold War
4 October 1958
• Abolished
4 August 1995
Area
195911,000,000 km2 (4,200,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1959
150,000,000
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
French Union
French colonial empire
France
Francophonie

The French Community (French: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in October 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which had reorganized the colonial empire in 1946. While the Community remained formally in existence until 1995, when the French Parliament officially abolished it, it had effectively ceased to exist and function by the end of 1960, by which time all the African members had declared their independence and left it.

The Community had a short lifespan because, while the African members did not refuse it, they refrained from real involvement. Under the appearance of equality, the constitution of the Community restricted the sovereignty of the twelve African states, and reaffirmed the preeminence of France, by placing in the domaine commun (exercised in common) critical functions such as foreign affairs, defence, the currency, economic policies and control of raw materials.[1]

  1. ^ Henry Grimal, La décolonisation de 1919 à nos jours, Armand Colin, 1965. Éditions Complexe (revised and updated edition, 1985), p. 335.