Foreign relations of France

Politics of France
Constitutions Fifth Republic Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Executive President (list) Emmanuel Macron (LREM) Prime Minister (list) Gabriel Attal (LREM) Government Attal
Legislature National Assembly: Membership President: Yaël Braun-Pivet Senate President: Gérard Larcher Congress of the French Parliament
Judiciary Constitutional Council Council of State Court of Cassation Court of Audit Cour de Justice de la République
Administrative divisions Regions Metropolitan regions Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Brittany Centre-Val de Loire Corsica Grand Est Hauts-de-France Île-de-France Normandy Nouvelle-Aquitaine Occitania Pays de la Loire Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Overseas regions French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte Réunion Overseas country French Polynesia Departments
Elections Referendums Presidential Legislative Senate Municipal Political parties
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Related topics Centirism Human rights Political scandals
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In the 19th century France built a new French colonial empire second only to the British Empire. It was humiliated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, which marked the rise of Germany to dominance in Europe. France allied with Great Britain and Russia and was on the winning side of the First World War. Although it was initially easily defeated early in the Second World War, Free France, through its Free French Forces and the Resistance, continued to fight against the Axis powers as an Allied nation and was ultimately considered one of the victors of the war, as the allocation of a French occupation zone in Germany and West Berlin testifies, as well as the status of permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It fought losing colonial wars in Indochina (ending in 1954) and Algeria (ending in 1962). The Fourth Republic collapsed and the Fifth Republic began in 1958 to the present. Under Charles De Gaulle it tried to block American and British influence on the European community. Since 1945, France has been a founding member of the United Nations, of NATO, and of the European Coal and Steel Community (the European Union's predecessor). As a charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies.

France is also a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean and the La Francophonie and plays a key role, both in regional and in international affairs.

On February 14 2023, as part of their foreign policy in human rights, France showed its support for international justice by signing the Ljubljana-Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and other International Crimes.^[1]