France: National Security & International Affairs

French Colonial Empires

International Outputs and Outcomes

• International activities: – economic, – diplomatic, – military – informational

• Most common outcome of the interaction among nations has been warfare

• Military strength and military policy central concern of all but the weakest states

War in the Twentieth Century(90 % of the war deaths since 1700 have occurred in the 20th century

– In the last decades of the 20th century, more than three-quarters of the war deaths were civilian.

– People of USSR-Russian have been the greatest victims of the tormented history of the 20th century.

– Germany suffered the second largest number of deaths.

– Followed by China and Japan, France and Great Britain

• French Infantry: WW I

Humiliation of France

• France defeated by nazi war machine (1940)

• Vichy government collaborates with Hitler

• Charles De Gaulle leads French forces in liberation of France (1944-45)

• Occupied Paris

International After World War II• The most devastating conflicts

have occurred in the Third World.– Partition of British India into India,

Pakistan, and Bangladesh associated with numerous deadly conflicts.

– Conflicts in Africa• Many newly independent from

about 1960• Borders drawn by colonial powers• Serious problems of national

cohesion/chronic civil war– France involved in many military

conflicts in the Third World

Third World (in Green)

Three Colors, One Flag, One Empire

First Indochina War(1946 – 1954)

French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries

• Efforts to regain French colony resisted by local forces

• Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh

• Geneva accords end conflict and French withdraw

• Subsequent developments set stage for the Vietnam war

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

The Sinai Campaign, 1956

• Egypt closes the Israeli port of Eilat

• Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal (1956)

• October 29, 1956 – joint French, British, Israeli invasion to capture canal

• March 1957 – U.S. sides with USSR to force withdrawal of invading forces

Algeria: Sundering of France?(1954 – 1962)

• Effectively started by members of the National Liberation Front (FLN) on 1 November 1954 during the Toussaint Rouge ("Red All Saints' Day"),

• De Gaulle's return to power (1958)was supposed to ensure Algeria's continued occupation and integration with the French Community,

• De Gaulle organized a vote for the Algerian people. – Algerians voted for independence – March 1962 Evian Accords resulted in

the independence of Algeria.

• Algerian Battlefield

Leaving NATO Military Command & Development Independent Strike Force:

(De Gaulle 1966)

• Frustration over U.S.- Britain domination of NATO military command structure

• force de frappe provides independent Strike Force– Aair-based component

around the newly developed Dassault Mirage IV strategic bomber

– short-range Pluton and Hadès missiles, designed to be launched from the front lines at approaching Soviet armies

French Arms Sales

• Fourth place among global arms merchants (after USA, Britain & Russia )

• Reached $9.7 billion in 2009

• Provide 50,000 jobs in France

• Best Customers – Brazil– Saudi Arabia – Morocco

Competitiveness of French Military

Second Persian Gulf War (1991)

• second largest European contingent was from France, with 18,000 troops

• 6th Light Armored Division placed under control of U.S.

• Highly dependent of USA logistic capabilities

Bosnia-Kosovo (1999)• French reluctant to

support USA with commitment of troops

• Heavy reliance on air power and sophisticated logistics reveal deficiencies in French military

Sarkozy: Maneuvering to Rejoin NATO

• French interests served by reintegration into NATO– Modernization of

military– Defense against

terrorism– Influence with

militaries of EEC member states

• Non-negotiable condition: important role for French generals in NATO command structure

French Military in Afghanistan • 2,000 French troops

participate in the fight• more than 3,800 Afghan

Army officers have been trained by French instructors.

• Financing approximately 16% of the EU contributions earmarked eradication of poppy remains the most serious challenge for the country.

France in Libya: Foreign & Defense Policy in 2011

• Sarkozy pressures U.S. and EU to gain international support to protect civilians

• French military plays major role in NATO campaign that brought down Gaddaffi

• French forces pounded Libya's air defenses and patrolled its skies